Educating Riley would mean being strict in converting her back to a 100% raw diet.
Respecting Riley would mean I respect that she likes junk and canned food and let her eat what she wants because she knows better.
Today, I’m too tired of educate Riley, so it’s “Happy Days are Here Again” for our little girl!
She wanted kibble for breakfast. Refused to eat any raw food at all. So I let her eat as I was pressed for time.
Then, after I returned from Jayden’s playgroup, both wanted a mid-morning snack of canned food. Okay, makan saja.
Actually, it was because Cow and Indy asked for their mid-morning snack, so both girls also wanted it.
Riley was actually totally converted to a 100% raw diet initially, but after awhile, she decided she did not like Coco&Joe’s and was only willing to eat Cubgrub CKD Chicken. Then now, she doesn’t even want this at all. In between, she ate Primal Freeze-Dried (raw) but that’s always short in stock, so I can only use it sparingly as toppers.
Of course I can always force feed Riley Coco&Joe’s (luckily, she is very easy to force feed) and she will eat it willingly, but would that be fair to her? I do still force feed her a little bit but this is purely for protein rotation as the canned food flavours are limited to just chicken and tuna. I need her to eat some rabbit and turkey too. At least there would be four types of protein for her then.
Tabs used to also eat a 100% raw diet, but since last year, she has decided that she wants kibble and canned too. But she is more willing to eat raw food than Riley. Tabs is already going to be 13 years old, so for older cats, my principle is: As long as they eat. A bonus, if they eat on their own and enjoy it!
Lately, Ginger has been having the occasional gastric problem too. I give him Famotidine and I noticed that every time after an episode, he refuses to eat raw food again and would just walk away and starve. I think this is because when he was having the gastric problem, he was eating raw food, so the nauseous feeling is associated with the smell of raw food. So whenever this happens, I would give him canned food and he would happily eat it up. Also, Ginger also had the occasional bout of vomiting out raw food in the morning (Indy had this too previously). To solve this, I give him canned food and he would happily eat it all up. Ginger is about the same age as Tabs, hence the same feeding principle applies to him as well: As long as he eats.
As for Cow Mau and Indy, these are only two Super Seniors now and Cow Mau has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (congestive heart failure) and Indy has high blood pressure and stage 3 chronic kidney disease. Of course they get to eat whenever they want. Indy should be on renal food and he does like his RC renal kibble, but once in a while, he wants canned food too (the protein level is 8% so it should be okay). Cow Mau has a persistent mouth pain due to inflammation because he is FIV+, so he cannot eat too much at one go. His eating is often interrupted with pawing at the mouth. So he eats small meals throughout the day.
Also, on a deeper level, while raw food is the most biologically appropriate food for obligate carnivores like cats, is there any documented evidence such as double blind studies that prove that cats fed on raw food would be healthier and live longer? Most of the “evidence” we have are purely anecdotal and theoretical. For example, I would like to believe that raw food helped steal more quality time for Bunny and Cleo even after they had been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. I would also like to believe that raw food has given all my cats better health and wellbeing.
But having said that, on the other extreme, I know of a German Shepherd who does fantastically well on the “cheapest” colourful kibble. Apparently, he only eats that and he thrives on it! And another cat who was (then) 22 years old and only ate kibble too. When I met her, she was climbing up and down the poles of an event stall, as active as ever.
Then, there’s a friend of mine who lamented that her husband insists on buying only the “best” vet-recommended kibble for her cats and yet they all seemed to end up very sick towards the end of their lives.
So, educating Riley or respecting Riley? At this moment, I am more inclined to respect Riley and trust that she knows what’s good for her! I might change my mind later and educate her to eat a 100% raw diet again! We shall see.
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