Hooligan and Ruby Soho: The world's pickiest cat.

[melrai]

Hi there! 

Whoa! I've been away for quite some time. Everything has pretty much been chaos on my end and my cats are definitely feeling the aftermath of it. 

I just had 2 quick questions regarding both my female and my male cat. 

First my female cat, she's been eating a mix of Chicken, Chicken Organs and Chicken bone for quite some time now. She absolutely adored it when she began her raw - but now I've noticed it takes her a little longer to finish up her plate. I was wondering how you guys introduced proteins to your little guys? I've tried SO many ways. She is so unbelievably picky. The last time I tried giving her a different raw it was Turkey (I've tried Venison, Duck, Rabbit). I put a small spot in her bowl of Chicken (which she loves). She smelled the chicken, realized something wasn't right and didn't touch it. AT ALL. I've almost given up at this point LOL. It was quite the journey getting her ONTO raw, and I would really love to give her more of a variety - but it almost seems impossible?

Secondly, Hooligan. OY. What a guy. He's been on and off lately. Sometimes he eats a raw meal, sometimes he wants his canned. His favorite seems to be horse and chicken hearts. So I'm going to run with it. Again, I'm going to begin giving him very little in his wet food and at night I am going to give him raw (as his last meal of the day). He had a hairball this morning....here is where my other question comes in. Can hairballs also be due to stress and change in environment? We are painting our place (its been 2 weeks now) and the cats have been a little thrown off by it. They still eat...but the times I normally tend to feed them at are all out of whack. 

Could this be prompting hairballs in Hooligan and making Ruby act weird with her food?

Have you guys ever encountered anything as such?

Thanks!

Melissa

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• melrai
• Feb 7, 2013

Ps. Heres a picture of the terrors in their everyday habit. 

 

[ritz]

They may be eating less because they feel fuller quicker.

They may be eating less because they're bored with chicken, but don't know what they''re hungry for   Have you tried other red meats, like beef or goat (!)  And where do you get horse meat--where do you live?  Hare Today (USA) has LOTS of proteins, including llama, but they don't even have that one!

I introduced all sorts of protein to Ritz fairly quickly--too quickly, perhaps; she developed what turned out to be a stress induced UTI.  People recommend introducing a new protein slooowwwwlllly:  one teaspoon or one tablespoon mixed with a protein/organ you know your cat likes.

Yes, cats can be off their food (wet/dry/raw/combination thereof) because of stress. Because of a change in times of eating.  (If Ritz doesn't eat every 10 or 11 hours, she throws up--after I feed her.)   Don't know about hairballs, though if you've noticed your cats have been grooming themselves more than usual (which can be due to stress), then I suppose they'd have more hairballs.

To the extent possible, I would try to regulate/routine-ize feeding times.  And maybe postpone introducing new proteins until the painting is done.  (Does the paint smell?  Cats' noses are incredibly sensitive and they may be reacting to that, too.)

PS:  Ritz is the opposite of a picky eater; but when she balked at a piece of chicken, I accepted that she could smell something I couldn't and threw it (and the rest of that batch) away.

 

[melrai]

I'm not too sure. I've noticed a routine with her. She seems to eat a couple bites in the morning then, when we try to feed her throughout the day (12PM, 2PM, 3PM) she doesn't eat. Once 5PM comes along, she eats again. It's so weird. 

I live in Montreal, Canada. Horse meat is readily available ha ha. I've never seen llama though!

Still try to get her to eat different proteins. I have a Chicken Organ and Whitefish mix for tonight. She keeps smelling it and not really eating it?

The painting is finally done. Things should be getting back to normal in the next couple days. I wish my cats weren't so picky. Especially Ruby, I know she is getting bored with the Chicken but I literally don't know where else to turn because if she stops eating that - I don't know what else to give her. Or how to introduce it to her. It's a complete nightmare. UGH. 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I sounds to me like you  may be feeding their meals too close together, unless you are feeding them really, really tiny amounts at each meal.  That's only 1 - 2 hours apart for 3 of the meals.  I space mine 6 - 8 hours apart ( 8:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m.).

But that's not really the issue, is it.  When I try to introduce a new protein, I will mix maybe 1/10th of the new protein in with their old protein.  If they will eat it, then for the next meal I will mix in about 1/4 of the new meat with the old.  If they accept THAT, then I will just keep increasing until either they shun the food entirely, or they eat the new protein.  With 2 of mine, they have finally accepted ONE NEW FOOD

, with my pickiest of pickies, I cannot seem to get past 1/4 of the new stuff or he will hold out and simply not eat

I know my guys are bored with their raw too, but they won't seem to accept new foods readily.  Believe me, I have tried and tried.  We're tried lamb, rabbit, goat, duck, chicken, turkey, duck hearts (used to be a favorite with one, now she won't eat them), beef. 

So...when I can tell they are hungry, but don't want what I give them, they WILL eat Stella and Chewy's dehydrated food, so I know they won't starve.  But mine will only eat it in the dehydrated form (guess it reminds them of their old kibble days or something), so I will give it to them that way.  But not too often as a meal...usually just as treats.  Or as a topper.

 

[melrai]

I took your advice. I know feed them at 8:30AM, 3:30PM and 9:30PM - and it works! My female cat is eating all her meals (hopefully i haven't jynxed this- knock on wood) and my male is willing to try different flavors! 

I am still a little hesitant on trying new flavors with her - as she might get turned off of her favorite one. 

Thanks so much for your advice!