How do I get my cat off dry food and on to raw food?

Question

My cat has chronic UTI problems and I think it is because of the dry Iams food she is addicted to. Sometomes she will eat a little canned Iams but not often enough to make her well. I hoe I can reverse her condition by changing her diet. I want to get her off the Iams completely and on to a raw food diet. How do I do this? How can I get her to eat the raw food? Where and what raw food should I get and how should she be fed? how often and how much? Should I give her other foods in addition to the raw meat?

Female cat, 8 years old. Medium sized.

Answer 1

Hi there... I want to apologize in advance for the length of this answer. I just have a lot of info to share with you and I don't want to miss anything. : )

I too have a male cat with a similar condition. However his UTI's led us to finding a Kidney Stone and he had to have surgery to have it removed. :( The poor thing. Being a male it's pretty rare from them to actually develop a stone. Usually they blow the stone/grain into their urethra and it blocks. But he didn’t. And from the looks and size of the stone, Doc is 100% convinced it’s been in there for years and years. :( Phat Boy didn’t show symptoms though so we didn’t know until I caught him straining. I tell you all that so you know that I understand your situation with switching foods. Been there… done that. And it is the best thing you can do for her. Just also understand though that recent studies have shown diet to not be the cause of FLUTD/FUS. However you can make some changes that can help your cat for the better.

As for making homemade Cat food… it can be a huge ordeal and you could do more damage to your cat by feeding it an improperly prepared home meal. Especially a Cat that already has issues. Cats have very delicate dietary needs that must be researched thoroughly before feeding a RAW diet. There are NO “simple” homemade cat food recipes that work long term. I am not against RAW / BARF Diets for cats… I have tried it. I do know what is involved. It can be wonderful, but it can also be disastrous for your cat if you don’t know what you’re doing. Also know that Dog and Cat RAW diets are completely different. You will see that in your research. Be careful if you choose RAW, and know what you are getting into before you do it. If you feel you MUST go RAW, I recommend you start here http://www.catnutrition.org/. It’s a wonderful site with a lot of great information and recipes. Plan on spending a lot of time reading about this. No one here is going to give you the “simple” Answer to a RAW / BARF Diet for your cats.

With that said, my advice to you is this... find a good high quality Human Grade Healthy, Holistic or Organic manufactured food instead.

Put her on a high quality human Grade Healthy, Holistic or Organic canned only diet of 5.5 ounces of wet food split up into three feedings or more a day. I know you say she won’t eat canned… but if you take away the dry she will be more apt to eat what you offer. Also try warming it in the microwave for a few seconds to make t smell yummy to her. If even after she boycotts you and starves for two days… go back to dry. Some cats just won’t eat wet food.

Let me give you a run down about foods…

It's time for pet owners to wake up and take responsibility for what they feed their animals and quit trusting what those great big money hungry companies tell you. Research for yourself, learn, read the ingredients and make an informed decision for the health and safety of your beloved pet.

With the recall, wheat gluten is the big suspect in cat food that everyone is trying to avoid, and it SHOULD be avoided. It should have been avoided all along. It’s nothing more than a cheap protein source used as a binding agent by pet food companies.

Corn should always be avoided as well. It’s a huge filler worth NOTHING. Corn as an ingredient in cat food is a joke. Ever seen a cat chewing on a corn cob in a field? No, you haven’t.

Cats, despite thousands of years of domestication, remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!

As you search for your new pet food, be aware that there are three Categories of Pet Foods:

-"Grocery store" foods – (Generic Brands and cheap name brands) Those foods found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers are made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, "grocery store" foods normally do not provide your cat with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.

-Premium foods – (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina One, Hills Science Diet, Nutro and such) Foods often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices that contain higher-grade ingredients, but still include many elements of "grocery store" food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and "filler" ingredients such as corn and wheat products, by-products and even animal digest. Yuck! Premium foods are usually more expensive than "grocery store" foods because their ingredients are sometimes of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible. But don’t be fooled, some of those same so called Premium brands are sometimes worse than grocery store foods, but they charge prices like they are better. They aren’t!

-Healthy foods – (Wellness, Eagle Pack, Drs Foster and Smith) The newest addition to the pet food market - provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Some better retailers are starting to carry them now. Complete Petmart carries a few healthy brand foods. Foods in the Healthy class - contain nutrient-rich ingredients. Formulated to provide optimum health benefits for pets, these foods often use real meat as the primary protein source, carbohydrate-rich whole grains like brown rice and barley and whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. They should not contain artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. They will almost always be fortified with additional vitamins and minerals, and will use the best natural sources for fatty acids to help build healthy skin and a beautiful coat. Because healthy foods use high quality ingredients, you should expect to pay a little more than you would for other types of pet food. Remember, though, with healthy foods you can feed less since healthy foods are more nutrient-dense than other types of food so it often evens out or cost’s les than feeding foods filled with cheap non-nutritional by-products fillers.


With all that information in mind, when you are choosing a new cat food, study the ingredients. All ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Meaning whatever ingredients are listed first on the list, there is more in there. The first ingredients listed should be whole meat ingredients, protein sources, such as Chicken or Turkey. NOT just the word “meat”! Who the heck knows what that is? The word Chicken Meal is ok, but it should be a secondary ingredient, not first. Meal is the meat dehydrated and ground into a powder.

The ingredients also should NOT include any by-products or animal digest whatsoever. Those are disgusting left over animal parts that are scraped off the filthy floors of meat and poultry plants. They should just go into the trash but they put them into pet food instead. EW!!!!

Also make sure there are no artificial colors or flavors. And make sure there is no BHA and BHT used preservatives. These preservatives have been shown to cause cancer in both cats and dogs. Bad Bad stuff and it’s in almost every cat treat on the market. :(

So, in summery of the ingredients… if you see the words by-products, Animal Digest, the word “meat” alone, Corn, Corn Gluten, Wheat Gluten, or BHA or BHT… stop reading, put down that bag and move on to the next.

Be aware that when switching to a Healthy, Holistic or Organic food, you will pay for what you get. Good foods are not cheap. They are pricey and will cost you on a per bag basis much more. Just like steak costs more than hotdogs. But again, you will be feeding a better food and improving the over all health of your pet. Which in turn leads to less vet visits for illness now and more importantly later in life in their Geriatric years. You will also feed less of this food on a per animal basis because a smaller amount of food contains what your cat needs. Overall healthy foods are well worth it, if only for the piece of mind that the ingredients are safer.

What are some good foods I recommend? I feed my cats Drs. Foster and Smith Holistic Adult Lite Dry cat food along with a mix of Wellness Dry. I also feed Merrick Canned.

I purchase Drs. Foster and Smith online and have it automatically delivered to my door so I never run out and never have to go get it. It’s one of the best foods on the market and has no “fillers” in it. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other holistic foods. And when you’re feeding as many cats as I am, price is as important as ingredients. If you can't afford it, you can't feed it. So buy the highest quality you can and feel good that you are doing the absolute best you can for your pet.

If you want to buy in a store, Complete Petmart is a good store and carries quite a few natural, organic, and holistic blends. Also check with your local feed stores. Old Mother Hubbard Wellness Brand is a great holistic food I feed. As is Eagle Pack Dry Cat food. Merrick canned is also a great source of nutrition and they will be coming out with a dry line this summer.

I highly recommend people take the time to research for themselves, but the information I have given should get you off to a good start. Good luck choosing a new food for your cats!

Side note… Please don’t feed Iams / Eukanuba. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. http://www.iamscruelty.com to see the terror they create.

Drs. F&S Food Link - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+6000

Wellness Food Link - http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html

Eagle Pack Holistic Select - http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Home.html

Merrick Foods: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/


****DO NOT FEED IAMS!**** http://www.iamscruelty.com

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Ok, so now you’re on your way to choosing a better food. Your key thing because of your cats UTI issues is to get her onto a low ash, low magnesium diet. The lower the better on both of those percents.

You also want to encourage her water intake. Purchase a pet fountain. I bought a drinkwell from Drs Foster and Smith for my cats and they love it. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=1783 And give her only Distilled water. Many vets believe that the quality, or lack there of, in tap water leads to URI’s. Giving distilled water will not add any uneeded minerals to her system. And it will help clean her out just like it does for humans.

I hope that my suggestions help you help your kitty. UTI’s can be so frustrating. And sometimes… not matter what you do they still persist because of the cats body and how it reacts to things. I wish you luck in helping your kitty ward off the UTI’s!

Answer 2

An all dry diet is not good for cats - even if it's one of the best dry foods on the market, which Innova is. Dry food lacks the moisture that cats need for vital organ function. This doesn't mean you need to switch to a raw diet but feeding them a combination of dry AND canned would be much better. There's lots of quality canned brands out there. Mine prefer Tiki Cat, Merricks and this new one we just tried the other day - Weruva. All are made with human grade foods - so you don't have to worry about seeing them on a recall list with toxic pet food ingredients from China.

Answer 3

I work in a pet shop and have this problem all the time with my customers, cats are very fussy and unfortunately we can't change that.
If you're going to put her on to raw food, make sure you research it fully. You have to make sure you have all the nutrients and minerals/vitamins the cat needs and in the right amounts, while also making sure that there isn't too much fat or anything else bad like that. If you are set on feeding it raw food talk to the vet and they can give you an eating plan.
With foods like Iams they are researched and contain all that a cat needs to stay healthy and strong, as well as looking after things such as teeth, coat, protein and things that a cat specifically needs.
Iams is what we call a semi premium food as it is a step up from supermarket foods, which are full of cereal and not much else but still not as good as premium foods.
I would suggest for a cat like yours a specially formulated food made by someone like Royal Canin. They have a food for almost any cat from the very very fussy to the sensitive stomach to skin conditions and even some breed specifics. i know that they also have one for cats prone to UTI. I have never had any problems with someone that i have referred to Royal Canin and most people are happy with it.
If you want to wean the cat onto anything else, mix small amounts in with the Iams, and gradually add more and more. Feed only small portions and as much as she can eat in a few minutes. If you put as much as she wants out she will eat when she's hungry and not when you want her to. If you only have set feeding times she will have to eat what you give her
Hope this helps and hope you can find something to suit your cat.
any further questions email me on [e-mail]

Answer 4

Here are some tips I gathered from the research I've done. I will also reiterate that you need to do your research - you can't just plunk down raw meat and consider your job done! Follow the advice from those above. Read the articles, join the groups.

(You might also consider starting by switching to a good canned food. You can see the link below for some good ones.) You could stop here or consider it a step in converting your kibble junkie.

The key to getting your cat to eat raw food may lie in repetition. Many cats will take a sniff of raw food and think it's not edible. It's been suggested that continually placing it in a bowl or on a plate next to their existing food will eventually get something to click.

Warming raw food to "mouse body temperature" may help. You do this by placing the food in a plastic bag or container and running it under hot water. The warmth will make it more appetizing, and it may also help to bring out the odors.

Lightly cooking or nuking the food - at least initially - will also help bring out the scent of the food, which might entice them.

Use of bribe foods - there's a lot of items which can be placed on top of or mixed with raw foods to get your cat started. This can included crushed or whole kibble that the cat likes, liver flakes, soy sauce (just a drop or two), baby foods.....

Experimentation with different types of meat. Duck apparently has a stronger odor than chicken and might pull your cat in.

You can get lots of other ideas, tips, tricks and SUPPORT if you sign up with these raw feeding groups. There's no drawback to signing up - you can choose to get a daily digest of messages or none at all. After reading over their rules, you can post your question there and get tons of help. You can also check out their recipes and conversion tips.

I joined a bunch of them - see my 360 page of groups and check them out for yourself!

Answer 5

Kat's answer has a lot of information for you - it's a lot to absorb all at once. I think you are very wise to consider making this choice.

Cats addicted to dry food are very difficult to convert. The best course for you is to join a Yahoo group such as WholeCatHealth. Many members feed raw food and all are looking for ways to improve their cat(s) diet. You simply go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and request membership in that group.

There are also some good articles on cat nutrition and health problems at http://www.littlebigcat.com such as "Why Cats Need Canned Food", "Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats", What Cat Should Eat", etc. Those articles are written by a veterinarian. Scroll down to the end of the articles as they are in alphabetical order.

Answer 6

I would stop feeding her IAMS, just because it is not recalled doesn't mean it is good for her. It still contains wheat gluten and from what I have read, there is another company that bought that tainted wheat gluten and it is staying confidential. Also, I have read where lots of people's cats have died after eating it. If you want a healthy cat food that isn't made by menu and doesn't contain wheat gluten, I would go with Natural balance. In my opinion, raw food couldn't be good in this day and age because of samonella and e coli.

Answer 7

She probably wont eat very much of the canned stuff because you feed her other things :] I personally feed my cats dry food because of all the problems going on with the pet food, so I replaced the wet food with dry.

You can try mixing the it together at first and then just completely replacing it with what you're wanting her to eat. Your cat wont starve, if she's hungry she will eat it :]

Answer 8

Please don't do anything to change your pets diet before consulting with your vet. Her UTI problems may be due to so many other things than the Iams. I also can't imagine that a sudden change to raw food is going to change anything. Talk to your vet.

Answer 9

have you tried Paul Newmans' Organic cat food?? IAMs has a reputation for not being the best food and now is in the recall list of pet foods; http://www.newmansownorganics.com

Answer 10

well you don't need to put her on (raw food) because it stinks and most cats prefer dry cat food!

Answer 11

Feed her chicken, cats love salmonella.