Ready to get started!

[ldg]

For my "toppers" to get them going, I use mostly WL chicken at this point. I did use Fortiflora, but try to keep that to a minimum now. Only Tuxie sometimes gets a little "fluff" of dust on his.

But beef liver is a mainstay here. The dried crumbles into tiny little dust so easily, and they love it. :nod: I only recently tried chicken liver, but they seem to love that too. Some of the dried beef liver is hard, so I just rub two pieces together over the bowl, and it turns into lovely powder.

That's really all I used until last week. The pet store had Whole Life lamb, so I tried it. It doesn't powder like the dried beef liver, so I use scissors to "scrape" it into little crumbles. But Lazlo LOVES it.

Carolina uses and loves the Proviable-DC, so maybe you just want to use that?

Mine I just get from the refrigerated section of the health food store. I sprinkle on half a capsule in the morning meal, and half a capsule at the late night meal.

Oh, yes! There are freeze dried commercial raw foods. Stella & Chewy's is one of them. I get the Paw Lickin' Chicken. When they don't eat a good meal, I give them that, rehydrated. :nod: I also used it for snacks throughout the day when I tossed the kibble altogether (when I started the transition to raw, Lazlo, Tuxedo, and Flowerbelle were still eating some kibble). I just feed 1-3 of the pieces without rehydrating for the snacks.

To rehydrate, I use warm water (NOT HOT). I have very small bowls, so basically the 1/8 of a cup fills the flat part of the bottom of the dish. I add warm water until it's about 3/4 the way up the nugget-thingies. It soaks in pretty quickly, and I mush it up with a fork and roll it around, until all the water is soaked up and it's a kind of chunky mush with gravy. :lol3: The S&C crumbs also make a good topper for a couple of the kitties.

 

[feralvr]

I DO use the S&C freeze-dried raw meats too, both types for cat's and dog's. Right now, I use the "dog" freeze-dried products only. I found that my cats LOVE the dog patties better than the cat cubes. The dog is also supplemented with taurine. This has taken the place of my bedtime dry food I used to give. Now they all get one whole soaked pattie at bedtime. They love all of the proteins available. Dandy Lamb, Surf/Turf, Chicken and Duck. That seems to be the ONLY raw I can get into my four fussies at the moment. My other two takers, Walden and Wendall - are already eating 100% raw frozen meat and/or freeze-dried meat. It seems to really work as a back up to the back up plan when all else fails. :lol3:

I also found that the kitty cubes work great for pill hiding. After you soak the cube, you can pop the pill in the middle because the cube is now mushy. The cats usually eat it right up. But make sure you know if the kitty you are medicating loves the S&C freeze-dried first !!!!!!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I DO use the S&C freeze-dried raw meats too, both types for cat's and dog's. Right now, I use the "dog" freeze-dried products only. I found that my cats LOVE the dog patties better than the cat cubes. The dog is also supplemented with taurine. This has taken the place of my bedtime dry food I used to give. Now they all get one whole soaked pattie at bedtime. They love all of the proteins available. Dandy Lamb, Surf/Turf, Chicken and Duck. That seems to be the ONLY raw I can get into my four fussies at the moment. My other two takers, Walden and Wendall - are already eating 100% raw frozen meat and/or freeze-dried meat. It seems to really work as a back up to the back up plan when all else fails.

I also found that the kitty cubes work great for pill hiding. After you soak the cube, you can pop the pill in the middle because the cube is now mushy. The cats usually eat it right up. But make sure you know if the kitty you are medicating loves the S&C freeze-dried first !!!!!!!

Oooh, it would be so great if I could hide Svennie's Pepcid in a S & C vs, a Whiska Lickin's! 

  I just hope it will disguise the bitter taste of the pill enough.  Wonder why your picky four P's like the S & C's, but don't like any other raw

Very curious.  Why can't you just feed them that...isn't it 100% nutritious, or too expensive, or what?  (obviously I haven't done my homework on this product yet)

Anyway, I'm off to place my orders on Amazon and Whole Life Pets!  (OH! and Natures Menu....DUH

  Think I should start pretty small, though, huh?  Maybe just 3 lbs of lamb and 3 lbs of chicken or turkey?  Or does it go pretty quickly, if they take to it?  I know they only ship once a week)
 

 

[ldg]

Personally, I think it's best to start small - unless you have the freezer space.

As to the freeze dried... it's expensive to feed only that. :nod:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, I did it!  I pulled up all their free feeding bowls of food around 4:30 p.m., and just now we are in the thralls of their first scheduled feeding.  Not going too well.  The entire herd went with Darko, then when I tried to get all of them except Darko out of that room, Darko wanted to leave too.  Finally, after much ado, we got him secluded with his food, and then he started yelping at the top of his lungs, so DH is in there with him at the moment.  Callie then ate a little bit, Stinkpot won't have anything at all

, and Sven is hesitant about even eating his wet with his meds, but finally just finished licking it up, with help from Fortiflora.  Now I'm going to give him some of his kibbles and see what happens.  Wish me luck.

I'm sure tomorrow a.m will be better

 

[carolina]

Well, I did it!  I pulled up all their free feeding bowls of food around 4:30 p.m., and just now we are in the thralls of their first scheduled feeding.  Not going too well.  The entire herd went with Darko, then when I tried to get all of them except Darko out of that room, Darko wanted to leave too.  Finally, after much ado, we got him secluded with his food, and then he started yelping at the top of his lungs, so DH is in there with him at the moment.  Callie then ate a little bit, Stinkpot won't have anything at all , and Sven is hesitant about even eating his wet with his meds, but finally just finished licking it up, with help from Fortiflora.  Now I'm going to give him some of his kibbles and see what happens.  Wish me luck.

I'm sure tomorrow a.m will be better :cross:

Sally, keep in mind that Sven likes chicken..... and you can, and should complement his diet with it at this point - just make sure he eats..... That he doesn't get stressed......
As I said before.... When I put Lucky in a schedule, she did not even notice it.... I used the fact that she liked my company to my advantage.
Basically - if she wanted to graze on food, she could - but not with me. On meal time, 3x a day, I would be there, loving, talking and giving my full love and attention for the whole 20 minutes. It worked out naturally - she just did not want to eat on her own anymore.... and waited for me. Establish meal times -a routine, with a place, and a time to sit and give them their food, love and attention.
And Sven, let him eat whenever he is hungry - you can feed him raw chicken.... just keep track of everything you feed him, as they really don't need that much a day.....
Or you can supplement with Hydrated WL chicken as well.... but something mushy, wet - so he gets used to the texture..... if you supplement him with pieces of raw chicken I have a feeling pretty soon you will be able to cut his kibbles all together while giving him full nutrition - how much does he weight?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

OK, here's how this morning went with our new scheduled feeding.  Remember, we have not actually stated raw yet (only a couple of teeny pieces which Sven alone ate).

Everyone acted starved, which I thought was a  hopeful sign.  Wrong! 

  As usual, upon rolling out of bed I gave Sven a couple little pieces of freeze dried chicken for his acid build-up, and  purposely ignored everyone else (foodwise) for about an hour because I don't want them to expect food the minute I get up (or start waking me up to eat, per some posting I read here).  Then I fixed up his "loaded" treat and gave to him with his Vitamin enhanced other treats, and tossed the others just a couple (three  I think) treats as well, which they scarfed right up.   Then I messed round for a little while longer before I brought out the kibble for all but Sven, since he was upstairs in his bed just hanging out.  Callie and Darko ate a little, Stinkpot acted hungry, but wouldn't eat...maybe because I sprinkled Proviable DC on their food

...I shook it all up so it would be all mixed throughout, but maybe that was the problem.  Anyway, then I fixed up Sven's wet food with his meds in it, and he ate that, and next I picked up all the dry and exchanged it for the rest of the small can of what Sven had been eating to see if the other 3 might eat that instead.  (that's actually what I do every morning, only I never took up their kibble before, and usually left out the wet for anyone who wanted it...sometimes had takers, usually not.  Callie at some, Darko  polished off his

, and Stinkpot tried to cover up his

, so I tried sprinkling it with Halo power, and he STILL tried covering it up, even though he likes the freeze dried chicken.  Then, as usual, I finished up Sven's meal with more freeze dried chicken, and gave Stinkpot some just so he had something, although not 100% complete. 

So...next scheduled meal I will start over without any Proviable DC in it, and I am going back to Petco in a few minutes to exchange all the crap canned food I have for Soulistic (because before we left for vacation I bought 3 cans of it and I remember Stinkpot actually ate the one can I used before we left...wish I could remember which flavor.  Oh well, I'll just buy a bunch and maybe he'll like them all.  (the others liked it too!)  Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone here and get them on wet quickly

.  PLUS, we're having chicken again for dinner tonight, so I'll be cutting off some for them to try again.

As to their weights. this is what they were yesterday:

Callie      7.9 lbs

Darko    14.6 lbs

Stinkpot  9.3 lbs

Sven       6.4 lbs (I TOLD you he was skin and bones, and he's actually gained a little (.2) since last time we weighed him!!

)

 

[ldg]

Maybe at other meals, if DH is willing, you prep all the bowls wherever you feed, and he takes Darko and his bowl and heads to the bathroom while you put down the bowls for the others? Just until they get into the swing of what to expect... :dk:

Yeah, it's stressful for everyone at first! Just do make sure to keep offering Sven something. :nod:

KEEP US POSTED!

 

[feralvr]

Personally, I think it's best to start small - unless you have the freezer space.
As to the freeze dried... it's expensive to feed only that. :nod:

YEP - OUCH in the wallet department..... I only give it at bedtime - instead of kibble now. It has been working like a charm. It is VERY expensive - the dog patties are about $30.00 a bag for only 32 patties I think it is ridiculously overpriced ....... The cat cubes are about $22.50 per bag but contains a little less weight wise than the dog patties.

 

[feralvr]

Oooh, it would be so great if I could hide Svennie's Pepcid in a S & C vs, a Whiska Lickin's!  :cross:   I just hope it will disguise the bitter taste of the pill enough.  Wonder why your picky four P's like the S & C's, but don't like any other raw :scratch: Very curious.  Why can't you just feed them that...isn't it 100% nutritious, or too expensive, or what?  (obviously I haven't done my homework on this product yet)

Anyway, I'm off to place my orders on Amazon and Whole Life Pets!  (OH! and Natures Menu....DUH :doh3:   Think I should start pretty small, though, huh?  Maybe just 3 lbs of lamb and 3 lbs of chicken or turkey?  Or does it go pretty quickly, if they take to it?  I know they only ship once a week)

Since I live fairly close to Nature's Menu store - well - a few hours. They can ship to me anytime during the week - UPS. Otherwise, they ship Fed Ex. - I think and that is only once a week. If they take to it - yes - it will go pretty quickly. But I would start out small and "try" the meats first. The guy there - his name was John- was very nice. He threw in a small bag of the freeze-dried beef chunks for free!!! Very nice guy to talk to if you do call.

I KNOW - ODD on why the Four P's love the freeze-dried S&C meat but not the frozen S&C meats. I told you - they are doing whatever they can to make momma's life difficult

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Just reporting in our our transition to scheduled feedings.  Looks like we went directly to wet food, since whenever I put down their kibble, no one will eat any

.  Now, normally, I would be happy about this, but I'm just not sure they are getting enough calories to prevent the dreaded HL, and that reallly has me concerned.  I'm not too worried about Sven, as his routine hasn't really changed much.  And Darko and Stinkpot are being supplemented with dehydrated chicken (lots of it), during mealtimes, but after they have walked away from their wet food.  It's Callie who has me concerned, as she isn't finishing her wet food, and won't eat the dehydrated food/rehydrated food, or fresh meat.  I've got S & C on order, plus other varieties of dehydrated, and would you believe than in this metropolitan area, the only brands of raw I can find are Instinct and Primal, and NO dehydrated!  I've been checking feed stores, pet stores, where else might I try? 

So, this morning, aside for the heaping teaspoon I used for Sven, the 3 others split a 5.5 oz can of Soulistic, and they didn't even come close to finishing it, even though they all seemed to reallly enjoy it

.  They'll get more around 4 p.m., and again around 11 p.m.   I also put out their kibble at the same time, just in case (because I know the are not eating enough), but they didn't touch it..it's like they were full and walked away satisfied.  However, when I took the dehydrated chicken up to Sven about 10 minutes later, all the boys shared lots of it.  Callie wasn't anywhere to be found, but later I held up the jar to her nose and she just looked at me like "what...are you crazy?"

Oh, what the thought about giving them pieces of raw fish or shrimp if that's what we're having for dinner? 

 

[ldg]

We used to feed Tuxie shrimp when it was all he would eat. But it's really not good for them. As a treat, VERY occasionally.....

You're splitting one 5.5 oz can between three cats. How many times a day? How active are they? Because I found that mine need FAR FAR less than listed on the feeding guide. If I fed them as per instructions on cans or kibble, they'd be bowling balls. When I fed canned, I split 6 5.5 oz cans between 8 cats, and they left a LOT.

How much does Callie weigh? And once you start using digestive enzymes, they'll get even MORE out of the food, and need less. :nod:

 

[feralvr]

Sally- I am there right with ya in the "oh dear" are they getting enough to eat I am sorry that you cannot find the Freeze-dried S&C in your area ..... that has been a life saver for me. This transition does take much longer when you first get started, trying to get multiple cats to eat and trying to monitor who is eating what..... but it does get easier with time. I had to google "Natural Pet food stores" in my area to find different brands of raw frozen and raw freeze-dried. I found two SO maybe google on your computer to find a store that might carry more brands :nod:

OH and believe me - I DO know what you mean when the rincess: gives you that look - like WHAT IN THE HEL& IS THIS . Perla is the QUEEN of looks like that. You should have seen her face when I offered her a small piece of fresh organic chicken breast. She looked bobbed her head forward and backward and then backed up and gave me a look of complete disgust and disappointment. It was hysterical. WHY can't these cats realize that this IS suppose to be their "natural species related diet" :frusty:

 

[feralvr]

And once you start using digestive enzymes, they'll get even MORE out of the food, and need less. :nod:

YEP - I can say for certain - that since adding the digestive enzymes - three of my six are turning into bowling balls Walden, Wendall and Presley They don't require as much food it seems.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You're splitting one 5.5 oz can between three cats. How many times a day? How active are they? Because I found that mine need FAR FAR less than listed on the feeding guide. If I fed them as per instructions on cans or kibble, they'd be bowling balls. When I fed canned, I split 6 5.5 oz cans between 8 cats, and they left a LOT.

How much does Callie weigh? And once you start using digestive enzymes, they'll get even MORE out of the food, and need less.

OK, so we figured we should be feeding 6 cans a day between the FOUR cats, if we went by what the cans say!  And with 3 meals a day, we would, at best, only be going thru 3 cans.  Now a feel better!  Whew!  Callie isn't too active (she's 12) and she weighs...I can't remember, and it's on the previous page of this thread so I can't get to it at the moment

..maybe around 8 lbs?)

 

[ldg]

I looked it up. Callie weighs 7.9 pounds, which is about 8 pounds. 7 pounds, 14 ounces. :nod: When researching how many calories the cats should be getting (of course how those calories are composed is important, but for now, not a worry, as the plan is to switch to raw, which you look at on a percent-of-body-weight basis), I found the ranges given are HUGE. I mean - anywhere from 20 calories per pound to 50. :lol3: Obviously it depends upon how active and the age.

Being older, and not very active, Callie most likely needs somewhere between 15 calories per pound and 25. :nod: Mine tend toward needing closer to the 15 per pound. They just do not need to seem to need much food to support their weight. :dk: And they DO get SOME exercise - I mean - they don't just sleep all day (though they are kind of lazy about playing with wand toys ).

At 15 calories per pound, your Callie only needs 120 calories a day. :lol3: I remember when I did these calculations, and put the food in Flowerbelle's bowl - it looked like nothing. At 25 calories per day, she'd need 200. At 20, Callie only needs 160 calories per day. I don't remember what canned you're giving them, but most cans have about 180 - 200 calories per can - I have seen them as low as 160, and as high as 240 per can. My guess is that Callie needs somewhere between 120 and 160 calories a day. This means that - depending on the can - she may only need 1/2 a can, maybe 3/4 of a can a day!!!! You can go to the manufacturer's website - most list the calories per can there. :nod:

Of course, when you first make the switch, sometimes they don't eat enough at the meals, because they're used to thinking they can have more food between meals. If she IS eating the canned, you may want to offer her a little canned food as a snack here and there for a few days, just to see if she'll eat a little more.

But at 8 pounds, a senior, and not very active... she may just not need very much.

 

[carolina]

I looked it up. Callie weighs 7.9 pounds, which is about 8 pounds. 7 pounds, 14 ounces. :nod: When researching how many calories the cats should be getting (of course how those calories are composed is important, but for now, not a worry, as the plan is to switch to raw, which you look at on a percent-of-body-weight basis), I found the ranges given are HUGE. I mean - anywhere from 20 calories per pound to 50. :lol3: Obviously it depends upon how active and the age.
Being older, and not very active, Callie most likely needs somewhere between 15 calories per pound and 25. :nod: Mine tend toward needing closer to the 15 per pound. They just do not need to seem to need much food to support their weight. :dk: And they DO get SOME exercise - I mean - they don't just sleep all day (though they are kind of lazy about playing with wand toys ).
At 15 calories per pound, your Callie only needs 120 calories a day. :lol3: I remember when I did these calculations, and put the food in Flowerbelle's bowl - it looked like nothing. At 25 calories per day, she'd need 200. At 20, Callie only needs 160 calories per day. I don't remember what canned you're giving them, but most cans have about 180 - 200 calories per can - I have seen them as low as 160, and as high as 240 per can. My guess is that Callie needs somewhere between 120 and 160 calories a day. This means that - depending on the can - she may only need 1/2 a can, maybe 3/4 of a can a day!!!! You can go to the manufacturer's website - most list the calories per can there. :nod:
Of course, when you first make the switch, sometimes they don't eat enough at the meals, because they're used to thinking they can have more food between meals. If she IS eating the canned, you may want to offer her a little canned food as a snack here and there for a few days, just to see if she'll eat a little more.
But at 8 pounds, a senior, and not very active... she may just not need very much.

and then....... you will think.... boy, they are eating SO little..... they MUST be losing weight! WRONG All mine keep gaining weight :lol3: Poor Bugsy is eating less than 2% of his weight.... The recommended amount to start would be close to 9oz a day (he is 20lbs :lol3 he is eating 6oz a day and I need to reduce his intake AGAIN for him to lose!
Moral of the story: raw is really really really nutritious...... especially when you add enzymes to it.... you will notice on the little tiny poops...... and on the weight LOL

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

and then....... you will think....

boy, they are eating SO little..... they MUST be losing weight! WRONG

All mine keep gaining weight

Poor Bugsy is eating less than 2% of his weight.... The recommended amount to start would be close to 9oz a day (he is 20lbs

) he is eating 6oz a day and I need to reduce his intake AGAIN for him to lose!

Moral of the story: raw is really really really nutritious...... especially when you add enzymes to it.... you will notice on the little tiny poops...... and on the weight LOL

Yes,  when they get to RAW, but mine aren't there yet.  We're still trying to get to scheduled feedings

, although I'm thinking once my Prozyme arrives, I might as well start using it, since Sven needs to gain weight now, and besides, since I ordered them at the same time, the S & C should come at the same time

(not exactly raw, but a start!)

 

[carolina]

S&C is dehydrated but it is raw..... good start

 

[feralvr]

 

the S & C should come at the same time (not exactly raw, but a start!)

It is a great start and it IS raw food - completely 100% raw Both the frozen and the freeze-dried.