Raw-fed cat refuses to eat bone-in meat now

[silverpersian]

Hello all,

My cat has been fed homemade raw for most of his life. He is two now.

I use whole-animal grinds, chunked meat, and every so often, bone-in pieces to clean his teeth. He used to wolf down wingtips and loved chicken necks. He won't touch them now. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his teeth or gums - it seems that he simply doesn't want to work to get the food down. I have tried sprinkling bonito flakes. He licks off the bonito and leaves the bone-in parts. We have had standoff where I didn't set out any food to replace the bone-in. After ten hours or so, I gave in and set out his regular food.

Any suggestions? Brushing his teeth is not exactly easy, so I would rather have him chew on bone as insurance against dental problems.

Thanks!

 

[abby2932]

Have you tried a different protein besides chicken for bone-in treats?

Stop by a butcher and pick up some duck necks/wings and/or a whole rabbit. It would be more expensive than the chicken but I bet he wouldn't refuse some rabbit ribs! Once he's used to chomping bones again you can bring back the chicken pieces to see if he'll go for it

 

[silverpersian]

I tried Cornish hen. The standoff ended with him eating it after four hours.

I will try to find other bone-in meats. Thanks for the suggestion.

I brushed his teeth again today and did not see any swelling or bleeding. He didn't even seem to mind the brush. I'm trying to avoid a checkup by the vet because he is perfectly fine otherwise and the trip to the vet is always a spectacle.

My guess is that it's laziness on his part. I usually add in chunks of heart to bring down the bone content of the whole animal grinds. He leaves the chunks for a long time after eating the ground portion.

 

[sophie1]

I've got a "lazy" cat too.  He strongly prefers ground food and will leave chunks, which my other non-lazy cat happily munches on.  It's a never-ending issue as I really do want them to eat chunks.  Variety doesn't seem to help unfortunately. 

I hit another another approach that you might try though.  I was away for a while and left my cats with my mother.  She of course completely spoiled them with treats, so now they are constantly begging whenever I'm in the kitchen.  So I started giving them fresh meat chunks as treats.  Worked beautifully.  It's not the world's greatest scenario, but I started making a point of giving them their "treats" on plates so maybe I can maneuver them into eating the chunks as small meals.

 

[silverpersian]

Thanks, Sophie. I will try that again. Our treats are usually a tiny piece of sardine, on a plate. I tried putting the bone-in chunks on that plate. He didn't eat them. Then I figured maybe putting them in his main food dish would make him see them as food. Still didn't eat them.

I tried rabbit chunks last night. He ate most of them (after I gave in and cut them into much smaller chunks) overnight.

I don't know about you, but I definitely have first-world problems. Spoiled kitty refusing excellent food!

 

[sophie1]

Ha!  Your silver Persian should meet my gold Siberian.  They sound like two peas in a pod.

The key was that my kitties learned to expect treats when someone is cooking in the kitchen, and they get treats by hand not on a plate.   So I've been having to give them fresh meat chunks by hand, which they proceed to eat on the floor.  When I put it on a plate they just pick it up, transfer it to the floor, and then eat.  I suppose I should save myself some washing and give up on the plates.  Anyway, you might try hand-feeding the chunks, as annoying as that is.

 

[silverpersian]

Good idea! He does eat little bits of liver out of my hand as I prepare his food.

I spent $35 on a raised food bowl, because I read it was better for a cat's digestion. My cat picks up anything chunky off of his bowl, and eats it off the mat next to his bowl, defying the purpose of the raised bowl. They know how to show us who is the boss :-)