A New "Raw"some Beginning... (yup - another one LOL) - Page 9

I couldn't resist and did order another box of Fortiflora I just want to have it on hand for a back up to the back up's . It works for Wilbur too and he has been not doing well lately in the eating department ....

Good news: Walden and Wendall LOVE the Nature's Menu Turkey. I really believe that part of why those boys will eat anything is due to their starvation and abuse as kittens - they were only fed scraps anyway They are just willing to eat anything I put in front of them. But they DO seem to just love meat. They are my saving grace through all of this - if they were like the other four - I would seriously give this up and try again down the road.

The four P's. WELL - they have decided it is MUTINY OF THE RAW - and have banned together in their fight against me and against the raw. I am even trying to get them to eat canned food again - They all seem to be off their meals and not trusting their meals. ALSO - I refuse to give them the Fortiflora. This morning I fed canned Fromm Chicken - very simple, right ???!!! WRONG...... WHERE IS THE FORTIFLORA, MOMMA!!!!! beg, beg, beg. I took all of their bowls away. Perla ran upstairs. The other three persisted and were hungry. SO I opened up a can of Wellness Beef/Chicken and they finally ate that without the Fortiflora. I have created very spoiled little monsters here and they are really driving me to the nut house .......

When I went upstairs - Perla was waiting I rehydrated 1 1/2 ounce of S&C Lamb. She licked her plate clean. THANK goodness for S&C. I am forgoing raw at the moment because I am now freaking out that they are being picky about wet food too. It is too much of a worry and then having to deal with Wilbur possibly taking a turn for the worse.

I am feeding them all the bedtime meal of the rehydrated S&C. That seems to be working beautifully. I don't want to offer the NV right now because of the bones and I am a bit worried about that too as Walden and Wendall were getting constipated. Now that they are on Nature's Menu - their poops look better and they are more comfortable. I plan to start over with the four Pickies after a few more days of getting them eating well again for breakfast and dinner meals. Will offer the raw meat in the "raw morning circle party" that we have on the floor That works too for Perkins and Presley. But as soon as I put it on a plate ........ they are truly going to make momma nutso.

I have not yet offered the fresh raw organic chicken breast I purchase at Costco yesterday. Will be trying that later

Perla will do that on many days like Spooky. For some reason, she just doesn't show up for the dinner meal ... But she did that before raw began. She seems to just want two meals a day. I always have to try to get more into her in both of those meals.

It is quite comical how backed off of their plates they have become. I think what I need to do is not offer raw at every single meal when we start up again. I am thinking I might go back to four "small" meals a day - and making one during the day just plain raw meat..... no canned. That way they will learn that every meal will not contain raw. The bedtime meal is always the rehydrated S&C - so that has been working quite well. SO if I can get at least ONE raw meat meal during the day then I would be happy with that. I would just cut back on the amount they get with the two canned meals a day to start. Not sure - I am just tossing around some ideas here. I learned that if the raw meat is offered at every meal and they are already presuming that they will not like the meal - then I am fighting a losing battle here. Especially with Presley. He finally tonight went to his bowl - slowly - without me having to gently push him to it. He sniffed and realized there was no raw again and he ate his whole dinner tonight.

I did a little test with Presley yesterday for dinner. I pulled out the BIG GUNS and their absolute favorite - yep - Fancy Feast. I offered Presley a small amount of just the Fancy Feast - he cleaned his plate. Then I took his plate to add some more and slipped in such a teeny amount of Nature's Menu Turkey - smaller than pea size. Set the plate in front of him. He took one smell, then another and then sat down looking at me. I took the plate back and got another plate and added the Fancy Feast and offered it to him again. Nothing but the Fancy Feast. He sniffed again, and then dug in and finished the plate. This is what I have been dealing with. All four of the P's seems to do the same thing.

Today - I cut up small pieces of the fresh organic chicken breast. Of course, Walden and Wendall LOVED the fresh meat. It was wonderful to see them chewing and chewing. I offered it to Perkins - sniffed and sniffed but no licking. Presley same thing. Perla looked at the meat and actually backed up like I was offering her something so God awful and gave me a disgusted look . Pipsqueak - forget it - he just kept turning his head away from the meat. Then I cooked the meat a little bit - and they ate some of the cooked chicken breast. SO I might have to sear the meat first just to get them started eating it. I would really like them to start enjoying the fresh meat a few times a week for their teeth. I would offer it at a special time of the day - separate from other meals. I think that is the trick - I have to offer the raw meats separate from their regular meals. AND offer the raw in another place other than the spots where they eat regular meals.

Sorry so long..... I am just thinking this through in here in my post .... I really want to keep trying with these four fussies.

Meal time went fairly well. Perla for some reason didn't want breakfast today .... We had to run out this morning so I will try to offer her something soon. The four P's just had canned food. I really won't report on them anymore until I decide to try again with them. It has taken way too much time to get these four pickies to eat and now I am having trouble getting them back on track with even canned food. I will be offering them a raw "treat" in the middle of the day and will see how that goes. I will put Fortiflora on the raw treat to try to get them to eat the meat. I realized I have used way too much fortiflora. I have gone through two whole boxes in 30 days ...... Not good. That is almost two packets a day - of course that includes Wilbur too.

Wendall and Walden had 50% NM Lamb and 50% NM Turkey They are doing great on the raw and just loving their meals .


HAPPY EATING KITTIES - ONE AND ALL
Edited by Feralvr - 2/23/12 at 9:50am

THUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PIPSQUEAK just ate one whole NV organic chicken by hand AND wouldn't you know - that is the ONE brand I want to stop feeding because of the sodium Montmorillonite Clay... and the bone shards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW what do I do I have a bag to finish up that is in the freezer and I just took out some for the lunchtime "treat" and it seems that the cat's will eat the NV chicken from my hand. Would it be alright to offer them one medallion a day ? Presley also gobbles down the NV org. chicken too as does Perkins. They all just eat it from my hand with nothing to flavor the meat. I tried this with the Nature's Menu Turkey - it was a no go with them. I wonder if it would be alright to keep offering the NV Chicken just once a day to get them back on some raw meat Any thoughts?

This JUST happened right now - Pipsqueak eating the meat like that BUT he won't eat anything else, only the NV Chicken - but that is a start right??!!

WOOHOO!!! Just read in the Commercial raw thread that the Montmorillonite Clay... in Nature's Variety IS CALCUIM not sodium!!! CORRECT ??!!!!! I can safely go ahead with Nature's Variety then!!!! Just pick out the bone shards

Walden was at the vet yesterday . He was very, very uncomfortable yesterday about noon - and was in and out of the box straining to poop. He has been constipated on and off since starting raw. I wanted an xray. He was full of bones !!!!!! Dr. Mark is not worried and said these will pass BUT no more bone-in commercial raw food for him right now. Both Walden and Wendall have been eating up the Nature's Variety chicken and lamb that I have in the freezer. IF I feed that to anyone from now on - I will be picking through each and every medallion to de-bone..... But Walden will not be getting any bone-in raw meat right now. He loves the Nature's Menu - so that is all he will get right now. He is better today on the Miralax and pumpkin. Pooped comfortably this morning

NOW - good news is that Pipsqueak, Perkins and Presley ALL come around at about noon each day for a "de-boned" NVorg. Chicken medallion. YEP Pipsqueak IS loving it and will eat it directly from my hand (which is good by hand - because I can feel if there are any bone shards) . Mealtime for the four P's has been going beautifully now that they are only eating canned food again with no raw mixed in. Presley is finally trusting his meals again, thank goodness. This just has been a freakin' joke with these four PIA's. SO for right now - they are getting a little raw for lunch upstairs and of course, they get their rehydrated S&C at bedtime. Not too bad IMO. I just don't know when I will feel comfortable adding the meat into their wet meals again. I will start over and try again, but when ..... not sure

p.s. OH I did get Pipsqueak to eat a teeny, tiny piece of Nature's Menu Turkey from my hand today too BOY OH BOY - this IS the slowest process though - many steps forward and then many steps backwards and sometimes you get stuck in the backwards for a bit. OH WELL - so what....... life has been much easier for me lately

Thanks, Laurie I AM a very happy momma this morning!! Walden and Wendall had NM Lamb for breakfast. The four P's had Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken. At about ten o'clock the four P's were in the kitchen ( on the counter) looking for that "special" treat!!! YEP - looking for raw. SO I got out some NV Organic Chicken - deboned it - and served it up. Pipsqueak had a whole medallion, Presley had a whole medallion, and Perkins had a whole medallion !! Perla just wanted the WL rehydrated - so I gave in and let her had some of that. THEN I decided to try the fresh organic chicken breast - rolled the pieces in WL. Perkins (who has been rejecting the fresh meat) ate about four pieces, chewed and chewed, and was looking and begging for more. Presley and Pipsqueak took a few lick!! Perla in her usual style gave me that God awful look of disgust and off, turned and gave me another one for the road .....

I am just so happy how this is working out right now. The cat's are now thinking that the raw IS a treat!!! It is going very well for me this way instead of making their meals about the raw - I am making the raw seem like a treat in the middle of the day!!!!! MOMMA IS SNEAKY

YES- Sally..... Laurie said it all . I am still using the Nature's Variety chicken and just pick out the larger sharp bones now. The ca'ts are just not digesting them as readily and easily YET. In time, their systems will become much more efficient in digesting bones. I do think NV has too many bones in their ready made meats - but now my cats are liking the chicken so I can't give that up Frankenstein Prey IS much more natural for the cat's to eat and digest because that is what they would instinctively catch and eat in the wild. The bones would not be those large, sharp ground up pieces of bone in the commercially ground raw products. It is fine to use them - just don't serve the medallion without going through it with your fingers and picking out the large pieces.

Oh - I don't think the WL is raw. But Perla just loves it and I do give that to her as a snack mid-day. I want her to get used to the "snack" time and hopefully she will be brave enough to try some of the raw "treats" soon. She is the most timid cat I have and will back off totally if the other pushy boys come around and get nosey. They are a real PIA when I am trying to give Perla special momma time with treats.... the boys just ruin everything

RIGHT I am certainly figuring out ways to outsmart them

Perkins has some diarrhea tonight. Could the fresh chicken cause this? He did probably eat about 1 ounce of it at lunchtime... First time eating it too.

Dinner went very well - as expected. The two W's had NM Turkey. The four P's had Tiki Cat Chicken and Egg. They LOVED it. I am really getting them on some new canned food - chicken shredded so I can begin mixing in the NV chicken again OR some fresh chicken. SOON I am thinking of trying that again. I had better not rush it though. So far this plan is working for us and they are getting 50% raw

I AM making HUGE progress and wait until you all hear about my morning

Thanks, Carolina ... Perkins poop was just soft and stinky. BUT he has really been eating a lot of canned food and even some kibbles over the last week. Now that we are getting back on more raw I know the poops will firm up again. He has been fine since that one stinky blob.

Yep - we all are or were having some issues with the sharp, larger sized bones in some of the commercially made diets. I am just picking out the bones and cartilage now.

LAURIE GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Perkins did the same thing as Ming Loy this morning YIKES. I was feeding them the raw NV Chicken medallion and all of the sudden he was backing up and pawing at his mouth and gagging. It was pretty scary to see. I thought I got out all of the bone fragments but apparently not. He was fine a minute later and somehow dislodged it on his own.

WOO HOO - SNEAKY WORKS!!!!!!!!

YEP!!!!!! I am ONE HAPPY MOMMA this morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning I tried a new technique and it worked beautifully. I fed the four P's downstairs a wet meal CORE. BUT only about 25% of a meal . They were furious with me and still very hungry. SO I said "OK - come on upstairs and you will get the special raw treat" (HEE HEE - SNEAKY ) They all came running after me. Pipsqueak, Presley and Perkins all had 1.5 ounces of NV Organic Chicken each!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing on it - just meat - no topper's. I set out paper plates and they all devoured the meat. I did de-bone it but not good enough because Perkins had the same problem that Ming Loy for about a minute and then was fine. It was scary to see though Perla didn't want any - so I gave her the rehydrated WL. I want her to get used to this routine too and hopefully she will eventually join in on this morning ritual. I am very happy about this because I really don't want to have to do the mid-day raw treat, would rather make it "part" of their breakfast and I found a way . NOW I can just get the raw into them this way in the mornings. Doesn't take that much more time either. Walden and Wendall are still in their room so they can't bother the four P's and push them away from the raw food.

Perkins also had some fresh chicken again this morning. Presley is not sure yet and neither is Pipsqueak - about the fresh organic chicken. One thing I have learned about this whole process, is that if you just keep offering and keep offering and keep offering eventually they will take that lick and then that will lead to a bite and then you are on your way. BUT setbacks are still possible and I get that now.

Five weeks ago when I started this I never thought Pipsqueak would ever eat raw meat - on it's own - just the meat. I was wrong, and I hate to be wrong , but on this one I am glad I was wrong. Just don't give up - whoever is reading this - DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is just the next step in this "new starting over" raw process. I am hoping I can add the raw into their bowls at mealtime downstairs again. But I will certainly not go there anytime soon. This is working SO well. This was THE best and one of the biggest meals they have had in awhile. They each had about 2 ounces of food just for breakfast

p.s. OH - can't forget about mentioning my awesome raw eating boys - the two W's. They each had 1 ounce of NM Lamb and a few pieces of cut up fresh organic chicken

Oooooooooooo - You are my "sneaky" assistant in this process!!!! GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!!! Will try that. Yep - I want her coming around asking for the "treats" too. The problem is the five very pushy boys. Whenever she is about to take a lick or a bite, someone tries to push their way in and I have to push them away - which sometimes startles Perla and then she runs off SO annoying. AND if I bring her into the bathroom, then she thinks it IS a trick - even though it IS . But she just knows. If she just casually comes into the kitchen asking on her own - then I have a better chance with her. I just can't run around shooing the other five away while the is trying to taste something new. Just an ongoing dilemma .... Will try the boiled chicken

Another GREAT morning over here in my Rawsome Camp!!!!!!!!!!! The new breakfast arrangement is working almost too good to be true (better add-in some of these ) Same thing - 25% wet food downstairs in their spots. Then upstairs we go to the raw treat spots (although it IS a meal - but they don't know it ) Pipsqueak, Presley and Perkins ALL had 1.5 ounces of NV organic chicken . Presley and Perkins also had fresh cut chicken. Pipsqueak is still unsure about that one Perla had the lightly boiled chicken (thanks, Laurie ). I am a very happy momma with this new "sneaky" plan. I did try to offer a teeny bit of Nature's Menu Turkey - they only wanted the Nature's Variety. I have not yet tried the Nature's Menu Chicken - maybe, maybe, maybe they will like the NM Chicken.

Walden and Wendall had NM Turkey and fresh cut up chicken this morning. My perfectly well-behaved raw eating boys