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My SV quit eating raw food.

MattM

Savannah Super Cat
I have read about some of you and your SV having strange eating patterns. Mine seems to have reached that phase, or maybe there is some other factor I'm not seeing. He used to burn through bags of the raw food I made for him. Lately, he seems to have very little interest in it. As of now, he will only eat kibble, or store bought Friskies. Occasionally he will eat a very small amount of raw food.

He still enjoys eating chicken hearts and livers whole, but for some reason he just won't touch the ground up combo anymore. I'm not exactly sure what to do and would really appreciate some advice or suggestions. Maybe I should just give the raw food a rest for a little bit, and bring it back later to spark some interest?
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
He may be bored with the mix. Have you tried other meats such as rabbit, bison, venison? Perhaps offer some whole prey once in awhile. Commercial foods are generally addictive to cats and most will become addicted to certain brands/flavors. The only way to avoid that is to stop offering the commercial food. In general, it takes a bit of time to transition a cat from canned/kibble to raw so if you don't want the hassle of that offer more variety of raw and stop commercial altogether. Experiment with texture also. Instead of grinding everything, put in some chunks or feed just chunks. Just my humble opinion.
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
Many would call the Friskies "junk food" and point out that kids also would eat junk food preferentially to a wholesome meal ;-)

As Deborah says, maybe you need to change the meat you are offering...
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
I switch up food all the time as mine get bored as well...Ixas ate raw as a kitten and now refuses...Cinny used to only eat raw and is sick of it as well...so sometimes they need some variety like we do - JMO...
 

Michaela

Savannah Super Cat
My SV and Bengal have different preference
I took away the dry
I rotate rabbit and chicken
I hand feed the freeze dry treats
Sometimes I treat them with can food
They go crazy for some can food
The breeders I used also top the raw with can and treat them that way.
Having the dry food out is a disadvantage.

Hope you can find some variety to interest them
My cats sometime like the food room temperature not cold from refrigerator .

:)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Michaela L
 

Tort518

Savannah Super Cat
Matt,
I have been ordering a variety of raw foods from Hare-Today so my cats can try things out. They can be finicky, but I stick with it even it means some waste.

So far I have discovered that mine prefer big game: Bison, beef, pork, venison; over chicken, duck, goose, pheasant, quail, and rabbit. Kind of surprised me that rabbit didn't go over well with them. They think they're lions instead of domestic cats. :p

I still have a pound of rabbit I need to figure out how to get them to eat.

I have a new order coming today that is weighted to what they like with a couple more new things.

They also get a small amount of kibble so they have something to nibble between breakfast and dinner, and I also offer some canned to mix things up a bit.

If they are acting too finicky I delay feedings for a short time and get them wound up playing so they burn more calories and work up a good appetite. Doesn't always work as intended, but does get them to eat at least a little.

Unlike some raw feeders I have not yet gotten into trying recipes of mixed ingredients beyond what I did with canned and raw to get Paz to eat some raw.
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
Just one comment, my cats don't like the Hare Today rabbit, yet they LOVE rabbit from other suppliers. So just be aware that the supplier can affect things too...
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
Chongo was so addicted to kibble that he would take dives into the cabinets to pull out boxes of cereal to get his grain fix. You couldn't eat a bowl of cereal without him trying to dive into it. This was in part due to leaving him with on demand kibble as a kitten.

Eventually, I just limited him to one small scoop of kibble a day inside a puzzle feeder and the rest of his meals were raw. He does prefer rabbit to chicken or duck and no issues with the rabbit from Hare-Today. We have now totally weaned him from the kibble and Monte our little guy never cared for it much.
 

Tort518

Savannah Super Cat
I've managed to get the kibble down to about a cup a day shared by the three of them. There's still some left when I get home most days.

Used to be Paz would gobble that up and then some all to himself and then eat when other cats were eating. Even he is coming around better and better toward raw. Eventually they should get to a more controlled schedule and then Paz will lose a bit of weight.

Fortunately the SVs aren't as difficult to work with on feeding, though Yuki does like her kibble "candy" sometimes. Yeti is a real trooper when it comes to feeding. He has just about gotten away from the kibble and holds out more for the canned and raw.
 
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