Thread: My raw feeding experiment

When we got our 2 male littermate Maine Coons Oct 2 they were 13 weeks old and had only been fed dry food and a small amount of canned wet. 1st day we filled a bowl with raw meat and they immediately chowed it down.

Have fed them raw ground which they relish, and scissored big chunks of fish and chicken sans bone and they're learned how to rip it apart and chew and work their jaws. They really like this. Yesterday I started cutting up small bite sized pieces of raw chicken bone into their chicken.

Have them on Orijen 6 Fish dried food until the $48 bag runs out. Also feed them pure baby food because we bought a bunch when Pyrate's tongue was ulcered from cat flu (calicivirus). His tongue healed fast after we added l-lysine to their food per their breeder's recommendation. Have used up all cat canned food.

Basically these kittens are hungry as horses and love whatever we give them but most especially the raw meat. So far rabbit is their favorite. They like acting like tigers and ripping into their prey. Natural carnivores, no doubt about it!

Antonia, with time surely Tatja and Monty will awaken to their eon instincts and devour raw meat with gusto. This lifetime's fastidious habit will succumb to the natural joys of being a cat.

I have had no real problems with mine being on the wet with just their small ration of dry which does include the Hills Oral,I have only one who has any mouth problems & he has suffered with gingivitis,touch wood that hasn't even flared up this last year but his actual teeth are fine & so are all the others,even the thirteen year old was given a clean bill in that department at her check up.I have no doubt at some point one of the six is going to need a dental but at the moment they have all got that "ring of confidence"......
I have tried them on the raw rabbit but they all walked away in disgust so back to good old Felix !

Originally Posted by Antonia

Feeding time now means trying to coax the furries into nibbling real meat off real bones. To be more precise: trying to coax Tatja and Monty… Little Minnie doesn’t need coaxing

Very good to hear the little chap is back to his old self, must be such a relief. Especially as now he can have a pee in peace without you peering round corners!

I'm really thinking about giving raw food a go (for the cats, not me) so I've been watching for news to see how you're approaching it. My guess is that Wicca will get stuck in - she's the far more confident and predatory of the two, and Freyja will be very cautious, possibly shying away altogether. I'm going to order raw minced rabbit from the local butchers in a week or so and start with that as it seems to be popular on the forum. I've tried Freyja with raw minced lamb and she's not touched it (will eat it cooked though). Wicca ate it raw, but that cat will truly eat anything.

So I wondered what you're doing when you say you're 'coaxing' Tatja and Monty? How do you serve the raw chicken to them?

Originally Posted by jckkerrison

at the moment they have all got that "ring of confidence"

Heheh... if you quote THAT commercial, you must be about the same age as me...

Do you think the 'MCs are prone to gum disease' story is exaggerated?

Originally Posted by FreyjaRoMaine

My guess is that Wicca will get stuck in - she's the far more confident and predatory of the two

Wicca sounds like quite a character... much like little Minnie. I love to hear updates about her and her getting on with Freyja.

Originally Posted by FreyjaRoMaine

So I wondered what you're doing when you say you're 'coaxing' Tatja and Monty? How do you serve the raw chicken to them?

I cut everything in tiny morsels and feed by hand... almost stuffing it up their noses

First, they look confused. But eventually they do eat it so I guess they like the taste.

It's hard work... sigh.

Originally Posted by Antonia

I cut everything in tiny morsels and feed by hand... almost stuffing it up their noses

First, they look confused. But eventually they do eat it so I guess they like the taste.

It's hard work... sigh.

Ah, that makes sense and I can see how the same approach could work for Freyja. I love the idea that eating raw meat might bring out a bit more of their natural instinct - they're such a feral looking breed.

Originally Posted by Antonia

Heheh... if you quote THAT commercial, you must be about the same age as me...

Do you think the 'MCs are prone to gum disease' story is exaggerated?

Shows that our grey cells must still be working though doesn't it,but a big worry that the commercial was sooooo long ago....!
I have to say that amoungst my friends who have MC's I do not know of many of them with gum problems other than perhaps a bit while teething but the interesting thing that I have noticed is it seems to be worse in the reds,my problem one is the red & white boy,another friend who had three only had gum problem with the red,enough to need ab's like my boy & a third person had it with "reds including red silver",rest of them no problem at all & we all tend to feed differently,one of them used to be dried food plus the raw .
We have a lot of MC's come through work now & I can't honestly say that I have noticed a lot of "gum disease"to make me think it is something they are prone too,perhaps will have to be a bit more observant but normally when it is a breed the same as yours you tend to remember more about them anyway so on what I have seen I would have to say I think it is exaggerated but no doubt the people out there who have looked into it,or who have MC's really suffering with their mouths would disagree......I am only too pleased that Bruce's gums seem to have settled down as he is getting older & his teeth are still purrfect !

The local Pets At Home has undergone a make over and now has a freezer unit, so I grabbed a pack of ground rabbit and ground lamb to see how the girls took to it.

As predicted, Wicca dived in, nose first - I have no idea if that cat even tastes what she eats it goes down so damn fast. Didn't care what it was, where it came from or that it was raw - just wolfed it down.

And as predicted, my dainty, beautiful Freyja turned her nose up. To her credit, she gave it a good sniff, and a cursory lick, but ultimately decided she either doesn't like rabbit, or doesn't "do raw, dahling". Antonia, I tried your hand feeding technique with Freyja and she wouldn't eat it from my hands either, so she really wasn't keen as she's normally quite quick to snuffle food from my fingers. I shall persist a bit longer and will try the lamb before I give up.

Finally found some time to read up on this forum. I'm still tied up with work, work and more work.

Candes, good to hear poor Teddy's mouth is a bit better.

Our three Coonies are doing fine. But I still can't get Tatja and Monty to appreciate raw food. I've tried prepackaged ground 'barf' but, unlike little Minnie who loved it, they weren't too keen. So I took another step back and mix some raw meat with Whiskas (I found a grainfree variant at last). Let's see if I can gradually wean them. Tonight it's duck breast for them, I wonder what they're going to make of that.

For now I'm going to read some more of all your posts, and then it's back to work.