questions about raw food diet

[rubberboots]

I have been thinking about switching our cats wet canned food out for a raw food diet. I know it is WAY healthier for them but the problem is they don't. I have tried feeding the odd piece of raw meat to our cats while preparing dinner for our selves just to see if they like it. I've tried chicken, beef, salmon etc.. and they just sniff it and walk away as if they aren't even interested. Would it be different if I presented them with it at their normal meal time? Also as far as canned foods go they don't like it super chunky either but they don't like the pate either, they can be quite fussy. Can anyone give some pointers on what they've experienced with this please?

 

[cicoccabim]

There are a few things you can do to make your cat be more interested in raw food. The first thing is to stop free feeding. The cats will then be a bit hungry when it is time for food, and be more prone to try the new things. I feed my cat twice a day, I find that she gets full twice a day instead of being a bit hungry all the time. 2-4 meals a day (depending on if you´re at home the entire day or not). If you serve 3 meals a day, and one of them is raw/wet it is no big deal if the cat refuses to eat raw a few days- they still get enough food to avoid liver damage. They will be hungry enough after a few days to try raw. 

If you feed dry food today, you could use the dry food as a "crust" on pieces of meat. And when they eat small pieces, you make bigger pieces..... 

But the easiest way to go is usually to feed all wet food, and slowly add minced raw to the wet food. Increase the amount of raw slowly. You can feed maximum 10% of the food as raw, if you feed unbalanced raw (balanced: meat, heart, bone and liver and supplements). But I think is is easier in the beginning to buy commercial raw and to mix with the food. Then you know if your cat likes it, if it is ground meat or pieces that they prefer- and you have the time to do the reading needed to make your own food (if you want to).

Serve the food "mice-temperatured"- at body temperature- that makes the food smell more. And the smell and the texture of raw food is very different from dry/wet food. Some cats eat whatever temperature the food has, but most cats like it a bit warm. Nerver warm it in the microwave oven though- it cooks the bone and make them very sharp! 

Strangely enough it helps if we serve the food with a positive mindset- "this is good food"..... and we have to be  more patient than the cat is stubborn..... 

And congratulation to a decision that will make a big difference in your cats life!

 

[cicoccabim]

And - stolen food is always good! Let a few pieces "happen" to get close the edge of the table..... or "forget" a bowl with a few pieces.......

I know some cats that did not eat the food in the bowl, but when they found it i the trash they loved it! And some cats prefer to eat on the countertop, on the table, on a mat....... try a few different places. 

 

[LTS3]

Check out the raw forum for more info and help: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-home-cooked-cat-food

Many commerical pet food fed cats won't eat raw meat of any kind straight up. You have to sneak little pieces into canned food or cover the raw with toppers of some sort.

Sometimes the easiest way to start feeding raw is to use freeze dried raw food first. Brands like Stella and Chewy's and Nature's Variety Instinct are good to use. Freeze dried raw food are pretty stinky, especially the seafood ones, which cats seem to like. Plain raw meat doesn't have much of a smell (to a cat).

 

[nansiludie]

I use Dr. Pierson's recipe, www.catinfo.org  She has supplements, meat, organs and supplements along with bone ground in a meat grinder. I use her recipe and my cats were a little hesitant at first but now eat raw and canned food. It might be best to start with freeze dried or with regular chunks of meat partially cooked and fully cooled and work your way down to raw, like from three quarters cooked, to half cooked to quarter cooked to raw. I did that also with a particularly picky cat.

 

[rubberboots]

Thank you for the input, it's been a busy weekend. We will be looking into purchasing something here in the next day or so. It will have to be ground up pretty fine as I have mentioned they aren't too keen on big chunks. I will try just sneaking in small amounts of it into their wet food at first to see if I can get them to eat any. Is it true that cats on a raw diet poop less frequently?

 

[cicoccabim]

Yep- every two to three days is normal to my cat. And smaller amounts that smell next to nothing.

 

[rubberboots]

Another thing, through reading other peoples posts, I have noticed a lot of people ad in supplements into the raw food as well. If I change up what they eat on a regular basis, is this necessary? My reason of thinking that if they are getting different foods there would be different vitamins and minerals supplied naturally through the food.

 

[nansiludie]

I add supplements to their raw homemade cat food as I want all their food to be nutritionally sound as best as I can make it. I noticed they do better on raw food but it does get pricey for me, feeding 6 cats plus 24 colony cats. I'm very reluctant to feed dry, been having urinary issues with several males.

 

[cicoccabim]

Some sort of supplement for iodine is necessary- salt with iodine in or algae (I use algae).