That is a bummer. Was he eating dry and wet at one point? What kind of canned is he eating now. I am trying to have Sandi lose weight (13yrs @ approx. 12lbs) she has some manecoone (sp?). I am finding out that dry isn't good after all. I am going to a pet store tomorrow to see if they have the raw food (here in this part of PA they are still behind or unless they all make there own raw mix). I plan on making it myself down the line but what to convert with a ready mix first. I hope they have it.
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Raw Feeding Chronicles....
- Thread starter white cat lover
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He was on all dry, then dry and wet...now just wet. I'm so pleased with the positive changes in him (just with the canned) that I haven't worried too much about pushing him on the raw. I would like to at some point, though. I sent you a PM about his food.
I think the premade raw is a good way to start. I'm still using it. These guys keep my quite busy as it is, I'm not sure I'm ready to make it myself.
There are store locators on most of the sites...
www.naturesvariety.com is the one I use.
Some others are Primal, Wild Kitty, Bravo (not sure if any of Bravo's come "complete" - somebody help me on that one)...there are others but I can't recall. The NV was the only one I could find here locally. One thing that I liked about the NV is that it's a little lower in veggie content than some of the others...and since this whole project was originally for my crystal prone boy, less veggies/more meat is a good thing for him.
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Please discuss this with your vet
Well, I'm apparantly still learning what Molly can and can't have. Funny how Molly-related things show up no earlier than a year after she arrived. A few months ago she started to come out of her shell and be more relaxed and as crazy as my two other nut-jobs, and everything else has shown up after that. Putting her on the raw meat made her poops firm up, which was GREAT, because for the year beforehand, she was eating kibble and her poops were pudding, with a horrible smell that came with it. I tried every possible kibble I could find, but when I put her on RAW, everything cleared up. Poops are firm, and there's ZERO smell with it. I suspect her first family had her on canned or raw, since when she arrived, her poops stunk (possibly from bad junk food), but they were firmish. Hmmm.
Anyway, I know now that Molly just can't handle kibble or any other kind of carb food, but last night I decided to give her the rest of Buffy's canned Evangers. Big mistake. I woke up today with another steaming pile of pudding in her litterbox. Maybe it was the amount I fed her, since normally I give her only a spoonful or so, but this time I gave her practically half the can (Buffy had already eaten the other half). Tsk. From now on, Molly is going to be my "special case." Only raw meat for her, and if given anything else, it's going to be investiged by me first, lol
Anyway, I know now that Molly just can't handle kibble or any other kind of carb food, but last night I decided to give her the rest of Buffy's canned Evangers. Big mistake. I woke up today with another steaming pile of pudding in her litterbox. Maybe it was the amount I fed her, since normally I give her only a spoonful or so, but this time I gave her practically half the can (Buffy had already eaten the other half). Tsk. From now on, Molly is going to be my "special case." Only raw meat for her, and if given anything else, it's going to be investiged by me first, lol
Here's a quick Tucker/Diesel update
They're each eating 1 medallion with 1/4 can of Merrick morning and evening. They seem to be tolerating the beef well. Diesel loves the plain medallions but Tucker still won't do more than lick his unless I mix it in with his wet food
He's my picky one
I'm going to start rotating the beef with chicken/turkey since they are doing well on both. Tucker still eats some dry food as well but Diesel has been ignoring it for the mostpart
Overall they are doing really well. No major setbacks.
I've noticed a big difference in so many things health and energy wise. Both of the litterboxes have NO SMELL!!
Unless I actually stick my face in the litterbox you can't even tell that it's in the house! Another great thing is that both Tucker and Diesel have super shiny fur. I thought that it was shiny before but now the light bounces off of them
Diesel also has alot more energy. He's always been a lazy boy. Lately though he's been spending much more time running around the house and playing with Tucker which Tucker LOVES
They're each eating 1 medallion with 1/4 can of Merrick morning and evening. They seem to be tolerating the beef well. Diesel loves the plain medallions but Tucker still won't do more than lick his unless I mix it in with his wet food
I'm going to start rotating the beef with chicken/turkey since they are doing well on both. Tucker still eats some dry food as well but Diesel has been ignoring it for the mostpart
I've noticed a big difference in so many things health and energy wise. Both of the litterboxes have NO SMELL!!
Diesel also has alot more energy. He's always been a lazy boy. Lately though he's been spending much more time running around the house and playing with Tucker which Tucker LOVES
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If you will all allow me to be blunt, but this sucks. Damita has decided she only likes the lamb, which makes her vomit. She no longer likes beef.
But, she will eat the beef if I put a little canned food in there. But, any canned food(including her Pro Pac Beef), makes her have an allergic reaction. I've got 3 cans od z/d left....so I'm putting a little z/d on each meal. Hopefully....the z/d can will be OK in the fridge for like 3 days. It'll take that long for her to eat it.
Between the recalls & now this. I'm an so nuts right now!
Between the recalls & now this. I'm an so nuts right now!
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It happens ... the meat change thing... right now my two raw girls are on cooked meat since that is what they want ///Originally Posted by white cat lover
If you will all allow me to be blunt, but this sucks. Damita has decided she only likes the lamb, which makes her vomit. She no longer likes beef.But, she will eat the beef if I put a little canned food in there. But, any canned food(including her Pro Pac Beef), makes her have an allergic reaction. I've got 3 cans od z/d left....so I'm putting a little z/d on each meal. Hopefully....the z/d can will be OK in the fridge for like 3 days. It'll take that long for her to eat it.
Between the recalls & now this. I'm an so nuts right now!
yeah a can for 3 days is fine
No kidding. I haven't been able to get Junior excited about ANY food since Saturday. He was eating the lamb medallions like nobody's business, then right after I went and got him another bag, WHAM - he didn't want any. Apparently it's not a pickiness thing, I took him to the vet...and he has a virus of some sort.
Anyway, I finally found food he wanted tonight. Raw chicken breast chunks. Last time I offered him real meat chunks he did not recognize it as food.
Well, a little update.
I said I wasn't ready to make the raw myself, but I changed my mind. DH and I had the funniest conversation over the weekend. It was something like
Me: Can I have a meat grinder for my birthday?
DH: Um, sure why?
Me: So I can make cat food.
DH: Oh
Wait, you need a grinder?
Me: That's what I said.
DH: Just a minute.
An hour later, he emerged from his dungeon with a grinder. I'm not kidding. A hand crank one, but hey it works. I married a real packrat, didn't I?
So anyway, I used this recipe.
I used half beef, half chicken thighs...as none of mine seem thrilled about chicken alone but I thought a blend might work.
Guess what?
Leopold TASTED it. Twice.
Momma loves it, and NONE of it has come back up. I don't think I've let her have a WHOLE ounce yet in one sitting but she's come close. When she walks away from her plate, I count to 100...then I know it will stay down if I get that far. LOL So far so good.
Pixel inhaled some of it at lunch today. I heard a big kitty burp come from the next room. I was worried, but she did OK. Just a burp.
I noticed that this stuff does not have a "smell" to it the way the NV medallions do. Because of that, both Momma and Pixel ignored it until I got them to try some on my finger. Then they dove in.
I did follow the advice from catinfo.org, and cut the B complex amount in half for the first batch, as it does have a nasty aroma to it. She said the smell could prevent them from trying it at first. I don't smell it in this, though. I don't anticipate any problem using the full amount for the next batch.
Leopold just tasted it anyway, smell or no smell. I don't know what his deal is...as he's been my "holdout" with raw the whole time. He did get annoyed when he found a bone piece on the 2nd bite last night. He doesn't have any teeth behind his canines, so I can understand him getting perturbed about that. He still tried it again today, though.
Beandip and Junior are not impressed with the finished product. I think it's the texture that they don't care for. It turned out sorta gooey and snotty...which I believe is the exact reason that they both don't care too much for the NVP chicken/turkey. They both prefer beef and lamb...lamb is bloody, but not snotty. I couldn't get them to eat the snotty venison, either. So I will try to get a lumpier texture next time.
So how's everyone doing?
I said I wasn't ready to make the raw myself, but I changed my mind. DH and I had the funniest conversation over the weekend. It was something like
Me: Can I have a meat grinder for my birthday?
DH: Um, sure why?
Me: So I can make cat food.
DH: Oh
Me: That's what I said.
DH: Just a minute.
An hour later, he emerged from his dungeon with a grinder. I'm not kidding. A hand crank one, but hey it works. I married a real packrat, didn't I?
So anyway, I used this recipe.
I used half beef, half chicken thighs...as none of mine seem thrilled about chicken alone but I thought a blend might work.
Guess what?
Leopold TASTED it. Twice.
Momma loves it, and NONE of it has come back up. I don't think I've let her have a WHOLE ounce yet in one sitting but she's come close. When she walks away from her plate, I count to 100...then I know it will stay down if I get that far. LOL So far so good.
Pixel inhaled some of it at lunch today. I heard a big kitty burp come from the next room. I was worried, but she did OK. Just a burp.
I noticed that this stuff does not have a "smell" to it the way the NV medallions do. Because of that, both Momma and Pixel ignored it until I got them to try some on my finger. Then they dove in.
Leopold just tasted it anyway, smell or no smell. I don't know what his deal is...as he's been my "holdout" with raw the whole time. He did get annoyed when he found a bone piece on the 2nd bite last night. He doesn't have any teeth behind his canines, so I can understand him getting perturbed about that. He still tried it again today, though.
Beandip and Junior are not impressed with the finished product. I think it's the texture that they don't care for. It turned out sorta gooey and snotty...which I believe is the exact reason that they both don't care too much for the NVP chicken/turkey. They both prefer beef and lamb...lamb is bloody, but not snotty. I couldn't get them to eat the snotty venison, either. So I will try to get a lumpier texture next time.
So how's everyone doing?
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A hand grinder? We've got one of those, but it doesn't work!
Damita won't eat her raw again. I have to add canned food, which gives her hairballs & stinky/loose/bloddy poo. We're working on getting her to eat the raw again. Back to the whole "Magic Bullet" phase.
Damita won't eat her raw again. I have to add canned food, which gives her hairballs & stinky/loose/bloddy poo. We're working on getting her to eat the raw again. Back to the whole "Magic Bullet" phase.
Yeah, I was skeptical about the grinder but it worked! I put the bones in a big ziploc bag and hit them with a hammer a few times, before I even tried to put them through that. The "hopper" isn't even big enough for a thigh bone, anyway. The rest of it was no problem. Except for when I broke a hole in the ziploc bag and a nasty bloody piece of bone flew across the kitchen.Originally Posted by white cat lover
A hand grinder? We've got one of those, but it doesn't work!
Damita won't eat her raw again. I have to add canned food, which gives her hairballs & stinky/loose/bloddy poo. We're working on getting her to eat the raw again. Back to the whole "Magic Bullet" phase.
I'm sorry to hear you're back at the Magic Bullet phase.
Okay, well, let's see. I haven't been working really hard on getting the two dry Evo girls on it yet.. *but* having said that... last night I got home and lo and behold it was "chop the raw" night, and I was on the last of a bag .. and their dry was low, so what I did was.. I took one little can of sheeba...(chicken and duck mix) and I took the raw chunks that I had... and I gave Kahn his extra big portion.. which he dove on. And I just knew Joyeux'd be all over the "mixed" raw so I just went ahead and mixed a bit in with hers too. But, I took a little spoon of slimy goopy juice from the canned and a bit of the chicken bits and mixed them over the raw chunks. Noel and Bagheera ate the raw chunks (and I was amazed because they are definitely pretty big chunks... ) and of course Joyeux devoured hers because she just loves the mix. All in all they both ate quite a bit. I think Noel probably ate more than Bagheera, in total about 6 large raw chunks.. and maybe Bagheera ate 3 or 4..but Bagheera kept hers down. No sick tummy from it. Amazing, cause she gets sick if the wind changes direction.
Joyeux has decided she's on a mission to gain weight. She's gone from her pitifully small 5.6 pounds (which I know doesn't sound small, but.. it really was for her size) up to 7.10 pounds. She's been munching lots of raw, and lots of dry in her quest.
Joyeux has decided she's on a mission to gain weight. She's gone from her pitifully small 5.6 pounds (which I know doesn't sound small, but.. it really was for her size) up to 7.10 pounds. She's been munching lots of raw, and lots of dry in her quest.
you see what time i posted that last one???????? i should have never spoke!!! this morning he threw up his entire breakfast. it was nothing new but it was the bottom of the bag. . . could that have triggered it? also could i have picked him up wrong?
Hmm I don't know. Nothing really comes to mind, but I guess I have heard some scary burps come from my cats when I pick them up shortly after they eat...so I would guess that picking him up could trigger that. Did it come up immediately or a little while after he ate?
Hmm if he has eaten since then and the food's staying down, I think it would just be an isolated incident...maybe related to picking him up with a full belly. Some of my cats eat on the counter
, and when they're done and they jump down with a belly full of food, it makes me cringe every time.
Forest was the only one of mine that I could get to eat the NV medallions (not a surprise...that cat will eat ANYTHING). He did pretty good on half canned and half medallions for a while, then suddenly he started throwing up every time he ate the medallions, so we had to stop giving them to him. I decided after that to take a bit of a break from pressing the raw issue and give everyone's tummies a chance to settle down.
Now, though, the canned food I had switched them to because it didn't contain wheat gluten has been recalled, so I really don't know what to do now.
Now, though, the canned food I had switched them to because it didn't contain wheat gluten has been recalled, so I really don't know what to do now.
