Mixing Raw And Canned Food

[PJBoy]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some insight regarding mixing canned wet food and raw food. My cat, Gnocchi, has been eating a mixture of duck frozen by Primal and turkey frozen by Primal. She loves it (although she loves every food possible...) and it has been going great in that sense, although I have noticed her stools are very small, ball/pellet shapes, very hard and dark. I know that this likely means she's dealing with constipation and is very well due to the bone content. I am not able to make homemade raw right now, I am absolutely down to feed pre-made but our living situation won't allow for making it not to mention I'm a vegan and I think I would vomit handling raw meat.

My question is, since there is no way to find premade raw near me with less bone content (10%) than she get's now, I am considering feeding her a high-end canned wet food in rotation with the raw to hopefully assist with the constipation/bone content. She has tried Weruva, Ziwipeak, Tikicat after dark, and Instinct raw canned limited diet. I am hoping to feed a rotation of some of those with her raw to help with the constpation and bone content issue. (If you have any suggestions on other good brands let me know!!)

I know some people have frowned upon mixing two types of food, although I thought that was more towards dry food and raw mixing. Would it be ok for me to mix the two? If so, can I mix the two throughout a day (half canned, half raw every day) or even just one day raw, one day canned, etc.

Thank you.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

When I fed raw food, I did a mixed diet. They got raw in the morning and canned at night. Your cat should do just fine on it.

The brands you listed are all good! Another good quality food is Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein canned line (the dry CleanProtein is probably the best dry on the market too).

 

[Azazel]

Your cat is not necessarily constipated. Does she struggle when she poops? Is she going on a regular basis? Cats who eat raw poop less often than cats who eat kibble. Their poo is often odorless and very firm and dry. The large bulky mushy and smelly poops on kibble are not natural and are due to all of the excessive filler ingredients and carbs.

This being said, it is also true that some commercial raw foods can be very high in bone. Primal is a decent brand though.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with mixing canned and raw food. Or, you can also add extra water to the raw food you're feeding if you're worried about constipation.

 

[PJBoy]

Your cat is not necessarily constipated. Does she struggle when she poops? Is she going on a regular basis? Cats who eat raw poop less often than cats who eat kibble. Their poo is often odorless and very firm and dry. The large bulky mushy and smelly poops on kibble are not natural and are due to all of the excessive filler ingredients and carbs.

This being said, it is also true that some commercial raw foods can be very high in bone. Primal is a decent brand though.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with mixing canned and raw food. Or, you can also add extra water to the raw food you're feeding if you're worried about constipation.

I haven't seen her poop recently, but from what I had last seen she doesn't strain. She goes every 1.5-2 daysish. Sometimes once a day. I had spoken to some others in a raw group and was told that despite her not straining it could likely be the bone content causing slight constipation as her stools shouldn't be so small and round. But it's hard to know. I am going to try and catch her the next time she has a bowel movement to see if she's straining lately.

But thanks for your info about mixing canned and raw. I have been adding some water and will continue to do so.

 

[PJBoy]

When I fed raw food, I did a mixed diet. They got raw in the morning and canned at night. Your cat should do just fine on it.

The brands you listed are all good! Another good quality food is Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein canned line (the dry CleanProtein is probably the best dry on the market too).

Thanks! Doesn't seem like Dr. Elsey's is available where I live unfortunately.

 

[Azazel]

I haven't seen her poop recently, but from what I had last seen she doesn't strain. She goes every 1.5-2 daysish. Sometimes once a day. I had spoken to some others in a raw group and was told that despite her not straining it could likely be the bone content causing slight constipation as her stools shouldn't be so small and round. But it's hard to know. I am going to try and catch her the next time she has a bowel movement to see if she's straining lately.

But thanks for your info about mixing canned and raw. I have been adding some water and will continue to do so.

You might also post a picture of her poop here. We don't mind.

 

[Tobermory]

My girls get homemade raw (with eggshell calcium instead of bone), but I also occasionally give them Rawz canned food for variety. It’s a high quality food without gums or fillers and is low carb. I’ve also fed Weruva and Tiki in the past. I like the idea of having some canned food as back up so I don’t want to cut it out altogether.

It really doesn’t matter how you do it, whether you do one meal of raw and the next of canned, or whether you do canned one day and raw the next. As long as Gnocchi eats it, you’re good!

If you can find it, Stella & Chewy’s has come out with a new frozen boneless raw food, Stella’s Selects. It’s a complete meal. I haven’t tried it (one of mine won’t eat commercial raw, the little diva), but some TCS members have reported that their cats like it.

Mocha poops every day and a half, Iris goes roughly every two days, and Lily goes every 4-6 days...which worries me but doesn't worry my vet. I keep an eye on her, but she doesn’t strain or act distressed in any way. It’s certainly possible that the bone content is bothering Gnocchi a bit, but if she’s going every 1-2 days and she isn’t straining, she sounds okay to me. Feeding some canned meals might help her go more often.

 

[lisahe]

I agree with the others that it's perfectly fine to feed canned food and raw food. And add extra water, too! We do all that and it helps keep our cats happy -- they really like variety. I'd strongly suggest feeding some of each every day.

As for the constipation part, yes, infrequent poop and straining are typical symptoms but also watch for fluctuations in your cat's appetite, too. One of our cats was a hesitant eater, looking like she was hungry and hovering over her dish but sometimes not eating unless she was very, very hungry or enticed in multiple ways. Feeding her very small amounts of pumpkin twice a day has made a huge difference: she now eats normally, even heartily. Before the pumpkin, she seemed to be pooping every day and a half or so on average and never showed any signs of straining, at least when I saw her in the box. I'd always thought she was borderline constipated so am glad I decided to start her on the pumpkin!

My goal now is to reduce the bone in the cats' diet so I can take Ireland off the pumpkin. For commercial raw, the cats are eating mostly pork Primal ("only" 7% bone) but I think I'm going to halve that by feeding them more homemade and adding in Stella & Chewy's Selects, medallions (turkey and chicken) that are bone-free.

Sad to say but reading labels often isn't enough to determine if a food contains bone: "chicken necks" is a sign of bone but sometimes even "chicken" as an ingredient can include bone.

 

[PJBoy]

You might also post a picture of her poop here. We don't mind.

In that case... I just got home actually, and it seems like right before I got in the door she went and had a bowel movement. I have attached a photo of it. Starting yesterday evening I began feeding her some canned food rather than her rawto see if it would assist with her stools, so I assume thats why it is no longer in little balls/so firm/dark etc. It was very clay coloured.. looked to be a normal shape. But should I be concerned about the colour? There was a couple streaks of dark stuff as you can kinda see In the photo. Didn't appear to be blood though. Maybe due to the mixing of foods.


I also attached a photo of her bum as yesterday I noticed it looked a bit inflamed and this is what it looks like now. Maybe that looks normal to others? I had sent it to my vet yesterday and she said if she's not showing other weird symptoms ike rubbing her butt on the ground, excessively grooming there, etc I shouldn't be worried.

 

[PJBoy]

I agree with the others that it's perfectly fine to feed canned food and raw food. And add extra water, too! We do all that and it helps keep our cats happy -- they really like variety. I'd strongly suggest feeding some of each every day.

As for the constipation part, yes, infrequent poop and straining are typical symptoms but also watch for fluctuations in your cat's appetite, too. One of our cats was a hesitant eater, looking like she was hungry and hovering over her dish but sometimes not eating unless she was very, very hungry or enticed in multiple ways. Feeding her very small amounts of pumpkin twice a day has made a huge difference: she now eats normally, even heartily. Before the pumpkin, she seemed to be pooping every day and a half or so on average and never showed any signs of straining, at least when I saw her in the box. I'd always thought she was borderline constipated so am glad I decided to start her on the pumpkin!

My goal now is to reduce the bone in the cats' diet so I can take Ireland off the pumpkin. For commercial raw, the cats are eating mostly pork Primal ("only" 7% bone) but I think I'm going to halve that by feeding them more homemade and adding in Stella & Chewy's Selects, medallions (turkey and chicken) that are bone-free.

Sad to say but reading labels often isn't enough to determine if a food contains bone: "chicken necks" is a sign of bone but sometimes even "chicken" as an ingredient can include bone.

Thanks for the info!

I am definitely trying to switch her food often, after having slowly introduced each type to her. She is an INCREDIBLY food motivated cat, so as of now I have seen no fluctuations in her appetite. She has always wanted to eat everything, always.

As it seems ok to feed both canned and Primal, for now I will rotate until I move to the next solution. Which Primal do you use that is 7% bone? I wanted to provide her with that but I don't feed her fish and couldn't find any with such less bone that didn't have fish.

 

[PJBoy]

My girls get homemade raw (with eggshell calcium instead of bone), but I also occasionally give them Rawz canned food for variety. It’s a high quality food without gums or fillers and is low carb. I’ve also fed Weruva and Tiki in the past. I like the idea of having some canned food as back up so I don’t want to cut it out altogether.

It really doesn’t matter how you do it, whether you do one meal of raw and the next of canned, or whether you do canned one day and raw the next. As long as Gnocchi eats it, you’re good!

If you can find it, Stella & Chewy’s has come out with a new frozen boneless raw food, Stella’s Selects. It’s a complete meal. I haven’t tried it (one of mine won’t eat commercial raw, the little diva), but some TCS members have reported that their cats like it.

Mocha poops every day and a half, Iris goes roughly every two days, and Lily goes every 4-6 days...which worries me but doesn't worry my vet. I keep an eye on her, but she doesn’t strain or act distressed in any way. It’s certainly possible that the bone content is bothering Gnocchi a bit, but if she’s going every 1-2 days and she isn’t straining, she sounds okay to me. Feeding some canned meals might help her go more often.

I have heard of the new Stella + Chewy's boneless raw!! So exciting. SO far nowhere near me sells it but I'm keeping my eyes peeled.

 

[orange&white]

When I started my cats on raw in 2008, I used to mix about 20oz of canned cat food directly into 6 pounds of homemade raw mix. The reason was not "for poop" but because I had one out of three cats who refused to recognize raw meat as food. There was no issue mixing raw and canned together. I did eventually decrease the amount of canned food to nothing over about half a year, but I don't think it would have hurt anything to keep mixing the two.

 

[Azazel]

In that case... I just got home actually, and it seems like right before I got in the door she went and had a bowel movement. I have attached a photo of it. Starting yesterday evening I began feeding her some canned food rather than her rawto see if it would assist with her stools, so I assume thats why it is no longer in little balls/so firm/dark etc. It was very clay coloured.. looked to be a normal shape. But should I be concerned about the colour? There was a couple streaks of dark stuff as you can kinda see In the photo. Didn't appear to be blood though. Maybe due to the mixing of foods.


I also attached a photo of her bum as yesterday I noticed it looked a bit inflamed and this is what it looks like now. Maybe that looks normal to others? I had sent it to my vet yesterday and she said if she's not showing other weird symptoms ike rubbing her butt on the ground, excessively grooming there, etc I shouldn't be worried.

View attachment 282584 View attachment 282585

Hmm the poo seems alright. Since you just introduced a new food the different colors and consistency are probably cause of that.

Her bum does looks a little irritated. I would just keep an eye on it.

I think in general it’s a good idea to feed a variety of foods and brands. So, even if she isn’t constipated I think adding a little variety with the canned food is a good thing. And it will also help balance out the amount of bone she’s eating just in case.

My girl eats 50% raw and 50% canned and it works well for her.

 

[PJBoy]

Hmm the poo seems alright. Since you just introduced a new food the different colors and consistency are probably cause of that.

Her bum does looks a little irritated. I would just keep an eye on it.

I think in general it’s a good idea to feed a variety of foods and brands. So, even if she isn’t constipated I think adding a little variety with the canned food is a good thing. And it will also help balance out the amount of bone she’s eating just in case.

My girl eats 50% raw and 50% canned and it works well for her.

I'm wondering if maybe her bum was irritated due to an uncomfortable bowel movement. Definitely will keep an eye on it.

And I agree! I also love feeding her a variety since she loves trying new things.

 

[altairose]

General question - what are the concerns about feeding a mix of raw, canned wet food, and dry kibble? Just wondering for my cat...

 

[orange&white]

General question - what are the concerns about feeding a mix of raw, canned wet food, and dry kibble? Just wondering for my cat...

It's thought that in order to digest cooked meats, cats' stomach acid adjusts to more alkaline pH levels, and that raw meat requires a more natural acidic pH level. That's from a few pro-raw websites which think that the pH changes are not as healthy as feeding all-raw and maintaining a fairly consistent acidic pH level. (Take that info for what it's worth.)

 

[kittyluv387]

I think she's a little constipated. But it can't be avoided with commercial raw. 2 out of 3 of my cats get canned for breakfast and raw at night. It's my preferred method since they still get benefits of raw and I get to have a simpler feeding before work. My 3rd cat has to have 100% raw unfortunately. Or else diarrhea.

 

[lisahe]

As it seems ok to feed both canned and Primal, for now I will rotate until I move to the next solution. Which Primal do you use that is 7% bone? I wanted to provide her with that but I don't feed her fish and couldn't find any with such less bone that didn't have fish.

We feed mostly Primal pork, which the cats especially love. Their page now puts it at 6% bone (! I was pretty sure it was 7!) whereas the turkey (which we feed only very small amounts of) is listed as somewhere around 10%. Thank you for asking -- I'm glad to see the pork is a bit lower in bone than I'd thought! The pork food doesn't have fish.

Yes, it does kind of look like your cat's butt is a bit irritated. I agree with A Azazel 's suggestion of feeding a variety of foods -- this is what we do, to sort of dilute the bone from the freeze-dried stuff we feed.

And definitely do watch for the new Stella & Chewy's, it's definitely worth a try, if only for snacks or small meals since it's a little pricy.

 

[Azazel]

It's thought that in order to digest cooked meats, cats' stomach acid adjusts to more alkaline pH levels, and that raw meat requires a more natural acidic pH level. That's from a few pro-raw websites which think that the pH changes are not as healthy as feeding all-raw and maintaining a fairly consistent acidic pH level. (Take that info for what it's worth.)

I think this is just an internet rumor though and really has no scientific basis.

Lots of cats who hunt outside and also get food from humans eat raw and cooked all the time. Even feral cats probably eat some cooked meat from garbage scraps.

 

[orange&white]

I think this is just an internet rumor though and really has no scientific basis.

Lots of cats who hunt outside and also get food from humans eat raw and cooked all the time. Even feral cats probably eat some cooked meat from garbage scraps.

I tend to agree with that. If the cat seems "fine" digesting a mix of raw and processed, that's the important thing.