Bone alert! kitten on the loose

[BrideXIII]

well I am glad he is all well again.

as you point out, it was a cooked bone, they are very brittle, unlike raw bones, plus he picked it up himself from somewhere, easily done, cats just love bones, which just goes to show, that however much you might think you are feeding a 'safe' soft diet, accidents can still happen.
One rule with a raw diet that includes bones, is never allow them to eat them unsupervised. we always watch the girls, to make sure they are eating them slowly and carefully, and we have several tricks including holding one end, to stop the dog 'inhaling' his.

[willowstar]

this is a very interesting thread. i have an older lady cat, she is about 13, and she has become incontinant of faeces which comes out as squits. She goes through phases when she is not so bad but she is having a bad patch at the moment. I have tried feeding her just on fish and boiled white rice, but she still has troubles. I am going to take her to the vet this week but I do wonder if a raw diet would help her. only prob is that i am vegetarian and the thought of buying meat whose provenance I don't know and having to handle it appalls me! I'll see what the vet suggests. My poor girl isn't getting into the main house at the moment because she is doing it all over and our house only rented. not a happy situation for any of us.

[BrideXIII]

well i doubt your vet would advise you switching a cat to RAW anyway, and at her age i would be inclined not to either, seeing as she is not used to it, however, if you have a good local butcher, pop in and ask if he makes his own pet mince, most of them do, and give her a little as a treat, see how she does, at 13 her teeth are not going to get any better, and she may not be able to manage bones, the mince has ground up bone in it, so she will still get the benefit. if she already has the squits, it may help her, as their poo's go back to being as they should be by nature, i find all my cats when they were on biscuits were very 'loose', they are not now.
but... check with your vet, she is an old cat, and it could have a different cause than just diet.

that said, if she is healthy in other ways, what harm can it do to give her a treat in her old age?

[where2start]

Just my little bit.

Here in the Falklands its traditional to feed cats and dogs on raw meat. My cat lives on mutton mince and she loves it, i can put a cat food down for her and to be honest she would rather starve than eat it

She has a shiny coat and looks well. Mine hates biscuits and gets real mardey if she has to eat them, only when i forget to get her fresh meat.

I think it all depends on what they are used to. Dogs that arrive from the UK only eat tinned food (which is REALLY expensive) local dogs will only eat raw meat and fresh bones.

But i only drink UHT milk because that's what i am used too, in the UK i understand UHT is a reserve milk only.

[willowstar]

well interestingly my cats are becoming fussier and fussier. they are being fed on Burns but they only eat it in desperation...I end up giving them a tin of tuna or sardines most evenings just for some peace! I'll see what the vet says, she is a pretty fit cat for her age.

[BrideXIII]

don't confuse fussier with bored. if you had the same thing for dinner every day wouldn't you get bored?
the beauty of RAW, is apart from the basic mince, you can give them , liver, heart, fish,beef , lamb, chicken, they love the variety, as long as you introduce each one slowly.
it's got to the point that however quietly i open the fridge door, there is a mad influx of animals to 'see' what is coming out, and no turned up noses at anything.

one tip, do NOT feed tuna too often, depending on where it is fished from, it can have too high levels of mercury.
not scaremongering here, this is just better to be safe than sorry. although tuna is a great 'tempter' when they are off their food.

[lynda66]

one tip, do NOT feed tuna too often, depending on where it is fished from, it can have too high levels of mercury.

and also too much salt in the brine type