Thinking of raw feeding my kitten

[dillydolly]

I'd like to transition my 9 week old kitten to raw food. The only dilemma I'm having, is how to feed her while I'm out at work. Currently, she gets wet food in the morning, dry food during the day, wet food in the evening and dry food overnight. Obviously as she's still young, she needs to eat little and often, and obviously I can't leave raw food out all day. How do I get around this? Would using a timed feeder work?

 

[fhicat]

As she is a kitten, she should eat as much as she wants whenever she wants, so I'd be hesitant to recommend a timed feeder. Maybe when she's older, but as a kitten, she needs to pretty much be on buffet mode.

I leave raw food out up to 8 hours without issues. My cat is not a picky eater, and he doesn't mind his food being left out that long. After about 8 hours though, it starts to get crusty and nasty, and he won't eat it. Since he's not picky, I trust his nose, and that's when I throw it away -- very rarely though, since I know how much portion he eats, and he usually finishes his food within a couple of hours.

Desert tigers (the ones our kitties descended from) don't eat entire deer carcasses in one sitting. They come back to it later, in 110-degree temperatures.

That being said, I would not go as far as say it's absolutely safe -- but I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as you practice safe handling. If you live in a hot climate or turn the heat high, I'd not leave food out for too long.

One method that some people have had success with is to let the food thaw (raw or canned). So in the morning you put down two bowls -- one for her normal meal, and one frozen food. The idea is to let it thaw over several hours, so that she has something to eat later in the day while you are not around. You may have to experiment with thawing period. This depends on the cat -- for example, this method doesn't work for my cat because he eats anything, including frozen food (crazy boy). But if she does not like cold food, then this may help.

Again though, she is a kitten, so I'd recommend a way to keep some food out at all times. Not too sure about how dry and raw food interact, hopefully someone else can help with that.

 

[dillydolly]

Thank you for your reply. I think I'm going to try feeding whole prey in the morning, leaving frozen mince out during the day to defrost (assuming she doesn't eat it frozen) and feed more whole prey in the afternoon and evening. Luckily I have most of next week off to try this out,

If leaving the raw food out during the day doesn't work, I think I might try leaving wet food out instead and see if that works.

I'll be getting some whole prey and mince this week to see if she will take to it before ordering in bulk!

 

[roguethecat]

 
Not too sure about how dry and raw food interact, hopefully someone else can help with that.

not good! really not recommended

.

Eating raw food will trigger the digestive system into changing a bit. This means it's even less prepared to deal with an overload of carbohydrates. Please... don't give them cardboard just because it has pretty pictures on the bag....

 

 

[dillydolly]

not good! really not recommended .

Eating raw food will trigger the digestive system into changing a bit. This means it's even less prepared to deal with an overload of carbohydrates. Please... don't give them cardboard just because it has pretty pictures on the bag....:catguy:  

I wasn't planning on feeding raw and dry food as I know this is a big no-no when feeding dogs raw so assumed it would be the same for cats!

Is it a problem to feed her raw in the morning, wet food during the day and then raw again in the evening?

 

[dillydolly]

Success!! I put down some of the chicken mince this evening and she started eating it straight away! She clearly knows what's good for her!

 

[fhicat]

Success!! I put down some of the chicken mince this evening and she started eating it straight away! She clearly knows what's good for her!

Yay!

Hopefully she'll like it enough over wet food!

 

[dillydolly]

Yay!

Hopefully she'll like it enough over wet food!

I hope so! Yesterday when I put down her wet food she ignored it and waited a few hours until I put down dry food so I was expecting it to be a bit more difficult! Hopefully she will take to whole prey too as that is what I'm hoping to mainly feed her.

 

[roguethecat]

 Hopefully she will take to whole prey too as that is what I'm hoping to mainly feed her.

you might have to cut it into pieces first (some people find it difficult to cut dead mice or guinea pigs)... best to start small, with pinkies. Mine all love pinkie mice and rats, so I don't have to cut these down at all. They also have preferences, of course.

 

[dillydolly]

Yeah I tried her with a small mouse and she sniffed it but didn't really know what to do with it. After I cut it up a bit she did start chewing on it. I'm sure she will get the hang of it! I thought it was going to be a lot harder to switch her to raw than it has been so far!

 

[roguethecat]

you're getting there!

what sometimes helps (at least with the Rogue

it does): sprinkling some freeze dried treat on the mousy parts.

 

[dillydolly]

you're getting there!
what sometimes helps (at least with the Rogue it does): sprinkling some freeze dried treat on the mousy parts.

Yeah I cut the mouse into 3 bits before I went to work and when I came back she had eaten the middle part but left the head and bum! :lol3:

 

[roguethecat]

ok, you'll want to cut through the head again then (careful here, brain matter can squirt out - you don't want to waste that).The head is really a good part to eat, that's why cats usually start there.

Sometimes offering it up like a treat helps, too.

 

[dillydolly]

I bought some more mice to try again. Will try cutting it up a bit more next time and hopefully she will eat more of it. Is it less messy to cut up frozen?

So far she has been eating a combination of mince (that contains bone), a bit of beef and a little liver and kidney. I also have some hearts to try her with as I know they are a good taurine source. Does this sound like an okay diet for now? I'm planning to try feeding some whole bones but worry that she's a bit small for chicken wings yet!

 

[roguethecat]

Is it less messy to cut up frozen?
 

probably, if you are strong enough 

! I can't cut through frozen stuff... have you tried pinkies yet? I started mine with pinkies and worked my way up. They consider pinkies a treat now.

As for chicken wings, you cut them for her of course. You can also try quail. Have fun!

 

[dillydolly]

I haven't tried pinkies yet. Mice or rat pinkies? I was originally going to get mouse pinkies but they seemed tiny so I went for the small mice instead.

We gave her some chicken drumstick last night and she loved pulling the meat off the bone! Obviously she can't chew through those bones yet. She also tried some heart today. She definitely seems to prefer chunks to mince but I have a fair amount of mince in the freezer to get through lol

 

[roguethecat]

any pinkies... mine also prefer nude mice to the furred ones.