Transitioning to raw meals made using Raw Meow Mix is no different from transitioning your cats onto any new food. There are three basic rules when changing your cats diet. Go slow, watch the litter box, have patience.
GO SLOW
Cats are very wary of any change, be it to their environment or to their diet. Diet changes, especially, can make your cat very suspicious. Making dietary changes too fast can also cause tummy upset, resulting in diarrhea, nausea, and ultimately, to rejection of the food causing the issues.
Our Transition Packs make transitioning your cat simple. The transition pack is 7 days worth of food and is designed to give you an indication of how your cat will take to the new diet. Some cats take to it immediately and some can take months. Do not be discouraged if it does not all happen within 7 days.
Patience and persistence is key.
Mixing and storing instructions
Raw Meow Mix transition pack will make approx. one week of sample size meals to start your cat on the road to raw feeding. Simply mix the contents of the sachets (20gm) with 3-6 tsp of water or bone broth (to desired consistency) to create a sauce/paste, and mix into 300gm of plain muscle meat that has been minced or cut into small chunks. Chicken thigh is a great one to start with, or, if your cat has eaten other meats before, then use their favourite protein to introduce the Raw Meow Mix. We recommend freezing the mixture in clean ice cube trays. This will give you small quantities of meals to defrost and use over the approx. one week of transition trial.Feeding Instructions
To start the transition, we recommend you feed wet food as the baseline. Remove all dry from the house, hide it away in the garage or somewhere they have no access to. If they smell it they may hold out for it. Feed their usual wet food plus start to introduce the raw plus Raw Meow Mix.
Day 1 – Day 3 : Add 1 teaspoon of meat with Raw Meow Mix to your cats wet food meal. Place this beside the wet food, on the same (flat) plate. If they don't eat it, throw it out, and offer a fresh portion with the next meal. Continue to offer the one tsp at every meal, every day until they eat. This may take longer than the suggested time frame, go at your own cats pace. Once they are eating the teaspoon full, double it.
Day 4 – Day 5: Assuming they are eating the raw, make the meals one third raw and the rest their usual. Again, once they are eating that and if all good in the litter box then move to half and half. You may need to now purchase a bag of Raw Meow Mix as you are well on your way to raw feeding.
From here you can slowly increase the raw. Please watch their toileting.If you cat has vomiting or any diarrhea, stop and go back to just their usual wet meals for a day or two, then start again. The freeze dried chicken Krumble is a tool to help you. You can use as a topper, sprinkle it over the raw only, to entice them to eat it. Use this when required.
Be persistent and consistent. One day you cat will click, or curiosity will get the better of him, and he will try that morsel of raw, and very likely he will love it.
If your cat is a dry food addict and only eats dry, the transition may take a little longer. First of all remove the free food buffet. Don’t leave the kibble down all day and night. At meal times, offer canned instead, with some kibble mixed into it and see what happens. This may be enough to tempt them but it may not. Be persistent and be patient. Offer the canned to the side next time. The important thing is to keep trying. Of course, our preference is for you to remove the dry altogether and persist to feed the canned or the raw plus some canned, but doing that may result in a hunger strike.
NEVER let your cat go more than 12 hours without eating. Doing so is dangerous to his health. Cats can develop fatty liver very quickly and it can take as little as 24 hours without food to make your cat very sick. If they won’t eat the raw, feed them some canned. If they won’t eat the canned., feed them the kibble. Important thing is to keep trying.
Persistence is key. Use your best judgement and your knowledge of your cats personality to decide which way would suit him better.
Once your cat is eating the raw with Meow Mix you can start trying it with other proteins. We recommend you rotate at least three different proteins, more if you can. Each cut of meat has a different nutritional profile, and, of course a different taste. Boredom is something we want to avoid. Offer lots of variety and keep your cat interested in eating raw.
WATCH THE LITTER BOX
The litter box is where all the action is at. If your cat is happy and healthy, his toileting will be healthy too. To make sure the transition is going well, watch the litter box. Are his poops soft? Do they smell? If they do, you’re going too fast. Stop, slow down, back it up if you need to. Don’t fret if you find some mucous along with his poop. A little of this is normal when changing to raw. Any blood or excessive mucous is cause for concern, so please see a vet if that is what you’re finding.
A raw fed cat will poop less often and less bulk. Going once every 2 or 3 days is normal, so don’t worry if you see less poop in the box. This is a good thing. Raw fed cats also urinate more, and they will likely drink less, so again, don’t let that worry you
If you do find diarrhea, or your cat is vomiting, stop the transition. Wait it out a couple days, then start back gain, smaller than before. This shouldn’t happen but be aware it can. Stop, reverse, wait, and start again.
BE PATIENT
Transitioning to raw with Raw Meow Mix may take some time. If your cat is raw fed it should be easier, if they are already eating a wet food, it should be easier, if they are eating dry, having them change to raw may be a challenge, but it may not. Be patient. Follow the steps to change from dry to wet/raw as set out above. Don’t expect it to happen overnight. It may, but it likely may not
Be persistent. Don’t give up. Be more head strong than your cat is. Keep offering that one teaspoon of raw. Try some of our tricks laid out in our blog. Talk to us. We are always available to help you thru it.
Remember. Go slow. Watch the litter box. Be patient.
