The Introduction to Rad Cat Frozen Raw

[otto]

Darn it, I thought I'd try Queen Eva with the Cornish hen bone again this Sunday, same thing has happened, she has gone on a food strike for three days. That's it, no more bone in meals (except Stella&Chewy's) for her, ever.

I've managed to get about 3 ounces, barely, into her each day for the past three days, and that with all meals heavily laced with vet's-best and forti flora. And every bite has been a battle of wills. She normally eats 4.5 ounces a day

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Darn it, I thought I'd try Queen Eva with the Cornish hen bone again this Sunday, same thing has happened, she has gone on a food strike for three days. That's it, no more bone in meals (except Stella&Chewy's) for her, ever.

I've managed to get about 3 ounces, barely, into her each day for the past three days, and that with all meals heavily laced with vet's-best and forti flora. And every bite has been a battle of wills. She normally eats 4.5 ounces a day

I swear, something is in the air.  Miss Callie is on a raw strike right now too.  She's been on canned now for about a week, otherwise she would have starved herself (literally) by now..  I'm going to try to reintroduce some raw starting tomorrow, but just a teeny tiny amount.  Don't know where my little carnivore went.

 

[otto]

When Queen Eva goes on strike she doesn't want canned either. She used to have frequent periods where she wouldn't want to eat much for a day or two and I tried to remind myself that this is her way and not worry (Tolly was the same way) but of course I worry anyway.

Once I started raw those no-eat spells just about disappeared. Only once in a very great while. It was after I started the bone in meals on Sundays that they came back. The day AFTER the bone. I stopped giving her bone, she started eating again. I decided to try again, same thing happened.

One thing to note though, even taking the bone in meals out of the equation, she still has days where she requires toppers, and other days she will eat the same meal without any topper. So maybe it's a variety thing, with her.

It IS a consolation to me to know that other people have the same issue with certain cats. Makes me feel less like this is my fault somehow, that I created a monster. :lol3:

 

[otto]

As of this morning Queen Eva is still on strike. She has trained me to shut her in the bathroom with her food. She does this by leading me there when I show her the food dish.

While shut in the bathroom she plays and messes around but doens't eat. I have the bowl positioned so I can watch it by peeking under the door. She has now discovered that I do that, because she caught me at it when SHE was peeking under the door. :lol3:

After about 15 minutes she starts rattling the lock to tell me she is ready to come out. I opened the door, saw the dish hadn't been touched and shut it. Five minutes later she rattled the hook again. This time I went in, gave her a whiff of Forti flora, sprinkled the barest dusting over the meal, and went back out. She licked the dish clean.

...sigh.....

 

[vball91]

Otto, I feel your pain. My Aria is so picky these days that I wonder if I am creating this problem during the transition to raw. The biggest frustration is that sometimes she loves a meal and other times won't eat much of it all, even with heavy toppers. I do try to rotate a lot for variety, which I have always done for her canned portion. But she ate the same kibble for years! It doesn't make sense to me.

What do these fussies want? To drive their mommies crazy?

 

[otto]

Queen Eva is a bit fussy, but much less so since going to raw. (she is about 55% raw, 45% canned).

Her appetite has returned as of this afternoon, after she pooped! It was only her second poop since Sunday, after having the bone in meal. I'm now satisfied that Queen Eva cannot tolerate bone in meals, except for the Stella&Chewy's. She has one meal of that almost every day.

AND, her activity level is back. I wondered if she was just "slowing down" being almost 3 years old. But nope, it was the bone in meal that was just making her feel so yucky she didn't want to eat much and she didn't want to play much. And each time I gave it to her, the effects lasted longer. Last time she was off for three days. This time, four days. I am so relieved to have her back to normal.

So Jennie-Jennie is my only bone eater. Oh well.

 

[vball91]

I am so glad to hear that Queen Eva is feeling better. It's too bad that the bone doesn't agree with her but at least you know now that it's a definite issue for her.

 

[otto]

Thank you, me too! It's funny though that she can handle the bone in Stella&Chewy's, but not a prey model bone in meal. Oh well, it is what it is. She is eating well today, too.

 

[ldg]

I wonder if the difference is that it's ground? :dk:

Whatever it is, I'm so glad she's feeling better!

 

[otto]

It could be the ground bone makes a difference. On the other hand, the bone in meal she had this past Sunday was..while not quite ground, the bones were well cut into small pieces with the scissors.

Well, I'm not going to worry about it any more. She gets bone in the S&C meals and while I know she's missing out on the dental benefit she could be getting with wings, I'm just going to refuse to worry about it!

 

[ldg]

I wouldn't! My kitties only get one bone-in meal a week, and three of them don't like it, so I don't worry about it. :lol3:

And she does get real bone with the S&C, so you've got the variety from a nutritional standpoint.

 

[harleydiva]

I must be really lucky.  All three of mine have been eating meat/bone/organ mixes since day 1 on raw (3.5 months ago)....have never had a problem with it.  Everyone eats it , other the the Pit being picky sometimes (he wants rabbit every day), and I've seen no ill effects.  

 

[otto]

That IS lucky! Yours are kittens? My Jennie took to raw right away and has no trouble with anything I feed her. She also has the digestion of a Goat. :lol3:

Mazy and Queen Eva and their digestive problems are the reason I first turned to raw, so I guess it's not too out there to expect I would have problems, even then. Mazy cat's digestion was ruined from 6 1/2 years on a very very bad food. The raw diet has helped her a lot, but she still has some problems.

Queen Eva has a mal-absorption intestinal issue, dating from her very early kitten days, or rather, she did until I put her on a raw diet. For some reason, she can't seem to cope with the bone in prey model meals.