If the cat currently only eats biscuits:
- Split biscuits into 3 meal portions a day & use 3 set mealtimes per day. Make sure no food is left out all day.
- Once the routine is established replace one of the meals with wet or canned food, even tinned sardines. If the cat won’t eat the wet food, sprinkle over crushed biscuits. Feline Natural freeze-dried toppers can also be useful here.
- When they are used to this and eating the wet meal without crushed biscuits, replace another meal with wet food and then the third until all the meals are wet and no biscuits are being consumed.
- Remove all biscuits from the house – the cat will know they are there!!!
- Then follow the next steps below for cats eating wet food.
For cats that will eat wet food:
- Stop feeding biscuits & remove all biscuits from the house.
- Get your cat into the routine of having 3 set mealtimes and divide the daily food amounts into 3 portions.
- Once the routine is established, start with your first raw protein mix such as rabbit & heart mix and mix a small amount into each meal.
- Gradually increase the amount of raw mix until the whole meal is raw. Take your time – do not rush this step.
- From here you can build up a variety of mince mixes, meat chunks, organs & Raw Meaty Bones.
Special care may be needed when transitioning some cats
These include:
- Brachycephalic cats (Persians, British Shorthairs etc)
They have their own protocol to start with. Come in & we will show you how it’s done.
- Any cat that has current health conditions or is on medication
A consultation with a Prey food consultant would be advised as medications can affect the gastric acidity & therefore the stomach's ability to digest the food.
- The elderly or geriatric
Depending on their current health, sometimes the older cats may need modifications to the way we start or even maintain their diet. Older cats generally require less raw meaty bones in their diet as the digestive system slows down with age.
- Pregnancy
If your cat is pregnant or you are planning to breed from your cat, a Prey consult would be advisable as there are different requirements to feeding raw at certain stages of pregnancy.
Advice for Unwell, Vomiting and/or Diarrhoea
Get vet advice straight away if:
- The pet is lethargic and obviously unwell.
- Not eating.
- The vomiting or diarrhoea is severe or bloody.
- If the vomiting or diarrhoea is mild but persists for more than a day.
Otherwise, the general advice would be:
- Stop bones until the issue is resolved.
- Easily digested food will need to be offered. This could be poached boneless meat (chicken or turkey) with bone broth or try just the blander raw mince mixed with bone broth to help settle the gut.
- Slowly return to normal feeding regime once digestion has been back to normal again for a few days. Leaving adding raw meaty bones back in for a week or two to ensure the gut is settled.
