First time raw food questions! Urgent!!

[madamemoxxi]

Hello everyone!
I have an 8 year old cat who has chronic renal failure. Long story short, she got sick but is now on benazepril to help her.
She isn't eating, but is drinking and peeing. (Walking occasionally)
She ate for two days tips Friskies wet can food. But now is ignoring everything.
I contacted the vet about appetite stimulants (but that's off topic)
I am wondering, I have tried every type of canned food but she isn't having any of it!
I have heard people say to try raw.
How do I wean her into it? She has never had raw before. What preparations do I need to do? And how to entice her to eat it.
Please this is urgent. She is only 3lbs and we need her to gain more.

 

[lisahe]

I'm very sorry to hear your cat's not eating -- that's so horribly difficult. When our previous cat was very sick and not eating (she was elderly and had lots of ailments) I just started feeding her raw food and she ate it, albeit not in large quantities. It seemed to appeal to her more than anything canned and my philosophy was that since the cat wasn't eating anything else, I wasn't going to worry about food transitions.

Her favorite was Rad Cat chicken and it did, fortunately, agree with her. I might also suggest Stella & Chewy's, which comes in freeze-dried and frozen versions: our (new) cats love it and will eat just about anything that has crumbled Stella & Chewy's on top.

Have you asked the vet about raw food for your cat? (I ask that though our vet was totally against my feeding Rad Cat to Brooksie, though there was really no medical reason: the vet didn't seem to think it was complete food.)

 

[LTS3]

It's a lot easier to buy a small package of commerical raw pet food to start with than to rush into making homemade raw and buying supplements, supplies, etc only to find that your cat won't eat raw.

A lot of cats prefer reeze dried raw over frozen raw. Stella and Chewy's is a good one but last I heard it was hard to find in stores. There is also Nature's Variety Instinct freeze dried raw. Freeze dried raw is pretty "smelly" so a lot of cats will eat it.

For frozen raw, try Nature's Variety Intinct frozenRaw Bites. You can get ths at Petco in the 1.25 lb bag. Stella and Chewy's also has a frozen raw food for cats but you may or may not be able to find it in stores. Frozen raw doesn't have much of a smell so you would need to add toppers like FortiFlora or canned food gravy of crushed up freeze dried treats.

Toppers work on canned and dry foods, too. Have you tried them?

 

[Kat0121]

I started with freeze dried as well. Pure Bites freeze dried chicken breast. I started using it as a treat and then as a topper. I went from there to Stella & Chewy's freeze dried and did the same thing. from there we went to the frozen commercial raw- Primal Pronto, Stella and Chewy's frozen and their favorite- Rad Cat chicken and turkey. I'd go to Primal, Stella & Chewy's and Rad Cat's websites to see if any stores near you carry them then give them a call. They may need to order it for you if it's not a big seller. That way you can get a small bag or container and if they don't like it, you don't buy it again. To me, homemade raw is a gamble that I'm not ready to take. I know some people here do so with great success but I am afraid that I'll do something wrong and they will get sick. Mine still eat more canned than raw but I do give them both. Since they prefer the Rad Cat over the Primal, when I give them the Primal, I let it defrost then mash it with the back of a spoon to make it look more like a canned pate then I crush some Pure Bites over it as a topper. You can also use Fortiflora as a topper/seasoning. Most cats like this stuff a lot. You can get it from Chewy.com or Amazon to name a couple of places. Good luck. 

 

[abbyntim]

If she still hasn't eaten, feed her MEAT baby food. That always worked with my renal failure cats. Make sure it is meat only, with no onion or garlic or any other seasonings. Beech Nut is really good and just meat. Gerber is okay, too, though they add corn starch. Try chicken and/or turkey.

Regarding raw food, many cats take to Rad Cat immediately. But often a transition is needed, especially if your cat is sick. Ideally, you would find a non-raw food that she likes, and gradually increase the amount of raw while decreasing the other food. If she likes the baby food, you could take this approach with Rad Cat and baby food. On the other hand, she might love raw and have no trouble with it.

Good luck.

 

[madamemoxxi]

It's a lot easier to buy a small package of commerical raw pet food to start with than to rush into making homemade raw and buying supplements, supplies, etc only to find that your cat won't eat raw.

A lot of cats prefer reeze dried raw over frozen raw. Stella and Chewy's is a good one but last I heard it was hard to find in stores. There is also Nature's Variety Instinct freeze dried raw. Freeze dried raw is pretty "smelly" so a lot of cats will eat it.

For frozen raw, try Nature's Variety Intinct frozenRaw Bites. You can get ths at Petco in the 1.25 lb bag. Stella and Chewy's also has a frozen raw food for cats but you may or may not be able to find it in stores. Frozen raw doesn't have much of a smell so you would need to add toppers like FortiFlora or canned food gravy of crushed up freeze dried treats.

Toppers work on canned and dry foods, too. Have you tried them?

Where can I buy these?

 

[madamemoxxi]

If she still hasn't eaten, feed her MEAT baby food. That always worked with my renal failure cats. Make sure it is meat only, with no onion or garlic or any other seasonings. Beech Nut is really good and just meat. Gerber is okay, too, though they add corn starch. Try chicken and/or turkey.

Regarding raw food, many cats take to Rad Cat immediately. But often a transition is needed, especially if your cat is sick. Ideally, you would find a non-raw food that she likes, and gradually increase the amount of raw while decreasing the other food. If she likes the baby food, you could take this approach with Rad Cat and baby food. On the other hand, she might love raw and have no trouble with it.

Good luck.

Is it safe for me to give her some ground up beef raw but only a table spoon or less?

 

[LTS3]

Petco sells Nature's Variety Instinct products as well as several brands of freeze dried meat treats.

Stella and Chewy's is sold only at independent pet stores but you may have difficulty find the products because there has been a backorder or something for the past couple of months.

FortiFlora can be bought online or from your vet. It's actually a probiotic for cats but many people just use it as a topper to get inappetent cats to eat. The main ingredeint is animal digest which very few cats are able to resist.

Is it safe for me to give her some ground up beef raw but only a table spoon or less?

In a pinch it wouldn't hurt but I recommened buying a whole cut of raw meat, like chicken breast, and chopping that up yourself into easy to eat cat sized pieces. Store bought ground meat has bacteria mixed throughout it and that may make your cat sick.

 

[abbyntim]