Cats form their tastes from a young age and they are likely to remain with them for life. They can even get addicted to particular shapes and textures, as well as flavours.
Cats are hard-wired to prefer foods high in fat and salt, and easily become addicted to carbohydrates. This is a fact that cat food manufacturers know very well – they create their food to be as addictive as possible so you will continue to buy their brand throughout your cat’s life.
Once your cat is hooked on these foods it can seem like an impossible task to introduce them to a different food. However, it is possible with some patience and perseverance (and a few sneaky tactics) to switch your cat to a healthy diet. It can be a challenging task, but very much worth it.
If your cat is a biscuit junkie and absolutely refuses to touch the raw food, you may have to take a much slower approach and transition them gradually. The reason for this is that if a cat stops eating altogether, they are at risk of developing a life-threatening condition called hepatic lipidosis, also known as fatty liver disease. If this happens, it could mean a very expensive trip to the vet to try and save their life and there are no guarantees.
Consider in tough cases spending up to six months or even longer making a gradual transition to a raw food diet. If your biscuit-loving cat will eat wet or canned food as well, you have already won half the battle. Simply stop feeding biscuits completely and only feed the canned food at set mealtimes (usually two or three times a day). From there you can gradually add a little bit of raw food to each meal, starting with the tiniest amount hidden under the wet food and gradually increasing this amount over time until your cat is only eating raw food.
● Divide a day’s worth of dry food into 3 portions, and serve at 3 set meal times over a day. No leaving food out all day, and no snacking – tough love may be needed!
● Once your cat is used to this (it may take a few weeks), replace 1 of those meals with wet/canned food (or some sardines tinned in spring water).
● If your cat refuses the wet food, sprinkle some crushed biscuits, or some of our Powermix over it to get them interested.
● Once they are used to this (it may take a few weeks), replace another of the dry meals with wet food. Finally, repeat for the third meal so that they are now off all biscuits. Hint: Remove all biscuits from the house – your cat will know they are there!
● Stop feeding biscuits (or follow the steps above).
● Feed wet food at 2 or 3 set meal times each day. We recommend starting with our Rabbit and Heart mince. A sprinkle of Powermix is useful for getting them interested in their food. ● Mix a tiny amount of raw food into each meal. Gradually increase the amount until the whole meal is raw. Take your time!
● From there, build up to different mince flavours, fillets, bones and organs, creating variety over time.