I scanned through the existing raw threads and I found some great advice. We had a massive shitastrophe over the weekend and the only possible remedy, given Maxwell's digesting issues, is to transition the boys from canned wet food to raw.

Backstory: Maxwell (now almost 5) was dx with IBS two years ago in November, and also has asthma attacks. He and Faust (almost 7 years old) both have corn allergies and difficulties with most dry food out there. Neither has really ever had a solid stool unless he was dehydrated. They've been checked for everything.

Saturday, we smelled what my husband called "a giant Old Man Sh*t" in the closet... it was off-color and had a little blood in it, so we knew who did it immediately. They'd had a little more fish-based food than usual since the PetCo was out of the regular chicken and tuna blend they were eating from Soulistic. They get 1/4c each of Blue Buffalo Freedom indoor dry food twice a day. The blood in the stool is not unusual for Maxwell about once a week, despite the methylprednisolone twice a week.

Hubs called the breeder and found that she has switched hers (and the boys' shared line of Bengals) to raw chicken and free-feeds Royal Canin. We're not changing the dry, but starting the shift to raw chicken with 10/90% mix of chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast to dry food for now. We have her recipe once they start accepting any raw. I have a few questions, though, because the boys are refusing to go near the raw chicken.
1. How small do you chop the meat when initially mixing it with the dry kibble?
2. How long is it safe to leave out for them?
3. Should I really be doing a happy dance when I pull the chicken bites from the kibble after two or so hours and they FINALLY ate some of the dry that still had the scent and a little chicken residue on it? This is the first actual meal they've eaten since Saturday other than finding every tiny piece of dry food they've stashed around the house.
4. Is there anything I can do to make the chicken appear or smell more enticing? I've considered a little chicken broth, warming it slightly, etc. They won't eat any cooked meats unless they come in a catfood preparation.

I'm not giving up, but I'm stressed a bit. Thanks, if you've actually read this far!

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I should probably keep up with the obligatory cat photos, right?

Faust
https://www.instagram.com/p/6XUfrMty1E/ ... dr_noodle_
https://www.instagram.com/p/8O6DaRNy_K/ ... dr_noodle_

Maxwell
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBMMSHHNy4G ... dr_noodle_
https://www.instagram.com/p/9ZKJrqNyzu/ ... dr_noodle_

Their Christmas "We're Leaving the Tree Alone" shot....
https://www.instagram.com/p/_NFDqjty0u/ ... dr_noodle_

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I can't help much, but do have a couple of comments:

1. I think mixing wet/raw food with dry is kind of a disaster. I'm not sure there is any merit in it, and it may make both unpalatable and unsafe to eat. If it works, cool, do it anyway But it's not something I'd do personally.

2. I too have been kind of confounded by Serafina's attitudes towards food. She *loves* fish, pretty much any dry or canned or cooked human food containing fish, but she won't touch chicken or turkey canned food. When I feed her Radcat chicken or turkey (that is a raw formulation that I feed Gaga, that is mostly just meat but has all the other stuff in it like bone meal and all that) Serafina won't touch it, but if I cook chicken breasts or drumsticks or whatnot out on my grill (mostly for my own consumption) she goes *nuts* over it. She will wolf down a seemingly endless amount of it, and "beg" for it if she isn't getting all the she wants, or as soon as she wants.

So I dunno, maybe there is something there for you to try. Perhaps grilling some chicken may make it more palatable for them? And maybe mix that with the raw stuff you ultimately want to feed? I know that heating meat brings out the scent, so that is a big factor, but it seems to be more than that... she just seems to like it prepared that way for whatever reason It might be worth a try!

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The little monsters 3

Thanks, Brian. They won't eat anything that isn't catfood... the little buggers.

No grilled or cooked meats, rarely any "treats," and Maxwell will only lick the silverware in the dishwasher a little.
It's so frustrating.

I tricked Max into a few bites of the raw with dry kibble stuck to it last night by crumbling his methylprednisolone and putting a little on top. He loves that stuff. I'm debating on asking the vet who compounds his meds to see if I can get some of the unmedicated powder to flavor the chicken. Our breeder, Barbara, sent over the recipe today. I might look into the flavoring on the probiotics and such to see if adding them might improve the attraction.

They're resisting even going near the dishes when it smells like raw chicken. Going on three days, now, they've been getting about 2T each of dry kibble morning and night, since they refuse the 1/4c of kibble plus 1t of minced chicken breast. It's sad, but they're not starving! And they're super affectionate. Not giving up yet! They haven't pooed since saturday, but they're drinking tons of water and peeing appropriately.

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You'll have to do whatever it takes to make sure they get enough food per day. I would tend to not leave any raw chicken out for more than about 15 minutes -- give them a chance to eat. I don't know about putting a dry/raw mixture into the refrigerator.

Your babies are gorgeous, by the way.

Thanks, Sherry. They're actually looking better in the eyes and coats do since we kicked the canned food about a week ago.

Still no major headway with the raw. They will eat the dry that has touched the minced chicken breast. I tried using the food processor with chicken and some dry food (that stuff is hard as rocks!) with little success. Picked up some Kitty Bloom this afternoon and Maxwell nearly attacked me to lick a few little crystals off my finger tip. I wanted to see how he'd react to the taste without over doing the vitamins. I tried to flavor a little of the chicken with the powder and the dilemma on Max's face was hilarious. He wanted so badly to indulge in the cheesy flavor but not the chicken. I'll mix it full-strength tonight for their dinner and see how it goes.

Interesting observations... They're still splitting about 1/4c of dry in the morning and evening and whatever they'll munch around the chicken mince. Bellies are markedly less bloated. Energy levels are WAY higher, water intake has increased a huge amount. They're a lot more affectionate, the litter box is way less stinky (BMs about once a day instead of 3 or 4) and their urine is less concentrated, and less peeing on the walls of the box. They chill out next to each other more often, though the scrapping continues as usual. They seem happier, if not still hungry. I don't want them to free feed the dry right now, or they'll ignore the attempts with the chicken. I'm also going to try thighs this weekend and maybe a tiny bit of beef. They won't do cooked meat (broiled, pan-cooked, baked, or grilled) of any kind unless it comes out of a can with a cat on the label. I think they were getting too much fish, as they'd started refusing anything canned that didn't have fish, too. Chicken and tuna blend more than anything. I won't keep them on this dry food restriction for any long period of time, but there seems to be a battle of wills at the moment, and no ill effects.

Going to keep at it a few more weeks. If they won't accept the raw, they're going to end up on just dry at the recommended amounts for their weight, once in the morning, once at night.

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