11-11-2012 at 6:04 AM

Thanks for the advice, Kipchack! I wil try it :D

11-10-2012 at 4:32 PM

Chopping the mouse into smaller pieces can help sometimes, since it sounds like what she's used to is amorphous chunks of meat and she probably doesn't recognize feeder mice as, well, food. If cutting it up alone doesn't help, try combining it with chicken chunks as well. My cat's been on a prey model raw diet for over three years now but when I gave him one of my snake's mice he just ripped some fur out and batted it around with his paw. <br /> <br /> Also if you leave dry food out 24/7 it can actually be dangerous. Raw food and dry digest at different speeds so should be fed at least six hours apart. You can feed dry after raw but not raw after dry.

03-16-2012 at 5:48 PM

Awesome!! Thank you so much for the info! :)<br /> <br /> I dipped the mouse in tuna juice and she licked it, bit it and then played with it. I will try other methods next time.<br /> <br /> My cats always have food readily available (because my two males are around 13 and I don't know how I feel about putting them on a diet now), they are fed Taste of The Wild (as is the youngest cat, but she's the one who loves raw which is why I'm letting her try some). No fasting necessary, she just looves raw.<br /> <br /> Next time I go out I will be sure to pick up chicken liver to see how she likes that :)<br /> <br /> I will be noting you shortly :D

03-16-2012 at 5:34 PM

Hello, I am brand new here, but have fed raw for years. When I had cats I fed them raw too, one of them in particular loved whole prey so no bribing was necessary. ;)<br /> <br /> You can try using things like parm cheese, tuna juice, etc, but I that can quickly turn out picky eaters. Cutting slits also helps, but it they refuse after that whole prey may not be your cats thing. I had one who refused to eat organ meat so she had to be put on the Honest Kitchen. She would snub her nose at any whole prey. Be careful with introducing new food sources to cats, you cannot fast them like you can with dogs, they can have a very serious health condition result in not feeding for 24 hours+ (especially overweight or fixed cats with a lot of fat content).<br /> <br /> Cats tend to become imprinted on a certain food, usually kibble or canned, and see this only as "food." This is why it is better to start cats on raw young if possible. If they're older and picky patience is the key.<br /> <br /> RAW bones are perfectly Ok to feed to animals. I usually gave my cats a whole cornish game hen to work on, on bone in nights, then took it away when they'd had enough, refrigerate and repeat until it's gone. I do the same thing with my dogs (usually frozen though) with much larger bone-in.<br /> <br /> Any kind of heart is a muscle meat, NOT an organ as in secreting organ like liver, kidney, spleen, etc. So it should not be used in place of secreting organ meat in the diet. Heart however is very high in taurine which is vital to cats, mine loved beef heart which was their main staple for boneless meals.<br /> <br /> I hope that was helpful! If you have any questions feel free to PM me, though I am new so it may take me a bit to respond! lol

03-13-2012 at 7:18 PM

EDIT: She likes chicken breasts, chicken hearts, turkey hearts, chicken wingtips, chicken rib bones.<br /> I was deboning chicken breasts today and put the big hunk of ribs + meat on the floor and she seemed to like chewing it up.. so I put it in her "chicken bag" with the rest of the pieces in the freezer.<br /> Went out today and bought a pack of chicken hearts for $3 and she loooves them.<br /> <br /> I read that chicken hearts count as both an organ AND muscle meat and are high in taurine so I'm happy about that.<br /> Anything I'm missing? I plan on buying chicken liver next time I'm out and seeing if she likes those.<br /> Slowly working on different meats/bones so she will be brave and try mice.<br /> <br /> Any advice would be great :)