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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 22, 2009 12:34:15 GMT -5
Yep I would gradually increase the water in the kibble every other day, that sounds good. You may have to hand-feed if he gets stuck up or confused.
In that note, keep increasing the size of the girls' chunks every other day or so, too. How are they doing? What size chunks are they eating?
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 22, 2009 13:20:08 GMT -5
It depends on the cat. The girls need chunks the size of their kibble right now(they were on wellness indoor so the kibble is tiny!), Smokey will attempt any size you give him but I have him on chunks about the size of a penny, and Frodo, my male that's gobbling up chicken like there's no tomorrow is getting chunks ranging from nickel to quarter sized. The girls didn't finish their meal (they still aren't 100% caught on that once time is up, they don't get food until the evening) so i picked out the chicken chunks and offered them to Frodo since he didn't eat any of the kibble offered and only half the can, and he ate all but 3 chunks (and I'd say there were 10-12 chunks). I made up my mind that the time to switch the cats to raw was now, when my one female Izzy, was pigging out on her canned food, and finished her sisters, then went and ate some dry. She's becoming quite the porker (we call her "Tank") and I knew if she continued to be free fed she'd be obese and diabetic before we knew it. I will add water to Dorian's kibble tomorrow morning (give him 2 days of completely dry kibble w/ferretone dripped on it) then I will most likely add a teaspoon in doubling increments every 2 days... I need to make myself a calendar to keep all this stuff straight
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 22, 2009 17:39:36 GMT -5
I actually used a calendar when I was making the switch, since everyone was at such different places and paces. Dorian eats the kibble with ferretone without trouble, I assume right? A trick that might work if he refuses wet kibble is to dribble some tone in. It'll obviously float on the water, but may entice him to lap at it. When I asked girls, I meant the girl ferrets hahaha but it's great that your cats are doing so well at this too! Might as well switch them all together right? Especially if "Tank" is you know, getting to be a tank So, how are Charlotte and Jane doing? How big are the chunks they are eating? The same as the kitties?
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 22, 2009 19:53:50 GMT -5
Just popping in - I wanted to link you to some raw cat sites that I've used for research papers for school before, in case you haven't seen them or wanted more raw feeding for cats info --- www.rawfedcats.org/catinfo.org/
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 22, 2009 22:27:01 GMT -5
Oh, haha duh me! Jane has started munching at the kibble but she still eats from the raw bowl. The girls have some decent sized chunks that they eat now... I'd say quarter sized. I do keep increasing the sizes. I keep soups in there too for if Dorian ever decides to surprise me one day and go at it. Other than that Jane and Charlotte don't let the soups go to waste, or any of the raw for that matter. I'm going to offer Charlotte the end of a chicken wing tomorrow just to see what she'll do with it, if anything.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 23, 2009 9:37:46 GMT -5
Great! Wingtips might be a bit too much right now for them (their jaw muscles might not be up to it yet) but it's worth a try!
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 23, 2009 12:58:26 GMT -5
Charlotte certainly has the muscles. I'm trying to break her of the habit of biting. She doesn't do it all the time, but when I let them out of the cage once in awhile, she'll come over and decide my hand or a toe is offending her and needs to be removed. She actually drew blood last night. She doesn't just bite, she latches on and starts shaking her head like she's trying to tear flesh. It isn't constant though. Sometimes when she's out she doesn't do it, and other times she does. I only need to discipline once and she doesn't do it again for a few days.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 23, 2009 19:31:12 GMT -5
Did she take the wingtips??? It sounds like disciplining does work so keep it up, she will get the message over time.
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 23, 2009 23:42:18 GMT -5
She was interested, but I had her in the bathroom, where she knows she can escape so that was what had most of her attention . So far so good on the Dorian front. The teaspoon of water hasn't deterred him from the food. Should I go with 1 teaspoon increments every other day or 1/2 teaspoon increments every day? The thought just popped im my head because it's an everyday thing, but the increase is slightly more gradual in amount of water... wet kibble is so stinky! I ended up giving it to one of the cats. He was licking it... then picked it up and crunched it, which surprised him, so he batted at it with his paws, then chewed on it some more. He was purring and talking the whole time. He didn't eat it, I'm guessing his jaw got tired, but he completely gnawed off one end. I'm telling ya, he's surprising me at every corner. I really did not think he'd take this easily to raw. I bet once I get him completely over and his jaw strength up, he'd like mice as treats.
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 24, 2009 16:16:02 GMT -5
Honestly you could do it either way with Dorian, if he's doing fine thus far, it probably won't matter much either way. But if he starts to refuse, you can switch to see if that matters.
I'm glad kitty liked the wing! It does take a bit of strengthening to get their jaws able to work bone, but that's a great start. You can keep offering wingtips every so often to Charlotte to see if she has interest, but my guess is it may take a little more time.
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 24, 2009 23:35:11 GMT -5
Just hopping on really quickly, I hit my head at work and have a concussion.
Doing well with the ferrets. I added liver to the soups, Charlotte and Jane are lapping it up like crazy. Charlotte and Jane go Batty for ferretone so I drizzle a little over the soup and raw chunks to entice them more to the raw and to leave the kibble alone. It works wonders. There's ferretone in the kibble for Dorian, but that's the only way he'll tolerate it, in his food.
Added more water today, and it hasn't deterred him yet so *crosses fingers*
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 25, 2009 19:26:14 GMT -5
Oh no I hope you are okay! What happened???
Sounds like things are going great with the kids, though, which is awesome! I'm so happy that the girls took to the liver --- full of vitamin a! Give a snuggle to Dorian for me too, he's still coming along wonderfully as well!
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 25, 2009 23:20:38 GMT -5
One of the doctor's dogs was trying to get into the (tiny tiny) laundry room at work when I was trying to clean it, so I grabbed her collar to put her into a run just while I cleaned the laundry room, and when I turned around to leave the laundry room, I smashed my face into the door frame . I have a lump on my forehead, my glasses are scratched, and a near constant headache I'm keeping at bay with aspirin. I hate taking medicine and usually opt to nap off a headache but since sleeping isn't recommended with concussions, I have no choice but to take the medicine. Today went really well. Sunday is sardine day for the cats. Frodo ate a bowl almost entirely of cut up wings (bones and all). The girls ate almost the same way. Penelope is proving my stubborn cat. Added more water to Dorian's food, still isn't deterring him. Jane and Charlotte scarfed down their raw. I've graduated them from soup to ground meat. I still leave a bowl with raw chunks in because Charlotte (and Jane) will still eat chunks. All in all, things are going well on the raw front!
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Post by spiritualtramp on Jan 26, 2009 19:19:49 GMT -5
Sounds awesome today! Keep it up, and your kids will be raw eaters in no time.
How's your head feeling? That sounds like an awful bump!!
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Post by dearambellina on Jan 27, 2009 23:37:17 GMT -5
Still slowly increasing the water in Dorian's kibble. Charlotte and Jane love the ground, but still aren't too keen on chunks with bone. So I may consider keeping them on ground until Dorian graduates to ground. The cats all ate plates of JUST raw tonight I was so proud *wipes tear* Frodo is still LOVING chunks with bone in. I should have known... he's always loved really crunchy things. He ALWAYS tries to steal pretzels, potato chips, cheetos... if it make a crunch when we ate it, he comes running.
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