Day 1 - July 9, 2008

Knowing how totally addicted our cats are to commercial cat foods, I thought that the majority of them would turn their nose up at the raw meat. It crossed my mind that if they thought they were getting their usual commercial food, they may just show a bit more interest. I decided to start off with chicken thighs as this is classified as "dark meat" of the chicken, as opposed to the white meat i.e. breast. The reason for this is that the dark meats of turkey/chicken contain a higher taurine content than the white meats. Taurine is an essential part of a cat's diet and taurine deficiency can cause blindness. I went into the kitchen, warmed the meat by placing the meat in a freezer bag, and then popped the bag in a bowl of warm (not hot) water. Cats like to eat their food at room temperature so the more appealing I could make it, the more inclined they would be (hopefully!) to try it.

When the meat was warm enough I began the task of cutting each thigh into small, manageable pieces. Remember that up until now, our cats have not really had to use the muscles in their jaws, or use their teeth properly due to eating biscuits and wet foods. This means that when starting with raw, the meat should be small enough that they can eat and eventually, we would get to the stage where the pieces of meat were larger and the cats were then eating the bones as well. I have to say that this is probably not for anyone who is squeamish, which I actually am, and I did find it difficult handling the raw meat as it really is quite gross.

Once the meat was prepared and put on the bowls, I then smeared the smallest amount of a Hi Life pouch on the meat to make it more appetising I then took it into the back room, calling out "Babies, babies". That call automatically brings all cats running because that is a meal time call. I placed the trays on the floor and was stunned to see that Kamora, Afrikoko, TP, Amaro, Tuaca, and Nocello went straight for the raw and started eating as if they had never been fed in their life. Both Bengal Babes, Frangelico and Izarra were over the moon and did their whole "this is my raw food, don't touch it" growly voices at everyone. It wasn't just the Bengals though as TP was also particularly possessive of his raw food, so much so that while he had one bit in his mouth, more hanging out of his mouth, he still went over to Afrikoko to try and take what was in her mouth.

If nothing else, raw feeding is one of the most entertaining things I've ever seen and I can honestly say that our cats have never derived this much pleasure out of eating their wet foods or biscuits. I also took some up to Ashanti thinking he wouldn't touch it and could not believe it when he had his head in the plate and was tearing at the meat almost before I put it on the floor. That was not what I was expecting. Within minutes he had eaten everything I had given him. As to be expected, the older cats turned their nose up at the raw food and walked away, but that is no surprise at all. I'm absolutely delighted to have had the response that we got and this does bode well for the future diets, teeth, and health of the our cat family.

Day 2 - July 10, 2008

Again, the same cats ate the raw and when I was at Tesco today I bought double the amount so that I could start giving them raw for breakfast as well. My ultimate aim is to feed 2 (maybe 3) raw meals per day and nothing else. It will be a long time before we reach this stage though.

Day 3 - July 11, 2008

Now see, this is what I have a problem with..................getting out of bed in the morning, putting the kettle on and then having to hack away at pieces of raw meat prior to warming it. This really is just disgusting, especially at this time of the morning! The same cats were ecstatic to have raw food for breakfast and spent a good hour tearing at chicken wings. It's just as well that they enjoyed them because I ended up with blisters on my fingers trying to cut the wings into slightly smaller chunks. I have asked Graham to please go online and buy me a meat cleaver because I can not keep putting my hands through this tearing and chopping of raw meat without a proper cleaver. (I've not actually told him that I've been cutting through it with the kitchen scissors!!!)

End of Week 1 - July 16, 2008

Yes, yes, yes, Parsley, our "problem boy" discovered on Day 5 that he too would give this raw feeding a try and he is totally addicted to say the least. This is such a huge relief and after him eating the raw twice a day for just 3 days, there is a huge difference. To explain..........Parsley has an eating problem. When he eats biscuits, or wet food, no matter what it is, within an hour of eating, he vomits about 4 times. He has been to our vets for this problem as we felt he actually had a something like IBD or IBS. Our vet felt it was because he gulped down his food but we were never convinced. Since being on the raw food, Parsley has not vomited, not once. Now one could say that is because he is having to take longer over his meal i.e. tearing at it, trying to break through the meat fats and sinew, but, when raw mince is on offer and he tucks into that, there is still no vomiting. The raw mince is extremely easy to chew and swallow.