Kittens under four months of age
For kittens, they will basically not refuse any meat food, and of course there is no need for transition. Their love for raw food is as simple as a duck paddling.
The food of kittens after weaning is basically the same as that of adult cats,
It is just that kittens have smaller stomach capacity and need to eat more frequently, usually at intervals of 4-6 Eating again in hours.
If you’re getting a kitten, feed them the food you want them to eat right away so you don’t have to worry about transitioning later.
In addition, kittens should be given raw food with bones so they can learn to eat bones at an early age.
It is better if there are adult cats in the house who will eat raw or wet food. Make sure the kittens learn like the big cats, and the kittens will imitate the behavior of the carnivores around them.
Kittens and adults older than four months
The key to any transition is patience, and food transitions can be fast or slow. No matter how long it takes, it’s always worth persevering.
The whole process needs to be done step by step. Usually, this method will work. There are also some cats who don’t eat no matter what. Try more methods and don’t give up easily.
Some parents may use hunger to force cats to eat food, but it is not recommended,
If the cat does not eat, the probability of developing fatty liver will be very high. Cats should not be allowed to go without food for more than 24 hours.
Only dry food and nothing else
Some cats except Eating nothing other than dry food is simply addictive to dry food. This is an extremely unhealthy eating habit, and the probability of suffering from kidney and urinary diseases is high.
To deal with this type of cat, give a reference process:
1. Stop ad libitum, Change to mealtime meal
2. Make a daily feeding plan, 3-4 meals a day, with an interval of more than four hours between each meal.
From the time the food is poured into the bowl, if it is not eaten within half an hour, it will be taken away, so that the cat knows that it will starve if it does not eat.
3. After getting used to the meal time, start to provide canned food. Try to avoid canned sea fish, especially tuna, which is addictive and not suitable for eating too much.
Generally most cats can be successfully converted using this method, which may take a week in most cases.
If this doesn’t work for your cat, try the following:
1. Mash the dry food and sprinkle it on the wet food. The taste of the dry food will gradually make the cat adapt to the wet food.
2. Prepare several brands of canned food with different flavors. It likes to eat other foods
3. Try baby food with meat, if the cat likes it, you can put it on the can as a bait
4. Bonito Fish fillets, freeze-dried, treats can also be used as bait attractants to get cats interested in wet food
You may ask: why Can’t you just soak dry food directly in water?
Dry food is high in bacteria and mold can easily grow in dry food.
Many cats and dogs die from consuming mycotoxins, vomitoxins and aflatoxin,
If you must soak dry food in water, make sure you have leftovers Throw it away within 30 minutes, as these toxins multiply in water surprisingly fast.
Can to raw
Start with cut raw chicken, raw Try duck meat, chicken liver, and duck liver. Some cats will like it very much. It can help them accept raw meat. The younger the cat, the easier it is for the cat to switch.
If they won’t eat raw food right away, here are some things to try:
1. Make sure the food is warm, similar to the body temperature of a mouse. But don’t use a microwave, which destroys the nutrients in your food.
You can soak the food in warm water for 5-15 minutes in a sealed bag, or fry it in a pan without oil.
2. Put food on a plate, and then put some raw food on the side, not necessarily for them to eat, to get them used to the smell , and associated with food.
Compared to the strong smell of canned food, the smell of raw food is so mild that the cat won’t even realize it’s edible at first.
3. Sprinkle some foods that can induce cats to eat raw food, such as bonito flakes, Parmesan cheese, brewer’s yeast, catnip, dehydrated freeze-dried treats , Salmon/tuna/salmon soup.
If your cat has started eating raw food, congratulations, start adding chunks of meat to allow the cat’s jaws and teeth to fully move.
Raw meat with bones
Bone in raw meat is actually meat with bones, such as whole or cut Good chicken wings, quail, etc.
. Cats who are accustomed to canned and dry food will have poor bite force, and it will take some time to recover, and tendon meat can effectively help the transition during this period.
Once the cat can easily eat the meat with the ribs, you can start giving some chicken wings, separated from the joints, and then use the whole bone-in meat.
