She's Repelled By The Food

[sabrinah]

It does sound like something isn't adding up. 5 oz raw should be more nutritious than a 5.5 oz can. How much water did you use in the batch, and are you sure about the weight of each of your "bones"? And is she visibly gaining weight?

Another factor may be the amount of fat in the food. Cats need more fat than we're used to thinking of as "healthy". Is the meat you're using skinless as well as boneless, and did you trim off any fat? For the next batch you might want to include thighs or drumsticks that you debone yourself, so you can include more skin and fat

I'm positive about the weight of each bone. I weighed each compartment in the treat mold as I filled it. She doesn't feel to be gaining weight. She doesn't like her sides touched at all so I can't check her ribs, but I usually go off of her spine, hips, and overall shape. She seems to be the same. She had a couple huge poops though. I even did an experiment to make sure she still self-regulates: I filled her bowl with dry until it was overflowing. She chose to eat dry for her meals instead of any canned or raw, but she did regulate herself. There's still some dry in her bowl 24 hours later.

I didn't trim anything off them. Once I work my way through this batch of bones and paws I'll get some thighs to mix in with the rest of the breasts and leave all the skin on. Tossing out the thigh bones seems like such a waste. I wish there was something I could use them for. Pressure cookers scare me but I suppose I could borrow one and make bone meal. I use Alnutrin with calcium but I could get the other type next time... I really don't want to do that but I also don't want to throw bones away.

 

[sophie1]

You're using all chicken breast? That could explain it. Breast is lower in fat than thighs - that's why Dr. Pierson's recipe uses thighs.

You could save the thigh bones & scraps, make bone broth, and either enjoy it yourself or give it to your cats. Use it in place of water for the cat food recipe, and put out a little as a water bowl alternative.

 

[sabrinah]

You're using all chicken breast? That could explain it. Breast is lower in fat than thighs - that's why Dr. Pierson's recipe uses thighs.

You could save the thigh bones & scraps, make bone broth, and either enjoy it yourself or give it to your cats. Use it in place of water for the cat food recipe, and put out a little as a water bowl alternative.

It was on sale so I got it. I didn't expect to actually get her eating full bowls of raw so soon. The plan was to use this as little bits mixed in to the canned and get thighs with skin to mix in with the rest of the breasts. I was also thinking of mixing the breasts with whatever fatty meat is on sale when there's enough space on my shelf for more meat. She ended up cooperating far sooner than I had planned.

Could I use bone broth in place of water in the recipe?