Author Topic: Catgirl64's Journey To Raw Feeding  (Read 27640 times)

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Offline Lola

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Re: Catgirl64's Journey To Raw Feeding
« Reply #165 on: February 20, 2018, 06:54:04 PM »
Yes, very well.  I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while.  Not much luck getting the cats to eat bones.  Lily and Bandit will, but the problem with that, as I suspected, is that Lily drags anything that isn't ground up under the covers of my bed, eating some immediately, and stashing some for later.  I would love for her to have the benefits of bones, but not so much that I'm okay with finding her treasures under my pillow.   ::)

Still loving the fact that the cats' coats don't mat anymore, and that their poop is not so smelly.  I'm also getting a better idea of what a correct portion looks like.  I think that initially I was putting down too much food, and then panicking when they didn't eat all of it.  It takes a while to shake the "free feeding" mindset, in terms of how much to feed at each meal, and way too easy to offer what should be a day's worth of food all at once.   

Thanks for checking in!  :)
As far as the bone issue... sometimes you have to find something that works for the furkids AND you... especially with a houseful.  I get it.  :)
When I started out feeding raw... I think I fed a total of 6 or 7 ounces each-ish a day for the cats.  (The total amount is a lot less now.) Anyway, when feeding 3 meals a day, I had a VERY difficult time wrapping my head around such small amounts. 
Even though I knew I was feeding them (cats and Lacy dog) pretty much more then the average daily amount... meals seemed soooooooo small. 
Weighing everyone once a week, helped me to know what I was doing was right.  It is also good to make sure no one loses or gains too much weight too fast. 

« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 06:57:03 PM by Lola »
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Offline Lola

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Re: Catgirl64's Journey To Raw Feeding
« Reply #166 on: February 20, 2018, 06:57:56 PM »
We will try to go that route but right now there are to many personal factors (job up in the air, elderly parents on two continents, ...).

We won't beat you up for not feeding raw.   Silly7
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Catgirl64's Journey To Raw Feeding
« Reply #167 on: February 21, 2018, 05:49:32 AM »
Yes, very well.  I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while.  Not much luck getting the cats to eat bones.  Lily and Bandit will, but the problem with that, as I suspected, is that Lily drags anything that isn't ground up under the covers of my bed, eating some immediately, and stashing some for later.  I would love for her to have the benefits of bones, but not so much that I'm okay with finding her treasures under my pillow.   ::)

Still loving the fact that the cats' coats don't mat anymore, and that their poop is not so smelly.  I'm also getting a better idea of what a correct portion looks like.  I think that initially I was putting down too much food, and then panicking when they didn't eat all of it.  It takes a while to shake the "free feeding" mindset, in terms of how much to feed at each meal, and way too easy to offer what should be a day's worth of food all at once.   

It does take a while to shake any kind of mindset like that.  Queen Eva was so skinny and malnourished, but she was very light bones and is meant to be a slender cat. She also has weird tendon issues, so has to be kept light for that reason. Even now it's difficult for me to cut back on her amount if I see she's gained a couple ounces.

Conversely, Jennie, being a rescued stray with food anxiety, gained a lot of weight on even small amounts of canned food. On raw she doesn't have the same issue and is staying fit and trim. Sometimes she drops an ounce or two and I need to increase her quantity, and it still feels weird to do that, because of the years I was struggling to keep her weight down.


Offline Catgirl64

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Re: Catgirl64's Journey To Raw Feeding
« Reply #168 on: February 22, 2018, 03:53:08 AM »
Thanks for checking in!  :)
As far as the bone issue... sometimes you have to find something that works for the furkids AND you... especially with a houseful.  I get it.  :)
When I started out feeding raw... I think I fed a total of 6 or 7 ounces each-ish a day for the cats.  (The total amount is a lot less now.) Anyway, when feeding 3 meals a day, I had a VERY difficult time wrapping my head around such small amounts. 
Even though I knew I was feeding them (cats and Lacy dog) pretty much more then the average daily amount... meals seemed soooooooo small. 
Weighing everyone once a week, helped me to know what I was doing was right.  It is also good to make sure no one loses or gains too much weight too fast.

It also doesn't help if you've gotten used to feeding canned in the amounts directed on the can, and try to apply those standards to raw.  I still have a little Fancy Feast on hand, and if I fed as they say to, a couple of my cats would be getting nearly a pound of food a day!   :o
« Last Edit: February 22, 2018, 03:56:20 AM by Catgirl64 »

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