want to switch your cat to raw?
transitioning to a raw diet takes hard work
and dedication. but it has many benefits for you and your cat.
hey friends it's jess and jericho from caticles.com
here to teach you how to feed your cat better.
cats require a slow transition to new foods regardless of the new foods quality.
if your cat isn't eating it now you need to transition to it slowly.
you have to do this right if you want to be successful.
you from start to finish how to transition to a raw diet.
and it includes all the resources that i talk about in my videos and on my website.
as well as nutritional breakdowns, guaranteed analysis worksheets,
different cheat sheets, and different checklists.
all these resources that'll help you switch your cat to a raw diet.
the first step in switching your cat to raw is finding your inspiration.
as i mentioned cats require a slow transition to new food.
they're naturally suspicious of change and they're also sensitive to dietary changes.
the transition to raw is going to take hard work dedication and a lot of patience on your end.
so you'll need to find your why behind the switch to raw
to stay motivated throughout the transition.
and this will come in handy when your cat's picky about food.
the next step in switching to raw is getting rid of the all access buffet.
no more free feeding because that only promotes hunger and weight gain. it's also unsanitary!
bacteria, mold, and rancid fats grow quicker by the minute.
the longer your food sits out, the higher the risk of these things. instead of free
feeding your kibble you're going to have to establish routine scheduled meal times.
take your cat's total intake for the day and portion it out into three to four
scheduled meal times throughout the day.
do not skip this step and do not start changing your cat's food until
he's used to eating at scheduled meal times.
your next step is to take your cat to the vet. many of us don't even
know that our cats are overweight so it's important to schedule an
appointment with your veterinarian to establish safe weight loss goals.
overweight and obese cats are at higher risk for fatty liver disease
if they lose too much weight too quickly.
additionally you should do a urinalysis, fecal exam, and bloodwork.
getting these labs done before you change your cat's food will give you a nice
normal range to compare to after you switch your cat's food.
so here is the feline nutrition foundation, great resource for
cat food and learning about your cat's diet.
and it says yes there can be slight changes in some of the blood work values
because of the switch to a high protein very low or non-carbohydrate diet.
so people who feed raw diets and this applies to cats and dogs sometimes find
that their pets blood urea nitrogen or blood creatine are slightly elevated.
both of these are used to assess urinary tract
function. and with a raw diet it's high moisture which is the complete opposite of kibble.
so both of these mechanisms are increased because there's more moisture, there's more urine output,
so the increase in levels makes sense.
this will help prevent misdiagnosis if your cat's blood levels do go up after the diet change.
next step in switching to raw is to learn how to read cat food labels.
you need to educate yourself on how to read the cat food label properly
in order to find the best quality food.
i have an entire playlist dedicated to how to read cat food labels. i'll put
it in the top right corner and in the description below this video.
i've also included cheat sheets for this in my ebook course.
next step in switching your cat to raw is transition to wet food.
but you said we are switching to raw!
there is some debate on whether or not you can mix kibble and raw.
stomach ph and digestibility aside...
cats get addicted to kibble. so your cat is unlikely to take to raw food right away.
if you try mixing raw food and kibble your cat's probably going
to refuse it and it's going to be frustrating for you and your cat.
most commercial cat foods are full of carbohydrates even if they're grain free.
pet food manufacturers know that cats are not grain and carb eaters by choice
so companies like this one afb international exist to create flavor enhancer palatants.
so this is an overall story by somebody that visited afb international and it says that
"pyrophosphates have been described to me as cat crack.
coat some kibble with it and the pet food manufacturer can make up
for a whole host of gustatory shortcomings"
cats get addicted to these flavor enhancers and probably won't even recognize raw food as food.
kibble also has a powerful odor
so unless you're feeding raw green tripe, raw food has absolutely no odor.
give me a polydactyl thumbs up for stinky green tripe!
it will be much easier on you and your cat to transition from
kibble to a high protein low carb wet food first.
this will help your cat get adjusted to eating better quality food.
if your cat's already eating wet food it might be worth it to check the quality of
the ingredients and switch to a better quality wet food before going to raw.
check the description below for cat food brands i
recommend as well as the order in which i recommend transitioning.
note down the calories of each food so that you know how much of each to feed so that
your cat is still consuming the same amount of calories each day during the transition.
i don't recommend reducing calories yet.
feeding less kibble isn't necessarily the best idea
because kibble is very low in meat based protein aka nutrition that your cat needs.
so feeding less kibble will further rob your cat of nutrition that he needs.
you're going to transition to new food very slowly and start with one meal.
day one you'll feed 95% current food 5% new food.
day 2 you'll feed 90% current food 10% new food.
day 3 you'll feed 85% current food 15% new food and so on.
once that meal is 100% new food and your cat is accepting of it
you can start the transition with the next meal.
keep track of your cat's eating habits, litter box habits, his interaction with you,
his energy, and his overall behavior during the transition to make sure it's going smoothly.
my ebook course has spreadsheets and trackers to help make everything easier for you.
the next step to switch to raw, and you can do this during the transition to wet,
is to learn raw food safety guidelines.
regardless of the food you feed there are risks.
there's bacteria and nutritional imbalances that can happen with kibble, wet, and raw food.
make sure you understand how to source food properly, how to store it,
how to handle it, how to sanitize every ting,
how to sanitize everything, and how to serve it properly to avoid these risks.
speaking of serving food properly, get rid of those plastic dishes.
plastic traps bacteria even with regular washing.
instead, use stainless steel, glass, or ceramic.
once you're comfortable with the raw cat food brand, order and stock up!
at this point your cat should be eating 100% appropriate wet food
at scheduled meal times, no more free feeding.
you should understand how to feed raw safely and have your cat's new raw food in stock.
now you can start transitioning to raw cat food!
use the same method as you did to transition to wet food.
so you're going to start with one meal,
add an additional five percent of the new food and take out the same amount of current food each day.
i've included raw brands that i recommend in my ebook course.
speaking of which sign up for my ebook course using the link in the pinned comments.
thanks for watching!