Too old to convert to raw?

[mscatmom]

Hello Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has had success converting senior cats to a raw diet. My two (12 year old siblings) currently eat Taste of the Wild dry and a little Fancy Feast Classics wet. However, I want them to eat more wet and less dry, but not the Fancy Feast wet. Too many additives that don't seem necessary. They have shunned nearly every "healthy" brand of canned food - I have bought and tossed most everything available at PetSmart and Petco.

That said, I still would like to get them on a healthier diet but am concerned that if they won't eat the canned stuff will the raw appeal to them. My husband is a hunter and I did offer them some raw ground venison the other night, which they kind of nibbled at.....but the raw poultry might be a different story.

Would love to hear if anyone out there has transitioned older cats successfully? Thank you very much for your feedback.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@MsCatmom -- i don't have experience in this area. however, i do have a senior girl (will be 15 years old in august) who eats almost solely canned food with just about 10-12 pieces of dry cat food per day. and i have a foster boy (currently, but i'll be adopting jasper in june) who loves dry cat food, but eats mostly canned for with just maybe 1/4 cup of grain free dry cat food per day.

my snick (my senior girl) has medical issues (being treated under supervision of our vet), and had been borderline diabetic a while back (side effect of prolonged use of prednisone, but didn't develop into full blown diabetes) so i got her down to just the 10-12 pieces of dry cat food per day and have been giving her freeze dried chicken treats (we use life essentials brand, but purebites is another brand) instead of almost all of the dry cat food she had been eating. it might be worth trying some freeze dried chicken treats, to see if your two siblings like them. the purebites freeze dried chicken treats are made from raw chicken.

another thought is trying some free samples of something like primal freeze dried cat foods. the primal freeze dried is raw food, just that's been freeze dried. i've called primal and requested some samples, which they're sending -- don't know when they'll arrive. the primal freeze dried is nutritionally complete. it's suggested, and i plan on, starting by crumbling a little of the primal freeze dried over canned food as a 'topper'. then once kitties are liking the primal freeze dried topper, start giving them pieces of it like treats too. next re-hydrate a little of the freeze dried food and mix just a very small amount into some of their canned food (like just maybe 10% of the meal in their dish would be the re-hydrated freeze dried, and mixed into their canned food). it's suggested to take things slowly and gradually.

i bought a couple 2 lb bags of grain free dry cat food when our jasper joined snick and me, but will not be buying any more dry cat food once we eventually finish what we have. jasper had been eating mostly dry cat food in his previous foster home.

something that may help is using purina forti-flora. forti-flora is a probiotic -- not a very good one, but you wouldn't be using it as a probiotic but instead using it as an enticer/to help entice your siblings to eat foods you'd rather they eat. forti-flora has animal digest in it, the ingredient in dry cat food that makes cats want to eat it. dr lisa pierson, at her website catinfo dot org, suggests using the forti-flora this way.

 

[missmimz]

One of my cats is 12 and i recently converted him from 100% dry food to 80-90% raw. He doesn't like any canned food but does really well on raw (with some treats on top). He still eats some kibble but only at night. Totally doable. 

 

[stephanie42]

i started the transition to raw with a 9 year old, 8 year old, and 3 year old.  they were all eating mainly kibble (free fed!) with a couple of cans a week.  i got them all on a feeding schedule three times a day and switched them to quality canned food.  i then started introducing freeze dried raw and frozen raw while still offering canned once a day.  i then started making my own food (partially cooked) and feed them about 50/50 commercial raw and home made.  

my oldest (now 10.5) is the pickiest cat i've ever had and she wasn't even too challenging.  as i started offering quality canned, it's like she realized how nutritious and good for her it was.  she prefers pates or shreds (does not like anything too chunky or minced, possibly because of having all four canine teeth removed) but she really enjoys what i'm feeding now.  she regularly makes happy kitty sounds while eating

 

[goingpostal]

I swapped my kitty around 5 years ago now and she was at least 14 at the time, took right to it actually.

 

[mscatmom]

I truly appreciate all of your responses. 

By nature, I realize I am too much of a "softie" when it comes to my furry babies. If they turn their noses up at something I am quick to toss it and give them something I know they'll eat. Someone once suggested I look at it as feeding small children - would I let them eat whatever pleased them, with no consideration of how healthy it was? That comment has stuck with me. Guess I need to practice a little "tough love". That said, I thought of trying some of the commercially prepared raw food before undertaking a homemade cat food project. I know it would be more expensive, but perhaps it would give me an idea of how they would respond to it. I realize a conversion takes time and patience and that is up to me, but it really helps to know others have done it successfully, 

We have not tried the freeze dried treats yet so I am anxious to get some of those. Also I have heard of using the Forti Flora as an enticement, that is interesting. Recently I purchases some "Probiotic Miracle" as one of my kids has developed a nasty case of diahrrea. Wonder if that stuff would have the same appeal as the Forti? 

Again, thank you all for your feedback. This forum has been an invaluable tool and I hope I can be a worthy contributor as well 

 

[lisahe]

 
That said, I thought of trying some of the commercially prepared raw food before undertaking a homemade cat food project. I know it would be more expensive, but perhaps it would give me an idea of how they would respond to it. I realize a conversion takes time and patience and that is up to me, but it really helps to know others have done it successfully, 

More than half of what I feed our cats is various commercial raw foods: I started them on Rad Cat (frozen) first and then added in various frozen and freeze-dried foods from Primal and Stella & Chewy's. These two cats -- and their predecessor -- all took to Rad Cat immediately. The predecessor cat was very old (17 or more) at the time and very sick: she'd never had raw food in the 12+ years she'd been with us but Rad Cat's chicken was one of the only things she'd consistently eat, albeit in small amounts, in her final weeks. (The other was, go figure, Merrick's Cowboy Cookout!) I don't have the time or patience right now to research homecooked foods and then source ingredients I feel comfortable with so have to say that the combination of Rad Cat and freeze-dried foods has been tremendously helpful.

 

[missmimz]

I second Rad Cat being a good choice for into to raw. My cats took to RC immediately. I went straight from kibble to raw because my cats refused basically all wet foods but enjoy raw. I've now ventured into some homemade raw (boneless grinds from HT with alnutrin) which i mix in with RC or alternate with RC for more variety. 

 

[stewball]

i started the transition to raw with a 9 year old, 8 year old, and 3 year old.  they were all eating mainly kibble (free fed!) with a couple of cans a week.  i got them all on a feeding schedule three times a day and switched them to quality canned food.  i then started introducing freeze dried raw and frozen raw while still offering canned once a day.  i then started making my own food (partially cooked) and feed them about 50/50 commercial raw and home made.  

my oldest (now 10.5) is the pickiest cat i've ever had and she wasn't even too challenging.  as i started offering quality canned, it's like she realized how nutritious and good for her it was.  she prefers pates or shreds (does not like anything too chunky or minced, possibly because of having all four canine teeth removed) but she really enjoys what i'm feeding now.  she regularly makes happy kitty sounds while eating

Awwwww that's so sweet. Making happy kitty sounds while eating.