Re: Lucy-- refusing raw food now

[Lernermichelle]

Thanks for the long post, Nina.  Lucy now will not eat the EVO or the canned food. She ate some baby food, probably half a jar. Just to see if it is pickiness or nausea, I offered her two pieces of a dry food she used to eat, and she did eat them right away. I am afraid to give her more of that though.  I am thinking that perhaps this last batch of turkey I got had something wrong with it. It looked more brown than red, and is usually red.  The last time she would not eat it, when she ate a little and then threw up, it was brown like this too.  The health food store I went to (mine was out of  it) said it had been in the freezer since October, but when I expressed concern they said it was fine because  it was continuously frozen. I think it may be fine in terms of safety, but perhaps does not smell or taste right to a cat.  Anyway, I am hoping that is all it is.  I am waiting for a new batch to come in, and also ordered some frozen turkey raw food for cats that does not have grains.  She has not had any loose stools, or any stool since last evening, on the positive side.  I tried cooking chicken for her and she looked excited but after trying one piece did not want it anymore.  She never did like cooked chicken though.  The thing that bothers me most, I think, is that she has not eaten all that much today, but she is not acting really hungry either. She has not asked for food like she usually does.  I think all she had today was maybe a total of one jar of baby food, a spoonful of wet food, and two small handfuls of EVO, most of it this morning. It seems like she should be hungry.  Unless her stomach feels funny from eating new foods. I gave her a quarter of a periactin to see if that helps and gets her to eat a little more.  I weighed her, though, and she does not seem to have lost any more weight-- still weighing in at over 9 lbs.   You don't think I should give her the dry food she ate the two pieces of, do you? It's a prescription hypoallergenic dry food the vet had me try her on when she first had the loose stool, and it has NO meat.  The protein source is soy. And of course it has grain and also a lot of crap in it.    I can't seem to find anywhere at all where I can buy turkey breast. Only a large whole turkey from the supermarket  (which I do not want to do for various reasons, but especially when I have no idea if she will eat it) or frozen ground turkey.  But assuming I find some, how do I roast it? I have never cooked meat except in a pan for the cats or dogs.  Do I just stick it in the oven and put it on broil? Or do I need to do something to it first? Sorry if this seems like a stupid question!  It is possible that the deli counter at the supermarket has roasted turkey. Do you think that would be ok to try with her? What about deli slices?   She possibly seems a little less active, but she played when I offered her a rubberband (her favorite toy and I never let her play with them because I fear she will swallow them), and she is super-affectionate as usual.  It is also colder today after being warm for 2 days, and she hates the cold.   Well, I am trying to take this calmly. At this point, in the last two weeks every one of my positives has gone through a period of hardly eating.  Patches, due to her teeth it turned out, and Ginger because I had run out of her current food obsession (Pro Plan chicken and rice)-- when I bought more of that she started eating normally again!  So now it is Lucy.  I am hoping this passes as well. I swear it is just the constant fear of lymphoma that makes me anxious whenever they act finicky.  It was the first sign for each of my three who died of lymphoma.  But I know it can be a sign of lots of other things, including obstinacy!   Thanks again, Michelle       In a message dated 1/23/2006 1:35:38 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I do think that if Lucy were going to have a reaction to the EVO/canned food, it would have been almost immediate.  I have found that keeping the diet simple and consistent is the most important factor in controlling Gypsy's IBD.  If Lucy's eating the canned, and it's a good quality canned, I'd keep her on that and avoid the EVO.  Of course, if she seems to be doing okay on both the EVO and the canned, then I don't see any reason to restrict her intake by denying it.  I would follow her lead.  If she wants to eat one thing over another, (as long as it's not toxic to her system), I'd let her have what she wants.  So far, and my opinion keeps changing, the most important thing is to get Gypsy eating the same diet long enough for her system to adjust to it.