Newly developed aversion to raw

[John Popp]

Our 7 month old boy has suddenly developed an aversion to his raw food. Thought perhaps it was an issue with the latest batch, but we usually have some crossover from one batch to the next and he just isn't eating much of it.

We do feed him some on demand kibble from an egg shaped puzzle feeder, which takes him a few hours to get it all out. I don't even load the thing up until he's done with his raw, although now it seems as if he is just going to wait it out for his kibble.

The kibble we feed him is a quality food, Royal Canin Kitten 36, just that we want to have kibble totally removed from his diet by the time he is two years of age. Any other quality kibble has nearly immediately resulted in loose stools, as well as any canned which we want him to tolerate to make it easier for his care takers when we are away.

Additionally, he seems to have developed a taste for the lower protein raw, with added pumpkin and butter that our older cats eat. He must like the extra fat provided by the butter, just not sure it's a good idea to make that any part of a longer term solution.

So I am not quite sure where to go with this. Flavor enhancers, perhaps some parmesan cheese or freeze dried chicken liver treats sprinkled on top of his food might be a solution. I've also fed him raw rabbit, turkey and duck which the duck is the only of them he will eat. He's never been a big eater, but this is the first time he has totally turned his nose up at chicken.

Lastly, I have placed a fair amount of effort figuring out how much egg and fish oil he will tolerate. Definitely no cooked egg whites for him and he does a lot better with ground cooked salmon than getting the same amount of fish oil out of soft gels. He's just killing me for the moment, and I'm sure next week it will be something different.

 

[WitchyWoman]

None of my cats would eat raw chicken after the first year. Maybe try a combo of a bit of cooked with the raw? There's a chance that he doesn't like some component of the food -- maybe the smell or taste of a supplement. Or he may be bored by his normal diet. Mix some of the other cats' food into his? Just throwing out guesses here.

If he checks out fine physically -- no parasites, blood work ok, peeing & pooping normally, I'd just let him eat what he wants. He's still a growing boy and maybe his nutritional needs are being met better by eating what you called the lower protein food. If he's on target growth & weight wise, no need to worry, especially if he's been a bit of a picky eater from the beginning.

I just had my picky eater (first one ever) to the vet this week for the 2nd time to ensure that there isn't something physically wrong with him. He's an adult who will eat only quail -- he'll eat really well for a week or two and then go on strike, refusing the quail. I then go into panic mode buying every form of canned food available here as well as Stella & Chewy's in an effort to get him to eat something. Sometimes he'll nibble on the different food, sometimes he'll eat a lot of it, most times he'll turn up his nose. During these strike periods, he'll go a week eating only a few ounces of food a day. Then he gets over it and makes up for lost time. It's his normal pattern, I see that now. The vet assured me that I'm being played by this cat and not to worry, that he'll obviously eat when he needs to. His weight never changes during these strikes so he isn't harming himself, only my psyche.

Don't know if that story helps or not but again, if he checks out at the vet and he's still thriving, don't worry too much, but do continue experimenting with different foods & combinations to see if you can tempt his palate. Just like us humans, I think their tastes can change as they mature.

 

[Jacq]

Oh Deborah. Sounds like you are spoiling that boy rotten! John, try buying Stella and Chewy's Duck Duck Goose freeze dried and sprinkling and mixing that in. My cats LOVE that stuff and it always works if they don't like their food for some reason.

 

[admin]

Actually this is not unusual...I go through this all the time. for the first year, Zuri loved raw chicken and then refused to eat it. Now she eats a bit of everything - raw chicken, rabbit and quail...but she LOVES Stella and Chewy's Salmon and Chicken and has been eating that along with raw rabbit or quail for the last few months.

The kittens grew up on raw and canned and Cinny will only eat raw for the most part...but she sticks her nose up at whatever raw she doesn't feel like eating on any given day and I have decided I cannot keep continuing to get played by her, so she eats it or doesn't...there is plenty of kibble around if she gets hungry...

Ixas, for the most part, only will eat canned and I let him be...he will eat a bit of raw, even though he grew up on it...but he really eats canned and is a big, growing boy, so I just leave him alone...

As for Stella and Chewy's...Zuri used to love Duck, Duck Goose and will now only eat the Salmon and Chicken...

 

[Jacq]

The reason that I recommended duck duck goose, is John said he'd only eat the raw duck, so he must like the flavor. My guys love all the S&C flavors.

 

[WitchyWoman]

Oh Deborah. Sounds like you are spoiling that boy rotten!

(minor thread jack) Oh you don't know the half of it. That little bugger likes the Stella & Chewy's sprinkled on his quail as well as chicken liver powder. BUT, if I sprinkle it on before I give it to him, he won't eat it. He has to see me put the stuff on. I am a very well trained obedient slave.

 

[Jacq]

OMG! He's even more spoiled then I thought.

 

[John Popp]

Thanks for the replies! Always good to have more ammo.

Also just figured out he would rather eat from his egg thingy than to eat the same food from a plate. I'm drawing the line at making some type of game out of him eating his raw food.

 

[Sam]

Can I thread jack quickly? Layla is 6 months old and weighs about 6.5 pounds, after being spayed I have noticed she doesn't eat much anymore. She went from 3 to 4 cans a day (3.5 oz) to now maybe 2.5 cans a day with hardly any kibble. Is this normal?

 

[John Popp]

The growth rate starts tapering off and their weight while still growing is incremental, not exponential as in those early months. What was once a 30+% monthly growth rate by the time they are 6 months old is tapering off somewhere near 10% per month. The same food drive just isn't there and something I need to remind myself of when looking at Chongo getting finicky.