Raw food question

I started my two kittens on the raw food diet by Nature's Variety this past week. They LOVE it and I'm very happy with how well they are doing on it. They don't go potty as often and when they do there is no smell. Also, it has cleared up the diahrrea in my persian. My question is, will the kitties ever get to a point where they don't act like they're starving all the time? I feed them the suggested amounts of raw, but they are always looking for food, so I also put out some freeze dried kibble a couple times a day as well. Any opinions on the proper way I should be feeding this diet? Thanks for any input!

I dont feed much raw but I have heard that they will ave out on amount once there systems settle in and down

sharky is right. Once they catch up on the nutrients that were missing they wont eat as much. In the wild they only eat what they can catch which is sometimes once a day and sometimes once every few days. It is good for them to have more sporatic meals.

I had to feed Cupid canned food the last week or so because I forgot that I ran out of Natural Instincts food and didn't order any, so I had to wait a few days for it to come in. When I made his normal food and fed it to him, he dug in! Then he acted like he was hungry all the time. I'd feed him about two hours after I just fed him and he'd act like he hadn't eaten for a week.

I was giving him super-premium canned food that I got last month when I was considering switching him. Needless to say, I'll never be switching him.

Unless the cats are overweight you can give them more food. You can either feed more meals or just feed larger meals.

If any of them is overweight you can mix some veggies into the food and feed more meals or larger meals.

Originally Posted by Lndscpsam

I started my two kittens on the raw food diet by Nature's Variety this past week. They LOVE it and I'm very happy with how well they are doing on it. They don't go potty as often and when they do there is no smell. Also, it has cleared up the diahrrea in my persian. My question is, will the kitties ever get to a point where they don't act like they're starving all the time? I feed them the suggested amounts of raw, but they are always looking for food, so I also put out some freeze dried kibble a couple times a day as well. Any opinions on the proper way I should be feeding this diet? Thanks for any input!

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I also have my two kitties on the raw food diet. We've been a family for over a month and at first they were ALWAYS hungry. They'd eat and right away ask for more. I also give them dry kitten food once a day as a snack. They love the diet. My vet told me that at their age (4 months) two tablespoons twice a day. But I give them three tablespoons, and they leave some in the plate (makes me feel better). I'm very happy to see that other people are doing a raw food diet as well.

Originally Posted by Sol

Unless the cats are overweight you can give them more food. You can either feed more meals or just feed larger meals.

If any of them is overweight you can mix some veggies into the food and feed more meals or larger meals.

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I don't think you would need to mix veggies with the meat. In my experiance even overweight cats who are fed as much raw meat as they was do not gain too much weight on this diet. My(previously) fat cat eats a lot but he still lost weight on raw meat. He eats as much as he wants.
It will take several months for them to learn also that there will be more and they don't need to gorge themselves. Also another reason they feel hungry is because the raw meat is easily digested (not like grain that sits in thier systems). It's much like breast fed babies vs. bottle fed babies. The breast fed babies are always hungry/always eating because they digest the breast milk so thouroughly. But bottle fed babies eat much less often because they cannot digest the formula very easily. However no one would arrgue that breast milk is best for babies.
As far as veggies for cats-cats are carnovornes and don't need veggies. They cant digest them.

Originally Posted by KatieLV

I also have my two kitties on the raw food diet. We've been a family for over a month and at first they were ALWAYS hungry. They'd eat and right away ask for more. I also give them dry kitten food once a day as a snack. They love the diet. My vet told me that at their age (4 months) two tablespoons twice a day. But I give them three tablespoons, and they leave some in the plate (makes me feel better). I'm very happy to see that other people are doing a raw food diet as well.

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Your situation sounds just like mine! My kitties are 5 months and 4 months. Neither is overweight. They do like some kibble after their raw diet too, so I put a tablespoon or two for each kitty in a dish and they gobble that up too! Then they are good for a chunk of the day. I"d say each kitty is getting 2 ounces of raw meat and 1/4 cup dry per day. Anyway, I'm glad to see that someone else is having as much success with this diet as I am. I'm really impressed with it.

I have two Persians. Each about 3 months old. They were just weighed in this week at nearly the same weight - 4 pounds 3 ounces. One was one ounce less. I feed them an equal mixture of Kitten dry food of Iams, Science Diet, and Royal Canin. This stays out all day and night. They usually only pic at it. Twice a day they get a raw beef. I leave it out for one hour. They get to eat all they can of it in that one hour, and usually there is a little left behind. I give them each a portion about the size of a meat ball and break it up with a spoon. (Usually I just buy hamburger 96/4 lean at the grocery store.) The vet says they are very well fed and extremely healthy and satisfied. So you may want to try that.

The first raw beef they get in the morning, around 11am, just after they get groomed. Sort of a reward to them for the grooming process. The next portion is served between 6 and 7 pm for dinner. This timing seems to have worked well. I was told to add a bit of canned food to the raw beef just to give it flavor. When I did this I was using Fancy Feast, which faired well. But I later switched to 9 Lives, which seemed to make thier poops really smelly and get all over their butts. I then dropped the canned food all together and they are not unhappy about it either. They seem to eat it just as well and I dont have the smell factor any longer or the sticky poops to the hair. So just the beef by itself is fine. It does not need flavoring.

Hope this helps!

If you're feeding a major amount of raw food you need to add supplements, raw food alone is lacking critical nutrients.

I agree. I would suggest the dry food mix I am using actually. The suggestion was the same by two breeders without me even suggesting it. One has been breeding for 30 years and the other less, and the food suggestions were the same except for the one exception of one of the dry food mixes being different to "Premium Blend" (or something like that) rather than Royal Canin. You really should leave out the dry food all the time. You will find they won't eat it till they are sick, but will eat it enough to keep them healthy. Kibbles, to me, is nothing but a treat really. That is probably why they are really eating it down. I don't think it is a very healthy food. Most canned foods also are mostly water. I was told the best canned is Iams, when you can find it, but it is hard to find in the can where I live. I just dont bother with canned food. I find it makes their poops really smelly and sticky and isn't all that nutritious anyway. I know my diet is doing wonders for my babies. It may work for you too!!

Rose

Originally Posted by Cozycats

I agree. I would suggest the dry food mix I am using actually. The suggestion was the same by two breeders without me even suggesting it. One has been breeding for 30 years and the other less, and the food suggestions were the same except for the one exception of one of the dry food mixes being different to "Premium Blend" (or something like that) rather than Royal Canin. You really should leave out the dry food all the time. You will find they won't eat it till they are sick, but will eat it enough to keep them healthy. Kibbles, to me, is nothing but a treat really. That is probably why they are really eating it down. I don't think it is a very healthy food. Most canned foods also are mostly water. I was told the best canned is Iams, when you can find it, but it is hard to find in the can where I live. I just dont bother with canned food. I find it makes their poops really smelly and sticky and isn't all that nutritious anyway. I know my diet is doing wonders for my babies. It may work for you too!!

Rose

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Iams can be found easily but contains things I would never serve again to my babies... ie by products

Sharky, just about every canned food has by products. However, I just used to use it to "flavor" the raw beef. About a teaspoon or so mixed in, if that much. I would not recommend it as a complete diet. Sort of like the icing inside a devil dog - or the whipped cream on top of strawberry shortcake - just a flavor topper.

Mmmmm, now I am hungry for a snack! LOL...

Rose

Yes I know most have by products but chn liver is different than chn by product on a label..

Oh and yes aint it snack time...lol..