Develping new eating habits

[charlottethecat]

Hello All,

I have a 10lb, ~8-9 yr old female Siamese. She's indoor only. She was pretty rambunctious 5 years ago, but has mellowed over time. I would say she's moderactively active for a cat her age. I admittedly didn't know too much about cat nutrition and have fed her dry food per the instructions on the bag for most of her life. (It's how all my cats growing up ate, too) It worked for me, it worked for her. She is the least picky cat I know. Recently, I noticed that she was thirsty all the time, so I started feeding her wet food and got her blood work done (it's normal, whew). Now as she's getting older and having some issues, I'd like her to eat better and would like to get her onto a raw diet. Today she had her first stella and chewys dehydrated with some probiotic powder mixed in. She went right at it and chomped away, which is promising

My question is about what a good feeding schedule looks like for a cat on raw. Charlotte's not a quick eater; she would make her morning dry food last until her next evening scoop, and it takes her forever to eat her wet food. The pet store where I bought the raw food explained how to calculate how much I should be feeding her, so I understand that part. Since she's such a slow eater, how do I know when she's done, and should I be worried about underfeeding, if she doesn't finish her food?  Thanks!

 

[carolina]

Hello All,

I have a 10lb, ~8-9 yr old female Siamese. She's indoor only. She was pretty rambunctious 5 years ago, but has mellowed over time. I would say she's moderactively active for a cat her age. I admittedly didn't know too much about cat nutrition and have fed her dry food per the instructions on the bag for most of her life. (It's how all my cats growing up ate, too) It worked for me, it worked for her. She is the least picky cat I know. Recently, I noticed that she was thirsty all the time, so I started feeding her wet food and got her blood work done (it's normal, whew). Now as she's getting older and having some issues, I'd like her to eat better and would like to get her onto a raw diet. Today she had her first stella and chewys dehydrated with some probiotic powder mixed in. She went right at it and chomped away, which is promising

My question is about what a good feeding schedule looks like for a cat on raw. Charlotte's not a quick eater; she would make her morning dry food last until her next evening scoop, and it takes her forever to eat her wet food. The pet store where I bought the raw food explained how to calculate how much I should be feeding her, so I understand that part. Since she's such a slow eater, how do I know when she's done, and should I be worried about underfeeding, if she doesn't finish her food?  Thanks!

Hi Charlottethecat, when you say she is having "some issues", what issues is she having exactly?

About a schedule: Most feed 3 times a day, I do too. I feed in the morning before work, early evening after work, and late at night right before I go to bed.
The very first thing you want to do for a successful transition, is to put her on scheduled feedings. That means you will set up feeding times, and she will have a limited time to eat.
So, what time would work for you to feed her? Three meals work better imho.....
Is she capable of feeding a full meal of wet already? Say you don't feed any dry - will she eat an entire wet meal? If so, put her on a schedule eating 100% wet and ditch those kibbles.
Sit down with her and give her 20-30 minutes to eat. How much does she weigh?

From there you will slowly start mixing raw into the wet food. Just like a kibble transition, you mix a little bit more of the raw every day, while removing a little bit of the wet, until you are feeding 100% raw.

Stopping free-feeding kibbles is very important otherwise the kitty is not going to be hungry/motivated enough to eat the canned and raw. Kibbles are full of carbs and coated with fat and animal by-products, and while not healthy, it is like their McDonald's.... very tasty

So, step # 1, while still on kibbles, put her in a schedule
Step # 2 cut the kibbles - go 100% wet
Step # 3 slowly mix in raw into wet until you are feeding 100% raw.

Take your time, follow her lead....! We will be here!

Here are some helpful links for you on transitions:
http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_
http://www.rawfedcats.org/practicalguide.htm

 

[charlottethecat]

Hi! I'm back! Thanks for your response!

To clarify, Charlotte goes through phases when she barfs a lot. Her vet did blood work recently, and everything is fine, so not sure what could be wrong. Another clarification, she doesn't eat kibble anymore, and when she did, she was on a schedule, a measured scoop in the morning and one in the evening. She is eating a grain-free wet food, which seems to agree with her. Right now, she's a fan of the Tiki cat tuna/fish flavors.

Based on your feedback, I changed her schedule from wet food twice a day to three times a day.  She gets a little less than 2oz each meal, 5.6oz a day.  I would very much like her to eat raw, but I'm worried about leaving the raw food out for her to finish. She's a slow eater, and never, ever finishes her wet food in one sitting, but she will eat all of it eventually. It takes her about 2 hours to finish one meal. It's my understanding raw eaters should be done in 20-30 minutes? 

Am I overfeeding her wet food? The instructions on the can say 1 2.8oz can per 3lbs of cat, which would be 3 cans a day, which is way too much. The Tiki website says 2% of body weight, which would be 3.2oz, which seems too little.

In summary, how do i get her to finish her food faster, and will this be a major obstacle getting her on a raw diet?