Stopped Eating Commercial Raw Mid-bag... Mysterious Reason?

[haiitsvi]

I've been unable to find a thread about a similar situation. For background, I've been feeding my cat a combination of Steve's Real frozen raw, Crave grain free dry, and Friskies Pate (one for each meal) for about two months with no issues. I'd love to get him on a 100% raw diet but I can't because my budget is too tight and this combination is the same price as feeding him Friskies everyday since the higher quality stuff is at lesser quantities.

Two days ago he started refusing to touch his frozen raw defrosted and a little warmed up or straight from the freezer. Even though he used to finish his raw serving (about 1/4 cup) every day he was NEVER as excited about it as getting to eat Friskies. I'm halfway done the original bag we started on so I don't think it's a product issue. He will eat the raw if I mix in the Friskies.

Behaviorally he's only been acting a bit weirder than usual. (He's weird). He's gotten into the routine of hiding under the bed when it's bed time. I took him when I travelled over Christmas (just by car) and that might have upset his routine a bit but the refusing to eat happened a week after we got home and back to normal.

What's happening here? Has he had enough of eating this food he doesn't really enthusiastically enjoy? Has this happened to anyone before?

 

[kittyluv387]

Try some variety. A good rotation does wonders for food boredom.

 

[haiitsvi]

Try some variety. A good rotation does wonders for food boredom.

LOL he's spoiled with the variety he's already getting. He gets multiple flavors of Friskies, just that the raw comes in a huge bag! I'll continue trying to get him to finish the bag mixed with Friskies and pick up a different flavor or brand once I run out.

 

[mizzely]

If I feed my cat the same food two days in a row she won't eat it on day 2 lol. But iif I feed it with a day or two inbetween, she has no issues So I would try to get another bag of raw in a different flavor and alternate.


OH the joys of cats

 

[kittyluv387]

If I feed my cat the same food two days in a row she won't eat it on day 2 lol. But iif I feed it with a day or two inbetween, she has no issues So I would try to get another bag of raw in a different flavor and alternate.


OH the joys of cats

OP this is what I meant for variety. I just didn't explain it too well

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Kind of off topic but where do you buy your Steve's?

 

[haiitsvi]

Kind of off topic but where do you buy your Steve's?

The closest specialty food store me is Kriser's. I'm new to raw and to being a cat mom (just 4 months!) so I asked the employee which was an affordable raw option and she recommended it. I've read on here that it has a high vegetable content so it's not ideal, but it comes in at under $25 for a 5 lb frozen bag where I'm at. Would Stella and Chewy's frozen be at a comparable price? I'm having a hard time finding prices online. Kind of changing the topic but it would be helpful when considering other raw flavors/options to mix things up.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

The closest specialty food store me is Kriser's. I'm new to raw and to being a cat mom (just 4 months!) so I asked the employee which was an affordable raw option and she recommended it. I've read on here that it has a high vegetable content so it's not ideal, but it comes in at under $25 for a 5 lb frozen bag where I'm at. Would Stella and Chewy's frozen be at a comparable price? I'm having a hard time finding prices online. Kind of changing the topic but it would be helpful when considering other raw flavors/options to mix things up.

Well, the *cheapest* option would be to make your own food and supplement with the appropriate vitamins and minerals. I do this. I make 10lbs of food at a time and it takes no more than an hour.

I have sadly little experience with commercial frozen food, as there is nothing between me and Atlanta that carries anything besides Nature's Variety Frozen Bites. My cats liked it ok, but Evie threw it up, I would imagine because of the high bone content (she also can't eat an entire chicken neck in one sitting or she will throw up). I've had some experience with freeze dried Stella and Chewy's, but Evie again throws it up if I feed it to her as a meal. She can have small, treat-like amounts.

Hopefully someone can help with that has a wide range of commercial raw experience.

Side note: Steve's has a line specifically for cats, their QUEST line. It's a PMR, as compared to the BARF of their cat/dog line with veggies. I haven't seen it anywhere but the Steve's website and they have only 3 flavors. I remember one being Emu.

 

[ailish]

First of all, is the Steve's the most expensive food you feed him? There you go, he's not weird at all. They never leave you with a case of the cheap stuff in your closet.

And yes, Ailish is not keen on the same food too often as she's always had variety and will go off the stuff she isn't super crazy about before the food she loves. Unless she doesn't love it anymore, which has been known to happen, and then suddenly her favorite food is poison and she's appalled I would even consider serving it to her. And my cat isn't even picky about food. Cats do have their moods. Don't give him the Steve's for a bit and then bring it back and he might have a whole new opinion of it.

 

[lisahe]

First of all, is the Steve's the most expensive food you feed him? There you go, he's not weird at all. They never leave you with a case of the cheap stuff in your closet.

This is so true!

What ailish says about skipping the Steve's for a while is good advice. I set foods aside all the time because our cats just don't like to get certain ones very often. They're fitting the pattern there, too: Rawz is the one that usually gets tabled for a while. It's not their most expensive canned food but it's far from the cheapest!

haiitsvi , if you're looking for other frozen raw foods, the brands our cats particularly like are Primal and Northwest Naturals. They like Stella & Chewy's, too, but it's pretty bony so I only feed them tiny amounts, one at a time crumbled on top of their food. Which reminds me: they much prefer freeze-dried over frozen but the two favorite brands come in both versions.

Good luck! It's not easy to feed cats!

 

[haiitsvi]

Thanks for the advice all! For an update, I stopped by Petsmart on the way home and picked up a couple 1 oz packets of Nature's Variety Instinct boosters for a topper. He loves it and I mixed it in with the Steve's. When he was done he was screaming for more. I say screaming because he is Siamese.

I'd love to make my own raw but have to do a bit more research. There is also quite an investment upfront to buy the supplements and equipment so I'm saving up for it.

For now I'll give him the last serving of Steve's I defrosted for the week tomorrow then give it a break for a bit to see how he feels about it after.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks for the advice all! For an update, I stopped by Petsmart on the way home and picked up a couple 1 oz packets of Nature's Variety Instinct boosters for a topper. He loves it and I mixed it in with the Steve's. When he was done he was screaming for more. I say screaming because he is Siamese.

I'd love to make my own raw but have to do a bit more research. There is also quite an investment upfront to buy the supplements and equipment so I'm saving up for it.

For now I'll give him the last serving of Steve's I defrosted for the week tomorrow then give it a break for a bit to see how he feels about it after.

Yes, toppers can make all the difference in the world! We have a persnickety cat who has to have them on her food. She screams, too: our cats are Siamese mixes.

You don't necessarily need equipment for making your own food; lots of cats prefer chunks to ground. But maybe your cat -- what's his name, by the way? -- prefers ground! Premixed supplements keep the ingredients simpler, too. (I use EZ Complete to make cooked food -- our cats love it.)

I'd love to see a photo of your cat (with or without his dish, ha!) if you have one to post!

 

[haiitsvi]

Yes, toppers can make all the difference in the world! We have a persnickety cat who has to have them on her food. She screams, too: our cats are Siamese mixes.

You don't necessarily need equipment for making your own food; lots of cats prefer chunks to ground. But maybe your cat -- what's his name, by the way? -- prefers ground! Premixed supplements keep the ingredients simpler, too. (I use EZ Complete to make cooked food -- our cats love it.)

I'd love to see a photo of your cat (with or without his dish, ha!) if you have one to post!

Haha Moody is a Siamese Mix too, I just got lazy with the typing. You'd use eggshells instead of bones, right?

All my pics are on my phone but I just made him an Instagram account - hope this is allowed to share the link Moody (@lifeasmoody) • Instagram photos and videos

 

[lisahe]

Haha Moody is a Siamese Mix too, I just got lazy with the typing. You'd use eggshells instead of bones, right?

All my pics are on my phone but I just made him an Instagram account - hope this is allowed to share the link Moody (@lifeasmoody) • Instagram photos and videos

Oh, Moody's a lynx mix, he's a beautiful cat! Our cat Ireland (the picky one) is a lynx mix, too. It's good you're feeding him such a meaty diet: our vet warned us that Siamese tend to get stomach issues and that they should eat as little dry food and as few carbs as possible. Our cats definitely have weird guts.

EZComplete is a premixed supplement that already has everything in it, including egg shell, so just add it to plain muscle meat. Bones and organs not allowed. EZComplete Premix Information

P.S. Ha! "Moody" is a perfect name for a cat.

 

[haiitsvi]

It's good you're feeding him such a meaty diet: our vet warned us that Siamese tend to get stomach issues and that they should eat as little dry food and as few carbs as possible. Our cats definitely have weird guts.

Oh he's actually very picky particularly with dry foods too. He refuses to eat most if it doesn't smell "meaty." Perhaps the Steve's vegetable content is not to his liking. EZ Complete sounds great! I'm going to order some for next month.

 

[lisahe]

Oh he's actually very picky particularly with dry foods too. He refuses to eat most if it doesn't smell "meaty." Perhaps the Steve's vegetable content is not to his liking. EZ Complete sounds great! I'm going to order some for next month.

EZComplete makes great food, I hope Moody likes it! There's also Alnutrin, which, if I remember correctly, makes two supplements. There's one that's for muscle meat plus liver (no bone); I keep meaning to write for a sample so I can try it out on the cats. EZ also offers a free sample.

I saw your intro post about Moody -- that cat has quite a history! I mention that here in case nobody's mentioned to you that cats who were strays, hoarded, or otherwise underfed sometimes have eating issues. (Nobody at the shelter warned us about that and I wish we'd known from the start!) Our two, who are littermates, were in a "too many cats" situation and came to us as painfully skinny ten-month-old kittens. Five years later, Edwina (the snowshoe) still gets nervous about her food and would eat until she barfs if we kept feeding her; Ireland is far less motivated by food and gets very picky. I don't think Edwina will ever get over her food obsession. We feed five small meals a day in large part because of that.

You mentioned smell: our cats seem to go craziest for the smell of certain raw food (particularly Rad Cat, RIP, Rad Cat) and canned stuff like Fancy Feast, Rawz, and BFF/Weruva's new "PLAY" pates. Ireland has really been going for the smells lately -- she goes through spells where she seems to much prefer canned food and EZ food made with pork. She loves pork.