I have one 4-year old male, Whiskers, who has likely IBD, or possibly small-cell lymphoma. And one 5-month old female, Lucy.
The 4 year old has always eaten kibble, I had switched him to canned before he got sick (he had urinary crystals), but since getting sick he wants nothing to do with it. (I had another thread here http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249844/likely-ibd-in-cat-what-to-feed-complicated-maybe)
The 5 month old has also always eaten kibble. She will eat canned, but generally not the firm pate stuff. She will eat chunks in gravy, or loose, soupier foods.
My DH is on board with switching them to raw. We ourselves eat paleo and are much healthier for the switch
I would consider making my own, down the road, but for now I prefer the idea of a commercial preparation (for pathogen reasons and for simplicity - I have young kids and am very busy with work too).
I live in Canada. I have easy access to Nature's Variety frozen raw. There are other, smaller company options, but less info about reliability, etc. Given the likely IBD, and small kids in the house, I like the idea of their food safety guarantee.
Whiskers was previously free-fed dry food. Now we put down food for them both, but they still get several small meals (my dh and I work at home). I would say they probably eat a little, 7-8 times a day. Whiskers just eats dry at these meals, Lucy eats canned for 3-4 of them, dry the rest. Given the bowel issues I'm reluctant to transition them to fewer, larger meals. I don't want to mess with what's working, but then when we go away, a pet sitter isn't going to come 7 times a day to feed them raw...
Feeding frequency aside, my current thinking is to start just putting down a little raw with their morning and evening food. I suspect that Lucy will try eating it, and Whiskers will just gradually get used to the smell.
I guess I am looking for comments on brand, meat type, feeding frequency, and the approach I am considering.
The 4 year old has always eaten kibble, I had switched him to canned before he got sick (he had urinary crystals), but since getting sick he wants nothing to do with it. (I had another thread here http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249844/likely-ibd-in-cat-what-to-feed-complicated-maybe)
The 5 month old has also always eaten kibble. She will eat canned, but generally not the firm pate stuff. She will eat chunks in gravy, or loose, soupier foods.
My DH is on board with switching them to raw. We ourselves eat paleo and are much healthier for the switch
I would consider making my own, down the road, but for now I prefer the idea of a commercial preparation (for pathogen reasons and for simplicity - I have young kids and am very busy with work too).
I live in Canada. I have easy access to Nature's Variety frozen raw. There are other, smaller company options, but less info about reliability, etc. Given the likely IBD, and small kids in the house, I like the idea of their food safety guarantee.
Whiskers was previously free-fed dry food. Now we put down food for them both, but they still get several small meals (my dh and I work at home). I would say they probably eat a little, 7-8 times a day. Whiskers just eats dry at these meals, Lucy eats canned for 3-4 of them, dry the rest. Given the bowel issues I'm reluctant to transition them to fewer, larger meals. I don't want to mess with what's working, but then when we go away, a pet sitter isn't going to come 7 times a day to feed them raw...
Feeding frequency aside, my current thinking is to start just putting down a little raw with their morning and evening food. I suspect that Lucy will try eating it, and Whiskers will just gradually get used to the smell.
I guess I am looking for comments on brand, meat type, feeding frequency, and the approach I am considering.