Behavioral Issues? Or just plain spoiled!

melrai · Feb 17, 2013

Hey friends!

I hope everyone is doing great! I was wondering about an issue I am facing with my female kitty, Ruby, today and I thought I'd just post a question on here to see if anyone has had the same problems.

My beautiful Ruby is an INCREDIBLY picky eater, I'm sure we all have one of those! Ha ha. Lately, she has been a little iffy about her Chicken Organ raw meat mix. Today, for example, she kept crying for food - but once I put her meal down, she would smell it and walk away

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melrai
Feb 17, 2013

Melissa

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 17, 2013

Oh boy, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I've got 3, and there is only 1 that I can count on to always eat his food. The other two drive me nuts! Yes, IMHO, it is absolutely possible that she may just not be hungry enough to eat. You know your cat. Is she food driven or not? My Stinkpot would rather play than eat. Always has

. So...sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get him to eat. Callie, on the other hand, is a comfort eater. Whenever she is upset, she runs to her dish, even if it's empty! But she won't necessarily eat if there is food in it at meal time

.

What I learned is to not keep putting different toppers on. If I put one on and they don't eat, then they are not going to eat right then, no matter how much begging and pleading I do. I WILL put it away (in the cupboard) for up to 45 minutes to give them one more chance, and sometimes they will eat a little, sometimes they won't. Their choice. And if I ignore them, they are MORE likely to eat.

I DO worry about doing this, but so far, eventually those two have broken down and eaten, and eaten well within 24 hours.

As far as dehydrated, are you talking about things like Stella and Chewy's, or are you talking about something like Wholelife, which is not nutritionally complete, but which lots of use as toppers? You can google both of those and respond back, then I'll know more what you're looking for

.

melrai · Feb 17, 2013

mrsgreenjeens said:
Oh boy, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I've got 3, and there is only 1 that I can count on to always eat his food. The other two drive me nuts! Yes, IMHO, it is absolutely possible that she may just not be hungry enough to eat. You know your cat. Is she food driven or not? My Stinkpot would rather play than eat. Always has

. So...sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get him to eat. Callie, on the other hand, is a comfort eater. Whenever she is upset, she runs to her dish, even if it's empty! But she won't necessarily eat if there is food in it at meal time

.

I'm so happy someone understands! Ha ha. She isn't necessarily food-driven, but I know she is hungry! She cries out for food! Just not what she has in front of her? Does that sounds familiar to you?
She definitely likes to play more than eat her food, especially in the morning. It's weird though, cause when I started with the raw, she absolutely loved it.

What I learned is to not keep putting different toppers on. If I put one on and they don't eat, then they are not going to eat right then, no matter how much begging and pleading I do. I WILL put it away (in the cupboard) for up to 45 minutes to give them one more chance, and sometimes they will eat a little, sometimes they won't. Their choice. And if I ignore them, they are MORE likely to eat.

Okay, that's good advice. When she doesn't eat, I just keep piling on the toppers till she does - I have no patience ha ha. I'm gonna try the ignoring route to see what that does. It's just so hard to ignore the total confusion!

I DO worry about doing this, but so far, eventually those two have broken down and eaten, and eaten well within 24 hours.

She has eaten today, not very much but she has. Could there still be a dangerous risk even if she doesn't get her FULL intake for the day?

As far as dehydrated, are you talking about things like Stella and Chewy's, or are you talking about something like Wholelife, which is not nutritionally complete, but which lots of use as toppers? You can google both of those and respond back, then I'll know more what you're looking for

.

I was interested in Stella and Chewy's, yes! I didn't know it was nutritionally balanced? That's awesome! I aready use Wholelife has a topper - I was looking for something new!

Thanks!

vball91 · Feb 17, 2013

melrai, I can totally relate. My Aria is very similar. I have been trying to transition her to high protein canned and raw, and she's not a fan of most of it. She will ask for food then just lick the yummy stuff and leave a lot behind. I use a lot of toppers to get her to eat. She is very easily distracted while eating. I can sometimes get her to eat more if I take her bowl to where she has wandered off to. Yeah, that's not spoiled.

I usually don't leave raw out at all. If she doesn't eat it, I'll put it back in the baggie and in the fridge. I'll offer to her later. Sometimes I'll give her canned, but most times I won't. I don't want her to think she'll get canned by rejecting the raw.

I do think there are days when she just isn't as hungry as others, so I don't try to force it. Oh, and everyone says don't hover, but Aria eats longer when I stand there waiting for her. If I wander away, she'll come find me instead of eating. I think she's afraid of missing out on something or maybe that I'll disappear. Who knows?

I am going to be patient and just let her transition slowly. As long as she is eating enough high protein stuff, I'm happy.

melrai · Feb 17, 2013

vball91 said:
melrai, I can totally relate. My Aria is very similar. I have been trying to transition her to high protein canned and raw, and she's not a fan of most of it. She will ask for food then just lick the yummy stuff and leave a lot behind. I use a lot of toppers to get her to eat. She is very easily distracted while eating. I can sometimes get her to eat more if I take her bowl to where she has wandered off to. Yeah, that's not spoiled

vball91 · Feb 17, 2013

I would love to get Aria on 100% raw as well, but she is already eating so much better than she used to! Progress is great. I tell myself that little steps are ok from this point forward.

melrai · Feb 18, 2013

RUBY AM UPDATE

So, this morning I tried to feed Ruby her regular food - with no luck. I placed her grinded Chicken Organ mix (Which she LOVED) in front of her and then some diced chicken neck on the side. At first she seemed very interested and smelled it extensively (way more than she was smelling it before)...but walked away.

I then sprinkled some Salmon Flakes and she began to eat the diced chicken neck - but it was definitely not enough. I think she might have ate 3 pieces of it, and then stopped eating. I sprinkled more and she is not interested anymore...

I'll see if she eats the diced chicken later in the day at her second feeding (3:30PM). That is was she has eaten since the morning, she seems to be waiting for something and I don't know what it is! I think I will have to give her some canned chicken and reintroduce the raw to her, that is the feeling I am beginning to get....

I just can't seem to understand why she is holding out. She seems hungry enough to meow and smell her food, then when its placed on the floor...she walks away.

As I am writing this she has gone back to her diced chicken neck and begun eating again. Fingers crossed that this is just some sort of new "I want prey model NOW" mood and not that she is disinterested forever.

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 18, 2013

Hopefully she finished her bowl!

As long as they eat 2/3 to 3/4 of their daily food allowance, they should be ok. But I KNOW there are times when my pickies don't eat that much in a 24 hour period and they've been fine. I DO, however, offer them some "treats" of Stella and Chewy's dehydrated (in that form) before bedtime if they haven't eaten much, and it's pretty calorie intense.

As far as where to buy S & Cs, here is a link from their website of all their on-line venders: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/store-locator/index.php?mpage=online-result One of your fellow canadians told me about Lukes All Natural (on that list), which has very reasonable prices, but you may find somewhere else closer to where you live that has better prices when you factor in S & H

Stella and Chewy's is great. Definitely 100% nutritionally complete. You can use it as a topper too, if you like. As I said, I use it as treats, because mine like it in the dry form, probably reminds them of their old kibble days

. But it's "safe raw", so I can toss each little treat down the hallway for a game of chase and not feel like I have to mop afterwards

Oh, and you can order the dog S & Cs too, it just comes in a different size (patty vs. small cubes) and flavors. But it's got taurine in it so it's AOK for cats.

melrai · Feb 18, 2013

mrsgreenjeens said:
Hopefully she finished her bowl!

As long as they eat 2/3 to 3/4 of their daily food allowance, they should be ok. But I KNOW there are times when my pickies don't eat that much in a 24 hour period and they've been fine. I DO, however, offer them some "treats" of Stella and Chewy's dehydrated (in that form) before bedtime if they haven't eaten much, and it's pretty calorie intense.

As far as where to buy S & Cs, here is a link from their website of all their on-line venders: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/store-locator/index.php?mpage=online-result One of your fellow canadians told me about Lukes All Natural (on that list), which has very reasonable prices, but you may find somewhere else closer to where you live that has better prices when you factor in S & H

Stella and Chewy's is great. Definitely 100% nutritionally complete. You can use it as a topper too, if you like. As I said, I use it as treats, because mine like it in the dry form, probably reminds them of their old kibble days

. But it's "safe raw", so I can toss each little treat down the hallway for a game of chase and not feel like I have to mop afterwards

Oh, and you can order the dog S & Cs too, it just comes in a different size (patty vs. small cubes) and flavors. But it's got taurine in it so it's AOK for cats.

She did finish her bowl! She finished most of her meals for the day - which is good! The only thing is, since she's been eating pre-measured raw, I'm not quite sure how to measure out her "prey-model" meals. I am not quite sure how much she needs, its all very confusing for me.

S & C's stuff looks so great! Thanks for all this great information - I can't wait to order some! I'm gonna look into buying online - just seems easier!

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 18, 2013

Do you not measure out their food by weighing it on a scale? That's what most raw feeders do. so many ounces based on their weight, whether or not it's commercial raw or not. For instance, those little nuggets of Primal say they are 1 oz each, but they aren't! They are only about .7 oz (believe me, I have weighed them many, many times, out of several different packages). And Radcat comes in tubs, so you have to weigh it to get an accurate measurement. So with prey model, it would come down to the same thing...you would put it in a bowl on your little kitchen scale and measure it out.

melrai · Feb 19, 2013

mrsgreenjeens said:
Do you not measure out their food by weighing it on a scale? That's what most raw feeders do. so many ounces based on their weight, whether or not it's commercial raw or not. For instance, those little nuggets of Primal say they are 1 oz each, but they aren't! They are only about .7 oz (believe me, I have weighed them many, many times, out of several different packages). And Radcat comes in tubs, so you have to weigh it to get an accurate measurement. So with prey model, it would come down to the same thing...you would put it in a bowl on your little kitchen scale and measure it out.

I do not measure out their food on a scale. I buy it already grinded (with bones, liver, hearts and chicken) from my work (I work at a holistic pet boutique where the owner makes her own raw). Therefore it is already weighed out for me - super convenient! And the measurements are by pound. Therefore Ruby eats 1/2 of a .5 container of that container for her daily intake. Therefore, it was never needed for me to weigh it. It's kinda like homemade raw, all the employees use it!

Now, on the other hand, I don't know what the ratio is between organs, bone and meat. I have been giving her chicken breast since yesterday, cause that is all she is wanting to eat - but I am nervous about the organs part. She doesn't seem to have a problem eating through bone so...

I have a scale, I just don't know where to even begin to calculate her daily intake (math was never really my forefront, ha ha)

melrai · Feb 19, 2013

RUBY AM UPDATE

The mystery has been solved!!! I found out why Ruby has not been eating her Chicken Organ blend from where I normally get it. The person making the raw had changed her blend. She couldn't get chicken hearts this batch, so she used chicken gizzards. BOOM!

I tried to scope out older blends yesterday at work, and I found one that looked a little less red and form the ones I had been giving her...so I decided to give it a try...IT WORKED! SHE ATE IT THIS MORNING!

I'm so relieved it was just a matter of a change, cause now it should be going back to normal soon enough. This scare though, has made me change my ways. As much as she'll resist, I will try to give her as much variety as she will let me. Also, she seems to love chicken breast, so I will be offering her that, some neck, some thigh (prey model) 1-2x per day. Maybe (hopefully) getting her to eat full prey model! Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful.

vball91 · Feb 19, 2013

Hooray, I'm glad you figured it out, and that Ruby ate without any issues. Wow, she really must hate gizzards. Mine's not fond of them either.

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 19, 2013

Mine don't like gizzard either.

Glad you figured out the problem

Behavioral Issues? Or just plain spoiled!

melrai

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