Short story: Do any of you fed wet & raw? If yes, how does it work out? Is it 50%-50%? Do your cats thrive? Are you were you want to be or are you going toward 100% raw?
Very long story: I live in a weird country with weird prices. There is almost no decent wet food around, I order it from zooplus. I feed a total of 8 cats, 3 of my own and 5 in a feral colony. The story is about my own.
Harley and Amelie, born on the street, litter brothers, neutered, 11 months old, have herpes virus.
Harley has a permanent damage in one eye because of the herpes virus, has some tummy sensitivities (loose stool from time to time, did not identify the cause) and a very mild case of chin acne healing. Harley is 11.46 pounds.
Amelie is as strong as an ox. She is 9.25 pounds and she is keeping the herpes virus at bay. No chin acnea.
They both have l-lysine, 500 mg daily.
They LOVE raw food.
So the story is mostly about Sophie, thrown at the garbage after she was born, had ringworm and different other minor health issues, probably because of her poor immune system (she got the ringworm when she was 2 days old). She is now 1 year and 7 months old, spayed. She had a minor eye sensitivity and constipation. For more than a month she had fresh blood on her stool, 4 vets later, no one knew why and it stopped as sudden as it appeared, my guess is that the slippery elm bark helped her immensely. She is 7.93 pounds and she really doesn't like food. I have read Carolina's thread and LDG's thread about transitioning, and catinfo.org, so if Sophie was a kibble addict I would know what to do. But she is no addict. She doesn't like food that much. I have more brands than a pet store. And I am at my wits end. I have tried everything my mind could come up with. The only thing she seems to like is Thrive dried chicken (mind you that she doesn't like Cosma dried chicken that much, and she totally dislikes dried fish, dried duck, dried liver, dried beef).
I would like for her to gain the 0.88 pounds she lost the months while I transitioned her from free feeding to scheduled feeding.
Out of 8 cats, she is the only one that eats Bozita. She is the only one that doesn't eat most of the other brands the other 7 eat (Animonda, Grau). She also eats some Applaws, Schesir, Schmusy and Kattovit. With 2 complementary and 3 not so awesome foods, she still receives kibble. My guess is she eats about 140 kcal a day and she is at steady weight for 3 months now. She had blood work done and except for a very low amylase level, all is ok. Vets say she is at the lower end of a normal weight. I even tried peritol for appetite enhancer, she ate better only while on the meds.
I have seen major improvements in Sophie since she eats more wet - no more constipation, no more shedding. I am positive that a raw diet will be much better.
I can't do an all raw diet yet (already long thread, will mention the reasons later if relevant). I am thinking about something like 50% wet 50% raw for Harley and Amelie, and whatever Sophie wants for herself. I will balance the diet for H & A, but what do I do with Sophie? Is dry, wet & some raw too much for her tummy? She had a handful of raw chicken several night ago, but sprinkled with dried chicken
No way will she try bones or organs. I am so so at loss with her. I know I am paranoid and exaggerating when it comes to Sophie, but I would just like to see her eat something she really likes and put some muscle on that skinny body.
ETA: I can not find FortiFlora, I think I will have to make an ebay or amazon account and order it. I do not know what bonito flakes are, but other than these two, I have tried it all: parmesan, baby food, sprinkled kibble. The only thing that Sophie seems to somehow like is Thrive freeze dried chicken and some horrible treats with milk and yeast from gimpet. My vet gave me all sort of vitamins and pastes highly palatable for cats to try on her. Yes, highly palatable for Harley and Amelie, not for Sophie.
We do not have any commercial raw food.
Very long story: I live in a weird country with weird prices. There is almost no decent wet food around, I order it from zooplus. I feed a total of 8 cats, 3 of my own and 5 in a feral colony. The story is about my own.
Harley and Amelie, born on the street, litter brothers, neutered, 11 months old, have herpes virus.
Harley has a permanent damage in one eye because of the herpes virus, has some tummy sensitivities (loose stool from time to time, did not identify the cause) and a very mild case of chin acne healing. Harley is 11.46 pounds.
Amelie is as strong as an ox. She is 9.25 pounds and she is keeping the herpes virus at bay. No chin acnea.
They both have l-lysine, 500 mg daily.
They LOVE raw food.
So the story is mostly about Sophie, thrown at the garbage after she was born, had ringworm and different other minor health issues, probably because of her poor immune system (she got the ringworm when she was 2 days old). She is now 1 year and 7 months old, spayed. She had a minor eye sensitivity and constipation. For more than a month she had fresh blood on her stool, 4 vets later, no one knew why and it stopped as sudden as it appeared, my guess is that the slippery elm bark helped her immensely. She is 7.93 pounds and she really doesn't like food. I have read Carolina's thread and LDG's thread about transitioning, and catinfo.org, so if Sophie was a kibble addict I would know what to do. But she is no addict. She doesn't like food that much. I have more brands than a pet store. And I am at my wits end. I have tried everything my mind could come up with. The only thing she seems to like is Thrive dried chicken (mind you that she doesn't like Cosma dried chicken that much, and she totally dislikes dried fish, dried duck, dried liver, dried beef).
I would like for her to gain the 0.88 pounds she lost the months while I transitioned her from free feeding to scheduled feeding.
Out of 8 cats, she is the only one that eats Bozita. She is the only one that doesn't eat most of the other brands the other 7 eat (Animonda, Grau). She also eats some Applaws, Schesir, Schmusy and Kattovit. With 2 complementary and 3 not so awesome foods, she still receives kibble. My guess is she eats about 140 kcal a day and she is at steady weight for 3 months now. She had blood work done and except for a very low amylase level, all is ok. Vets say she is at the lower end of a normal weight. I even tried peritol for appetite enhancer, she ate better only while on the meds.
I have seen major improvements in Sophie since she eats more wet - no more constipation, no more shedding. I am positive that a raw diet will be much better.
I can't do an all raw diet yet (already long thread, will mention the reasons later if relevant). I am thinking about something like 50% wet 50% raw for Harley and Amelie, and whatever Sophie wants for herself. I will balance the diet for H & A, but what do I do with Sophie? Is dry, wet & some raw too much for her tummy? She had a handful of raw chicken several night ago, but sprinkled with dried chicken
ETA: I can not find FortiFlora, I think I will have to make an ebay or amazon account and order it. I do not know what bonito flakes are, but other than these two, I have tried it all: parmesan, baby food, sprinkled kibble. The only thing that Sophie seems to somehow like is Thrive freeze dried chicken and some horrible treats with milk and yeast from gimpet. My vet gave me all sort of vitamins and pastes highly palatable for cats to try on her. Yes, highly palatable for Harley and Amelie, not for Sophie.
We do not have any commercial raw food.
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