Help selecting a new food

ldg · Jun 16, 2012

My guess is the kitties will be fine being fed new raw proteins. My older kitties needed slower introductions. When I first introduced raw, I made it 50/50 raw/canned. When I was sure they were good with that, I bumped it to 75/25 for a few days, then 100% raw. Once on 100% raw, when introducing new proteins, if they were eating chicken, I'd just add a little bit of the new protein to the meal, then increase it over a couple of days until it was 100%, and just kept doing that for new proteins. Once I had all the proteins I wanted in the rotation, then I just began feeding 100% chicken or turkey or whatever at each meal.

...but with babies that young, and so adaptive, I suspect you don't need to go through all of that. I think you'd safely be able to feed them 100% raw without tummy upset, and you can probably feed them new proteins without much in the way of introduction.

catnamedpanda · Jun 17, 2012

LDG said:
My guess is the kitties will be fine being fed new raw proteins. My older kitties needed slower introductions. When I first introduced raw, I made it 50/50 raw/canned. When I was sure they were good with that, I bumped it to 75/25 for a few days, then 100% raw. Once on 100% raw, when introducing new proteins, if they were eating chicken, I'd just add a little bit of the new protein to the meal, then increase it over a couple of days until it was 100%, and just kept doing that for new proteins. Once I had all the proteins I wanted in the rotation, then I just began feeding 100% chicken or turkey or whatever at each meal.
...but with babies that young, and so adaptive, I suspect you don't need to go through all of that. I think you'd safely be able to feed them 100% raw without tummy upset, and you can probably feed them new proteins without much in the way of introduction.

I figured they should be good. I kinda worry that Penelope might have a slightly sensitive stomach or something, or maybe she over eats. But the girl has the smelliest poop/ gas I have ever seen a cat have. Sometimes all she has to do is pass gas and she could clear the room, it terrible. She has solid poop and she is parasite free. She has been de-wormed twice, treated for giardia and coccidia, and her fecal is negative. Vet says she is healthy. I personally think she eats to much because she eats until she is pot bellied.

I have enough canned I can still offer it to them with the raw. As far as finding meat, I did find chicken thighs on sale for .99 a pound.

ldg · Jun 17, 2012

As to the stinky poop, I suspect she's sensitive to something added to the canned. Stinky poop usually clears up once they're on 100% raw. This, of course, makes sense if you think about it. In the wild, cats would be easy targets for predators if they had stinky poop every time they went to the bathroom. :lol3:

catnamedpanda · Jun 17, 2012

LDG said:
As to the stinky poop, I suspect she's sensitive to something added to the canned. Stinky poop usually clears up once they're on 100% raw. This, of course, makes sense if you think about it. In the wild, cats would be easy targets for predators if they had stinky poop every time they went to the bathroom.

I can only hope it gets better on raw, right now it is terrible! I did notice it is worse with some brands than others. Delilah can be stinky too but nothing like Penelope.

I noticed at the store they sell chicken gibblets and hearts, as well as livers. I looked to see if they had kidneys but they didn't. Should I pick up these options too or just stick to muscle meat?

Willowy · Jun 17, 2012

Hearts are muscle meat. I think gizzards are too. They don't count as organs. They're cheap, though, so can be a good option. The kidney you'd find would probably be beef kidney--I've never seen chicken kidneys! I don't know if Wal-Mart would have beef kidney, though. Maybe in some areas.

ldg · Jun 17, 2012

If you're going to be using Call of the Wild as the supplement, you shouldn't feed other organs. Or if you do, make it in very small amounts. The supplement includes the nutrition they'd be getting from the organs. The only potential problem would be too much Vitamin A, but that can be a problem.

But hearts and gizzards, as Willow points out, are muscle organs, so totally go for it! My cats LOVE hearts (Duck hearts and Turkey hearts the most, but they do like chicken hearts) and gizzards. :nod:

For the hearts and gizzards, because the kitties are so little do cut them up. Flowerbelle accidentally swallowed a whole heart (she's little, and the chicken and duck hearts are NOT large), but it got stuck in her throat. I had to perform the equivalent of a kitty heimlich (sp?) manoeuver on her then hold her upside down before it slid out. But those can definitely be used with Call of the Wild. :nod:

catnamedpanda · Jun 18, 2012

Good to know. I will pick some up for them as well. Do you know how long it take for shipping on the Call of the Wild?

Poor Delilah last night either ate too much at one meal or her belly didn't like the flavor (it was a seafood flavor) because she threw up a few times and refused even her favorite food until this morning. Im really glad she decided to eat or we would have been off to the vet. Normally I would have force fed her if she wasn't eating for a while, but this time I knew her tummy was unhappy so I didn't want to force anything.

ldg · Jun 18, 2012

I don't remember, but it was quick, not like a week. :nod:

Awww...... glad she ate on her own. Sometimes they do just need a little while to settle, but we're worrying, of COURSE, the entire time. :hugs:

Shel has a sensitive stomach, and even on raw, even with proteins he's been eating for months, things sometimes come back up. With him, because I know what it is, I give him a little freeze-dried chicken a few minutes after he's done throwing up, to absorb the acid and help things settle down. :nod: He's always hungry about 10 minutes after that.

I just offer him something else.

...and they say having pets lowers stress! :lol3:

catnamedpanda · Jun 18, 2012

OK, I'm just a little impatient I guess.

Yes I was worrying all night, I even woke up a few times to try to give her some of her favorite, Wellness chicken flavor. The most I got from her was a lick or two and then she would walk away with her tail between her legs to go flop over and just lay around. I was so happy when I actually got up this morning that she was demanding breakfast. I love when she sits at my feet and cries and if I bend down to talk to her she rubs her face all over mine, and scent marks my nose.

This is the first time she has ever been vomiting sick so hopefully it was just a one time thing.

Lowering stress... Delilah spent a month and a half strait creating stress! But it was all worth it to have the happy, on her way to very healthy kitten I have now.

ldg · Jun 18, 2012

Well, maybe that's how it works.

All the purrs and smiles function in like gigantic multiples, so the stress that seems so magnified to us is actually much less wear and tear on us than we think compared to all that ... "good stuff" that helps reduce heart attacks and lengthen lives. :lol3:

catnamedpanda · Jun 19, 2012

LDG said:
Well, maybe that's how it works.

All the purrs and smiles function in like gigantic multiples, so the stress that seems so magnified to us is actually much less wear and tear on us than we think compared to all that ... "good stuff" that helps reduce heart attacks and lengthen lives.

Must be.

I finally got a shipping notification email. I should have Call of the Wild here on Thursday.

ldg · Jun 19, 2012

Wait - are we happy with that? :lol3:

When did you order it?

I know - it's exciting. :lol3: It can't get there soon enough. :lol3:

catnamedpanda · Jun 19, 2012

Lol yes I an happy. I ordered it Friday but I have been impairebt waiting to find out when it will be here. I can't wait for the girls. I know they will be excited when it gets here too.

catnamedpanda · Jun 21, 2012

I was cutting up chicken tighs for the girls and I was wondering if I am supposed to give them all that skin too or just stick to the meat? The girls apparently remember the one time I gave them raw chicken because they sat at my feet begging for it. I gave them a little taste, they should be really happy when our Call of the Wild gets here today.

ldg · Jun 21, 2012

:lol3: Mmmmmm grrrrrrrrrrrr nom nom nom nom nom. :lol3:

There's different thinking on the skin. I trim fat and remove skin, because the meat we buy is typically low in omega 3, so I do that to reduce the amount of omega 6. But Dr. Pierson recommends providing half the skin in her ground recipe.

I think for growing kitties, the extra calories from some of the skin is probably a good thing, so as Dr. Pierson recommends, maybe give them half of it? But a few months down the road you may want to start reducing the amount of skin you give them, and as adults maybe none? :dk:

catnamedpanda · Jun 21, 2012

Lol yes Penelope was all but climbing up my legs begging, she would tap my legs and cry and then try to climb the counters and go back to me. :lol3: Delilah on the other hand took the "look how cute I am rolling around on my back showing you my belly" approach.

There is so much skin on these, but I will add some to their portions. I left a bit of fat in them because I figured they could use it.

catnamedpanda · Jun 21, 2012

I started a new thread in the raw feeding section

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245515/penelope-and-delilah-on-raw

Help selecting a new food

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