Weaning with raw

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Weaning with raw

Posted : 5/15/2008 9:28:34 PM

So, the newest batch of kittens I am bottle feeding (for some reason, everyone in this town thinks that when they find abandoned kits, the by definition must come to my house Confused ) are around 5-6 weeks, and neither one has shown ANY interest whatsoever in anything other than the bottle. I've tried literally every technique I know of and have tried before (dipping in my finger and letting them lick it off, mixing foods in various proportions, various temperatures of mush, spoon feeding, etc), but if it's not milk in the bottle, they won't have i!!

They won't even walk in the food/water dish, won't even sniff it. I've definitely had slow weaners before, but not THIS slow.

SO....today I pick up some ground veal from a farmers market and think hmmm......I got home, put a little on my finger....and WHOA you should have seen the little girl kitten go for it! The boy was interested but still wary. But such an improvement! I'll try some ground up chicken heart tomorrow to give em a little extra taurine.

Has anyone weaned or raised very young animals, kits or pups, with raw, and do you think it's a good idea? I have alwasy been of the opinion that raw is great for healthy young/adult animals, but not so much for anything debilitated or otherwise delicate (i.e. a 5/6 wk old kitten with unknown history of colostrum intake/immune status - even though they both seem big and healthy are horses). Thoughts?

brookcove

Posted : 5/16/2008 10:34:49 AM

I've got many friends who do "natural rearing" which includes raw from the first solid foods.

Just watch, with cats, that you are feeding a balanced diet which includes liver and heart in every meal (but is not the whole meal, about 5 to 10%), and of course a correct Ph to Ca ratio.

Cats also do well with high levels of linoleic acid, so a raw egg is also welcome, or - my natural rearing friends would be horrified - a ground corn treat every so often, will keep their coats nice and keep hairballs to a minimum.

My kitty eats beef, chicken or pork heart, a chicken wing about every three days, a portion of a poached egg, processed with the shell, and the organ meat mixture du jour from whatever Ben's eating, including a small amount of liver. I also include chicken and pork livers for variety. He likes tripe, too, and hunts regularly. I had to hand raise him too - he got a rough start but he was eating solids, including bone, by the time he was seven weeks old.

Good luck!