- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #21
Laurie, I am not thinking of the big picture right now. It would be too overhwelming if I thought of this switch as "Step 1 to raw." I don't even know if she would like raw anyway.
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From bags to cans after 16 years
- Thread starter emilymaywilcha
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #22
The vet was very clear: dental in January. He probably would not say that if he thought a tooth needs to be extracted ASAP. She eats enough food every day, so I am not going to insist on taking her back before January without any visible signs of discomfort.
The logo is done. Now I am waiting for my letterhead.
Bleeding gums IS a visible sign of discomfort. Cats are masters of hiding pain, and we know that.... There is no way for a vet to have a clear picture of the kitty's mouth, including what teeth need to be extracted, unless the kitty is under anesthesia and x-rays are performed..... just so you know..... Very little is shown in an awake/regular vet exam, compared with when the cat is on the table on a dental - I can assure you, I never know what to expect before I leave them for a dental's appointment. Including if there is an infection or not.....
Be aware that for an older gal, gingivitis, bleeding gums, can be a sign of periodontitis, which can lead to kidney disease, liver disease, and that is no piece of cake to deal with...
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I agree. Everytime I go they always stress that after xrays and exam when cat is asleep they will call to discuss if anything came up.
If a vet told me to wait that long I would find a new vet for a 2nd opinion.
A tooth may not need to be extracted now but come in that many months it could be completly different story.
Exactly, my thoughts. :nod: I would not wait and there is always Care Credit. With bleeding gums... nope... I would not wait and IF my vet said to wait, I would find another vet. A senior cat needs much more impeccable dental care then a young cat.
Well, I'm assuming you don't want to move her to two or three meals a day right away anyway. :lol3:
Emily, Here is what I did with Lucky - she was a die hard kibble addict, as I said, and free-fed. She was going through some health issues too, so it scared me to death to have her stop eating..... So I didn't want to risk that in any way.....
I established meal times - 3 meals - that was going to be my goal.
The meal times were (and still are) around 8:30 am, around 6pm, and late at night, around 11-11:30 pm
Lucky LOVES eating with me... She was always free-fed in a feeding station.
So, here is what I did, it worked 100% stress free, on her time, and she didn't even notice:
I picked a different spot to feed her - outside of her feeding station.
During those three meal times, in the morning, early evening, and late night, I would sit down with her, and put a plate down, with fresh kibbles (kitties love fresh kibbles), and sit there with her for about 20 minutes, waiting for her to eat. After she was done, I would pull her plate, and that was it.
The other plate, in the feeding station, would still have kibbles - she still had access to food 24x7.
What happened was, because she LOVED to eat with me, she started eating more during meal times, and less out of the feeding station - I made sure to measure the two.
When I was comfortable enough, I pulled the plate from the kibble station during the night.
Then after a little while, I noticed she was eating ONLY during meal times - very little or nothing from the feeding station. I then pulled that plate. She was now 100% on schedule.
This was her choice - The treat was my company...... But she chose it..... There was not stress at all.....
Not to put her on schedule, not to transition her to raw.....
Hope this helps!
I established meal times - 3 meals - that was going to be my goal.
The meal times were (and still are) around 8:30 am, around 6pm, and late at night, around 11-11:30 pm
Lucky LOVES eating with me... She was always free-fed in a feeding station.
So, here is what I did, it worked 100% stress free, on her time, and she didn't even notice:
I picked a different spot to feed her - outside of her feeding station.
During those three meal times, in the morning, early evening, and late night, I would sit down with her, and put a plate down, with fresh kibbles (kitties love fresh kibbles), and sit there with her for about 20 minutes, waiting for her to eat. After she was done, I would pull her plate, and that was it.
The other plate, in the feeding station, would still have kibbles - she still had access to food 24x7.
What happened was, because she LOVED to eat with me, she started eating more during meal times, and less out of the feeding station - I made sure to measure the two.
When I was comfortable enough, I pulled the plate from the kibble station during the night.
Then after a little while, I noticed she was eating ONLY during meal times - very little or nothing from the feeding station. I then pulled that plate. She was now 100% on schedule.
This was her choice - The treat was my company...... But she chose it..... There was not stress at all.....
Not to put her on schedule, not to transition her to raw.....
Hope this helps!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #28
You make it look so easy I can't believe it took 35 days to convert Lucky to raw.
It wasn't easy..... But I never gave up.... :nod: There is a difference in between the two....
Lucky is a cat that had never, ever eaten wet - she ran away from it as though it was poison. For her entire life, she was free-fed Kibbles.....
I started very very slowly with her...... and I just kept going.... one day after another......
Yep, it took 35 days for her to lick raw food..... I started by putting these tiny, itty bitty treats in her plate, completely covered with Whole Life powder..... At first she refused to even eat from the plate..... It was certainly easy for her - as I made sure to not stress her..... But sometimes I was stressed like a headless chicken :frusty:
It took 35 days for her to try...... for her to go 100% consistently..... much longer :lol3:
It took a lot of perseverance..... But.... here we are!
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- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #30
I emptied the food container today. Starting tomorrow, when I open a new bag, I will count the days it takes to switch Patricia to three meals a day. I am out of wet food except a Blue Buffalo can she will definitely ignore, so the whole process will be with that last bag.
Hun, if it seems to be stressing her, you might want to consider Carolina's advice in the post #27. :nod: (Leaving the free-fed kibble in one spot, but calling her for meals at the regular times you want to feed her in a new feeding place, and sitting with her while she eats for "meal time.").
Keep us posted!
:rub:
Keep us posted!
:rub:- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #32
I think what stresses her is being told to eat when she is not hungry. She eats a couple bites of wet food and walks away. Later, she eats more of it - if she liked that food. That makes me want to know when she gets hungry as opposed to just wanting extra treats.
Well, then pulling the food, at least at first, is probably a good idea. Don't force her to eat if she's not hungry, but see if her hunger later in the day will work in your favor. 
Emily, why don't you try doing what I did?
IMHO it can work like a charm..... She is an older gal.... Go slowly, and monitor very very well what she eats - don't stress her out. Follow her lead - let her guide you. This isn't a race.... You will get there
IMHO it can work like a charm..... She is an older gal.... Go slowly, and monitor very very well what she eats - don't stress her out. Follow her lead - let her guide you. This isn't a race.... You will get there
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #35
Of course I saw what you did. I am not blind. But you said Lucky ran away from wet food. Patricia eats it if she likes the smell.
I will look at the clock when I see her eat to figure out if she usually gets hungry at the same time (give or take 30 minutes) every day.
Emily, I am not calling you blind. Apparently you didn't understand my post either..... That post was not about transitioning her to raw, or wet.... - that post was about putting her on a schedule, from eating free-fed. That, IMHO will be your biggest challenge, and what Laurie and I are talking about.
We just want to help here..... wow.
Making that really clear - you can't just tell a cat that is used to graze and eat freely throughout the day, to eat on a schedule, when you want. Well, you can, but it can be dangerous too..... It can reduce drastically their food intake - NOT what you want, especially for an older gal.
That was the entire point of what I did - transitioning Lucky from free-feeding to a schedule feeding, safely, and stress-free.
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- #37
I agree making a schedule will be harder than finding the right wet food for her.
That is why I am not thinking about raw food yet.
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I agree with the way Carolina went about the switch. But really if you are thinking of doing raw why try to switch to wet and then to raw? Why not try raw now? I feed mine some raw in addition to the wet.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #39
I never said I will switch her to raw. If that was my plan, this thread would be in the Raw Feeding subforum. But I am not ruling out raw food in the future with a younger cat.
Because Patricia is sixteen, I can understand how you would be concerned about changing her diet too much. Major diet changes in older cats can cause weight loss, which isn't necessarily good. So in my opinion, the trick here is making it so it isn't a major diet change. You have to change Patricia's way of thinking, so she'll end up associating her wet food with good things, like treats. I switched my Candy from kibble to canned when she was twelve, and I had to do something similar.
With Candy, it was at the point where she was becoming dehydrated from the kibble so I needed to switch fast. I started out by putting out a little bit of wet food out with her kibble at meal time, and then if she ate her wet food, she'd get a handful of treats. But if she didn't eat her wet food, she wouldn't get treats...so this kind of brainwashed her into thinking "if I eat that food, that means I get treats...so I better eat it!" :lol3: then I started taking away the kibble slowly (decreasing the amount of kibble in the bowl, increasing the amount of wet food) and she started getting more hungry around the time I would feed her. So I'd put out the wet food, and she'd eat almost all of it (she'd realized that she was only getting food at mealtime).
And it's not like you're not going to know if Patricia is hungry between meals...she'll let you know! :lol3:
With Candy, it was at the point where she was becoming dehydrated from the kibble so I needed to switch fast. I started out by putting out a little bit of wet food out with her kibble at meal time, and then if she ate her wet food, she'd get a handful of treats. But if she didn't eat her wet food, she wouldn't get treats...so this kind of brainwashed her into thinking "if I eat that food, that means I get treats...so I better eat it!" :lol3: then I started taking away the kibble slowly (decreasing the amount of kibble in the bowl, increasing the amount of wet food) and she started getting more hungry around the time I would feed her. So I'd put out the wet food, and she'd eat almost all of it (she'd realized that she was only getting food at mealtime).
And it's not like you're not going to know if Patricia is hungry between meals...she'll let you know! :lol3:
