Kitten not enthusiastic about raw anymore? WHY?! :(

Yuki is my 3 months and a half kitten, And ever since I got him I fed him cooked chicken with eggshell powder, sometimes cooked meat(which he isn't so crazy about), a meal of raw chicken, one meal sardines or mackerels a week, and one meal hearts, kidneys and liver a week

He really loved the raw chicken, I gave him thighs when he first came home

 But now I give him breast since the bones are softer

He has been eating it fine till he vomited after the raw meal, because he ate too much too quickly

the next day he ate it normally but not with the same excitement as always

and after that he's been refusing to eat it even if he was really hungry

I've tried also raw pigeon meat, but he didn't seem to like that either

So I stopped the one meal raw for about two days

then I put it again today, he ate it but he didn't seem to be as excited as always, and didn't finish the meal he usually gobbled up

I really want to put him on an all raw frankenprey diet, I know his diet is not well balanced now so I wanted to transition him as quickly as possible

And we don't have any quality commercial foods in my country, and the canned food makes him get soft stool

He's eating everything else normally though

How can I encourage him to eat raw again? Warming up the food never seems to entice him

Maybe he doesn't need to eat as much food because raw food is much thoroughly available, nutrition wise, then canned or dry food.
So is it a problem with the type of protein or amount of food?
Or does he associate vomiting with the meat? You might try feeding him a bit of raw mixed with canned, kind of like re-educating/re-associating the raw food with upset stomach.
What meat can you get: beef? pork? kangaroo? (Where do you live?) I'd try any meat / poultry that is safe to feed yourself--it is therefore safe to feed your Yuki.

Try different meats and avoid sardines.. They have too much sodium. Beef, chicken, hens, quail, pork all work. You have to be persistent. Most people have a tough time with it and it sounds like kitty got tired of same type of meat. Sprinkle favorite treat on there or give variety and she will come around.

Thank you!

I've tried sprinkling little cheese on top of them and he finished that, but the next day when I did the same thing he didn't want it

Then I tried mixing it with his normal food, but he'd finish his food leaving the raw pieces behind

I cut them to smaller pieces and mixed with the food and that was eaten

And today I left him a piece of a chicken thigh, and he actually ate it like crazy

So it seems that he likes thighs more than the breast?

What's confusing me is that he used to like eating the breast normally before, but now he's totally refusing it

But he would actually pick the piece with the bone and eat it leaving the rest behind (with the breast)

I do want to try different meats, but most are quite expensive here

I live in Egypt

We have chicken

Beef

Rabbit(expensive)

Duck(expensive)

and sometimes turkey, but we can't always find the turkey thighs alone, but the whole thing

Chicken thigh is OK! They get tired of food like people. Thigh is higher in taurine than breast and I only feed my cat thigh. Keep trying and don't give up.. My cat similar age is same they just need to get use to it. I've also had luck with leaving food out for an extended period like when I go to sleep. By the morning it's usually gone (for now).

Also don't miss chances to give different food always try to introduce new flavors like the beef which is affordable to you in Egypt. The cat can't go their whole like eating chicken only.

starbuk said:

Try different meats and avoid sardines.. They have too much sodium. Beef, chicken, hens, quail, pork all work. You have to be persistent. Most people have a tough time with it and it sounds like kitty got tired of same type of meat. Sprinkle favorite treat on there or give variety and she will come around.

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Sardines are good to feed once a week.  They are good for specific omega oils.

He usually does eat the food when I leave it out and leave for college, I usually come back finding the plate cleaned, But is it alright to leave the raw food for such a long time outside?

Also Another problem, I bought him chicken hearts and liver, I tried giving him that but he won't eat it on it's own, he just smells it and walks away

I've tricked him into trying it, and he did, but he still walks away from it

I will definitely try giving him different meats when available, but is any beef that we can eat ok to feed him raw? I don't know why, But I'm a little nervous with raw beef

Thank you for your replies

nourhany1 said:

 
He usually does eat the food when I leave it out and leave for college, I usually come back finding the plate cleaned, But is it alright to leave the raw food for such a long time outside?

Also Another problem, I bought him chicken hearts and liver, I tried giving him that but he won't eat it on it's own, he just smells it and walks away

I've tricked him into trying it, and he did, but he still walks away from it

I will definitely try giving him different meats when available, but is any beef that we can eat ok to feed him raw? I don't know why, But I'm a little nervous with raw beef

Thank you for your replies

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I researched the leaving food out issue by asking people here and on other forums.  The consensus was that it is ok to leave raw food out and many people do it.  You can leave a frozen chunk out which will thaw and be more fresh if you are concerned.  I am gone for 9 hours and leave food out, it is not a problem.  The cat doesn't eat it if it becomes dry and stale.  Their digestive system is stronger than ours which is why they can eat raw meat and we need to have it cooked.

Hearts and liver - just dealt with this issue as well.  You have to ease them into it and it is not always easy.  You have to transition like with any other food.  Cut up small pieces and mix it into food, sprinkle favorite treats on it, cut into small pieces and serve only when cat is very hungry, etc.  Believe me when I say that it does get better if you stick to it, but not if you give in.  Make sure you are feeding other organs too to make this a balanced raw diet.

Raw beef is ok.  I buy beef from a butcher, the free-range organic, etc kind although that is not necessary.  Beef is great because it can be high in taurine, exercises the jaw and cleans the teeth.  Beef is an acceptable raw meal and is preferred over chicken by some people.

Starbuk has a good suggestion about when to feed liver or other organs: when your cat is the hungriest. I know you live in Egypt, but if you can find dehydrated/dried liver treats, you might use that instead of fresh. Some cats like the dehydrated versus fresh version.
Maybe I am missing something, but what kind of secreting organ (kidney, pancreas, spleen, brain, thymus, thyroid, and testes).
When you can, buy the whole turkey and just break it down. Different parts of the turkey/cow have different nutrients. And depending on the butcher, ask him to save ALL parts of the turkey for later use (do you have room in your freezer?).
Rabbit is expensive where I live too, but I buy it because it has small bones, which I freeze for later use. Can you get small birds like quail?
Ideally you should have at least three protein sources, but some cats are highly allergic to all foods but one, and do okay on just that one food.
Sardines packed in salt do have too much sodium--look for ones that are fresh or packed in water.

Thanks for all your suggestions
I tried mixing small pieces of raw liver and heart with his food and he ate that


I can get quail but hes not a big fan of it, i still have one in the refregirator, I'll try to give it to him inshaallah
i've tried beef today and he ate it, but I dont know if he'll still eat that later, so I stored some for him from our beef, we get a cow and butcher it each year, so thats the one I'm most comfortable with

Also I've asked about turkey and getting the whole thing is very expensive

So Ill try to go with chicken, beef and quail, and whenever we buy rabbit for ourselves ill try giving him some of that, is that alright?
And we can get chicken liver and kidneys

Never seen the dried liver here but ill try looking

And the sardines I can only find ones with vegetable oil, should I wash it before giving it to him?

Not sure about the sardines because I don't feed fish.  Fish should only be fed from time to time since it is not a food they would get in the wild usually.  As for the hearts make sure you count that as meat since it is not technically a secreting organ.  Kidney and liver is a good mix but once in a while another kind of organ should be mixed in there and that would be ideal.  Glad to hear you are making progress, sometimes the cat will take steps backwards but do not get too discouraged and keep trying.