Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

Welcome to the Savannah Cat Chat Forum! Our forum has been in existence since 2012 and is the only one of its kind. We were here, serving the savannah cat community before Facebook and Instagram! Register for a free account today to become a member! Please use an email program other than Hotmail, since Hotmail accounts are blacklisted by many servers and ISP's. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site in some of the forums by adding your own topics and posts. But in order to take advantage of the full features, such as a private inbox as well as connect with other members ad access some of the larger topics, a donation of $2.99/mo or $25/yr is requested. This will allow us to continue running this forum!

new raw starter

Niels

Savannah Super Cat
Hey Lauwwste, I'm stoked with how much effort your placing into this and would love to hear your notes as things go by. I definitely fed a lot of things out of the gate to Chongo, but I really didn't have a plan. Just scrambling to find out what he would eat and then abruptly running out of something. I did have a pretty good idea of what he wouldn't eat and what gave him juicy poops, but I really didn't give some a fair transition period.

Thanks, i'm trying to put in some effort but i have no idea if i'm over looking anything.
This is just a base to start from, i will probably change it frequently adapting to what he likes and what i learn.

i'm still a newbie at this, but if i put in the same effort as i do in mine food it will become fine. :)
I also just registered myself at a dutch Raw Feeders forum, i hope to pick up a lot there.

Hopefully i can give advice soon instead of asking. ;)
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Lauwwste -- that's quite a varied diet and feeding schedule you've planned. I'll be curious to see what he likes and what he doesn't like so please keep us updated.
 

Niels

Savannah Super Cat
Lauwwste -- that's quite a varied diet and feeding schedule you've planned. I'll be curious to see what he likes and what he doesn't like so please keep us updated.

Thanks,

I will do that.
If i see him eating i can't image there is something he wouldn't like. :big grin:

First i need to test everything he likes before i can make the good proportions.
meat-bones-organs are already in reasonable proportion i think.
I didn't check yet between the different kinds of organs.

In a few weeks i will know allot more,
keep you updated. :)
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
Lauwwste, that is definitely pretty aggressive with the variety and I might try to establish one food as a baseline. Not that I don't think the variety is good, but just having one standby food if you run into digestive issues or simply not wanting to eat something.

Our crew, we definitely have some picky eaters. Some that won't eat some things at all and others who will voice their displeasure and then eat the stuff when you aren't looking. I keep mental notes and let them continue to believe that I don't have a clue as to how the stuff disappears.

With Chongo, our 9 month old SV, I do need to have a transition period for new foods. He keeps getting better, but I still can't make abrupt changes to his diet. Generally it takes about 3 days to play things safe. A third the first day of the new food (3x daily feedings), half the second, two thirds on the third day and then I am good to go. Loose stools along the way and I stand pat on the percentage until they firm up.

One other thing that has proved to be difficult is quantity. From one day to the next as he has been growing up the amount of food he will consume can drastically change. One day it's a half pound of food or more and the next he might only eat half that amount. It's definitely getting more predictable, but I was finding myself throwing away a lot of food on occasion.

Anyway, I'm very stoked about your notes on this going forward and wish I had the variety of foods at my disposal. I also had to laugh with horse on the menu as there used to be a cat food commercial which stated "the natural flavor of beef that cats love". My feeble mind would always conjure up images of a 12 pound cat in the grass trying to sneak up on a 1500 pound talking cow. "Really Dude"
 

Niels

Savannah Super Cat
The chicken and rabbit and mouse will be baseline.

Out of 28 meals there will be 10 chicken en 10 Rabbit and 8 something else.
+ small portions of other things as snack.

If he likes it i will keep chicken and rabbit always in the schedule and the other things i will change now and then until i tried everything.

Maybe i can put more chicken and lower the rabbit.
Then his intake is mainly chicken.

About the horse, he already got it now and then in the cattery.
She said it was it's favorite food.
But even if he loves it i don't gonna give him too much of it.

I want the food to be mainly small animals, bigger animals should be now and then.
Like you say, they don't catch horses and cow in the wild.
Would be cool if they did.
 

Niels

Savannah Super Cat
I also will pay close attention to his stool.
If it ain't good, i'm gonna stick longer with 1 thing and slowly build it out. maybe introducing 1 new kind a week.
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
Definitely pay attention to the stools as it's important for their health and in our later years when we are in a convalescing home it's a greatly appreciated skill to have when the conversation inevitably broaches the stool gazing topic.

BTW, Rascal is somewhat of an expert on this topic and I greatly appreciate him dropping the "stool gazer" moniker on me. His skills are so highly honed and regarded that he is often referred to as Dr Browneye in his profession. I'm sure I'm setting myself up for some nefarious retribution, but I have a big set of shoulders and an even bigger sense of humor. That said, bring it Rascal!
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Niels, you are doing such a great job - I am so impressed with the time and effort you are putting into your baby's diet!
 

Niels

Savannah Super Cat
Today i'm going to start with the chicken mix.

I only going to give a tiny bit to start with, see if they like it.

I put out 50gr for themba
And 15gr for my other 3 cat each.
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
Niels, in my experience, if your kitty isn't prone to digestive issues, there should be problem for him to assimilate a varied diet. I think a varied diet in an otherwise healthy cat discourages digestive issues. I only have experience with 5 of my own cats so this my opinion and not based on any scientifically researched data -- but, once my cats were transitioned to raw, it didn't matter what the protein source was. The high fat content of duck might cause issues if fed as a majority of the diet. The low fat content of rabbit and the low taurine content of rabbit is something to be aware of. If rabbit is a large part of the diet (some cats with IBD or other issues may only eat rabbit), then some fat has to be added as well as taurine.
 
Top