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This post was originally published October 2017. I have updated it with new information and republished because my cat is now eating raw!
DepositPhoto/iaroshenko.marina.gmail.com
Last year, I received a few lectures about feeding my cat kibble. Jaffrey (RIP) and Cosmo have eaten kibble their entire lives with no health issues. I tried switching them to raw, but they weren't interested, so I would mix freeze-dried cat food with high-quality kibble, adding meals of canned food. I thought I was doing a great job!
Nope! I was accused of loving my dogs more than my cats.
After doing my homework, I learned a lot of things (and continue to learn) about cat nutrition and started the long path of getting my cat off the kibble and on to a 100% canned food diet, with a little freeze-dried cat food tossed into the mix.
Why Kibble isn't Good for Cats
Cosmo won't drink much water on his own. I've tried water fountains, standing water, and leaving the faucet dripping. Sometimes he'll drink the water, but mostly he ignores it. Eating a diet heavy in dry cat food further, dehydrates his system and raises the risk of urinary health issues.
Turns out that mixing dehydrated raw cat food in with kibble is a terrible idea! His system loses tons of moisture trying to hydrate all this food and make it easier to digest.
Although a species appropriate diet for cats would be raw – just like with my dogs – Cosmo wasn't interested in transitioning to a raw food diet. Quality canned food is the next best thing. I still add freeze dried cat food, hydrating the food and mixing it into the canned food. He loves it.
He loves it.
But getting here took several months and it wasn't easy (or cheap).
DepositPhoto/ryhor
1 – Make Sure Your Cat Likes Canned Food
I kept buying quality canned food – Bravo and Addiction sent me a case of all of the canned food options they offered – and Cosmo wasn't interested. I was expected Cosmo to quit kibble cold turkey and he wasn't having it. Someone recommended the unthinkable – feed him Fancy Feast to make sure that he will eat canned food.
Feed my cat a Purina product? But I'm a raw feeder!!!!
I went to the grocery store wearing a big hat and huge sunglasses and bought a couple of cans of Fancy Feast. After weeks of my cat turning his nose up at everything except kibble, I was stunned to see him devour a can of Fancy Feast and then demand more.
Fine! He'll eat canned food.
2 – Find the Proteins and Texture Your Cat Likes
Of course, figuring out that my cat WOULD eat canned cat food wasn't the only thing I needed to do. Figuring out the texture that he liked was the next and most difficult step. I read that cats don't like pate, they prefer chunks of food, but this isn't always the case so not only did I have to find the right brands, but I had to find the right textures within each brand.
On top of that, he's very picky when it comes to proteins.
Nightmare, right?
I printed out a calendar and wrote down what Cosmo ate each day, crossing out the food he didn't like. I did this for a few months until I narrowed down what he'll eat.
I found that it's best to buy canned food a couple of cans at a time instead of getting confident and emptying a shelf. Cosmo would love a food for a day or two and then never want to touch it again – even if I was alternating the recipes.
DepositPhoto/yellow2j
3 – Shake the Cat Food Cans
This was a tip I received from my local pet store. I spent many days at the pet store going through each can and shaking them – looking for the cans with the most moisture. This served two purposes:
- Making sure my cat had plenty of moisture in his diet.
- Making sure that the food wasn't completely solid; I knew he wouldn't eat it if there wasn't enough moisture.
4 – Alternate Food Dishes
During this time, I use three cat food dishes, alternating them daily to make sure that Cosmo was eating out of a clean dish – no matter how well he cleaned his dish (or Rodrigo did). This way he wouldn't be turned off of a new food by the scent of old food.
Plus it's sanitary.
Cosmo isn't a clean freak the way Jaffrey was but he does prefer a clean cat dish, and I'm okay with that.
5 – Be Patient with Your Cat
It took about three months for me to confidently say that my cat had kicked his kibble habit. He hasn't had kibble in six months! It wasn't easy, and it took a tremendous amount of patience, but he did it! In the beginning, he went on hunger strikes which scared the crap out of me, but we made it through.
When I ran out of kibble, I didn't buy another bag and fed Cosmo Fancy Feast (yep, more Purina) in between taste testing of different quality canned food brands. I was trying to figure out which food he'd eat and wouldn't eat.
6 – An Easy Step to Add Raw Cat Food
For a while, I didn't think Cosmo would go fully raw. He did seem to enjoy freeze-dried cat food, but he wasn't interested in raw. Someone gave me the tip to mix a spoonful of raw into his soft food. I did this and he ate it. So I continued doing it, increasing the amount every couple of weeks until he was eating mostly raw. Cosmo doesn't like cold food (his raw is served out of the fridge) so I continue to feed him soft food, but today it's a spoonful of soft food mixed into a dish of raw.
What Cosmo Eats Today
The ideal diet for my cat would be a diet of raw and if you can get your cat to transition to raw, you should go for it! Darwin's Pet offers a cat recipe and there are several reputable brands that offer raw cat food as well – Rad Cat and Vital Essentials Raw are two that come to mind. I've been told that younger cats are easier to transition than mature cats, but just because your cat is a senior don't assume that s/he won't love the diet.
Today, Cosmo mainly eats Weruva's BFF in the pouch mixed with Rad Cat raw cat food; I buy both by the case through our raw food co-op. And I give him supplements from The Two Crazy Cat Ladies and Mad About Organics.
Here's my cat's diet:
– Rad Cat Raw Cat Food – I'm stunned by how much he LOVES his Rad Cat raw. He enjoys it and if I don't add it to his dish, he'll follow me with a vocal protest.
– Weruva BFF (Best Feline Friend) Grain-Free Cat Food – he prefers the pouches to the cans. Weruva offers several recipes, but Cosmo will only eat the BFF recipe.
Supplements for Cats
I add the following supplements to Cosmo's meals:
– CATalyst by The Two Crazy Cat Ladies – this is an all-in-one natural supplement that supports joints, kidneys, digestive health, skin and coat health, and it reduced free radicals (protecting our cats from cancer).
– OxyCAT by The Two Crazy Cat Ladies – this is a natural anti-viral and anti-fungal that balances the pH in our cats' guts while also promoting healthy gut flora which, as we're learning, helps to extend the life of our pets.
– a teeny bit of spirulina – he loves it and a little goes a long way for his immune system. My kitty isn't getting any younger.
– a scoop of Mad About Organics Oral Care – I only add this to his meals 2-3 days a week and I still saw plaque flaking away from his teeth! No more expensive dental cleanings for my kitty.
Now that Cosmo is on a 100% off of kibble, he's at a healthier weight, his teeth don't have the same plaque build up that it did on a kibble diet, and he LOVES HIS FOOD! A year ago, I thought it would be impossible to switch him to a canned diet or a raw diet but wanted to give it a shot. After losing Jaffrey suddenly, I wanted to make sure Cosmo had the healthiest life possible.
Now he does.
I also add Weruva BFF pouch as an additive. However, I add purified water to the pouch, mix it in and only pour some of the watered down fluid to other canned food, such as KOHO venison, pork, duck, and Hounds and Gator lamb. For this cat who would only eat kibble when we adopted him, this is a miraculous shift. His weight has dropped, his fur shines, he is no longer hungry ALL THE TIME ( now getting better nutrition) and he is playful !!!
Am slowly introducing raw.
Am sick at heart about Rad Cat shut down. Have another cat who was raised on Rad Cat. This has and continues to be a challenge. L
How do we the consumers stop the Kindle industry from slowly killing our cherished cats and dogs?
Hope 2019 is a good year for us all.
Thanks,
Elaine
As for fish I printed out a list of fish and their mercury content and found out that sardines, salmon, and shrimp and many more are very low in mercury which is the problem. My kitty just turned 1 and was raised on kibble, she eats Earthborn canned and a few other ones, as she is so picky it is hard to find food for her. Tried raw and that didn’t go over at all. She does get about 1/4 of a cup of kibble about every 24 hours. I am going to look into getting some Weruva Bff, I had not heard of this, so will check out today.
I’ve been told to avoid feeding my cats tuna and other fish due to the toxic state of our oceans. While humans can have it, cats are so small that the toxins will build up and have a negative impact faster. I’m not certain how true this is so what I do is buy from local sources and only give as an occasional treat instead of feeding regularly. My cat gets Weruva BFF which is mainly fish recipes and he does great; I mix it with raw duck, rabbit, or quail.
I’ve been told to avoid feeding my cats tuna and other fish due to the toxic state of our oceans. While humans can have it, cats are so small that the toxins will build up and have a negative impact faster. I’m not certain how true this is so what I do is buy from local sources and only give as an occasional treat instead of feeding regularly. My cat gets Weruva BFF which is mainly fish recipes and he does great; I mix it with raw duck, rabbit, or quail.
tuna fish in water…..is it ok?
I don’t know if it’s healthy or not, but my cats love canned tuna in water. Is that ok to feed them? going to try your suggestions for sure.
Thanks! I’m going to try raw again this year. He’s been on pouched food for a year so I think we’re ready. The kibble part was a nightmare to kick.
I have successfully transitioned 7 adult (7-10 years) cats and 2 youngsters (1 year or less) to an all raw diet.
We transitioned from kibble to canned first. Previously, none were fed canned ever. That was a feat in itself! I used every trick in the book… most of the helpful suggestions I used were from catinfo.org.
The “trick” that worked the best was using a food topper that all the cats liked. Crush kibble and top the canned food with a little of it. The topper works because they still get to eat some of the nasty kibble , while adjusting to the texture change of the canned.
If you can crush the kibble at someone else’s home, and then put in an air tight container… that works best. Seriously, we had one that KNEW kibble was available, so he was a bit more work. 🙂
There are addictive ingredients in kibble. Keep in mind the cats are breaking a VERY powerful addiction, AND they are also breaking the free feeding habit. Both are a lot for a cat to over-come!
As far as raw, I started with ground meat, bones, and organs purchased from Hare-Today. Ground has a similar texture as canned.
The rest is history!
PS I RARELY fed fish flavored canned food. That often just creates a whole new addiction.
No. My cat had no interest but he loves canned, which is better than kibble 🙂
They weren’t interested in raw?
Cosmo is fed 3x a day; 1x in the morning, 2x in the evening (4-5 hours apart). I don’t worry about calories with him since he isn’t overweight. I limit his treats to protein treats and I’m now introducing him to raw with freeze-dried raw; replacing one pouch of Weruva (he usually gets 3 a day).
How often in the day does he get fed and what would a good calorie aim be?
Thanks for the tip about Rad Cat. I missed the order at the raw food co-op; so I’ll pick some up at the store to see if my cat likes it and order more when I can through the co-op – yayyy!
I had the same problem with my kitty. He had absolutely no interest in any raw food I brought home. But wouldn’t you know it, he is obsessed with sliced lunch meat. The cheaper the better. We couldn’t make a sandwich without him begging. He obviously had no sense of quality haha
I eventually settled on the BFF pouches as well (lamb and duck) and he’d mostly eat them. But he was still leaving about 1/3 in the bowl. A friend recommended Rad Cat Raw and I decided to give it a try. And he LOVES it. Seriously. Bowl licked clean every time. We knew he loved turkey so we’ve stuck with that, but soon I want to try another flavor. I don’t know what is different to him but he is now obsessed and 100% off kibble. Yay! It doesn’t come in a slider or nugget form. It’s basically a tub of really wet ground up meat. Maybe it was the texture for him. Not sure.
Anywho, I’m not sure if you’ve tried Rad Cat but it has been amazing for us. Maybe it would work for you too. 🙂
It’s not easy to kick a kibble habit, and we must admit that us cats are a little bit finicky eaters. You did the right choice for Cosmo, paws up for having been patient with him. Purrs