Should I Just Go All Raw??

[WitchyWoman]

I agree...I just honestly do not know how how to do it...if I do not give him his kibble, he will not eat. My vet is going to try and get him to eat canned food and then we can go from there.

My Maggie would eat anything the vet gave her and then refuse the same food when she came home. Sometimes I think they enjoy watching our hair turn gray.

Suggestion: Soak the kibble in a lot of water and once it's soft blend it smooth (which is probably what you were doing if you were syringe feeding him kibble). Put a few pieces of whole kibble in a dish with the warmed kibble gruel and keep your fingers crossed. Mix the gruel into the canned as part of the next transition. I hope he's not like my Taji who would literally rather starve than eat anything other than quail.

 

[admin]

My Maggie would eat anything the vet gave her and then refuse the same food when she came home. Sometimes I think they enjoy watching our hair turn gray.

Suggestion: Soak the kibble in a lot of water and once it's soft blend it smooth (which is probably what you were doing if you were syringe feeding him kibble). Put a few pieces of whole kibble in a dish with the warmed kibble gruel and keep your fingers crossed. Mix the gruel into the canned as part of the next transition. I hope he's not like my Taji who would literally rather starve than eat anything other than quail.

I was actually syringe feeding him AD - not kibble...and he is very much like Taji - will not eat anything other than ID, which I need to get him off of...your idea is a good one - I will try it when he comes home. SOmeone told me that Eukanuba for Sensitive Stomachs has a similar coating to ID...I tried it once and he did it...but the idea is to get him off of it totally.

Do you feed any of your guys separately? I may have to start doing that with him...I never had to worry about his food until Ixas...Ixas is a pig and goes around eating everyone's food, including his

 

[WitchyWoman]

All mine get fed in their own rooms. I did that for my own convenience when they were young so I could keep track of how much each was eating and they are too used to their own dining areas to change. I tried to switch rooms on them once and they were so confused. They looked at me asking for permission to eat the food because they were not in their usual places. Juba who is a hog gets shut in the laundry room. The other two get fed in rooms without doors because they do not have portion control issues like Juba. Taji (who used to be fed in the powder room) has decided that eating on the kitchen counter is totes better. There's always a rebel in the bunch.

 

[admin]

All mine get fed in their own rooms. I did that for my own convenience when they were young so I could keep track of how much each was eating and they are too used to their own dining areas to change. I tried to switch rooms on them once and they were so confused. They looked at me asking for permission to eat the food because they were not in their usual places. Juba who is a hog gets shut in the laundry room. The other two get fed in rooms without doors because they do not have portion control issues like Juba. Taji (who used to be fed in the powder room) has decided that eating on the kitchen counter is totes better. There's always a rebel in the bunch.

hahaha...I don't have that many rooms (open layout), but am going to have to make some changes...mine are all just too spoiled and I need to start cracking the whip

 

[WitchyWoman]

I know all about spoiled. My cat decided he wants to eat on the kitchen counter and I let him. I keep the bedroom doors shut until 30 minutes after they eat so they don't get the idea of meals served in bed (well, really, it's to prevent cat barf in the 3 rooms with carpet, but, ya know they'd try to be fed in bed at some point).

You have to make sure these types of threads are not viewable by Marilyn Krieger. She will probably suggest that we need to be retrained.

 

[admin]

I know all about spoiled. My cat decided he wants to eat on the kitchen counter and I let him. I keep the bedroom doors shut until 30 minutes after they eat so they don't get the idea of meals served in bed (well, really, it's to prevent cat barf in the 3 rooms with carpet, but, ya know they'd try to be fed in bed at some point).

You have to make sure these types of threads are not viewable by Marilyn Krieger. She will probably suggest that we need to be retrained.

Yes, we will have to hide from marilyn...I will feed Cisco in the bedroom...I was leaving the kibble down, but that will soon come to an end. Cinny is another tough one...turns up her nose at most everything...but I think it is because food is all around, so they are never hungry enough...I just have to remember what I tell everyone else...practice what I preach...and then Zuri is always hungry because she burns everything she eats...

What a tribe I have

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I have a couple that would literally starve themselves rather than eat what they don't wish to eat... so I understand your concern with Cisco.

The weaning off kibble.. the soaking in water is a good one but you might need to transition even slower than that...so first only dampen the kibble a little then progressively make it wetter... But if you could find a canned food he likes for example, then you can also get somewhere... even if it is a canned food you don't like the ingredients of, once eating it you can mix in another and get him transitioned too.

But I completely agree, right now you just want him to eat so if it is kibble he wants, kibble he gets!

 

[admin]

I have a couple that would literally starve themselves rather than eat what they don't wish to eat... so I understand your concern with Cisco.

The weaning off kibble.. the soaking in water is a good one but you might need to transition even slower than that...so first only dampen the kibble a little then progressively make it wetter... But if you could find a canned food he likes for example, then you can also get somewhere... even if it is a canned food you don't like the ingredients of, once eating it you can mix in another and get him transitioned too.

But I completely agree, right now you just want him to eat so if it is kibble he wants, kibble he gets!

Thanks B - that is a good idea as well...I am just keeping fingers crossed that the vet can get him to eat some kind of canned food...they have a whole variety from the usual vet food to friskies and other food. But at this point, he will starve as you said, rather than eat anything but his kibble, so we must get him well first...

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Well for Mr Fussy Pants Bobo, when we had his last bout of refusing to eat...what worked was Meow Mix canned...it's disgusting stuff, it reeks but he ate that when he was even refusing Fancy Feast (which previously had worked). Once he was eating okay again, I transitioned from that to Fancy Feast and then to Earthborn Holistics which is what he eats now (as well as his beloved chicken drumsticks).

It can take some trial and error to find the food that works... many cans of various foods were tried and discarded... I didn't want to be upsetting the other cats' digestions by giving them the failed experiments...

 

[admin]

I will give that a try, Brigitte - thank you...I hear that there is some kind of coating on the ID which causes cats to crave it...but I made it clear to my vet that I do not want him to have it, so the fun begins...and yes, I will buy a bunch of different cans and discard what is not eaten...