Just another "starting raw!" thread

[southpaw]

Well, with all of Jinx's issues with his IBD, we're going to give raw a shot. He hadn't responded to the medications he'd been on and he wouldn't eat the prescription diet (smart cat

), so I'm taking matters into my own hands! And as much as my mom hates raw, she's reluctantly agreed to let me do this because at this point, we're all willing to give anything a try to get him comfortable and under control.

So, last night I offered him a spoonful of whole ground up chicken, thinking he'd devour it because he gets pretty excited about anything that's not kibble. To my surprise he was actually really suspicious of it - he'd take a lick, walk away, come back and take another lick, walk away; lather, rinse, repeat. We had chicken for dinner last night so we then offered him some of the leftovers and he eagerly ate that. Stopped at that point because I didn't want to push my luck and cause him to vomit everything up...

This morning I offered the raw again but I decided to mix in just a tiny, tiny bit of a BFF can because he LOOOOVES that stuff. He happily snarfed it all up.

  So now I know I have to do this the "right" way and slowly switch him over - I was kinda trying to avoid that because I figured the sooner he got onto 100% raw, the better off he'd be. Ah well, hopefully he'll take to it quickly.

Also picked up a digestive enzyme/probiotic powder for him today. Hopefully it'll be of some benefit.

The good news is he hasn't vomited.... yet.... but he did start taking metoclopramide last night which is an anti-nausea medication. But the Cerenia he was on last week (also anti-nausea) did not help him, so I am not sure if this medication is actually helping or if it's just a coincidence.

We'll never transition to prey model because I can't see him ever taking to THAT. But I'll be happy just to get him on ground raw.

 

[ldg]

Welcome to your new RAWesome Adventures! :lol3:

I was pretty sure we'd be feeding commercial raw for a long time, if not forever. I didn't want the "headache" of figuring out everything for frankenprey, and I didn't have the confidence. Well, the cats got sick of ground, but like chunks, so I really didn't have much choice in the matter. :lol3: And figuring the needs for frankenprey really isn't all that difficult. :lol3:

.... Sounds like your little man may pull one of those on you.

he takes to it well and it's all he'll need! :heart2:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yep, my oldest, almost 17 and free fed kibble his entire life, would rather have Frankenprey than the ground up stuff

, so never say "never".  (however, because my brain isn't capable of doing one thing for one cat and another thing for another cat, they're all transitioning together, starting with the frozen ground nutritionally complete meals.  Started them less than a week ago. 

 

[feralvr]

HI Welcome to another one in our Raw Campground :lol3:. We try to have lots of fun too because this process can make you crazy and it is great to have friends to share with. I also have found that my cat's seem to prefer chunks of fresh organic chicken. Not all of them, of course, that would be too easy for me and they certainly are not making this easy on momma But I am starting to offer raw chunks of meat with dinner. Two of mine are 100% commercial raw and took to it immediately, the other four are hit or miss on any given day.

I felt the same way your mom about raw. But once you get started - the concern and worry about handling the meat just goes away. You get a routine down, taking proper precautions, it just becomes habitual. I could do it in my sleep now. :lol3: Good luck with Jinx!!!!!!!!! Sounds like so far so good :bigthumb:

 

[southpaw]

That's interesting about them preferring chunks over ground... lol I guess not too surprising though, I know Jinx loves chunky canned food. But it would take A LOT of patience on my part to get him to actually attempt to eat bones.

So far he's being a good boy and I don't have to bribe him too much to get him to eat the raw! No vomiting either, which is probably just from the meds he's on, but it's nice to see him get a break from that discomfort.

  And definitely nice to see that he's at least not any worse.

His vet is going to think I'm a nutcase for doing this. I did ask her yesterday what she thought about a raw diet, and she didn't say NOT to do it and she didn't sound totally against it.... she just said that at this point she doesn't think it'll help. But inside, she was probably thinking I'm crazy haha!

 

[ldg]

That's interesting about them preferring chunks over ground... lol I guess not too surprising though, I know Jinx loves chunky canned food. But it would take A LOT of patience on my part to get him to actually attempt to eat bones. :lol3:

So far he's being a good boy and I don't have to bribe him too much to get him to eat the raw! No vomiting either, which is probably just from the meds he's on, but it's nice to see him get a break from that discomfort. :heart3:   And definitely nice to see that he's at least not any worse.

His vet is going to think I'm a nutcase for doing this. I did ask her yesterday what she thought about a raw diet, and she didn't say NOT to do it and she didn't sound totally against it.... she just said that at this point she doesn't think it'll help. But inside, she was probably thinking I'm crazy haha!

Actually, Carolina and I are both feeding boneless Frankenprey. We both provide commercial raw for the morning meal. Mine is bone-in ground, hers is boneless (calcium supplemented commercial raw).

For the frankenprey meals, we're using NOW Calcium hydroxyapatite (freeze dried bones - NOT bone meal). http://www.thecatsite.com/t/241582/boneless-frankerprey-anyone-does-this

 

[southpaw]

Very cool! I'll have to look at those links when I get home from work.

So far, no vomit since Monday! That's gigantic for him. And I know the anti nausea meds have to be contributing to that but I think getting him off all the yucky processed foods is playing a big role too!

 

[ldg]

Well, you'll see from the discussion today, the boneless frankenprey is still a work-in-progress. :lol3:

 

[southpaw]

I'm discovering today that he really doesn't like bison. LOL I am trying to use up the samples that the store gave me, before I go out this weekend to actually purchase some tubs of the ground mixes.  Note to self: don't buy bison

I am a little concerned about how I'm going to wean him off the canned, so that he's only eating 100% raw. With the raw chicken, I just have to mix in maybe 1/2tsp of  the BFF tuna/pumpkin flavor to get him to eat it. But since tuna is SUCH a potent flavor/smell, I wonder if that's going to make it more difficult to cut back on it? Maybe it would be easier if I used a canned food that was a little more "bland," like the Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken, so it wouldn't be as noticeable if I didn't add as much?

I know it's only day 3 of raw so I shouldn't be so worried about that yet -  but I can't help it!

 

[carolina]

Have you tried to give it plain? What happened?
How is the vomiting? What is he eating? how much raw? How much canned?

Yep... Bison was considered nasty here too....... the only one who ate, her guts out :lol3:

 

[southpaw]

If I give plain raw to him, he'll sniff at it and then walk away. And then he'll keep coming back to his "feeding spot" wanting food, but he just won't eat it unless it has canned food mixed in.

All in all,  he's eating more raw than he is canned. If I were to give him a heaping tablespoon of raw, I would only add maybe 1/2 a teaspoon of canned to it. It just seems like it's going to be a very slooooow process weaning him off that 1/2 teaspoon! Maybe it's just a matter of finding a meat he really likes. So far we've just tried chicken and bison - the bison definitely didn't go over well, but he did finally eat it, I just had to mix in a little more of the canned food.

He has not vomited since the 12th, so 3 days now. But the night we started raw was the same night he started getting metoclopramide (aka Reglan, an anti-nausea drug), so I don't think I'll know if the diet is making a difference until we run out of medication.

And I hope to God he doesn't have THAT bad of a reaction to the bison

 

[ldg]

How much longer on the reglan?

!!!!!! :cross:

I haven't tried bison, but beef was a big flop here. Mine (so far) like poultry, pork, and lamb. :nod: I haven't tried fresh rabbit yet, but ground rabbit was a real bust. Turkey, they don't like ground at all - but they like it fresh. :dk: I've also found that it has to be in a really tight temperature range. Can't be right out of the fridge, but can't be room temp (or God forbid, warmer! ) either. :lol3:

 

[southpaw]

He's got A LOT more time on the reglan... I believe I have 2 months worth.

But my vet didn't really have a game plan in mind when she gave them to me, it was more of a "try this in the meantime" while she figures out what she wants to do next. I'll be working with her again on Monday and she probably won't be too happy to hear that I'm trying raw. She  wanted me to put him back on C/D (since he wouldn't touch the hydrolyzed protein diet) but I am NOT putting him back on a food that I know he doesn't do well on!

What I might do is give it another week or two, or whenever we get into a better groove with this raw stuff, and see what happens if I take him off the meds. But I don't want to risk it just yet, because it is really nice giving his body a break from the vomiting... don't want to rock the boat yet.

I just wish cats weren't so finicky! It's so funny watching Jinx snub his food and walk away, while my dogs are sitting there all excited and wagging their tails like WE'LL EAT IT!!!

They are so much easier lol. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and try as many meats as I can to see what he likes. I hope he doesn't have expensive tastes.... I can get rabbit and lamb, but they are pricey!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

All in all,  he's eating more raw than he is canned. If I were to give him a heaping tablespoon of raw, I would only add maybe 1/2 a teaspoon of canned to it. It just seems like it's going to be a very slooooow process weaning him off that 1/2 teaspoon! Maybe it's just a matter of finding a meat he really likes. So far we've just tried chicken and bison - the bison definitely didn't go over well, but he did finally eat it, I just had to mix in a little more of the canned food.

Holy cow, that's GREAT!  You've only been at this for 3 days and he's already eating that much raw?  I'm SO jealous!!!!!  Officially we've been at it one week now, and my babies sometimes still won't eat any raw at all during their meals, and sometimes they may eat one tiny mealball, with assistance from a favorite topper. Slow process?  Seems pretty fast to me.  Wanna switch????

(I've got one cat who's on Pepcid AC, Metroclopramide, Cosequin, and Miralax ALL the time,and he still throws up...he's almost 17 with CRF), and then they all take probiotics and digestive enzymes.  Sure you don't want to switch? )  Just kidding, I would NOT trade my babies for the world, but am trying to make a point that your conversion to raw seems like a piece of cake!!

 

[feralvr]

Good for you - knowing that Jinx just won't do well on the C/D - you know your cat better than anyone and what works for him! I think you are being very smart about the meds and taking things very slowly and I wouldn't want to rock the boat either :sunk: BECAUSE we all know how easily the boat CAN be rocked :lol3:

The progress you have made is just incredible with Jinx so far... Hope it continues. I have always gotten stuck at about the 75% raw and 25% canned part. The four fussies I have just won't eat 100% - just plain meat - go figure.

I have two older dogs too. BUT one of them is not so well anymore - I also never thought he would ever snub his nose at food. Well - now I am spending just as much time trying to get him to eat anything. He can be just as finicky as a cat now

AND :lol3: of course, they seem to like the expensive meats Keep up the good work - your SO lucky - it seems Jinx is taking to raw rather quickly

 

[feralvr]

I have to say - that using the BFF was a problem for me and the cat's were getting addicted to the tuna and it was just covering up the raw all together. It seems these "topper's and tuna-based canned foods" that we use as a solution to get them started on eating raw, end up being a problem in the end because then they won't eat anything without the "topper" . I do use the Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken and am having great success with it and adding in the raw fresh chicken meat. I also worry that I will never be able to just serve them 100% raw without canned food. Sometimes I get the feeling that my four fussies will never be 100% raw - but that is alright with me. I refuse to stress about it and get all worked up over it. At least I have them at 50% - 75% raw :nod: better than none at all.

AND DAY 3 WOW I am almost two months - 60 days - and still having problems I think you are doing just great

 

[southpaw]

I have to say - that using the BFF was a problem for me and the cat's were getting addicted to the tuna and it was just covering up the raw all together. It seems these "topper's and tuna-based canned foods" that we use as a solution to get them started on eating raw, end up being a problem in the end because then they won't eat anything without the "topper"

Yeah that's what's starting to nag at the back of my mind, tuna is a pretty distinct flavor and is probably covering up the taste of all the raw meat! My original reasoning for trying it was because it is a strong flavor that I know he likes... but that might be backfiring now

Thanks for the encouragement, guys

  I was just getting frustrated because he's normally a very easy cat to change foods with. And given how much he LOVES canned food, I thought he would put raw meat in the same class - guess not! I know he's giving me a pretty easy time compared to other kitties on this forum, but I was expecting him to make it even easier LOL. I should be happy with where we are less than a week into it though, and even happier that it's not causing him any digestive upset!

The pork I gave him today went over WAY better than the bison did!

  He's probably thinking "thanks mom, for giving me something EDIBLE today!"

No vomit, everything in the litter box looks good... woohoo!

 

[carolina]

Yey for no vomiting!!!
And double yey for the pork!!! Yep, pork here is the meat I can count on for an easy breezy meal - you put it down and it is gone in seconds! They eat chunks though, I never tried ground.... I know Laurie feeds ground - I think she feeds the chunks too. CHEAP and delicious - can't get much better than that!
I just got Rabbit from Hare Today - I did not trim the bones out yet - comes in chunks, and it does have bones in it.... hopefully not tooo much.... :cross: will let you guys know - it is not that expensive.... The expensive meat I got in there was Venison.... hopefully they will like it and there will be no
Will see - always an adventure!
In here it goes like this:
As far as the chunks goes (from most liked to least favorite)
#1 - Pork, # 2 - Chicken Breast, #3 - Turkey Thighs, #4 - Chicken Thighs
Hearts:
#1 - Turkey Heart, #2 Duck heart, #3 Chicken Heart
Both like chicken Gizzards
Organs:
Chicken Liver, Beef Kidney is #2, Hope will not eat or will sometimes

Grounds:
#1: Rad Cat Lamb, #2 Rad Cat Turkey and HT Rabbit, #3 NM Lamb, #4 Rad Cat Chicken

 

[feralvr]

The pork I gave him today went over WAY better than the bison did!   He's probably thinking "thanks mom, for giving me something EDIBLE today!" :lol3: No vomit, everything in the litter box looks good... woohoo!

GREAT news!!!!! Pork it IS :lol3:

 

[ldg]

on pork! :lol3: Yep, I feed both ground pork and pork chunks. Mine like the chunks, and a few are getting finicky about ground in general. EVEN their beloved pork :lol3: