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| The Healthy Meow |
From Grocery Store Dry Food to Natural:
Switching kitty from the “sugar coated” grocery store food to a natural
dry food can take a little time. Our cats have become addicted to the sprayed
on flavors they use to entice your cat to eat. Slowly add in some of the new
food to his current diet. If accepting then, increase the new diet and decrease
the old diet over a 14 day period. If the kitty is still hesitant you can crush
the new food and sprinkle over the current diet so he gets some of the flavor
with each bite. Another great trick is just before time to eat take a teaspoon
and dip just a ¼th of it into a jar of raw local honey and let it drip off for
a few seconds, than mix that into a bowl of water. This will give him the
“sugar” rush he has become accustom to over the years. The same can be done for
canned food by adding in some of the new canned with the current one as well.
A longer time from store to raw:
Cats do not like change, so for some this can take months to switch.
Going from Grocery store food to a step up from a Natural pet store, than to
canned, than to raw. Cats become texture snobs as they go from kitten to
adults. It has been said that cats imprint on what they first have as kittens.
So if your cat has never had canned food, you have to find a texture he likes,
than you can move from canned to raw.
I had four cats at one time that I switched to raw, two took to it very
fast, one took a month, and the forth one took a few years! Every day he would
smell it and than walk away, sit and watch the others eat, and go and eat his
canned food. My point is I never gave up. One day I walked by and he was eating
from the bowl I put down for him.
Start with Goat’s Milk:
Starting them on Answers Raw Goat’s milk or Kefir
is a great way to transition to raw feeding. Once they enjoy the taste of the
milk you can add this into their raw food. You can also add a small amount of
Goat’s milk or Kefir to their canned food. If they do not like the Goat’s milk
cold try warming the bowl than adding the milk so it warms.
Try to mimic fresh kill:
As a predator, your cat’s wired to appreciate foods
at body temperature. So, make sure the food is warmed, not cooked. Warming also
enhances the flavors, making it more palatable. To warm, place in a
bath of warm water for a few minutes, then serve.
Use a Bait and Switch method:
Use your cat’s favorite canned food to disguise the
raw initially. Start by mixing a small amount, maybe a teaspoon, and mix in.
Over time increase by small amounts, this changeover can take months, so don’t
despair. Other cats prefer the raw as an appetizer. Try a small amount next to
the canned food. If your cat goes for the raw first, don’t be surprised if you
get the “where has this been all my life” look. Using a packaged raw, you would
need to lightly defrost the food, than cut into small portions and refreeze.
This way you can pull out small amounts at a time.
Because fresh raw foods do not have the addictive
added flavorings . . . adding some freeze-dried treats can be used as an enticing
condiments. Just crush and sprinkle liberally. Reduce slowly as your cat takes
to the new food. Don’t forget these great enticements when introducing a new
protein source, or if your cat is ill and in need of appetite encouragement.
Lightly heat and serve:
To lightly cook, place raw in a pan with a small
amount water. Heat only to discolor the outer part leaving the center pink, this
brings out the flavors and warms to an enticing temperature. Cook below 150
degrees, and for a minute or so. Most cat raw diets have powdered bone so you
can do this without the issues we think of with cooked bones. If you pick a
brand that has larger pieces of bone do not cook. Do Not Microwave ever. Gradually
reduce the “cooking” process over time until you are serving fresh, raw foods.
Notes:
My cats ate mostly prepackaged raw food as cats are
a bit harder to balance. There are cats that eat, and do very well on a Prey
Model diet. I did substitute pieces of raw, chicken necks, whole sardines, and
a few others pieces into their weekly foods.
Cats unlike dogs cannot fast for any length of
time. It can cause fatty liver disease, because of that I kept a variety of
food available for them. They ate mostly raw with some canned food, and always
enjoyed the raw goat’s milk. Their eggs they preferred lightly poached, and as
for egg shells I ground my own to add into the prey diet when I fed that.
Cats also require taurine, without it they will
become deficient very fast. This one ingredient classified as a sulfonic acid
is what keeps their skeletal muscles strong, their eyes bright, and
their mind sharp. Taurine sources come from organ meats, and from fish. Chicken liver has a very high amount and was my cat’s
choice for their source.
Because cats in the wild will eat a variety of fresh
kill throughout the day giving them choices keeps them well balanced. The only
greens my cats ate were fresh grasses I grew for them, and spinach and kale.
They did not care for any others. I also only gave them spinach and kale once a
week. The grasses they enjoyed as they wanted. I do recommend growing your own
for them and making sure they are organic.
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