Trying To Go From Freeze Dried To Frozen Raw

backyardzoo

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My sensitive girl is in the process of being switched off of kibble. She is currently eating half canned and half freeze dried rabbit with a little bit of kibble(tablespoon or two daily). I had offered frozen raw before offering the freeze dried but she wasn't interested in the slightest in the frozen raw. Is there any hope in trying to switch her to frozen raw as she likes the freeze dried now? Any suggestions on how to try to get her to try the frozen?
 

LTS3

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Try crushing up the freeze dried food into powder and covering a small piece of frozen raw with it.
 

CHIKITTIES

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My sensitive girl is in the process of being switched off of kibble. She is currently eating half canned and half freeze dried rabbit with a little bit of kibble(tablespoon or two daily). I had offered frozen raw before offering the freeze dried but she wasn't interested in the slightest in the frozen raw. Is there any hope in trying to switch her to frozen raw as she likes the freeze dried now? Any suggestions on how to try to get her to try the frozen?
Hi backyardzoo backyardzoo

All I want to say is be patient! Kibble to canned transition took a while for one of my kitty. While they were still eating kibble/canned/freeze dried raw, I put pinch of radcat on their wet food bowl, they did't even go close to bowl ... and it was really a pinch, not even 1/16 tsp. After fully transitioned to canned, next transition to all frozen raw was super easy for us.

I agree with LTS3's suggestion - crumble freeze dried over frozen raw, start from something like 99/1 ratio, then increase eventually?

This was my kitty's response to canned food in the beginning - when I called "dinner!" or "breakfast!" - she hid under bed showing her :angrycat:
upload_2019-4-18_11-25-33.png


:goodluck:
 

lalagimp

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She may have a problem with the temperature - being too cold and not really wafting an aroma.
I couldn't get my girls to frozen or homemade raw. They like kibble and canned set out each day, and Yue likes the Raw Boost pieces from Nature's Variety, but neither would move to fresh/frozen raw.
 

lisahe

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I agree with all of the above! And the worst thing is that we can never know for sure why they don't like something. :p

I wonder, though, why you are hoping to switch your cat from freeze-dried to frozen raw food. Are you looking to change the brand? And/or upgrade ingredients? Or maybe some other reason? And what brands (of both "modes") have you fed and/or tried to feed? Sometimes that can give hints about what might or might not work.

Some switches -- like, say, Primal freeze-dried to Primal frozen -- might go easier than others: Primal FD to something frozen from Stella & Chewy's, for example, would be a bigger change. Then again, some cats like more variety so might prefer the second change over the first.

Then again, like lalagimp's cats, some cats will just never like certain products. Or they might get tired of them. Our cats used to lap up a combination of Primal freeze-dried and Primal frozen but then got utterly sick of it... but, several years later, they still love Primal freeze-dried and eat it twice a day. Personally, that suits me just fine because it's so much easier to store freeze-dried than frozen.

Anyway, bring on the specifics! Maybe they'll bring on other ideas!
 

dhammagirl

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Try mixing just a wee bit of the frozen, but warmed, raw into her favorite canned food.
 
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backyardzoo

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Sorry for the delay in responding, there are some suggestions here I will be trying with her.

Main reason for wanting to switch is a financial one as the freeze dried is $45 a bag for 3 pounds and I can get frozen for half that price(rabbit is so expensive her canned is $3-4 for 5.5 ounce, kibble $33 for a 4.5lb bag). Also, our other cat likes raw so I can order larger amounts from the one place if I can get her on it(and I would be able to switch the dog too).

She is allowed only rabbit right now as we are trying to figure out if she is food sensitive or has environmental ones in there too. Raw is very limited ingredient and less likely to have weird things in the mix which would make things easier to figure out with her(and maybe we will avoid the steroid the vet suggested). .

I've tried warming it up for her in the past but maybe now it will be more appealing now that she is basically off the kibble. She's hungrier at her feed times now that she isn't given free choice kibble so that might work in my favor too.
 

dhammagirl

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Sounds like you’re on the right track. Getting her off free choice kibble is fantastic!
Yes, rabbit is so darn expensive! :gaah:
 
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backyardzoo

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Small update, she ate some of the frozen raw last night and this morning. Ended up warming it up and then mixing it into her canned but she did eat it after some hesitation.
 
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backyardzoo

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Another update, she is eating roughly 3/4 raw and 1/4 canned(mixed together still) with a touch of kibble now. I don't think I will ever get her to 100% raw as she is still reluctant to eat it plain. I consider this a victory with her :yess:
 
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backyardzoo

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I haven't noticed too much different with her so far other than her coat is much softer/silky. Though her litter box has improved stinky wise as well as long as the youngster doesn't use it(he's gross even according to my teen who loves him)
 

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Another update, she is eating roughly 3/4 raw and 1/4 canned(mixed together still) with a touch of kibble now. I don't think I will ever get her to 100% raw as she is still reluctant to eat it plain. I consider this a victory with her :yess:
She'll get there eventually. It took weeks to get one of mine fully on a raw diet, she would not touch the plain raw and would only eat it mixed with canned. I slowly decreased the canned and increased the raw until she finally would eat just raw.

One thing I found that helped was to fill a sink with hot water and float the bowl of food in it so it warmed evenly, other methods of heating don't heat evenly and the temperature difference can be a big turnoff to some Cats.
 
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backyardzoo

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I'm hoping so, though if this works for her I'm good with some canned. I do warm the food before giving it to her and make sure it is mixed well to avoid cold spots. My hubby complains I spend more time prepping her food vs his lol
 

Talien

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I'm hoping so, though if this works for her I'm good with some canned. I do warm the food before giving it to her and make sure it is mixed well to avoid cold spots. My hubby complains I spend more time prepping her food vs his lol
That's actually not uncommon, it takes me about 20 minutes to prepare the food for my Cats (weigh, measure, heat) where my own meals typically take less than 10.
 

lisahe

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That's actually not uncommon, it takes me about 20 minutes to prepare the food for my Cats (weigh, measure, heat) where my own meals typically take less than 10.
I want to take lessons from you about cooking ten-minute meals for humans, Talien! :lol:
 

Talien

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I want to take lessons from you about cooking ten-minute meals for humans, Talien! :lol:
Who said anything about cooking? I just take something out of the freezer or fridge and toss it in the nuke box. My Cat food on the other hand, it comes out of the freezer and goes into a bowl floating in hot water for 15-20 minutes until it's warm, then I divide it between my Cats and they eat.
 

kittyluv387

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I haven't noticed too much different with her so far other than her coat is much softer/silky. Though her litter box has improved stinky wise as well as long as the youngster doesn't use it(he's gross even according to my teen who loves him)
Those are some noticeable differences. Especially the reduced stink!
 

lisahe

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Who said anything about cooking? I just take something out of the freezer or fridge and toss it in the nuke box. My Cat food on the other hand, it comes out of the freezer and goes into a bowl floating in hot water for 15-20 minutes until it's warm, then I divide it between my Cats and they eat.
:p
 
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