The Monsters’ dinner went well, as usual, so I shall not write about that. They are great eaters, thankfully.
Juno had an early dinner of a home-cooked meal. Tabs had small meals throughout the day.
Now comes the Blondies…
Today I decided to persevere because their refusal to eat wet food (raw or canned) has gone on for too long this round. Normally, it’s just 3-4 days, then they will go back to raw meals, but this time, it’s been a week. And to be fair, I was also busy with Juno, so I did not persevere as hard as I normally do.
First round, all rejected their raw meals. So, that’s a zero for me. Cut-up raw chicken – also total rejection. Second round – canned food – total rejection again.
After a break of 1.5 hours, they seemed hungry so I offered the raw cut-up breast meat again. After much persuasion, only Akira ate. Okay, at least one down.
Later, I offered raw liver, and this time, Kai was interested.
I have offered raw liver before but nobody took it the last time. This time, it was interesting enough for Kai and she ate quite a bit. Then, I added a bit of cut-up breast meat to the liver, and nope, she did not take the bait at all. Well, never mind. I’m beginning to think the Blondies all need new novel food ALL the time. Who can cater for them?
The raw liver did not work with Samantha though she was interested. Almost there….but no.
Indra rushed over and told her, “No, don’t fall for it!!”
Akira did not want the raw liver either, but it doesn’t matter as she had eaten the raw chicken breast meat.
Riley has always liked raw liver, but I don’t give it often due to the high content of Vitamin A. Only occasionally, but like Indy, she loves it. We used to call Indy the “vampire” because he loved raw liver with the blood.
So, after so much effort, I only got two of the Blondies to eat something raw (and wet), now, they know they will get their “reward”, which is…
Yups, their urban food – kibble!
Juno and Riley also had some kibble as a snack.
In any case, Riley doesn’t eat much kibble. She grazes like a goat the whole day long. Just a few pellets, and she will run off. For that matter, it’s the same with the Blondies too. They love kibble, but they don’t each much of it.
I have since discussed with a dear friend who has studied a lot about pet nutrition and she empathises with my predicament. To help me out, she actually found a few locally-produced brands for me to try and guess what, I’ve ordered all three to try!!
They are PetChef, Fur/Ball and Nottipet.
PetChef: https://petchef.my/ and https://petchef.my/petchef-vs-cat-kibble/
Fur/Ball: https://tryfurball.co/
Nottipet: https://nottipetfood.com/
I’ve read up on all three and they are impressive. All boasts of quality ingredients too. PetChef and Fur/Ball are both cooked food while Nottipet is slow-baked kibble. Nottipet is my last bastion for the Blondies if the other two cooked foods fail. It is kibble food, but slow-baked as opposed to the commercially available ones which are ultra-processed under high temperatures. I hope the Blondies will be willing to choose wet food (never mind if not raw, it can be cooked) as their staple diet. Kibble lack moisture. All living beings need water and cats do not have a natural thirst drive. Furthermore, I think real whole foods makes more sense than ultra-processed formulations.
A vet-nutritionist used to tell me, “Imagine feeding your children Twisties all their lives”. She advocates raw or cooked food for dogs and cats. Her pets are on either raw or cooked food, and kibble as a once-a-week “TV snack”. She also recommends that we buy the smallest pack of kibble and once opened, to keep it in the fridge. I could go on with everything I’ve learnt from her, but I will stop here.
Back to the ultra strong-willed Blondies, I’d even be willing to make a deal with them – one wet meal per day, can? The other can be your urban crunchy food. I’m already bending backwards here.
Juno has to go on cooked food until she is at least six months old, so that’s another three months. Let’s hope her immunity improves by then so that she can safely eat raw food again. Ginger is FIV+ and 13 years old, and the vet says he should not be on raw food anymore because being FIV+ and geriatric, his immunity will drop as he ages. For now, Ginger loves my home-cooked food, so that’s what he has been eating until all the new food arrives!
Am really looking forward to trying all these new foods. But I will still be using raw food for our cats who are doing well on it.