Re: OT: Pet food- commercial vs raw

[Guest guest]

Well, as pointed out, we are straying from topic, so I will post any other replies off list. I was actaully raised Mormon, but I have not been Christian since the age of 14. I just have a very stubborn husband, and children with his genes...

Blessings,

-AngelKirkland Washington

Angel, Yikes!Are you by chance LDS? My official job is homemaking (and it is really poor money! LOL) He earns the money, but my job IS the home and everything in it...I take that very seriously...he is my God given partner in life, and we are each given our knowledge in special areas where we excell, and must trust the best person for the job... when it comes to research, children, health, schooling, and nutrition that would be me in our house. I will apologize if I offend you because you are LDS... this would be the reason we are not.My husband takes me to do the shopping too as I do not drive with babies in the car, and he does a lot of the food selection also.... He's really good at pineapples, coconuts, oranges, and meat! He won't touch the meat around here anymore... it just doesn't look good. He has learned from me what I have learned about nutrtition...and he knows how much better he feels... but it has been a long road with plenty of back and forths... (6 years). And it all started because my oldest (soon to be 12) was having too much trouble getting the grains out while they were all over the house... I told him he could eat them out of the house if he needed to, and he agreed for her sake. Maybe I have just been lucky... sometimes it needs to be pointed out...thank you.

[Guest guest]

Angel--

Each cat is different, and who are we to over-ride their natural instincts? Mine are indoor/outdoor cats, and going outside does change what they eat, so I trust what they prefer. I observe them while I'm cooking. When they're "hunting" in your kitchen, they are trying to tell you what they need, and this is where I'm getting my knowledge.... direct from the Source... lol. Since going Raw Ferments they "stalk" the food bowl and have developed a few other new habits.

They will transition very well, old and young, and rather quickly if you are "serving" what they find appealing.... Bones do not seem to be for any of them, although some say they are. Raw Milk is just not very interesting, although seriously strong kefir is, but they wait until it gets thick like yogurt. Ferments are what they seem to want, and not just Raw, and where the Grains can become nutritious.

Frozen Chix Livers cut up small in Bokashi/Sour Cream (cheap junk from the store) really does it for the little girl cats. Wiley the "prince", is not that crazy about the sour cream, but add some cheap fermented (from canned) fish, and he hogs it. One cat will only eat the raw yolks, where another wants the entire egg (yolk unbroken, please), and preferably with some of my homemade fermented spaghetti sauce like a condiment. I watched one of them "steal" some baked beans I didn't want, which really shocked me. Sometimes they're after a Simple Starch, but not very often.

As you transition, keep a bit of "crunchies" on the side. You might as well use them up, and this makes them happy. Mine will not give them up entirely, even after 3 yrs., although sometimes they're left behind for later. My choice for them is Purina One from the grocery. (I'm going by Meat as the first ingredient, and minimal corn.) ProPlan was acceptable, but much more expensive, and for what I couldn't tell. They want those little pieces and that's that. Salmon and Rice is all they'll eat, so since I give them everything else, I only buy that kind.

My cats confer with Tom's, that hambg is not so great. Rare lamb or steak is another matter, as is cooked turkey. Cheap raw (cooked never) dark-meat chicken works on top of the fish/sour cream combo for all of them, but only Taffy wants it served alone, with a dash of granulated garlic. She stands there until I put it on for her.

All I can say is play around with mixtures of things. I'm sure there's Cat Logic involved somewhere, but it's beyond me. I'm just the short-order cook for their dinner parties.

--Terry

Re: OT: Pet food- commercial vs raw

Tom,

Thanks for the advise. I did try that a couple years ago, and she did starve herself. I think I will try it again though, as it has really been disturbing me a lot. I was raised with the typical Meow Mix mentality, and I left my childhood cat with my parents. They put her to sleep at age 19 because she could no longer control her bladder. I soon realized it was due to the food, after a few of my cats developed other problems. One of my cats died from feline leukemia, which some are now believing is a form of mad cow disease, as there are dead cats and dogs in conventional food. The symptoms of feline leukemia are identical to mad cow disease. I later learned this and switched to natural foods. I love my kitties so much, I shudder to think I am feeding them grains at all...I mean they are cats! I have read so many papers on how they are discovering that what goes into the gut actually programs the DNA, making us into what we are. I think that grains are mutating us in some very disturbing ways, and I do not want to do this to my little ones! I wish I could control what my family eats as easily as the cats...but they are all transfixed by grains and dead food. Makes me very sad. I am going to start replacing the kibble this week...thanks for the incentive!

Blessings,

-AngelKirkland WashingtonI've heard some cats may take months to transition...try mixing a variety of bite-sized meats (muscle, liver, heart (beef & poultry), sardines, mackerel, catfish,...) in her preferred food...let herbecome accustomed to the smell & associate it with a full belly.lucky you, even if she eats around it initially your malePLEASE BE KIND AND TRIM YOUR POSTS WHEN REPLYING!Visit our Raw Dairy Files for a wealth of information!http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RawDairy/files/