Cat Food

[pt_tangles]

Since Binx had his cold this past winter, I have been steadily worrying about him.  He lost a LOT of weight (which, WD tells me, isn't a bad thing since he was so fat to begin with.  He is just normal cat sized now).  In my fit of worrying (and not wanted to cause him a coronary by taking him to the vet), I finally decided to start switching them over to raw food.

I have been pleasantly surprised by Binx's reaction to it.  He took to it right away.  My first test was to buy a small package of chicken gizzards for him to have as a treat, and he loved them!  I don't think he even eats the krunchies anymore.  He so far has seemed to especially love the chicken hearts.

I am picking up some more krunchies today (more on that later) and I am gonna get some wings so he can practise stripping bone.  My problem has been the Kitten.  Now, firstly, she isn't really a kitten, she is going to be 7 this year (she is one year younger than WD and I have been together), but she didn't like the name we picked for her and only answers to 'Kitten'.

Anyway.  She won't even try anything I have put out.  The best I have been able to do is get her to drink some tuna juice and egg yolk (she wouldn't eat the tuna I put down either).  I had expected that Binx would be the stubborn one, not her.  But, I suppose it is something I should have guessed at.  She has never eaten canned food (and she won't, I have tried that too).  When she was a baby we just gave her moistened krunchies because Binx was so heavy already and we didn't want him to steal her food.  So, she has basically eaten krunchies her whole life.  Thus, why I am buying more, since she won't eat anything else.

This is really frustrating for me.  I am not sure what to do.  I might pick up some pork chops or something while I am out today.  Maybe she just doesn't like tuna and chicken.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :(

--Phae

Comments

[pendamuse.livejournal.com]

Cats will not starve. Period.

If you switch them both over to a raw diet, she will eat because there is nothing else. Trust me. Think of it like cats in a tree - you know the old saying, "every see a dead cat up a tree?"

Mix her kibble with the raw food over a few weeks, gradually give her more raw and less kibble.

My cats balk when I won't give them wet food all of the time. They meow and follow me into the kitchen where I put out dry for them. They'll look at it and walk off, but after a while they do come back and eat it.

She may not eat it for a few days, or she won't eat it if you're looking, but when she gets hungry enough she will. You've had her for seven years. She'll trust you enough to not poison her.

What you can't do is cater to her finicky behavior. She'll eat what the other one eats eventually.

Can you imagine making a separate dinner for a finicky child every night? My mom didn't do it. My sisters don't do it with their kids. I don't do it with my cats.

[mariadkins.livejournal.com]

I couldn't have put it any better. ;-)

[pendamuse.livejournal.com]

I heart my cats, but those little punks know who's got the opposable thumbs in the house.

[mariadkins.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[pt_tangles]

Yeah, you are right. I just get worried when she won't even try something.

Also, it is possible that she is eating when I am not looking and just trying to torture me. When I come to find the food gone, I have no way of knowing if Binx ate it all or if he only ate his fill and left the rest for her.

I have a very manipulative cat. She uses her cuteness to get what she wants (especially from Wintersdark, he can't resist her when she tilts her head upside down).

--Phae

[pendamuse.livejournal.com]

It's a mind control agent they transmit in their pheremones.

Mine yowls when they want to go out, going as far as to throw themselves on the floor and claw weakly at the door. Going out will not kill them and I have said as much to them.

It's hard to watch them give you sad eyes, as if every moment of existence is torture.

/cue the Battle Hymn of the Republic

They are good. They have had millenia to hone their craft. We can salute them, but we cannot give in.

[pt_tangles]

Kitties are evil.

--Phae

[mariadkins.livejournal.com]

Oh, Grey Lady was lke that with Preston! I was always grateful she wasn't a human child - she'd have been so spoiled!

[pt_tangles]

Wintersdark is terrified of having a daughter one day for just that reason. He knows that he would not be able to resist a cute little smile and pigtails asking him for something. lol

--Phae

Here I am!

[beltainelady.livejournal.com]

Raw feeder here!

When you're giving raw, are you just giving the pieces whole? Xena was intimidated by large pieces like legs, so I cut them into smaller, more manageable pieces. I use a giant meat cleaver and hack chicken legs and such into smaller pieces, but there's still bone in what they get. That way, they can chew through the bones but not have to learn how to be a wild cat, which they've never been. (Ok, so Xena was for some time, but she's a finicky little snip).

I'd start out by crushing some of the bones within the pieces as well, to let her get used to the texture and taste of raw food.

You want to get meat that is high in taurine, which cats need. Poultry legs are better for them than wings, because the chicken uses their legs and thus causes taurine to build up. Chicken wings are too bony and without enough meat to make a meal out of. Hearts are always good, FULL of taurine. Beef and pork may be too flavorful at first...kibble-fed cats get used to the bland taste of kibble and therefore balk at stronger tastes.

Here are some resources for you:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/?yguid=127587557
http://community.livejournal.com/rawdogs/profile
http://www.rawfedcats.org/

Re: Here I am!

[pt_tangles]

I give the innards whole (they are pretty small), but right now I only have chicken breast (I have only been at this a couple of days), and I cut that up into bite sized pieces.

Can they eat the bones in a drumstick? That is pretty thick. I will definitely pick some up to try if it is better for them. I just figured that the bones in wings would be smaller and easier for them to deal with.

I was thinking on picking up quail or something small when they get a little more used to it.

Thanks for the links. I already have the last one bookmarked, but I will take a look at the other two :)

--Phae

Re: Here I am!

[beltainelady.livejournal.com]

Most cats won't be able to eat through the bone on a chicken drumstick, but if they get into it, they'll certainly gnaw on it like a dog.

I usually get game hens, and Pye can go through most of the drum, leaving only the knob part of the bone. But then, I also have dogs to take care of those pieces the kitties can't eat.

As for bigger bones, I just hack through them and let the cats do what they can.