Transitioning to raw not too successful

[feline03]

 I am in the third week of transition.  I used to free feed dry, Nature's Variety, freeze dry raw coated and took that away.  After that, I just fed them grain free Soulistic.  as suggested by Feline Nutrition site, I cut up some raw chicken breast and they ate it.  I then bought all the supplements and used a food processor.  I have 3 cats.  One of them loves the raw, the other 2 so, so.  The two so, so's ate a little . I now have bought a food grinder, Tasin, and have been feeding them the ground for a couple of days.  I do sprinkle Fortiflora on top and that makes them eat it more. 

My BIG concern is that Jojo, lost 1 pound in this this 3 week transition.  He is now 8.4 pounds and used to be 9.4.  Should I bring back the dry food?  I am so confused.  He is the reason why I wanted to try the raw food (and knowing it is better for them).  He has hypercalcemia which is controlled by medication but I want to take him off of it and see if the raw food stabilizes him (it did for a test cat on the IHC site). 

I am confused and at a loss right now as to what to do.  I will continue to feed Yeti all raw as he eats it with no problem and still feed Dolly 1/2 grain free canned, but am at a loss if I should still continue to do that with Jojo as he has lost a whole pound so far.

Any input you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Columbine]

It's important that Jojo is getting enough to eat. Will he not eat the grain free canned like Dolly? Freeze dried raw food is still a great option. There's no reason not to include some if he likes it.

A vet check for Jojo might be a good idea too. That kind of weight loss is a little concerning to me - especially in view of his health issues. I'd want to be certain that there's nothing else at work here.

I had to give up with straight raw with my girl - she loves the rehydrated freeze dried version, but really isn't keen on other types of raw.

Just keep in mind that the most important factor with feeding cats is whether they'll eat it. The best food in the world is useless if it doesn't make it into the cat

 

[lisahe]

I second everything that Columbine said and want to add that our cats--who eat a combination of several raw foods and many, many canned foods--spurn their food, even favorites, if they don't get enough variety in their diet. Perhaps Jojo wants more variations on his raw food theme? He may also just need more time to get used to raw food: some cats take weeks, even months, to get used to it.

The variety issue is one of the big reasons I haven't switched our cats to all raw foods. For what it's worth, for the raw part of their diet, they eat three kinds of Primal (freeze-dried only, please!) in various blends with a bit of Stella & Chewy's, plus Rad Cat chicken and turkey.

Good luck, I hope you're able to get Jojo to eat more soon!

 

[missmimz]

I'm on board with what everyone else said. I think you might be trying to transition them too fast. It can take months to transition some cats, and in the end some cats wont eat 100% raw. I feed about 50% raw, and rest is wet, and some high quality kibble. If your cats will eat FD that's a great option too. I'm concerned that you said one of your cats already lost some weight. I would make sure he's eating something he likes ASAP. If that's wet food, that's fine. Kibble can be harder to feed in combination with wet/raw because cats get addicted to kibble and then don't want to eat their other foods. I don't have issues with it, but other people have. 

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Kibble can be harder to feed in combination with wet/raw because cats get addicted to kibble and then don't want to eat their other foods. I don't have issues with it, but other people have. 

Isn't that just the truth.  Hekitty will starve before she will touch anything that isn't kibbles.  The only human food she will get near, cooked or raw, and I spent weeks and dollars I really didn't have trying both, is the water from a tuna can.  Talk about addicted to the wrong things!  She does get her "tuna soup," but only once a month.  And she recognizes the words.  All I have to do is say it, and she's by the can opener, waiting.  I had to settle for high quality kibbles, and several water bowls around the house.  Her water intake is adequate, her kidneys are normal, and her teeth are outstanding.

 

[missmimz]

 
Isn't that just the truth.  Hekitty will starve before she will touch anything that isn't kibbles.  The only human food she will get near, cooked or raw, and I spent weeks and dollars I really didn't have trying both, is the water from a tuna can.  Talk about addicted to the wrong things!  She does get her "tuna soup," but only once a month.  And she recognizes the words.  All I have to do is say it, and she's by the can opener, waiting.  I had to settle for high quality kibbles, and several water bowls around the house.  Her water intake is adequate, her kidneys are normal, and her teeth are outstanding.

My 13 year old was a hardcore kibble addict. I did EVERYTHING possible to transition him to wet and nothing worked. I nearly gave up before trying raw and for some unknown reason he likes raw, but he eats small portions and is finicky so he's not getting enough of his calories from raw so i have to supplement with high quality kibble. It's unpopular to feed both raw and kibble (i don't mix them i feed them several hours apart), but it works for him. Strangely, he doesn't protest his raw for kibble, he just kinda knows the routine. 

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Glad you had good luck with even a portion of the program.  Hekitty would leave the raw sit and wait till night, when I gave her the kibbles.  And at first, when I was so determined to switch her over, she went 4 days without eating at all. 

Bottom line is...as was said before, no matter how good a feeding routine is, it's a failure if it doesn't get into the cat.

 

[feline03]

Hi All,  I just went back and read more posting on the thread I started.  Jojo is now a little over 9 pounds.  The vet said she didn't think he was too thin.  He eats anywhere from 1 to 2 oz or raw at a time twice a day and treats sometimes at night but I don't think that is enough.  He really loved his dry and my sister keeps telling me to give it back. I'm just afraid if I do that he won't eat the raw anymore.  He's never been a big eater anyway.

I monitor his weight weekly and if he does lose more, I will consider the dry again after canned.  My fear is that, as is with giving him the Soulistic canned again, he won't eat the raw anymore.  I still have to sprinkle Fortiflora and crushed freeze dried chicken treats mixed in and on top of the raw.

Any experiences with feeding something else after feeding only raw for almost 2 months?

 

[missmimz]

 
Hi All,  I just went back and read more posting on the thread I started.  Jojo is now a little over 9 pounds.  The vet said she didn't think he was too thin.  He eats anywhere from 1 to 2 oz or raw at a time twice a day and treats sometimes at night but I don't think that is enough.  He really loved his dry and my sister keeps telling me to give it back. I'm just afraid if I do that he won't eat the raw anymore.  He's never been a big eater anyway.

I monitor his weight weekly and if he does lose more, I will consider the dry again after canned.  My fear is that, as is with giving him the Soulistic canned again, he won't eat the raw anymore.  I still have to sprinkle Fortiflora and crushed freeze dried chicken treats mixed in and on top of the raw.

Any experiences with feeding something else after feeding only raw for almost 2 months?

I feed a combo of wet and kibble to my oldest cat that's a very slow eater (as i mentioned in another comment). He eats raw in the AM, kibble for a snack (Orijen and Ziwipeak mixed) and then raw in the PM, kibble as a snack before bed. It works, strangely. Sometimes he will protest his raw for kibble, but I just keep a huge stash of treats available to entice him to eat, and I make sure that he doesn't have any kibble several hours before his AM and PM meal. 

 

[lisahe]

 
Hi All,  I just went back and read more posting on the thread I started.  Jojo is now a little over 9 pounds.  The vet said she didn't think he was too thin.  He eats anywhere from 1 to 2 oz or raw at a time twice a day and treats sometimes at night but I don't think that is enough.  He really loved his dry and my sister keeps telling me to give it back. I'm just afraid if I do that he won't eat the raw anymore.  He's never been a big eater anyway.

I monitor his weight weekly and if he does lose more, I will consider the dry again after canned.  My fear is that, as is with giving him the Soulistic canned again, he won't eat the raw anymore.  I still have to sprinkle Fortiflora and crushed freeze dried chicken treats mixed in and on top of the raw.

Any experiences with feeding something else after feeding only raw for almost 2 months?

We feed our cats a combination of raw meals and canned meals. It works out really well for us and the cats. I suspect it works because the cats like routine and there's a definite routine to what they get and when. Also, one cat was much slower than the other to really love Primal, their main raw food; she used to prefer canned but now, more than a year later, she doesn't seem to have a real preference. I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes it can take time for a cat to really love raw meals!

 

[mikiandnino]

I was trying raw food for sometime with my cat and they took it very good, but I found out that such a food misses many stuffs like for example taurine that is essential for cats food. Now I buy rather organic food that has all this stuffs but it is a clean meat.

 

[missmimz]

 
I was trying raw food for sometime with my cat and they took it very good, but I found out that such a food misses many stuffs like for example taurine that is essential for cats food. Now I buy rather organic food that has all this stuffs but it is a clean meat.

Raw food that is supplemented properly is safe to feed and a complete food that is not missing anything essential, which is why it's important to do your research before you feed raw. 

 

[nora1]

I feed 100% raw, however if the raw hasn't thawed in time for breakfast or dinner, I open a small 3oz can of Simply Norish chicken stew. It's basically shredded chicken and carrot. I'm against feeding veggies, but the 1 meal, a few times a month isn't a problem IMO. 

My cat took to raw very quickly so we haven't had an issue transitioning to raw. It was literally over night lol!

She eats whatever which makes it easy when raw isn't ready and I have to open a small can. 

 

[mikiandnino]

 
Raw food that is supplemented properly is safe to feed and a complete food that is not missing anything essential, which is why it's important to do your research before you feed raw. 

I agree with you. :-)

 

[judym]

I thought I'd never transition my cat until I happened to read an idea online. I was putting a piece of raw on muffy's plate along with her food-hoping she would eventually eat it. Didn't work. I read to only use a pea-size piece of raw and put inside piece of her food. She ate it, then, I added pea-size to a little more food and continued until she is completely on raw--about two months. I made little pea-sized raw nuggets and froze them--only taking out a couple each day so as not to waste the food. I am transitioning a second cat from dry to wet with the plan of getting her to a raw diet. She was a crazy cat when it came to her dry food--totally addicted. I started putting a tiny piece of wet on her plate everyday and around the fourth day, she ate it. After only one week, she is eating half and half-I really can't believe it--never thought I'd see the day.