Kiki and Regie are "ok" with the raw. Azidi does not really care for it. Andrea suggested I take up the dry food for a couple of day and see if Zidi eat the raw better. She said to sprinkle some nutritional Yeast flakes on the food to tempt them.
Oh for sure, if you're trying to convert Zidi to raw you have to stop leaving kibble available. Some cats take a long time to complete the transition and you have to go at their pace. Here's some tips, excerpted from "Beginners How To" by Lisa Moreau. The info is for transitioning to a frankenprey diet but the same principles apply for commercially prepared raw.
How to transition your cat to a prey model diet:
Many cats will transition to a raw diet cold-turkey. If that happens, you’re golden! Some cats are a bit more challenging.
From kibble:
Get the cat onto a wet diet, any canned food, asap. Kibble is highly inappropriate for a cat. You can crush the kibble and sprinkle it over the canned food. If the cat is being free-fed kibble get the cat used to eating only two or three meals a day. Each day begin wetting the kibble a bit more until the cat is eating only moistened kibble. Every 1-3 days increase the amount of wet canned and decrease the amount of kibble until the cat is eating only canned food. This can be taken even more slowly for cats that need it, with changes only being made once a week.
From canned:
Chop meat and mix into the canned food. Every 1-3 days increase the amount of chopped meat and decrease the amount of canned until the cat is eating only chopped meat. Next, increase the size of the chunks gradually, or you can cut the meat into thin strips. Eventually, the ideal size you should be striving for are mouse-sized pieces. For bone-in meat, the bone can be smashed a bit in a baggie first, until the cat gets used to cracking bone itself. Add bits of liver and other organs in the proper amounts. This can be taken even more slowly for cats that need it, with changes only being made once a week.
Transitioning tips:
Some cats provide more of a challenge than others. Tuna water (from water only tinned tuna)drizzled over the food can entice a finicky eater, as can parmesean cheese sprinkled on top. Beef heart seems to be very popular and liked by cats. Provide a space that makes the cat as comfortable as possible. Many cats prefer to eat up high, away from other prying cats. Sometimes it may be necessary to offer the food many times. Place the food on a towel for good grip, with space around the food pieces so that they are not touching.
It is very important to never starve a cat in order to get it to eat the new food. Cats must eat something everyday. They have a particular physiology that puts some cats at risk for developing hepatic lipidosis if they go too long without food. Cats are suspicious by nature and they will need to imprint on a new food before they see it as food.
Since most cats prefer more than one meal a day you can use this to your advantage. Designate one meal to feed the cat what you want it to eat. Set the food down. Take it up and put it in the fridge on a plate, uncovered, after 15 minutes if the cat has not eaten by then. The second (and third, if there is a third) meal give the cat food it is used to. The cat will still be eating every day, but not quite as much as it would like and will get a bit hungrier each day and may become interested enough to try the new food.
