Started them on raw tonight :D

Feralvr said:

OMG.....Agree Felines Pride..... Your babies are getting nothing but the best :nod:.... Today I was reading up on Dr. Pierson's website and she mentioned that Felines Pride is one of her favorites. So I looked it up, WOW..... Big bucks.... I will be waiting to hear how the kids like it. It would be worth it's weight in gold if they did.
Do be careful with the Bravo.... Juicy..... That is what I started feeding Wilbur last Fall and the cat's went crazy for the stuff. Might be a big hit with your gang. I am considering adding Bravo down the road, once I have these kitties eating raw well. :cross: For breakfast
Carolina, YES on the varieties :lol3:.... They have us trained SO well and demand variety. That makes this transition harder, at least in the beginning stages of introducing the new proteins and brands. Kitties say ........BORING...... :lol3:

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I just placed an order with hare today - look:

4 x Ground Rabbit/Bones/Organs, 1 lb $17.16
2 x Ground Quail/Bones/Organs, 1 lb $15.98
4 x Ground Goat/Bones/Tripe/Organs, 1 lb $15.80
2 x Ground Pheasant/Bone/Organs, 1 lb $13.98
My whole order, including 2day shipping and supplements for all that meat came up to $98 = $8.16/lb...... well under Rad Cat..... and I am adding Quail, Rabbit, Goat and Pheasant I was going to add pork -only $2.99/lb but decided to wait a bit...... been thinking about llama too..... but somehow I grew fond of them with the whole TCS santa :lol3::lol3::lol3:

Can't wait to get all the new meat here

:lol3: Carolina, I got your text about 2 hours or so after I ordered it. I know, I know, I already knew about Hare Today, but I had no idea I was going to be stuck with unsupplemented options anyway! My biggest fear, until we have more freezer space, is that I'll order something, and not actually have room for it when it shows up. :lol3: In fact, it may be an issue with the Feline's Pride.

And I hear you on the forcing it, but we'd had three meals, almost 24 hours, where my four difficult kitties hadn't eaten much. Then the fifth meal, where they ate almost none. I had no other raw to offer them, except beef! And that hadn't been introduced other than the two meals. As I believe you pointed out, Dr. Pierson's advice is not to starve them, but convince them to eat it. They already like it, if I don't feed the same protein for too long. My options at dinner were a new brand of lamb, a new brand of rabbit, or more chicken.

So rather than waste yet more chicken, I gave them 33% (4 of 12 oz) of the new (Bravo) raw rabbit served with canned rabbit, as I had no other already-introduced raw proteins to feed them. (Other than more chicken. ).

I don't need me stressing, I don't need them stressing, and I definitely don't need them going longer than a day not really eating, even though they're clearly hungry. (And Lazlo's already lost about half a pound in two weeks; Tuxie is visibly thinner without the kibble, and Shel can't afford to lose any more weight). They definitely don't get just whatever they want, but this isn't "kitty cat boot camp" either. .

This probably wouldn't be happening if we didn't have the freezer space problem. But we do. :dk:

The good news is for their late night meal I mixed their 30% Bravo rabbit with 5.5 oz of E VO chicken & turkey, and 3oz of Instinct turkey, and they ate all but 2.4oz.

I've got 4 oz of NV lamb, 12 oz of Bravo rabbit, 8 oz of Vital Essentials chicken, and 8 oz of NV chicken dethawing in the fridge. So we'll probably try rabbit and chicken in the morning. We'll see, LOL.

Carolina said:

I just placed an order with hare today - look:
4 x Ground Rabbit/Bones/Organs, 1 lb $17.16
2 x Ground Quail/Bones/Organs, 1 lb $15.98
4 x Ground Goat/Bones/Tripe/Organs, 1 lb $15.80
2 x Ground Pheasant/Bone/Organs, 1 lb $13.98
My whole order, including 2day shipping and supplements for all that meat came up to $98 = $8.16/lb...... well under Rad Cat..... and I am adding Quail, Rabbit, Goat and Pheasant I was going to add pork -only $2.99/lb but decided to wait a bit...... been thinking about llama too..... but somehow I grew fond of them with the whole TCS santa :lol3::lol3::lol3:
Can't wait to get all the new meat here

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Oh that IS exciting!!! I have freezer-space envy! :lol3:

LDG said:

Oh that IS exciting!!! I have freezer-space envy! :lol3:

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LOL - I had to recheck my freezer to make sure I will have space in it :lol3::lol3::lol3:
If not....... I will have to buy one :lol3:

LDG said:

:lol3: Carolina, I got your text about 2 hours or so after I ordered it. I know, I know, I already knew about Hare Today, but I had no idea I was going to be stuck with unsupplemented options anyway! My biggest fear, until we have more freezer space, is that I'll order something, and not actually have room for it when it shows up. :lol3: In fact, it may be an issue with the Feline's Pride.
And I hear you on the forcing it, but we'd had three meals, almost 24 hours, where my four difficult kitties hadn't eaten much. Then the fifth meal, where they ate almost none. I had no other raw to offer them, except beef! And that hadn't been introduced other than the two meals. As I believe you pointed out, Dr. Pierson's advice is not to starve them, but convince them to eat it. They already like it, if I don't feed the same protein for too long. My options at dinner were a new brand of lamb, a new brand of rabbit, or more chicken.
So rather than waste yet more chicken, I gave them 33% (4 of 12 oz) of the new (Bravo) raw rabbit served with canned rabbit, as I had no other already-introduced raw proteins to feed them. (Other than more chicken. ).
I don't need me stressing, I don't need them stressing, and I definitely don't need them going longer than a day not really eating, even though they're clearly hungry. (And Lazlo's already lost about half a pound in two weeks; Tuxie is visibly thinner without the kibble, and Shel can't afford to lose any more weight). They definitely don't get just whatever they want, but this isn't "kitty cat boot camp" either. .
This probably wouldn't be happening if we didn't have the freezer space problem. But we do. :dk:
The good news is for their late night meal I mixed their 30% Bravo rabbit with 5.5 oz of E VO chicken & turkey, and 3oz of Instinct turkey, and they ate all but 2.4oz.
I've got 4 oz of NV lamb, 12 oz of Bravo rabbit, 8 oz of Vital Essentials chicken, and 8 oz of NV chicken dethawing in the fridge. So we'll probably try rabbit and chicken in the morning. We'll see, LOL.

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I get you sister - difficult situation
I am glad dinner went better tonight :bigthumb:
Believe me - you KNOW me better than that - I am not one for boot camps - on the contrary
Sometimes you wish there was a magic raw go right pill, huh?

LDG said:

:lol3: Carolina, I got your text about 2 hours or so after I ordered it. I know, I know, I already knew about Hare Today, but I had no idea I was going to be stuck with unsupplemented options anyway! My biggest fear, until we have more freezer space, is that I'll order something, and not actually have room for it when it shows up. :lol3: In fact, it may be an issue with the Feline's Pride.
And I hear you on the forcing it, but we'd had three meals, almost 24 hours, where my four difficult kitties hadn't eaten much. Then the fifth meal, where they ate almost none. I had no other raw to offer them, except beef! And that hadn't been introduced other than the two meals. As I believe you pointed out, Dr. Pierson's advice is not to starve them, but convince them to eat it. They already like it, if I don't feed the same protein for too long. My options at dinner were a new brand of lamb, a new brand of rabbit, or more chicken.
So rather than waste yet more chicken, I gave them 33% (4 of 12 oz) of the new (Bravo) raw rabbit served with canned rabbit, as I had no other already-introduced raw proteins to feed them. (Other than more chicken. ).
I don't need me stressing, I don't need them stressing, and I definitely don't need them going longer than a day not really eating, even though they're clearly hungry. (And Lazlo's already lost about half a pound in two weeks; Tuxie is visibly thinner without the kibble, and Shel can't afford to lose any more weight). They definitely don't get just whatever they want, but this isn't "kitty cat boot camp" either. .
This probably wouldn't be happening if we didn't have the freezer space problem. But we do. :dk:
The good news is for their late night meal I mixed their 30% Bravo rabbit with 5.5 oz of E VO chicken & turkey, and 3oz of Instinct turkey, and they ate all but 2.4oz.
I've got 4 oz of NV lamb, 12 oz of Bravo rabbit, 8 oz of Vital Essentials chicken, and 8 oz of NV chicken dethawing in the fridge. So we'll probably try rabbit and chicken in the morning. We'll see, LOL.

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YEP - Perfectly said and I am on board with this as well. I am not going to stress and worry over the meals either. And actually Instinct and EVO are great choices to mix with raw meat on any given day. It is great to have on hand in a pinch - that's for sure. No "raw" boot camp for my kitties either. BUT actually five of mine are doing very, very well. BUT number six - the Pipster -

For today's meals !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, how was breakfast today?

OK, I went for it. :lol3: 4 oz of NV chicken and 4 oz of Bravo rabbit were breakfast. Flowerbelle, Tuxedo, and Shelly got toppers - no one else got anything. Lazlo looked at me like - I'm supposed to eat this? And he was HUNGRY - he'd been pestering me and meowing for over an hour. I put his Halo topper on there, and he sniffed, went to eat - and changed his mind.

:doh3: Um yeah - Lazlo had chemo on Monday?! Things have gone so well the last month, he's shown no signs of inappetance after the treatments, and I haven't needed to use the appetite stimulant for ... 3 weeks? A month? But the last treatment of each cycle is the Adriamyacin - much stronger than the Cytoxin. So I gave him his pred and anti-nausea medication earlier than usual. And about 10 minutes later, he threw up bile, poor baby. The anti-nausea med is just a tiny quarter pill... so it probably would have dissolved by then. I didn't see either pill in what came up, so I really wasn't sure what to do. I waited about 20 minutes, gave him another VERY small piece of anti-nausea med (you quarter the pills - their hard pills to quarter, so I gave him one of the really small "quarters." ) After a little while, I tried some Halo chicken, and he ate it.

But otherwise everyone ate really well at breakfast - except Flowerbelle. I grabbed a half ounce of NV lamb (half of the one ounce NV medallions), topped it with Fortiflora, and she went for it. :lol3:

So at lunch, I fed them 4 oz of Bravo rabbit and 4 oz of NV lamb. Spooky wanted to skip this meal (as she does from time-to-time). I don't think it would have mattered what it was. Lazlo ate a few licks (his heavily topped with Halo chicken). Everyone else ate fine. There was 2.4 oz. left over - on target for basically Spooky's and Lazlo's food. (It gets a little hard at the end to tell who leaves how much leftover when I swap Flowerbelle's, Tuxie's and Shel's bowls around. They all eat more with fussing, and they seem to prefer someone else's food. :lol3: ).

I am going to offer Lazlo some EVO chicken & turkey in a bit.

I tracked my Feline's Pride. :lol3: It will be here tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. We're in NYC. We'll be here for a somewhat early breakfast for the kids - but they will miss lunch.

Dinner I fed 100% chicken. Somebody threw up lunch. It might have been because of the hairball - there was a rather large amount of hair. But because it was a brand of rabbit that's relatively new, and a new brand of lamb, I went for "safe" at dinner. :lol3: The funny thing is that after the recent boycott, everyone ate just fine! Even Lazlo did really well, considering he just had a chemo treatment.

And WOW I am getting REALLY lucky on the deliveries these days! I just ordered the Whole Life chicken on Monday. The arrival estimate BEGAN Feb 6. And it showed up TODAY! The timing is perfect, I'm getting low on Halo chicken, and it is just SO expensive. The Whole Life is also expensive - just not AS expensive. :lol3: And it feels good to have a 21 ounce (or whatever it is) bag of it, not some tiny little 2.2 oz jar. :lol3: They gobbled it up just like the Halo, so I'm a happy camper.

LDG said:

Dinner I fed 100% chicken. Somebody threw up lunch. It might have been because of the hairball - there was a rather large amount of hair. But because it was a brand of rabbit that's relatively new, and a new brand of lamb, I went for "safe" at dinner. :lol3: The funny thing is that after the recent boycott, everyone ate just fine! Even Lazlo did really well, considering he just had a chemo treatment.
And WOW I am getting REALLY lucky on the deliveries these days! I just ordered the Whole Life chicken on Monday. The arrival estimate BEGAN Feb 6. And it showed up TODAY! The timing is perfect, I'm getting low on Halo chicken, and it is just SO expensive. The Whole Life is also expensive - just not AS expensive. :lol3: And it feels good to have a 21 ounce (or whatever it is) bag of it, not some tiny little 2.2 oz jar. :lol3: They gobbled it up just like the Halo, so I'm a happy camper.

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:lol3: I also got my Whole Life chicken delivered today - better price than the Halo and a larger amount too . Pip did like it - after about ten minutes of fussing with the darn thing on the floor Isn't it SO fun to get these deliveries I think this is more fun for me - this transition - than it is for the cat's. :lol3:

GLAD that Lazlo had a good dinner tonight :rub: Better safe than sorry for dinner - good safe choice - chicken :happy3:. Sorry about lunch - .... we are all in the same boat here - and hoping not to have to clean up too much during the initial protein/brand intros. I am really enjoying sharing this journey together and how our cats are progressing each day - good, bad or otherwise :lol3: We have a great support system going here

I am really excited to hear about the Feline's Pride. I really, really like what I read about that brand on your spreadsheet. I would like to have that eventually to rotate as well. There HAS to be some other brand that Pipsqueak will enjoy other than just NV rabbit :lol3:

Yeah, the problem with Feline's Pride - as (IMO) with all online purchasing of raw - is the shipping charge. You get $5 off discount code as a member FNES, but it still bumped my 10 pound order from the list price of $5.99 per pound for the rabbit to $12 a pound. $5 above my per pound budget. For me, it has to be a one-time thing. (BTW, the NV rabbit, at Jim's price, works out to $6 per pound: 6 pounds for $36, and that's the most expensive protein by a LOT).

But for me, the dehydrated S&C and Halo - now Whole Life - chicken is a real life-saver. This is what enabled me to lose the kibble altogether. Lazlo needs to eat more frequently than the others. He likes a lot of small nibbles. And these give me options for him.

LDG said:

Yeah, the problem with Feline's Pride - as (IMO) with all online purchasing of raw - is the shipping charge. You get $5 off discount code as a member FNES, but it still bumped my 10 pound order from the list price of $5.99 per pound for the rabbit to $12 a pound. $5 above my per pound budget. For me, it has to be a one-time thing. (BTW, the NV rabbit, at Jim's price, works out to $6 per pound: 6 pounds for $36, and that's the most expensive protein by a LOT).
But for me, the dehydrated S&C and Halo - now Whole Life - chicken is a real life-saver. This is what enabled me to lose the kibble altogether. Lazlo needs to eat more frequently than the others. He likes a lot of small nibbles. And these give me options for him.

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Some shipping charges are definitely more expensive than others..... Feline Pride's for me was WAY too much..... Nature's Menu was decent..... and so was Hare Today..... and the more you buy, the less the shipping per pound works out to be.... So my price per pound on Hare Today was $8.16 and I think my cost for Nature's Menu was a little lower than that. The cost for Hare Today was higher because I got expensive meats - like the pheasant and quail..... Had I gotten only the rabbit, goat, pork, beef, chicken, venison, stuff like that..... it would be WAY cheaper. Shipping from them was $23.... not bad.... When I was trying to order from Feline's Pride, shipping was going to be $42 - I refused to pay that.
It can get expensive.... but since I pay $8.99 + tax for Rad Cat, Nature's Menu and Hare Today can save me a chunk. if they do well, and when my freezer is here, I will place larger orders to bring the shipping per pound down :nod:
I need to get some of this Whole Life Chicken - I was seeing that I can get it at Amazon...... if it is the same as Halo, Lucky might like it :nod: She hated S&C.... she really likes the consistency and taste of the Halo - I think I will try a small bag at first, then buy the larger one. I have a feeling I will use this for a while now :nod:

LDG said:

But for me, the dehydrated S&C and Halo - now Whole Life - chicken is a real life-saver. This is what enabled me to lose the kibble altogether. Lazlo needs to eat more frequently than the others. He likes a lot of small nibbles. And these give me options for him.

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EXACTLY!!! The freeze-dried S&C (dog - supplemented with taurine too), the Halot and Whole Life has been a life saver here as well . I am using it in place of kibbles in the evening and it is working for most everyone . The Whole Life is a HUGE hit with the kitties too. Except for the one I bought it for He snubbed his nose at it this morning :frusty: :lol3:

Feralvr said:

EXACTLY!!! The freeze-dried S&C (dog - supplemented with taurine too), the Halot and Whole Life has been a life saver here as well . I am using it in place of kibbles in the evening and it is working for most everyone . The Whole Life is a HUGE hit with the kitties too. Except for the one I bought it for He snubbed his nose at it this morning :frusty: :lol3:

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Is whole life EXACTLY the same as Halo? Same texture, same smell? can one of you two let me know? Lucky is finicky as heck..... But I want to get it, as this is the only topping she likes..... Thanks!

Yup, seems exactly the same to me. :nod: You don't have to refrigerate it once the bag is open. But as everyone comes running when they hear the bag, I put a bunch in the empty Halo container. Looks EXACTLY the same and smells the same to me. :nod: (And the same cats like it and don't like it as the Halo. :lol3: ).

So for several reasons we didn't make it into NY today. Typical, with us. :lol3: That said - poor Lazlo hid under the bed this morning. He got paranoid the crate was coming out. So he didn't eat breakfast. No way were we going to let him go until 5:00-6:00pm tonight (from 10:30pm last night) without food. Any other cat, maybe, but not Lazlo. So that we had another appointment come up really wasn't so bad. He did miss breakfast.

Everyone else ate GREAT. It was just a chicken/rabbit mix again. But that seems to be going over well so far. I don't want them to get bored of THAT, so at lunch I mixed just a touch of lamb. Lazlo, even though he was starving, didn't want to eat it. (His smell gets VERY sensitive after chemo). I tried plain chicken ... he didn't want that. So I rehydrated S&C chicken, and THAT he liked.

Shel didn't eat much lunch either, so I gave him S&C rehydrated. He loved it. But both Spooky and Tuxedo ate breakfast well AND a large lunch. So I'm feeling much better about Tuxie - the amount he eats at each meal is picking up!

The bottom line is that Billy, Chumley, Spooky, and Ming Loy are carnivores. They need no toppers, no encouraging. Their stomachs and digestive systems are working well - and working well already with raw.

Lazlo is almost in the Billy/Chumley/Spooky/Ming Loy category. Normally he eats just fine and without problem. But he does need his topper to get going... he just has issues with the smell thing, I think, because of the chemo, and bouts of nausea or inappetance, at times, because he has a cancerous tumor in his stomach. He also prefers to eat a lot of smaller meals frequently, and doesn't do so well on only timed meals. We make exceptions for him, because his stomach, with the tumor in it, just isn't as flexible as the others'. :heart3:

Tuxedo is definitely enjoying chewing. I thought he would. He just needs the fortiflora topping, because he was so addicted to kibble. He doesn't ask for kibble at all anymore, and he doesn't ask for more food after dinner. He's adjusting to timed meals pretty well now, and knows there's nothing else coming. I suspect he'll be the easiest transition to frankenprey of my four "almost carnivores." :lol3:

Shel has a sensitive tummy. I should probably have considered digestive enzymes for him. But now that we're two weeks into it, I'm not sure I should bother. He just needs slow, steady introductions. :nod:

And Flowerbelle? Her problem isn't the food. She just has ADD when it comes to eating. She's never been particularly food motivated, and her system also prefers smaller meals frequently. But even SHE is adjusting to the schedule. She doesn't bother me for food after a meal as she used to - she will start bothering me as a meal approaches though. :lol3: She's eating more without my fussing with her dish, with fewer toppers along the way, and she LIKES raw food.

BTW, the switch to Flowerbelle eating in her cave and Shel eating in the bathroom did NOT take. I just have to play Food Police, and prevent Billy from chasing Shel away from his food, because Shel will just walk away and let Bill eat it.

LDG said:

I just have to play Food Police, and prevent Billy from chasing Shel away from his food, because Shel will just walk away and let Bill eat it.

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:lol3: Sounds like you also have one of those, huh? One with ADD, and a food Bully

Gotta love 'em! They do keep us on our toes. :lol3:

OK, I did NOT knock wood!

I don't know what happened at dinner (Sorry - they're all called dinner. I mean dinner-time dinner. :lol3: ). Perhaps because I gave them 100% NV chicken? :dk: But not even BILLY finished his meal! Chumley and Ming Loy, of course, at all of theirs. Spooky didn't touch hers - though no surprise there, she ate all of breakfast and lunch, and she usually skips a meal (or two) here and there. Tuxie ate a reasonable amount, as did Flowerbelle, but they both needed extra Fortiflora. I'm with Carolina - I hope there's no "overdose" level for that one. :lol3:

Anyway, Tux and Little Whitey T must have had enough, because neither has been pestering me for more food. Like I said a bunch of posts ago - I think I'm tending towards offering them more than they want or need.

I have some dethawed lamb medallions. I pulled one (one ounce each). Lazlo ate most of it, and Shel polished it off, so I'm a happy camper.

I am wondering what's up - if anything - with Bill. That's just weird. :nod:

Well, just in case anyone was wondering LOL, Billy ate great at late-night dinner. :lol3: I guess he was sick of NV) chicken again.

I fed them Bravo rabbit and NV lamb at roughly 75%/25%. Ming Loy got less lamb, maybe 15%.

Lazlo, Shelly, Tuxedo and Flowerbelle did not finish their meals, but ate well, and all seem satisfied.

Spooky (who skipped dinner-time dinner), Billy, Chumley, and Ming Loy completely finished their meals. :lol3:

I'm out of rabbit. The Feline's Pride rabbit was delivered - it's up front. (I'm not worried, it's packed in dry ice and it's freezing out - it'll wait until the morning). I guess breakfast will be NV chicken and NV lamb. :lol3:

I've got the Bravo duck and Bravo venison (little one pound chubs) in the freezer. Again - not sure why I bought the venison. No point in introducing at 25% then not being able to go any further. :lol3: The duck I'll introduce Monday. If it works, I've got the S&C duck arriving Tuesday. So they've got three more days of rotating lamb, chicken, and rabbit.

:anon: OK, we had a lazy breakfast.

I gave them Wellness Turkey with raw chicken (Chumley got only raw). No one other than Billy, Chumley, and Ming Loy ate too well. :lol3: Lazlo, Tuxie, and Flowerbelle were pestering me for more food after breakfast.

I don't think they really like canned food anymore. :lol3:

We'll be having lunch early today. The Feline's Pride is in tubs... IMO, not as easy to work with. Hopefully I'll be able to get some defrosted by lunch. :cross: