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Marybeth Baldwin 2004-01-25 19:13:45 (Forum Archives)
I personally think any amount of fresh, raw meat is of benefit to the cats, no matter how small.
It will keep those who do eat it, used to the taste, texture and scent of fresh meat, while you work on getting
the "hold out" to try it at least.
Switching adult cats can be very slow and frustrating. Some of mine were converted with the first meal, but most
took about 2 weeks. I had one that held out for 2 months, and the last one held out for a full year, before I was
able to get them totally off commercial and onto raw only.
Start off as you are doing, by just offering small bits of plain meat. Pork and rabbit seem to be all time
favorites, followed by turkey. (The only meat I totally avoid is ground hamburger meat.)
If your one cat turnes his nose up even at these meats, then try offering him cooked meat or babyfood.
Gradually get him used to 'blander' and blander meats, less cooked.
Remember, raw meat has very little odor, and to cats that have never had it before, they simply will not recognize
it as a food source.
If he will eat canned food, you can try mixing a bit of canned food with some minced meat, or even something like
sardines in olive oil. You could try a bit of tuna as a very last resort. (It is too easily addictive, and other
than sardines, canned fish is generally a bad idea.) But you could use it to just get him started.
Once you have everybody at least eating the meat, then you can start adding other ingredients.
You might even see what he thinks of babyfood carrots, squash and yams. These are sweet and cats usually like
them a lot. If so, add this to some of the canned meat.
As I mentioned, it's sometimes a slow process, but once they are switched, it's well worth the effort.
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