Kitty help! Raw food + sleeping

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  • 26 May, 2014 at 3:55 am #809145
    Tigrita
    Participant

    Hi Cat people 🙂 was wondering if anyone had any advice for my 12 week old kitten Tigrita!

    As I mentioned on another topic, we have been advised by the vet and mostly been feeding her Royal Canin babycat dry food. However, I read that and spoke to some TDK members and it is generally agreed that whilst OK, this is not the best diet for her. Unfortunately, there is no wet food of this quality or higher quality dry where I live, so I have decided to supplement her diet with raw and cooked food. We give her a little raw chicken (inc trying to get her to eat a bit of raw bone, which she doesn’t seem to be interested in) a bit of boiled chicken, including skin, and some mashed boiled butternut squash a day, and then leave some kibbles out for the night. The thing is, now she is 100% not interested in eating the kibbles! Her preferences go cooked chicken,raw chicken , squash and then kibbles! I don’t really have the time or know-how to give her a full raw diet (plus am vegetarian myself so raw chicken to me is super ick!) doest this diet sound OK?

    What can i do to make her eat her kibbles at night so she is not underfed and just waiting for her morning chicken! Thanks so much for help! Didn’t realise that kitten feeding could be such hard work phew!!

    Second problem – sleeping. My boyfriend and I adore having Tigrita cuddled up with us on the bed for sleeping, the issue is that whilst at about 9 – 10pm she is curled up snoozing nicely whilst we watch movies, when it gets to midnight and sleep time for us she gets up and wants to play! Whenever we leave her alone (for work etc) she takes the opportunity to take naps, she is almost always asleep when I get in, but whenever we are around her she wants to play. Which i understand, she thinks she’ll sleep whilst she’s alone so she can get maximum playtime, but we need to sleep!

    We usually push her away a couple of times, then hide under the covers, then get too hot and frustrated and end up sealing her off in another room with her bed + toys so she can’t get to us, but I feel horrible for doing it! Is there a way for kittens to get the message that you do NOT want to play with them at that moment but that they can still be around you? I don’t mind her running around the room and playing but she wants to pat and lick our faces, which obviously makes it impossible to get to sleep!

    Anyway, thanks so much in advance for your help! *kitten hugs* ^___^

    26 May, 2014 at 8:26 am #809150
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    Here is a link to a thread on raw feeding http://dailykitten.com/chat/topic/resourceslinks-for-raw-feeding/
    There are plenty of links for cats on there.
    My cat has grown up on a raw diet with some canned foods. She seldom eats her kibble but I still have some out for her. Shadz eats fresh beef, bought in 500gm containers but I also feed her chicken that I cut into smallish pieces.
    If you are having trouble with the ickiness then you could wear gloves and cut up a good amount in one go and then freeze it in meal size amounts wrapped in plastic. You could mix the meats or keep them separate for variety. Just remember to take them from the freezer in enough time to thaw or have some canned foods on hand for those times you forget.
    Why are you feeding the butternut squash?
    As for the sleeping or not sleeping it’s trial and error with every cat being different but I would say that Tigrita needs to be kept active while you are watching movies so that she will sleep when you want to sleep too.

    26 May, 2014 at 9:07 am #809151
    may
    Participant

    Cats are generally nocturnal creatures so getting them to sleep when you sleep is difficult. Don’t feel bad about putting your kitten in another room. I usually put my two month old in the living room at night and leave all the rooms open except my bedroom. It allows him to be his nocturnal self and not all cramped up just because I’m sleeping. I do leave blankets and hoodies laying about the house that smell like me in case he does want to sleep but that usually doesn’t happen until the sun comes up. As far as the diet I have no clue, I can’t even get mine to touch kibble at all he will only eat wet cat food and went a whole day without eating when I wouldn’t give it to him.

    26 May, 2014 at 1:07 pm #809164
    jcat
    Participant

    Well, the chicken on its own is not going to give her everything she needs, though raw chicken necks are good for her teeth. Add some ox or beef heart, beef or lambs kidneys, chicken livers, gravy beef or steak, and veal into her diet. Goats milk and goats milk yoghurt are good or sheeps milk. If you want her to eat kibbles as well, I suggest you don’t leave them out but put them out for her morning meal and then take them away again and give her the raw meat for her afternoon/evening meal — most cats will eat something they’re not so keen on in the morning as they’ve fasted all night. But she shows good taste in preferring the meat! Raw meat IS icky, I’m afraid, but it’s what she needs to be happy and healthy. Best of luck!

    27 May, 2014 at 5:47 am #809206
    Tigrita
    Participant

    Thanks for the help everyone! Moonshadow, I read that pumpkin is supposed to keep kitties regular and can prevent against digestive issues. Butternut squash is basically the same as pumpkin, and she likes it so i give her maybe a teaspoon of it a day, and she seems to like it a lot!

    8 June, 2014 at 7:46 pm #810020
    Tigrita
    Participant

    Another quick question if anyone can help me, I know obviously tuna is not good for kitties, but is it dangerous if I give Tigs a small teaspoon a day (until the can is finished) as a treat? Obviously not all the time but say, once every 3 months buy a can and feed a teaspoon a day?

    8 June, 2014 at 8:42 pm #810025
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Hi Tigrita – I have fed my kitties a bit of tuna for several days in a row when I have had to give them medicine. Never had any issues.

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