Transitioning 4 out of 5 cats to part time raw, started tonight!

[ldg]

Aw, poor Indy! :rub: Sounds to me like Indy just ate too fast. :cross: The going-right-back-to-herself is indicative of there not being an actual problem. I've had some vomiting along the way in this raw transition, and it was always done, over with, and that was it. Everything fine after that. :nod: It's mostly been with introductions of new proteins or organs. (Beef definitely did not go over well with Sheldon LOL).

As to ... Thumper? Thumper is the 20 pound Maine Coon? - Lauren and Carolina also had cats immediately vomit - and violently so - after eating. I realize Thumper didn't even EAT it. But just having it in her mouth starts the process - the saliva gets moving - and I think that could be enough. :dk: I don't know if being on digestive enzymes regularly would help with that or not. But that's definitely not something that probiotics would make a difference. That affects things further down in the gut.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[klag]

Yep, Thumper is the 20pounder.  She's not overweight at all, the vet said she's perfect and doesn't need to lose any weight.  It would be acceptable to me if she was able to transition from Natural Balance only to some other canned varieties, even if she never eats raw.  My whole goal of this was just to get my cats off their Natural Balance addiction - and while researching all the foods I realized I wanted raw to be part of their diet, if not their complete diet. 

Indy was back to normal right away, and she held her food down for a short while (10 minutes) before throwing up.  She would have eaten within seconds after losing her last meal if I fed her.  I will continue to give her raw, but I will have to do a better job separating them while feeding them so they don't rush.  Indy still has an ex-feral trait of growling while eating if another cat approaches her food bowl.  That probably just caused her to eat too much too fast. 

I'll give Thumper a few more days and try again.  Hope she still likes the Whole Life turkey now after that.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, I agree about Indy.  Probably just ate too fast, and possibly too much too, since she loved it so much.  (just had to laugh about not waiting 30 minutes before going insane...you crack me up

)

I also know just what you mean about her not knowing what was happening to her as she was tossing up her cookies.  I can still remember the first time Stinkpot did that...he was like "mom, what's happening to me

, then

, oh well, it's nothing, let's get back to playing, ok? 

As far as the lick and immediately throwing up, that one's got me stumped.  I would have thought it would have taken at least a minute or two for a reaction.

Wow, strange that even your ferals don't like the RadCat chicken.  Wonder if there was something wrong with that batch.  I'd be thinking about calling the company on that one.

 

[feralvr]

OH yeah.... that RC Lamb is very, very rich and if the cat's eat too much too fast - up it comes I did not have a problem with the RC Lamb because my cat's were already eating some raw for a couple of months' and had been on the enzyme/probiotic supplement for a couple of months too. I would give it to your cats daily at this point, not just on raw feeding days. That will help. You just have to see what works and what is tolerated for each cat. They can all be different. It would be so easy if they all would just love and do well on the same meat's. :lol3: So much easier if that were true. OH - my cat's all refused the RC chicken too :lol3: Pipsqueak would eat it though. I will keep RC Lamb and Turkey in rotation though.

In the beginning, Pipsqueak would have that same problem with licking beef or even eating the teeniest piece. He would barf and barf after that. He just had such a bad reaction to certain proteins and it didn't take much to get him nauseous :nausea:

For a good raw eating day !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[klag]

Hi, not too much new here.  I have fully succeeded in my original goal of getting them off their Natural Balance addiction, thanks to the help of this forum.  Using toppers, I can get the cats to eat many other super healthy, grain free, carrageenan free canned foods.  I've also cut down slightly on the night time free-feeding of dry food.  Still not ready to fully eliminate that due to the CRF kitty snacking over night, and I do like the kitten to be able to free feed at her stage.  The dry is 50% Epigen-90 grain/starch free and 50% Pinnacle Cat grain free holistic formula.  High quality dry mix.  Instead of dry going down from 12am til 6am, they get a wet meal at 12am and the dry goes down from 5am-8am.   They don't eat much dry.  Side note - I have 5 drinking stations throughout my house, including a pet fountain which they all love, so they all get plenty of water.  I like to make that disclaimer when I talk about feeding them dry food

I'm currently doing raw every other day.  Thumper does not touch raw yet at all, so I substitute hers with a small canned meal instead.  I'll work on her later, but as long as she's off her Natural Balance addiction them I'm happy.  She does like Whole Life turkey treats. 

Their favorite of all the raw by far is the Stella & Chewys freeze dried Chick Chick Chicken rehydrated with warm water.  So there are 7 days in a week, 4 days they get canned food, 3 days they get raw food.  2 of those 3 raw days are Stella and Chewys, the other Rad Cat turkey.  They get fish once per week, Natural Balance Salmon.

Still haven't ordered from Hare-Today yet.... donno why, just lazy I guess.  I will order like 5 different kinds of small meat containers to sample everything.  I'll pick up some cheese and crackers to go with it.

One of my ferals killed a rabbit in my back yard, I almost went and got it to let my indoor kitties sample it. 

Oh, and they are getting the probiotic every day in their food.  I have not started giving that enzyme yet, think that's needed with only 3 days of raw per week?

Kids these days watch too much wrestling on TV - here's Indy with a choke hold on Thumper   I think that's an illegal move...

 

[ldg]

Oh they're just too cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on the GREAT news that you've got them off the Natural Balance addiction! Let's not forget the most cost-effective tool in the arsenal - the FAKE topper! :lol3:

 

[feralvr]

Oh they're just too cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And on the GREAT news that you've got them off the Natural Balance addiction! Let's not forget the most cost-effective tool in the arsenal - the FAKE topper! :lol3:

JUST ADORABLE!!!!!! :lol3: Gotta love those Fake Toppers Sounds like a perfect weekly plan you have going too!! Great job. COME ON, THUMPER :rub: You don't know what you are missing. How do your cat's like the Epigen 90? I can't seem to get any place to get it for me, yet. No one stocks it!

 

[klag]

 How do your cat's like the Epigen 90? I can't seem to get any place to get it for me, yet. No one stocks it!

They like the Epigen-90 quite well.  I'm still mixing it 50/50 each night with the Pinnacle Cat.  I'm not sure why...  I guess I know that the Pinnacle is so good since they've been on it for years and the Epigen-90 is so new...   I have let them sample it plain, without mixing 50% Pinnacle and they like it a lot. 

The same place that carries the Rad Cat carries the Epigen-90.  I'm lucky, I have like 20 high end pet food stores near me in Atlanta.

If I'm not mistaken, you can order individual bags (not by the case) directly from Wysong for a decent price.  Could be wrong, don't quote me on that

 

[feralvr]

They like the Epigen-90 quite well.  I'm still mixing it 50/50 each night with the Pinnacle Cat.  I'm not sure why...  I guess I know that the Pinnacle is so good since they've been on it for years and the Epigen-90 is so new...   I have let them sample it plain, without mixing 50% Pinnacle and they like it a lot. 

The same place that carries the Rad Cat carries the Epigen-90.  I'm lucky, I have like 20 high end pet food stores near me in Atlanta.

If I'm not mistaken, you can order individual bags (not by the case) directly from Wysong for a decent price.  Could be wrong, don't quote me on that

YEAH - you ARE lucky..... I can't find Epigen-90 anywhere out here and I live near Chicago :lol3: I will make some more calls to places tomorrow, but then I would have to consider my gas to drive far just to pick some up. Might be a good idea to try and call Wysong directly and get the two pound bag to start. Thanks for the tip!! I agree, about mixing it, it is so new the "90" and I worry about the low fat content. Although, I would only be offering this during times when I have to travel. OR to Perla when she gets so fussy and refuses to eat anything other than dry. I have three very fearful, shy cat's out of my six and I have to have the pet sitter leave out food day and night for the three scaredy cats..... I am still trying to sort out a plan and better get it ironed out soon, because I leave in three weeks ARGH - this raw feeding is a problem when you have to go away from home and have three socialized feral kitties who are timid eaters and three very friendly kitties who eat like pigs.