[Shasta220]

I’m sorry, but I will go through the sob story of Millie. We rescued her as a 5wk kitten. I thought she was old enough to start cat food, but Dad insisted on dropper feeding her for a few days. I have no clue if that had anything to do with it, but she refused cat food when we offered it to her about a week later.

We tried dry, canned, organic, flaked, pouched. She sniffed it and backed up as if it was rotten. We got desperate enough to try “starving” her, offering NOTHING but cat food. She went a week without any food, and still had zero desire for cat food, even after force feeding it to her.

Eventually she got to eating kitchen meat scraps, hot dogs, and cheese (I’m repulsed too, but I simply knew /nothing/ about feline nutrition back then. It’s in the past now and can’t be changed – so please don’t chew me out, I’ve scolded myself enough for letting my parents feed that to her LOL!)…

A couple years ago we took her to the vet for urinary issues. They gave her some meds and she cleared right up, but it’s back now.

Her current diet is *shameful face* raw chicken legs. I wish we could some how get some supplements into her diet, but I’ve tried adding a basic supplemental powder (I added about 1/4 of a day’s worth into some ground meat), and she immediately detected it and refused.

I’m just wondering what the most basic raw diet is out there that I can get away with. I can’t try ANYTHING that’s commercial, as she’s turned her nose up at it ALL, I promise. She likes muscle meat/fat from almost every protein source, and she eats almost the whole leg bone of the chicken, so I’m not at all worried about her calcium. I’ve offered her heart/gizzard/liver, and she refused. Occasionally when I grind her meat, I can sneak about 10% liver/heart into it, but that’s it. I tried adding an egg, but she doesn’t like them (occasionally she’ll eat them cooked).

So, what /will/ she eat? She, obviously, likes her muscle meat/fat/bone, and she likes cheese/milk (no yogurt), peanut butter, and coconut oil.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has a cat as miserably picky as her, and how they manage to get at least SOME of the required nutrients into the diet….because I’m sick and tired of cleaning her messes (I thought her walking into the litterbox and forgetting to turn around was just her personality, but after doing some research, I found that “missing” is a further sign of urinary problems).

Please don’t tell me “just take her to the vet” because we have. They’ve done all they can do – it’s all up to her and what she will/won’t put in her mouth.

Sorry for being so long-winded, and sorry if it was confusing at all…but I’m a bit confused myself. Why can’t she be like the other cats and just eat some balanced canned/dry food? I don’t know -_-

[pugmomsandy]

Will she eat tripe products? Whole mice?

[Dori]

Have you tried feeding her a commercial raw for cats? There are a few out there. She might like that. I don’t have cats but I thought I’d put that suggestion out there for you. My sisters and brothers have cats. I’m the only dog person in the family now. I’m allergic to cats, also to dogs which is why I have “hypoallergenic dogs” Maltese, Maltipoo, Yorkipoo.

[Cyndi]

From what I know, you definitely need to get “taurine” in her. I believe that’s what it is that cat’s can suffer a deficiency from. There are quite a few reviews I’ve read on Hare Today, where I get my raw meat for my dog, from people who feed their cats a raw diet. They sell mice, and baby chicks and whole sardines and stuff. You might want to look into that…

Good luck! 🙂

*Edit* & Hare Today does sell a Taurine supplement.

https://www.hare-today.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=291

• This reply was modified 11 years, 2 months ago by Cyndi.

[Shasta220]

Sandy, I doubt she’d eat tripe. We don’t have access to it anywhere to see, but if she’s refused all other organs we offered, I doubt she’d eat it.

I’ve not tried giving her feeder animals…I honestly doubt we’d buy live animals for her, I’m far too squeamish. Occasionally when she goes outside and catches a bird/mouse, she’ll eat most of it, but usually not.

I knew about taurine and how important it is…I’d look into buying a supplement of it, but gosh she is so dang picky, I just don’t know if she’d accept it. Where is taurine naturally sourced from? Is it an animal-product?

I’ve thought about commercial raw, but we don’t have access to it here, and I sincerely doubt she’d eat it, as she detects any extra stuff we grind in her meat (egg yolks, supplements, etc.)

Gosh I feel so bad for her though! Her pickiness is keeping her from being the healthiest she can be… -_-

[theBCnut]

Taurine is naturally in meat, but freezing and thawing can cause the meat to lose some taurine in the drippings. If she will eat grinds, use whole carcass grinds and make sure to mix the fluid back in before feeding. Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore both have them. I tried the taurine supplement that Hare has, but my cats completely rejected it. Cooked egg is better than no egg, lightly cooked is even better.

[Cyndi]

Thanks for jumping in and correcting me BC. I should have left the cat question to the experts, lol! I figured you’d know alot more than I would. I just remembered reading something not too long ago about the taurine, but don’t know much else. I’ll stick to the easy dog questions! Ha ha!

[theBCnut]

What I know and what I can get my cats to eat are 2 totally different things. 🙂 They just don’t really want to go along with raw feeding. At least I’ve been able to get 2 of them on canned food. My oldest is dry all the way, she won’t even smell canned or raw foods. The 2 younger ones will eat about 1/2 oz of raw, then they’ll just walk away. I can’t begin to tell you how much raw cat food my dogs have had to eat for me. Gideon has a “clean up the mess” command.

[Shasta220]

Ah, sounds like cats are quite the problem causes LOL! Usually we buy small enough packs of meat that they don’t need to be frozen, she eats them before they go bad (if I ever add organs, then they usually get frozen since one package lasts a looooong time for Ms. Picky Britches). Millie is our raw eater, refusing ANY commercial foods, then her younger brother, Panda, loves his dry (it’s hilarious – he’s always been on the dirt cheap dry food and /only/ liked his Cat Chow. We finally switched to Chicken Soup, and it took him a few days to adjust. We still keep cat chow around as treats for the ducks/chickens, and when we left a scoop of it out, Panda was there munching away on the food! The little dork prefers the cheap taste over quality lol). Then Maddy is the least picky, she doesn’t like raw, but that’s fine since she eats canned daily.

Well, I will just have to keep playing around with proportions for the goofy kitty.

Does anyone know how to post pictures? I’d love to show her to you guys, she is a very very unique kitty. Cream/chocolate tortoiseshell and has a perfectly split face (half white, half brown). Big blue eyes, white feet.

[theBCnut]

My old lady would only eat The cheap ones too, mostly Purina indoor cat. I finally figured out, from something I read, how to switch her food. I always start out by adding about 3 pieces of the new food to her old food for a few days. Then I add 10% for a few days. Then I can go to adding 25%, 50%, 75%, and all new food. But everytime I have to start out with just a very few pieces.

I’ve never figured out how to post pictures here. Sandy knows.

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