Second day trying raw

ankitty

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Yesterday, I gave my two cats about 1/2 tbsp each of NVI frozen raw chicken. J got really excited and started eating right away. P looked at his food and looked at me puzzled, looked at J, then looked at his food again. He thought maybe J was having something better, so he went to check it out only to be hissed by J. J is usually a sweet kitty rarely hisses at anyone, but something about raw food made him wild! Then J picked up some chunk with his paw and dropped on the floor, and both cats started eating the chunk. Once started P also couldn't stop. This morning I gave 1 tbsp each followed by canned food. They finished the raw food very quickly, and looked for more. 

Initially I was thinking that I'd start with 1 tsp a day for a week, and take about 2 months to transition, but looks like it'll go faster than that. I'm thinking, probably 1 tbsp once a day for the first week, twice a day for second week, three times a day for third week, and increase each potion to 2 tbsp, and finally 3 tbsp (1.5 oz) three times a day and canned food for bedtime snack. Do you think it's too quick?
 
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ritz

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This seems like a good plan. I can't do the math, but my only concern is once your cats are eating more than 15% raw, you need to balance out the raw meat with bone, liver and a secreting organ like kidney. At 1.5 oz, depending on total amount of other food your cats are then eating, I think you'll definitely have to do some balancing.
As a treat, you might try giving each of them a piece of liver and kidney. Try it plain or mixed in with the wet food. You'll get an idea if organs will be an issue.
 

peaches08

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This seems like a good plan. I can't do the math, but my only concern is once your cats are eating more than 15% raw, you need to balance out the raw meat with bone, liver and a secreting organ like kidney. At 1.5 oz, depending on total amount of other food your cats are then eating, I think you'll definitely have to do some balancing.
As a treat, you might try giving each of them a piece of liver and kidney. Try it plain or mixed in with the wet food. You'll get an idea if organs will be an issue.
Is the NVI raw not balanced?  I truly don't know since I make my own raw.

As far as speed of transitioning, I'm probably the worst to give advice.  My original 3 cats transitioned literally overnight.  BUT, I had been fighting diarrhea with them on canned so it's what worked out for all of us.  The newest kitty I transitioned as soon as I got him eating regular meals.  Once he started eating raw, I took the other food away.  Feeding a balanced diet is important, so as long as you are feeding a balanced raw then I don't see a problem with transitioning.  However, if you have a constipation prone cat, then you definitely want to take things slower since bone can lead some to an obstruction.  A slow transition is never a bad idea with any cat!
 

LTS3

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Is the NVI raw not balanced?  I truly don't know since I make my own raw.
The Nature's Variety Instict Raw Bites is a balanced diet. It's a good idea to do any food change slowly to avoid an upset tummy.
 

ritz

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Yes, if you're feeding commercial raw, you generally don't need to worry about adding liver, secreting organs, bone--it's already balanced. Make sure the label states something to that effect.
And I believe you can't go wrong going very slowly; you can go wrong going too fast :)
 
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ankitty

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Thank you everyone. :)

Yes, NVI raw is balanced diet. 

I think I'll stick with 1 tbsp a day for this week and see how they do and adjust the amount for the next week. So far they are doing fine. I will try Primal turkey tomorrow. 
 
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