Introducing a raw food diet to the cats
Today Sasha made her third trip in 2 months to the vet. Her ears are becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
So far we have ruled out: ringworm, bacterial infection, yeast infection, fleas and ear mites. She has had a steroid shot, antibiotics, topical treatments and still no success. In fact, her ears are actually worse.
I have always fed Royal Canin to all the cats, a mix of indoor light and hairball. Last month the vet told me to put Sasha on a novel diet so I chose EVO, the ancestral diet. I went with salmon since chicken can also be found in Royal Canin (by the way, in case you were wondering, novel diet means it's all new ingredients the animal has never seen before). Phew! EVO salmon stinks to high heaven, just like fish. Which is fine, but we live in such an open concept space that when one place smells like fish the whole place smells like fish. Okay okay, anything for my baby.
Except it didn't work. And so a month after making the switch to EVO we are now switching to a raw diet. Truly, like nature intended. The advertised benefits include:
- Grain allergy relief (which by the way, I was shocked to find out how much corn and grain is in Royal Canin)
- Vitality and energy
- Softer coat, less shedding
- Achieve ideal weight (this would benefit Fat Pip immensely, he really is getting quite large)
- Healthy teeth and gums (I actually have to take Sasha and Tiger in every 6 months for non-anesthetic dental cleaning and would love to eliminate this expense).
I picked lamb for the first stint because it's a crop we will soon begin growing on the farm and I liked the idea of feeling a connection to the ingredients. And so tonight we switch, raw food for everyone (with six cats, when one gets a change they all get a change). Also, I'm adding some probiotics to Sasha's diet because she has had so many antibiotics lately I don't want to upset her poor tummy.
I'll keep you posted but please cross your fingers, it absolutely breaks my heart to see her like this. Plus, don't tell the others, but she really is our prettiest cat.