Cat Vomits when fed raw food

[beccaj99]

So I need a litte advice from you knowledgable people out there. I am trying to introduce my cat who is 11 years old to raw food. I have gotten him off of kibble and onto wet cat food (which is natural balance salmon and green pea) for about 6 months now. When he was on dry kibble he would go through bouts where he would vomit every day and even if it wasn't every day it was a least every third day. That is why I looked into switching him to a raw diet.
I read that first I would need or at least it was recommended to switch to wet food first, so that's what I did. He was doing pretty good, but lately he vomits maybe once a month and he also has horrible poos that are stinky, mushy and sometimes have blood in them, so I figured maybe it was time to make the plunge into raw.
What i did was get ground buffalo and tried to mix a 1/2 tsp into his wet food. He took like 2 bites and proceeded to immediately vomit up EVERYTHING in his stomach. I thought maybe it was a fluke so after he was fine the next day and had eaten two of his regular meals in between, I tried again, with the same result. What do you think I should try? Please help me!

[sugarcatmom]

Hi beccaj99! That's awesome that you're trying to feed your kitty healthy food.

Originally Posted by beccaj99

What i did was get ground buffalo and tried to mix a 1/2 tsp into his wet food. He took like 2 bites and proceeded to immediately vomit up EVERYTHING in his stomach. I thought maybe it was a fluke so after he was fine the next day and had eaten two of his regular meals in between, I tried again, with the same result. What do you think I should try? Please help me!

Try a different protein source, like chicken, turkey or rabbit. I had a cat that couldn't tolerate beef for some reason. Would projectile vomit if he ate any. You might also want to lightly cook the outside of it at first, then gradually cook it less and less to acclimatize him to the different enzymes in raw meat. Adding a pinch of probiotics from a health food store could also be useful during the transition since his intestinal flora may need a little assistance.

Good luck!

[beccaj99]

Thank you for your help and suggestions. I actually read that probiotics could help and maybe enzyme supplement too. I think I will try Chicken. I had just tried buffalo because I had bought some for myself. Thanks again!!

[sandyrivers]

Hi,

I have 8 cats who never go outside and who have always been fed ''Oven Baked tradition'' kibbles, and ''Natures'' canned food twice per day.
Right after the holidays, I too tried to feed them raw meat.
They looked at it and just walked away.
They simply refused to eat it!
I taught it would be a real treat for them, but no... no one was interested!
The feral/strays I feed did like it very much, and had quite a feast indeed! As I had bought a kilo of it!

I don't know much about meat, as I am a vegetarian, but I tried serving them liver (from chicken, and veal).
All these livers were from animals that were fed organic food, and I bought them at the butcher.
As I said, I am quite aloof about buying meat, since I don't eat any myself!
The local butcher assured me this was the best I could get, (he taught it was for humans).
But I made sure that they came from organic/bio animals that were free range and well treated.

When it was raw, they did not like it, so I sliced them in thin slices and cooked them (stir fry style).
When it was cooked, my cats like it, so much that they did not care for the kibble or canned food.
I feed them one kilo of that meat, twice a week, as it gets a bit expensive!
They prefer when it is cut in very small pieces, and served with the cooking juice!

I will try to cook the livers less and leave a bit of 'blood' in the meat to see if they like it.
Perhaps a slow progression to raw will work...

Good luck with your feeding raw meat to your cats.
It is the best for them, as I hear, but maybe they just need time to adjust!
Making a slow progression from ''well done'' to ''rare'' to ''raw'', may just be the thing!
I sure will try it with my cats!

sandyrivers