A New "Raw"some Beginning... (yup - another one LOL) - Page 7

Quick update!!! All is going well with the kitties and their meals. I am staying at the 50% for the three P's right now. But Walden and Wendall are back at almost 100% with just some canned added for an extra push to finish their meals. Today is Pipsqueak's last day for the antibiotic - so in about ten days I will be adding more raw to his diet as well. He did lick up a little leftover from Perkins again . My babies are being very good about eating up their meals. They absolutely love their bedtime meal the best - the rehydrated S&C patties.

p.s. I did call on the Rad Cat - but the store was SO very busy and I didn't have time to wait on the phone. YEP - there was a large volume of calls yesterday for orders from that store. Must be a popular place to order from.

Todays meals were absolutely incredible. All the kitties were little carnies today. Perla just about inhaled each meal - made me nervous but she was fine. Hungry little Bumped everyone up to 75% NVorg. chicken and 25% Weruva Chicken. Walden and Wendall had all NV org. with a little bit of the Weruva. In the next few days I think I will introduce the S&C Duck and see how that goes with the kitties - at least Walden and Wendall for sure. I might keep the three P's on the NV Chicken for a little while longer since it is going so well . Bedtime meal was another wonderful kitty raw eating party. Added a little of the Surf/Turf rehdrated S&C raw tonight with the rehydrated S&C Chicken. BIG HIT They all LOVED it. Makes me so happy to see my babies happily eating. Everyone including momma is quite satisfied tonight with meals today

Thanks Another GREAT breakfast over here. Everyone at about 1 1/2 ounce of NVorg Chicken Not all plates were licked clean but I think they were so full from last night's very, very late bedtime meal - but everyone dove right in. I mixed in GO Trout with the meals. I still need to sprinkle a little bit of Fortiflora to get Presley going. WL sprinkled on Perkins and Perla to get them going. Pip ate a little bit of Perkins leftover's again too . SO so far so good. This is working out very well for me - just taking this process really slow. I am very anxious to introduce other proteins but I can't push it and am worried that will back them off of eating again. I might thaw out a S&C Duck pattie tomorrow and see what kind of reaction I get to it

YES- Pip IS liking the NVorg. Chicken This morning I snuck in about 1/4 ounce with his breakfast HE ATE IT This would be wonderful if I could get him going on the chicken. I will be adding the exact same amount for a few days. I cannot push it more with Pip. If something doesn't smell right he will refuse to eat. I have not found the perfect topping for him. He does not like Fortiflora, Halo, Whole Life, or Bonito Flakes. So I have found out that I have to try to keep things smelling the same. He only has about three to four canned foods that he loves - so I am sticking with those right now to keep him on the small amount of raw I am sneaking in.

Everyone else had about 75% chicken and 25% wet. Presley is the only one that is giving me more trouble finishing his meal. I do have to keep sprinkling the Fortiflora on his. He is not keen on the WL and Fortiflora just gets him to dig in. All in all - everything went very well. I am defrosting the NV Lamb to try to introduce for tomorrow's dinner meal. Will only start with under 1/4 ounce each or even less than that. I learned my lesson that I can't make the changes and additions of the new protein/brand too fast or too much in the beginning. Momma cannot fool her babies very easily

Got a call from Only Natural Pet in Boulder. It would be outrageously expensive for me to order. Four pounds (their minimum required order) of Rad Cat meat would cost me about $79.00. . No samples either. So Rad Cat will not be in my cat's rotation.... I had a very long talk with one of the reps there. She said that the reason Rad Cat is so popular is because it is so simple - the ingredients and most cats just want simple. I really had wanted to try Rad Cat - but I have to forget about it and move on. SO will call Nature's Menu and Hare Today and see about picking a couple of proteins from each place.

Breakfast started out pretty bad Everyone had 50% NV Chicken and 25% NV Lamb and 25% wet. Walden and Wendall, of course , ate very well. The three P's must have smelled the Lamb and totally left their plates and just looked at me. Out came the Fortiflora - worked for Perkins - not for Presley ..... Perla just ran off . For Presley - I sprinkled on the crushed Temptation treats. That got him started. Perkins left a little behind and so did Presley. IN the meantime, Pipsqueak had his wet food with a little VN Chicken. He ate pretty well. Perla came back downstairs about ten minutes later and jumped to her spot. OK - so she got her plate back and I doused it in Fortiflora She ate about 2/3 of her 2 ounce meal. So not bad. I am glad she came back because otherwise I would refuse her any food till dinner Of course, that would have been very hard for me to refuse the .....

Tonight is going to be NV Lamb 25% and 50% NVorg. Ch. and 25% Weruva Mack/Jack. That should go well - I hope

Thanks, Laurie

WELL - I have made a decision. I am giving up the NV products all together. I have had enough and so have my cats. This is just not working. Two of my six cats (Walden and Wendall) love raw so that is the good news. The four P's. absolutely are giving me a run for my money - literally. Walden and Wendall have a lot of raw meat to eat. I will not be offering NV to the four P's anymore. I am literally sick (to my stomach) and tired (of losing sleep over who is eating and who is not). It is getting to the point that they just don't want to eat anymore. Perla only had about 1 ounce of food today and same for Presley. They hate the NV Lamb and have totally backed off of food again. I am back to square one with them all because I tried the NV Lamb. They were never really happy about the NVorg. chicken either. Tonight I will be trying to stuff the rehydrated S&C Surf/Turf to make up for the loss of calories today. I just feel SO very bad for putting some of my cats through this. It is just not working and they are not happy.

I ordered from Nature's Menu tonight. I talked to John. Very, very nice guy and was very understanding to my predicament. I really, really, really want more than anything my cats to all be on a raw diet, so very much but it is not happening no matter how much I try. He shipped today and I will receive on Thursday this week. I ordered three 3 lb. bags. One Lamb, One Chicken and One Turkey. Since I live close to his store, for some reason, he graciously shipped them to me right away. He even said that if my cats refuse one of the proteins he would credit me on my next order. He is also throwing in a 4 ounce beef liver freeze dried product as an tasty incentive for the four P's. The Fortiflora, the WL, the Halo, the Temptations and the bonito flakes are not working for them either They are really anti-raw at this point :

I also am considering making my own homemade raw recipes at this point. At least trying anyway. I have some recipes from a great book I have and will just have to add supplements. It is worth a try. If the Nature's Menu doesn't work for Pip, Presley, Perkins and Perla then I am thinking home made raw is the only hope I have with these cats. I am really hoping that the Nature's Menu works for us

THANKS ..... I am determined to try to find something that will work for the four P's.

Walden and Wendall had 50% NV Lamb and 50% NVorg chicken. No problems with those boys. The four P's all had about .25 ounce of NVorg Chicken mixed in with their Weruva Mack/Jack. No problem - everyone ate. Only Presley needed a little Fortiflora. It was such a small amount of raw and it was easily disguised in the Mack/Jack. Presley is just not sure about meals anymore and must have detected the raw chicken. BUT he did finish his meal once I sprinkled on the fortiflora. I have to use up these bags of NV that I have in the freezer. Walden and Wendall will be eating mostly that until it is gone. I will be staying at the .25 ounce of raw for the four P's until the Nature's Menu comes tomorrow. I don't want to get my hopes up to much on the Nature's Menu either. But I have to keep trying different products to find one that will be readily accepted by the cats - if such a product exists I am also going to try the Vital Essentials Chicken after the Nature's Menu. Thinking since Laurie's cats like that better than the NV chicken it might work for my kitties too. The search continues.........................................................................

I will not rush into another brand right now anyway - but VE is in the back of my mind as a replacement for the NV Chicken. I really need to find a "base" raw meat that the cats are totally taken with. Then I can easily start to introduce other proteins.

WELL - some good news. Since I stopped the NV Lamb intro as of yesterday, the four P's all ate a little more of the NVorg. Chicken tonight. We are geting back on track. It is just awful when they decide something doesn't smell right how put off they become and just refuse to even touch the next meal. Tough little cookies, those four.

Walden and Wendall - again had 1 oz. of NV Lamb and 1/2 oz. of NVorg. chicken. Those two are getting fatter, I have to weigh them. I think the Lamb is putting more weight on them . I just want to get rid of the NV Lamb quickly. Wilbur won't even touch the NV Lamb. Henry will though - but he is fat too because he gets everyone's leftovers. I can always count on him to clean up the plates. One of the benefits of having dogs when transitioning cats to raw. The dog's can eat the leftovers Although, Wilbur is very picky too.

SOME SHOCKING NEWS .... I had Waldens/Wendalls bowls sitting on the counter with the NV lamb and the NV chicken in them. I turned my back for a moment to get the enzymes and turned back to see Pipsqueak sniffing the bowls. I froze ...... He started licking the NV Chicken Of course, didn't go near the Lamb - but this is the first time I ever saw him even be tempted to try the raw without a topping or mixed in with canned. Could we be on to something here I was blown away. He only licked - but to me that was a huge one for the record

THAT'S what I wanted to say instead of "for the record"...... "A small victory". The words just wouldn't come to mind, a brain fart. Thanks for filling in the holes for me...... I need help with that from time to time.... See, you help even when you don't know it.

THAT'S what I wanted to say instead of "for the record"...... "A small victory". The words just wouldn't come to mind, a brain fart. Thanks for filling in the holes for me...... I need help with that from time to time.... See, you help even when you don't know it.

I don't see anything - and I wouldn't mind whatever it was anyway

Todays meals went fairly well .... Perla is a bit off schedule though. I forgot she hates Evanger's canned foods. So she ran off this morning. I gave her a whole freeze-dried pattie at lunch today. S&C Surf/Turf. Then that blew dinner for her and she didn't even come down to eat. Everyone else including PIPSQUEAK had a total of 1 ounce of NV chicken today. The two W's have had four ounces of raw today. Lamb and chicken. I really need to cut those two back. They are getting fatter. Gained about 4 ounces ...... I need to bring them down to three ounces daily for a few days . They won't be happy about that.

SO Received the Nature's Menu today . OMG is that meat beautiful - if you can call meat that . Such a different look than NV and even S&C which has an unnatural color to me. I am very, very excited to try this meat. Have one Lamb patty defrosting in the fridge. Will start with the lamb since the cats are familiar with that protein. I will be very, very skimpy on the first serving. I plan to intro this in the morning at around 20% or less each. I have to be careful with Pip - especially if he likes it - I don't want any . I REALLY REALLY hope the cats DO like this brand. I haven't decided if I will intro this with canned only OR mixed with the NVorg. Chicken. I will for sure keep Walden and Wendall on 100% raw with this intro. using NVorg. as a base. But the four P's. I think I will need to know IF they like the NM Lamb so will probably intro this with EVO or Core. I am really excited about the look and smell of this meat. The NM Lamb does NOT smell like NV Lamb or S&C Lamb

Yes, those fat boys are on the Enzymes and Probiotic supplement.... you mean that can cause weight gain??!! I cannot believe this... they are really porking out. I have to get them to drop a pound or two - this is not healthy for them. They are such little piggies too. I sure wish my other four would have a bit of their appetites I will cut back on their amounts starting tomorrow. Since I feed them in the foster room, this will be easy. When I feed them downstairs with the other's, they are finished in seconds flat and try to push their way to the kitties with A.D.D.

Oh don't worry - I will be intro'ing this one very, very slowly. I do not want any rejection by means of and Been there, done that

Let me tell you, when I opened the box and saw the quality of the meat - I was shocked Seriously, made NV, S&C and even Primal look so bad - almost like those brands are really NOT meat after all. Nature's Menu is truly MEAT I think I will try to give them a tiny piece of the meat and see what happens. This will be funny too. I will put a tiny bit in each bowl and see what they do I wonder - will they gobble it up or just look at their plate in astonishment at the teeny, tiny piece of meat. They will think I have lost my mind I was also surprised that the Lamb did not have the repelling smell to me. I hate the way the S&C and Nv Lamb smells The NM Lamb smells wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will see - I will let you know tomorrow

OH - I also received (free of charge ) a package of Nature's Menu freeze-dried beef treats. The cats went bonkers for them - I just offered a little piece to each of them. Would be great if this worked as another "topper" or "kitty crack"

Yep - those brands are very dry - I have always added a little warm water to the NV though - and then I can pick out those HUGE bones. I think you will be very impressed with NM too