Switching to raw diet(hopefully!)

[Bonkers]

   Don't be discouraged, you have made great strides with getting them to eat better food. I know that when I switched mine to raw I had to go much slower than you. I would continue to feed them the canned and just keep adding more bits of the raw to it over a period of a few weeks. That way they are all eating the same thing at the same time and no one can be jealous that another has a different food than they do. 

[Perseus]

I think Bonkers is right, and you can expect some baby steps forward and then backward for the next few weeks.  My longest holdout took 6 weeks before he ate his first whole plate of raw and all raw after that.  The others transitioning loved it one day, hated it the next, etc.  Even after one of them was on raw for about 6 months, she decided she hated it one day and I had to put her back on canned.  I even went to a second type of commercially prepared raw, and she hated that, too.  But she was a senior (20 YO) who had other medical problems (CRF) so this isn't a fair comparison to younger healthier cats. 

Right now my oldest kitty and the kibble addict, Perseus, 9 YO, is on all raw; has been for about a year; and would still eat kibble if I offered it to him!

[Perseus]

By the way, sherrylynne, what kind of raw are you feeding them?  Did you see Kaffe's recipes here?  I actually rotate several flavors of raw: chicken, turkey, duck, hen, rabbit, beef.  But I use commercially prepared raw so it's easy to do.  And I definitely have to rotate the flavors as they won't eat the same one two days in a row....rabbit and beef are the favs!

[sherrylynne]

The ultimate goal is to get them on a raw meaty bone diet, maybe with some frozen whole prey thrown in once in a while as a treat . Right now, though, I'm giving little bits of chicken breast mixed in with the canned. Tonight I decided that maybe I was pushing a little too fast, so stepped back a bit, and they all ate everything up again  . So, for now, a series of small steps!
The one good thing is that since I've already transitioned the 4 ferrets, and have a regular balanced feeding schedule worked out for them, at some point, all I have to do is increase amounts . Gotta love simplicity!

[sherrylynne]

Waaaaay back to step 1. I had to go back to putting just 2-3 pieces of raw in their canned. And Mr. Stubbs, brat that he is, wouldn't eat it if he could smell it there. So I had to put 2 itty-bitty pieces on the bottom of his dish, or he wouldn't touch anything at all! Ah, well, I guess this time I'll just have to take it slower

[Perseus]

I sure do give you an "A" for effort, sherrylynne!  But it is what it is with cats.  Hang in there, we'll get through this!

[sherrylynne]

You're not going to believe this! Generally, if the ferrets are little piggies, and eat all their meat for breakfast/dinner, I put freeze-dried meat(unreconstituted) in their cage to nibble on. The next meal time, I toss the remainder, if they've got some meat left. Anyway, when I was getting them ready to go back into their cage this morning, I set aside the dish with the Wysong's, and Watson went to town on it. I thought, why not?, and put some NV I had left in the bathroom for the cats, and who decided he likes it, but Mr. Stubbs! Now, it could be a one time thing, or....
I never even thought of trying it as a transition food! If, and I have to repeat "if" he's decided he likes it, transition should be a snap! All I have to do is very slowly add dribs and drabs of water to slowly change the consistency! The smell remains the same!
Think it's worth a shot?

[Bonkers]

  Sometimes you have to take the long route to get to where you want to be.    It may just work so I definitely think it is worth a shot. If they like it you could later try using it as a topper on some of their raw food.

[Perseus]

Freeze dried as a topper works great. I actually use it sometimes when they start getting a little fussy about the same flavor of raw for 2-3 meals in a row (which is still within the same day).  But I don't want to waste the raw that's thawed out, so I put a little freeze dried on it as a treat and they'll eat it right up.  I'm using Stella and Chewy's freeze fried only when I have to, but it works great. 

[sherrylynne]

Thanks for all your support. It just seems to be taking such a god-awful long time to switch this crew. It will appear that they are making progress, then, nothing! I'll just be happy when they are finally eating what they are supposed to be.

[sherrylynne]

Quick update for everyone . They are now 1/2 and 1/2 canned and reconstituted freeze dried. Tonight, a few bits of beef heart go into the mix. Time to start the raw!

[Perseus]

  (one for each kitty)
How did the beef heart go?

[sherrylynne]

Never even noticed it was there . This time, I'm going a lot slower. Previously, I upped the meat with every meal, then they simply wouldn't even eat. Now, I'm upping every 3-4 days instead. THIS time, I swear, we'll make it!!!

[Bonkers]

    I have found that the slower you go the easier it is, at least in my experiences. Kitties try to psych you out by making you thinking they are eager to eat what you would like them to. Then it turns out to be a case of them saying "fooled ya"! 

[sherrylynne]

   Kitties try to psych you out by making you thinking they are eager to eat what you would like them to. Then it turns out to be a case of them saying "fooled ya"! 

Ya think ::)LOL! I'm going to leave the ratio until Wed., then up the raw a wee bit, and decrease the canned the same amount. I'm leaving the freeze dried the same(they all love it). Hopefully, they won't even know they've been switched to raw!
Then, we'll have to bone problem to deal with! Quick question, and this may sound silly. My 14 yr old cat needs a dental cleaning. He's going next month. With the switch up, do you think it will bother his teeth at first? They should(hopefully) be mostly raw by then?