Questions about making homemade cooked food for my IBD kitty

catwoman707

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I have just cooked ground turkey meat and am going to add in U-stew once it cools.

But wondering first of all, if anyone has used U-stew here and whether it adds flavor somehow to the plain, boring flavorless meat since turkey is so blah.

Salt? Bullion? I just don't want this to be like pulling teeth getting my girls to eat it. It has to be turkey too, as Krissy has lots of inflammation, IBD/pancreatits, etc.

Maybe fortiflora?

Also, I have nexabiotics I would love to get added but am afraid the taste of it will deter them from eating the cooked diet.

They are currently eating FF turkey classics twice a day and Blue Buffalo Basics limited ingredient diet, turkey/potato.

I would be thrilled to eventually get them completely off of commercial food, but they have to like eating home cooked for it to happen.

Thanks!
 

ritz

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Could you top the cooked turkey with freeze dried turkey treats? Very different texture than cooked turkey.
I have sprinkled different probiotics throughout my three+ years of feeding raw, and Ritz has never balked at the taste (though she is not a picky eater at all!) Could she handle something like Bonita (fish) flakes?
You could try fortiflora but be aware that it contains some of the same ingredients as what is put on dry food. I wouldn't add salt or bouillon. Depending on what parts of the turkey you grind, maybe she is reacting to low fat content? Ritz likes turkey well enough but it is rarely on sale so I don't buy a lot of it.
Good luck!
 

abby2932

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No experience with U-stew but I also use Nexabiotic and neither of my cats have noticed. Or maybe they did notice but it doesn't deter them. 
 
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catwoman707

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Could you top the cooked turkey with freeze dried turkey treats? Very different texture than cooked turkey.
I have sprinkled different probiotics throughout my three+ years of feeding raw, and Ritz has never balked at the taste (though she is not a picky eater at all!) Could she handle something like Bonita (fish) flakes?
You could try fortiflora but be aware that it contains some of the same ingredients as what is put on dry food. I wouldn't add salt or bouillon. Depending on what parts of the turkey you grind, maybe she is reacting to low fat content? Ritz likes turkey well enough but it is rarely on sale so I don't buy a lot of it.
Good luck!
You're lucky! Krissy is so darn picky............

After I mixed in the U-stew I could see it creates sort of a brown gravy, looked pretty nice/appetizing.

The girls tried it and did eat a small amt of it, so I decided to add fortiflora and have them try it again, see if they went for it any more, maybe a bite or two but that was it.

I think this is going to be some work transitioning these 2! I do think it's important I integrate the nexabiotic asap, however think I will hold off juuust in case.......I don't want any other possible excuse why they won't eat it. I know when I tried sprinkling the nexa on their canned or even dry food they had absolutely nothing to do with it, so it def. has a taste.

I think you're right about the low fat content, when I cooked the turkey I added some butter hoping it would add some fat/flavor, which might even be what got them to eat a little bit, who knows! Picky butt cats darnit...........

As far as adding fish flakes, lately the girls are getting very bored with the ff classics turkey, so here and there just to add a little variety I fed them ff classics oceanfish which they LOVED, a nice change, then noticed Krissy started getting symptoms of a reaction, eye drainage, etc so had to cut that right back out. It's still not out of her system after several days now......

Sooo, now they're back to their boring ff turkey and asking for more dry instead of eating their canned. So that's no good either.

I mean to tell ya!! 


Spoiled picky butts. 

I love how all of my rescued cats are happy and so grateful to eat whatever they get, my girls could learn a thing or two about how it feels to go without, or have to eat crap garbage to survive!!

The saga continues.....................thanks for your advice both of you.
 

puddykat

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Have you had the stomach acid of your cat checked out? Is the ph in the normal range of  -1 - 2?

Cats need a highly acidic stomach in order to properly digest their food. But, the carbohydrates in many processed foods make the stomach less acidic. Meat protein stimulates stomach acidity by triggering the production of hydrochloric acid in acid-secreting cells within the stomach. A complex cascade takes place when a cat or dog ingests food. Put simply, 80% of the gastric juices secreted are a direct result of chemoreceptors in the stomach detecting the presence of meat-based proteins. This keeps the stomach at a very low pH of around 1-2. A low pH means high acidity. This low stomach pH is important because digestive enzymes work best in an acidic environment and the acidity in the stomach will sterilize ingested pathogens, bacterial or fungal.
 
When a cat or dog swallows a commercial pet food that is high in carbohydrate and plant protein and low in meat protein, acid-secreting cells in the stomach are not stimulated to produce much hydrochloric acid. The pH within the stomach rises to around 4-5 and a high pH means low acidity. The acidic chyme leaving the stomach is the trigger for the next stage of digestion in the small intestine. The acidity encourages the flow of bile and the flow of pancreatic enzymes necessary to continue the digestive process. If the stomach contents are not sitting at a pH of around 1-2, then digestion is impaired throughout the rest of the digestive tract as well.
 
What does this mean for cats and dogs? A diet high in carbohydrates inhibits stomach acidity. A raw meaty bones diet, either of whole meats or ground, requires a highly acidic stomach for digestion. Cats and dogs should not be fed a combination of processed and raw diets. If they are fed a combination, they can experience a range of problems:
 
They will struggle to properly digest their foods.
They may become constipated with undigested bone spicules impacted in the rectum, a very painful situation.
Raw meaty bones can sit for long periods in the stomach, which may lead to vomiting bone, or worse still, an obstruction.
They may experience a gastro-intestinal upset when the bacterial load of the ingested food runs riot in the alkaline stomach environment. Gastric acidity is needed to sterilise ingested pathogens. Processed pet foods can be contaminated with salmonella and mycotoxins. The gastric acidity is a first line of defence, so cats and dogs with reduced acidity are vulnerable.
 
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catwoman707

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The food I made is actually cooked, no bones.

The dry they eat is a good quality limited ingredient turkey/potato, grain free.
 
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