BARF and barf

Hello everyone, this is my first post! What drove me here is this question (sorry in advance for the length and thanks for any help that may be offered).

I have 2 cats (+1 female 3 year old we are also living with) and about 3-4 weeks ago, I switched them to the BARF diet.

Henry, the youngest, took to it right away, and he loves it. Gina and Niko are a bit older (though still both under 5!) and didn't take to it so well. Gina will eat, though reluctantly, and, after eating for a few days and when he realized we weren't going back to kibble, Niko went on a hunger strike. I have started mixing some canned tuna with their food, which has now got Niko eating as well (phew).

Here is the problem:

I feed them in the morning, then I leave for work. When I come home later, I find vomit. It's not every day, either. I've tried different kinds of meat (beef vs chicken, etc), chopping the meat finely or feeding chunks, more or less food, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. It will be fine for a day or so and then there will be that pile of vomit. sometimes its just a little and sometimes it is the whole stomach contents.

What should I do?? I am fed up with vomit but I dont want to go back to kibble.

Raw diets need to be balanced, are you sure you aren't missing anything and that everything is at the correct ratio (muscle meat/bones/oils/supplements)? While I think dogs can survive and even thrive on most anything, cats tend to have special needs when it comes to raw.

I hope you aren't feeding tuna everyday - its is very high in mercury and if that is the only thing that's encouraging your cat(s) to eat, they are likely getting a bit too much. Having said that, cats can never safely fast so it can be quite a challenge when you are switching diets.

IMO cats are meant to eat multiple small meals throughout the day (although every cat is different) - so perhaps you should try numerous small meals throughout the day. Its also impossible to know which cat is having an issue if you do not know who is vomitting - so you need to do some observing. Grinding the meat/bones/oils/supplements together may also help. Some cats do better on prepackaged raw so that is another option.

Good Luck...

instead of tuna, try canned or fresh baked... other fish. mackarel, talapia, salmon... they are all smelly and also very good for your cats. are you grinding them or feeding whole meats? do you feed supplements, eggs, organs?? if you are grinding, try whole chicken parts cut up into meal sized portions and letting them actually work through the meat. it will balance their stomachs while they chew. there are also probotics and diagestive aids you can try. hopefully Sugarcatmom or Growler will see this and give lend their voices also. the most important thing though is to tell us exactly what you are feeding, how often and so on. :)

-ashley

get a copy of Dr. Pitcairn's Natural Health .. lots of good recipes & info..