Hi all, normally a Lurker on here but have posted a few times!

One if our kittens has had soft stools and diarrhoea since we got him. Long story - back and forth to vets, gone grain free, tried soooo many foods etc etc. Vets tested him and ruled out any bacterial illnesses.

Anyway, was getting thoroughly fed up and stressed and decided to try raw as I'd read about the benefits esp for cats with dietary issues which the vet suggested. I've read the sticky loads of times and many of the links.

So after a trip to the supermarket I gave Harry some lamb heart which he enjoyed so much, in fact I don't think I've seem him so enthusiastic! Until I gave him a chicken wing for lunch. He totally loved it! growling and everything. Was great to watch!

Pippa was not so keen but was happy with me cutting chunks if chicken skin and meat off the wings. She wouldn't touch the lamb heart though. Dinner was going to be some lamb chunks and some lamb liver. If Pippa doesn't eat it I can give her some more chicken although though I could add some animonda carny in to tempt her!

So does this sound right? And how much should I be feeding them quantity wise. They are 5 months and 7 months and would eat all day if I let them! If I can't get Pippa to eat bones or darker meat should I get a hold of some bonemeal and taurine to add to the chicken at the start?

Sorry to sound stupid, I just don't want to mess them up nutritionally!

Apart from making sure you follow the ratios in the sticky.

Raw can be very good if done correctly, but is very easy to do wrongly, so I feed raw alongside HQ wet.

One thing I will say, you're kittens are still very young, so I assume you have not had them for anymore than 3-5 months.

Personally if you are unconfident with raw I would try some elimination diets and try some very slow gradual changes onto high quality wets to see what works and what doesnt. 3-5 months doesnt seem a long time to try everything. Either that, or try some commercially prepared raw as an easier route in with commercial wet.

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Have you tried a ready prepared raw diet like Natural Instinct? That way you don't need to add anything to it to be sure they are getting the right ratio of meat, offal, bone and taurine.

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How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein
http://www.lambchopsiamese.webs.com

That's what I would do - go for a preprepared one cos if you get the ratios wrong you are looking at serious heart problems from lack of taurine etc. Try Natural Instinct (it's what I use) or Darlings. My 5 months old kitten eats solely raw and is now eating between 100 and 200 g a day - more often nearer 100g - so a box from NI would last your two about 2 days.

You need ratios of 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% offal (heart etc) and 5% liver. I tried making this and found I couldn't get them to eat the liver, hence I went for prepared.

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Actually Pippa who is the Burmese came to us at 15 weeks and Harry is a moggy who came at 9 weeks. Obviously not ideal but was a friend of a friend type thing and he had already been separated from mummy cat!!

So we've had Harry since the 20th of July I think. And believe me when I say it's feels like an age when I'm having to clean up diarrhoea and be on constant poop watch!

I've tried all the high quality wets from Zooplus, animonda carny, Grau, smila etc. Pippa has AC and some happy cat dry but she usually refuses the happy cat so gets lots of wet. She is no problem.

It's just Harry, he was on whiskas but had diarrhoea from day 1. Have tried the high quality wets and various grain free drys incl origen. I would end up giving him boiled chicken until he was settled then try to mix in a new food which would start off fine but then by around day 10 we'd be back to runny poop. Rice def doesn't agree with him, fed him chicken and rice and he threw it up. AC and the other Zooplus wetfoods run right through him if they are more than half the total food.

I have just ordered some minces from darlings this afternoon but it's taken them a full week to call me and I messaged raw to go and they've still not got back to me yet either.

Sounds like you're doing the right thing to me, and your Harry loves the raw diet so far which is great!

Re. suppliers you could try Woldsway, their quality and service are excellent and they do a range of raw food for pets:

Rabbit Pet Meat

Have you tried any local butchers or farmers markets? I order beef heart, beef trim and ox tongue from these places and they sometimes throw in some chicken wings for free.

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Rescue cats for many years, currently one moggie and 3 young Maine Coons.

If the vet has ruled out any obvious cause then it may be worth trying a probiotic powder to get everything properly balanced. Don't go for one of the pastes which contain kaolin, in a case like this it will firm up the stool short term but you won't know if you've sorted the problem long term.

You are right to be cautious about raw feeding - and I'm a huge fan. I think a prepared mix is a better starting point than feeding single items at each meal as it reduces the risk of cats getting a taste for one thing and then refusing to eat a balanced diet.

Thanks Howlinbob! Will check it out! As for the butchers, my dads friend is a butcher and I'm sure he'll bag me up some chicken gizzards, heart and organ meat and I can get sheeps heart and lungs easy enough from him, I already do when I need for biology class dissection! Lol!

I'm getting the darlings minces a week today and hopefully raw to go will be in touch too!

Havoc, Harry has been on and off prokolin constantly. Now on antpepsin for 6 days and now pro-kolin for a month. Keeping my fingers crossed it all works out!

I emailed raw2 go 3 times - no answer - and then I read the review on here and gave up - Try NI as well as darlings - it's cheaper.

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Will do Spid. Thanks