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Likes chicken hearts, won't touch chicken gizzards

This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the raw diet or sincerely want to learn more. Please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals. If you have specific health-related questions about your cat's diet, please contact your vet!

  
Gypsy

1210790		 
 
Purred: Wed Dec 5, '12 10:37am PST 
So, I'm on this long journey towards frankenprey, slowly adding different foods and textures to my cat's pre-ground frozen meals.

Today I bought a container of chicken gizzards at the international store. I figured she'd like them and it'd help build up her jaw strength to start going for meaty bones.

No.

She wouldn't touch it.

I remember people talking about pouring "chicken liquid" on foods, so I sqeezed out some of the bloody serum from the little sponge in the bottom of the package.

No dice.

I lured her over with freeze dried chicken treats, and covered the gizzard in the chicken "dust" from the bottom of the bag.

No way.

I soaked little bits of freeze dried chicken in the serum and gave those to her.

She still acted like Daddy made a mess on her floor and he'd darn well clean it up before she ate in this establishment again.

So, I guess I'm just grumbling. I assume the thing to do is to take some, and slice it up, and start sneaking it into her food.

But since she eats raw chicken breast and chicken hearts just fine, I was hoping I could skip that messy part.

Any last minute suggestions to get her to try the gizzard itself?

Thanks.
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Wed Dec 5, '12 2:18pm PST 
Gizzards are great because they're full of taurine and you're right, they're a great way to build jaw strength and clean teeth. But they're certainly not a necessary part of a raw diet. You can either try cutting them up, or freeze them until she's further along in the process and try them again. It's amazing how different each cat is - she may never eat them. There are certain items that BK just puts his paw down and says he won't eat!
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Gypsy

1210790		 
 
Purred: Wed Dec 5, '12 3:34pm PST 
What about chicken liver juice?

I know I've read most cats like chicken liver. (Mine's never tried raw liver yet.) I know the liver itself should only be 5% of her diet, but unlike hearts and gizzards, or any other chicken parts I guess, the livers come swimming in juice.

Can I use chicken liver juice to help make the gizzards more enticing?

I know cats can overdose on liver (because of vitamin A or something?), but is the packaging liquid a risk as well?

Thanks!
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Fri Dec 7, '12 6:49am PST 
Try the liver alone first. BK loves it and I've used the juice to "spice" things up that he didn't like as much. But Callie won't touch liver. If yours likes it, try it on the gizzards. Yes, vitamin A is the one that they don't flush from their system, but I wouldn't worry about a small amount of juice occasionally.
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Gypsy

1210790		 
 
Purred: Sat Dec 8, '12 12:47am PST 
I confess. I froze most of the gizzards, but one bag I cut into strips. So, I've been adulterating Gypsy's frozen ground meals with chicken hearts and strips of chicken gizzard.

Although she wouldn't touch a gizzard lying alone on the floor, now matter how attractive I tried to make it, it turns out she enjoys them as part of her meals.

I kinda smoosh everything together, so she's getting a little chicken or turkey mixed in with her rabbit (as she tends to favor the poultry flavors), but she also gets a little rabbit in with her poultry, to help her like it more.

She gets a chicken heart, maybe two small ones, depending upon how tightly they froze together. And now she gets a little bit of gizzard.

After this week (I'm out of town, so I premade all her meals to help hubby proof), I'll start adding more and larger chunks of gizzard.

And maybe a week after that, some bone in quail parts.

It's fun. She's already chewing through the gizzard better. At first, it was a little like she was chewing gum. Now she chomps through the little pieces as easily as she does the hearts.

I find it much more satisfying to watch her eat chunks of meat as opposed to lapping up the preground.
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Sun Dec 9, '12 9:01am PST 
Good work! And wait until you see her eat bones. There's nothing like watching and hearing that crunch of a well-fed, healthy cat chomping down! Makes a mom proud, mol.
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