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Old November 22nd, 2008, 05:27 PM
mjl1297 mjl1297 is offline
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Transitioning to raw...

I have two cats a ragdoll named Snowman and a Birman named LightyLiu that I am wanting to transition to raw. I am doing this largely for Snowman's benefit as he has IBD and for the past three years it has been an on-again, off-again issue and I'd like to get the matter resolved if I could and based on what I've read raw is my last hope.

I bought some Nature's Variety raw chicken and turkey to begin the switch but I'm concerned about how to do this properly. According to the website my total daily allowance for their feeding will be about eight onces for the two of them. Seems like a lot relative to what they eat now in California Natural kibble. Snowman weighs 15-17 pounds and Lighty weighs 8.5-9. Snowman is average activity for a Ragdoll. Lighty is averge activity for a Birman but she would tend towards the upper end of the scale to be sure.

I know this question gets asked a lot but there doesn't seem to be a clearing house of information that you can go to and get consistent answers on the best way to transition cats to raw. I just want to get off to a good start and minimise the waste while I'm introducing the food.

Can anyone help?
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Old November 22nd, 2008, 07:28 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Well the best way to transition is slowly. Do your cats eat canned food at all? If so, it should be easy to mix a teensy amount of raw (say, less than a tsp) into their canned and if they accept that, very gradually increase the portion of raw while decreasing the canned. If they don't eat canned, you could just try offering a smidge of raw and see what they do, or you could transition them to canned first and then move to raw once they're comfortable with that. Or, put some raw on a plate next to their kibble and leave it there for several hours. Do this everyday for a week or so. They may try it once they get accustomed to the smell of it. Have you ever tried giving them a piece of plain raw chicken or even cooked chicken? It's possible that you'll have to start with that before moving on to the prepackaged stuff, since the multitude of ingredients in the Nature's Variety might put them off at first. My guy hated the NV initially, but now he loves it. Took lots of patience, and unfortunately I did end up throwing out a fair amount in the beginning. But it was worth it. Have you seen this site?: http://www.catinfo.org/ If you scroll down to the part about transitioning kibble addicts to canned food, a lot of the same tips can be applied to raw.

As for how much to feed, the general guideline is 20-30 calories per pound of ideal body weight, per day. The NV chicken & turkey is 36 cal/oz. But see how they do first and go from there.

Good luck!
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Old November 22nd, 2008, 08:24 PM
mjl1297 mjl1297 is offline
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Kibble only to this point. I'll look at the other site (think I may have been there once already actually). Now I'm really confused as to what constitutes the proper amount to feed them though. Thanks for the response however.

Last edited by mjl1297; November 22nd, 2008 at 08:33 PM.
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