Trying to convert Kyle & Kegan

[ldg]

Yeah, I drove myself nuts there for a while. And it was unnecessary, really. That's why I find myself telling people not to drive themselves crazy with it - just back up or slow down if kitties are having issues with the food.

In the end, I feel strongly it was very much worth it. I could have done it without the insanity, and it would have taken longer... but the difference in my cats' energy, vitality, stool, coats, behavior... all worth it. So patience and persistence are needed, and for many pet parents the transition won't be an easy road without any bumps. But I do think plowing ahead despite the bumps is worth the effort. :nod:

 

[dan32]

We are making progress - up to a tablespoon of raw per serving.  The bowls are always clean.  Once in a while, I place one unadulterated piece of raw down just to see if they want to advance to the next round.  They still look at me like "Huh?" on the rabbit, but have just eaten a few pieces of chicken and beef flavor.  All three seem to like Perdue ground chicken just fine, also human hamburger - what could be different about it?

After reading the terrifying http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245614/...by-products-meal-or-rather-not-think-about-it, I am eager to get rid of the kibble altogether, yet my cookie monsters are so in love with their crunchies.  I should have them read the thread!!

My other stumbling block in this transition away from kibble is the topic of uneven eaters.  The brothers basically eat whatever is placed before them until it is finished, while Kinney takes five-six feedings to eat the same amount.  If I let him have personalized feedings, there is jealousy and hard feelings as the other two don't understand that he is still finishing off his morning meal.  How to attack this problem?

I can see logistics and transitions require a clever owner.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Hey...you're moving right along

.  I always get a chuckle out of your posts

Anyhoo, i've got the same issues as you with one slowpoke eater who also  gets a whole extra meal and two jealous boys whom I have to literally push away from her bowl while she's delicately licking ever so slowly away at her food

  My only girl has kidney disease and therefore already doesn't feel good, and has trouble keeping the weight on (kind of like your Kinney), and so I have to watch her like a hawk 'cause if she turns away from her dish, the boys will be all over it.  It's big pain in the you  know what, but that's the way it is.   I just try to distract them with play or if I'm lucky, they'll be napping or something when it's time for her "2nd breakfast" (Hobbit fan anyone?) .  Plus I try to squeeze in freeze dried raw treats to her several times a day, and they always jump right in, so for that, I toss theirs down the hall to at least get them out of her face, so she can have peace while she eats 2 to their 1 before they're back

.  It wouldn't be such an issue if Darko didn't need to lose weight

. Oh well, we do what we can.

But, again, congrats on moving right along on your transition

 

[ldg]

My other stumbling block in this transition away from kibble is the topic of uneven eaters.  The brothers basically eat whatever is placed before them until it is finished, while Kinney takes five-six feedings to eat the same amount.  If I let him have personalized feedings, there is jealousy and hard feelings as the other two don't understand that he is still finishing off his morning meal.  How to attack this problem?

I have that problem with Lazlo - my cancer kitty. I'm not that clever. I just explain to the other cats that if they get as sick as he was, they'll get special treatment too. Until then, they just need to buck up and suck it up.

...but I do often take a piece of Whole Life freeze dried chicken and give a small bite to everyone when Lazlo has finished the portion he's going to eat at that time...

 

[aprilprey]

I have the same issue as you with "uneven feeders" - one cat takes 5 minutes, the other takes 5 hours.  I do something similar to LDG - I tell the younger, faster guy he's lucky to be young and resilient with young teeth/digestive system.  I will toss him a Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch treat from time to time so he isn't too jealous, but remember:

Nature is a harsh mistress; your cats, especially the male cats, would have to fight off other males for food/females if they lived totally "in nature", would have to chase down every meal, dodge cars, dogs and birds of prey.

Even with occasional pangs of jealousy over feeding - our cats have it pretty darn good compared to the wild predator on their own.  Its a charmed life.

RE: the lust for kibble.  Have you considered Forti Flora?  It uses the animal digest flavoring sprayed onto dry kibble to make it attractive, plus its a probiotic.  Have not tried it myself but others rave about it when converting kibble addicts.

 

[ldg]

I just bought a box of Fortiflora to help Spooky with eating her raw. She dives right back in! I prefer the dusting of the fortiflora (despite the rendered animal digest in there - I justify it to myself with the "it's SUCH a small amount" :lol3: ) over the top than going back to canned again. It's been months now for her since she had a raw strike, cross wood. :cross:

 

[dan32]

I have tried the crushed up Temptations and it draws a blank response.  They are not that crazy about the treats uncrushed either.  Maybe I got the wrong flavors or something.  I have never tried FortiFlora.

 

[ldg]

My cats never liked Temptations either. But they do like Fortiflora. :lol3:

 

[dan32]

I ordered some FortiFlora yesterday to have in arsenal of eating incentives. 

I wonder what is in Science Diet A/D?  It seems to have mystical powers in jazzing up dishes that aren't selling.  It is very fragrant.

The Primal Beef this morning just wasn't cutting it with the brothers, so I let them have a raw-free dinner tonight with just an ocean fish canned food (as far as I know, there is no raw fish allowed)  and they were thrilled.  I did serve up some raw chicken thigh late night "treats" yesterday and everyone seemed to enjoy them like little hor d'oeuvres.  Who would think this would be so hard?

 

[ldg]

The raw food just doesn't smell as strong.

...and as a kid, I preferred the stronger taste of Kraft mac n cheese to homemade, and Lucky Charms to Cheerios.

 

[dan32]

Wow, FortiFlora is the magic dust!  I could sprinkle it on corn cobs and they would eat it.

As for other eating incentives, I will have to go back through some of these posts to look for any other mail-ordered stuff to have around.  Now that Kinney is into his chemo treatments, his appetite is on and off.  I'm going to have to pull out all the stops to keep him eating.  I have tried a couple types of Stella & Chewy's freeze dried and none of them relate to it, with or without water added.  I don't see any of these freeze dried stuff in the stores.

The brothers are moving ahead with the Tsp of raw in their four std flavors, but this could take years at this rate.

Kinney is now getting a mix of 1 Tsp of NV raw chicken, 1 Tsp of A/D, and 1 Tsp of Wellness Chicken mashed together.  I have taken to measuring it for quality control - I was randomly mixing various amounts and he let me know I had veered offtrack on my recipe.  I can see he is a little bored with it, but I tried him on a similar mix of Primal turkey and it was a flat refusal.  He has never liked things like beef.  Trying to transition Kinney off of kibble while getting chemo is very challenging.  I am just afraid to push him very much.  He has never in his life liked canned food at all, so getting these baby servings of "wet" into him is a minor miracle in itself.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Just to mix things up, have you checked out this thread?  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263374/my-first-cooked-chicken-cat-food/90#post_3398798

 

[ldg]

But Dan32 is using commercial raw. That cannot be cooked, because of the bone.

Some people planning on feeding prey model raw will use cooking as a transition method, and just cook the meat offered to the cats less and less, until they're eating it raw. :nod: I don't know how the bone-in meals get handled though. I presume a calcium supplement would need to be used until the cats are willing to chomp bone.

 

[dan32]

MrsGreenJeans: Yes, I was very intrigued with the homemade cooked chicken.  I can see there are many ways to go at this.  And cooked food that mother made is a big step up for canned commercial.

At this point, I have a large inventory of NV raw around, so I'm afraid they're going to have to suck it up for quite some time.  At 1 Tsp per meal, it should last us until the year 2020.  I have though also been offering raw samples from my own meals, sometimes to mixed results.

I am in a routine now of taking out the frozen raw portions in the afternoon for the evening and morning meals and letting it thaw out in the fridge.  Keegie has been hanging around interested in my measuring out of each Tsp, licking at the frozen bits - so this might not be totally hopeless.  Once in a while, he'll actually eat a frozen one.

 

[goholistic]

Wow, FortiFlora is the magic dust!  I could sprinkle it on corn cobs and they would eat it.

I laughed at this. I still have yet to purchase Fortiflora for my inventory of eating incentives, but I hear so many rave reviews. I must get it ASAP.  Lol.

Trying to transition Kinney off of kibble while getting chemo is very challenging.  I am just afraid to push him very much.  He has never in his life liked canned food at all, so getting these baby servings of "wet" into him is a minor miracle in itself.

I think you'll know when to stop pushing if necessary. Hopefully he'll contiue to progress with the food you're giving him. As with any sick animal, there may come a time when you have to "throw in the towels" at his normal diet and just give him anything he'll eat. 

IMO, I'd think you've made great strides with Kyle and Kegan, even if ever so slowly! 

 

[dan32]

Kyle & Kegan are up to heaping tablespoons (per half can) with clean dishes.  They sure love that NV rabbit flavor.

The real surprise has been Kinney up to a 2/3 raw to 1/3 canned mix (I am measuring it out).  He is just gobbling it down.  I am hesitantly increasing the raw percentage up daily.  Almost ready to just put the raw down plain with a little plop of canned on top and see what happens.

 

[ldg]

Heaping tablespoons per half can? Patience wins out! :bigthumb:

And Kinney - that's great!

Yeah, mine loved the NV rabbit. Turns out it was because of the pork fat in it. :lol3:

 

[dan32]

We are having pretty good success moving ahead with "heaping tablespoons plus" mixed in the canned flavors.  This has taken about a month to get this far.

Since Kinney gets double the amount of feedings the brothers do due to his chemo treatments + his picky appetite, I have started to bait the brothers with little treats of plain raw bites so they feel like they are getting something inbetween meals.  To my surprise, they are taking the raw "treats" quite willingly, so I am thinking the day when I can just plop down a whole bowl of them is drawing near.

 

[ldg]

Lazlo often doesn't always finish his meals. I just set them aside, and then offer it to him again after an hour or so. He usually finishes it up then. Of course everyone else feels left out, so I plop down treats too.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Callie gets an extra meal here too.  But, alas, the boys just have to suffer thru it.  They've learned not to even bother to come around anymore

 

.    When we first started this extra meal business, I had to kind of push them away, but I would always praise the heck out of them when they would then lay down just a few feet away, and, of course, pet them lavishly while praising them.  So now, I guess it worked and apparently they don't feel neglected or anything...they just stay wherever they are (usually napping).  However, if I open up the Stella and Chewy's, EVERYONE comes running

BTW, congrats on moving right along with the raw food

   You're moving faster than I did (I mean making better progress )