Anyone tried Feline Natural by K9?

[whiskylollipop]

I just got a rescue cat, 6 months old, who eats kibble and some cheap grocery store wet food, both of which the shelter gave me as changeover feed. This is my first cat, so forgive my inexperience! I've been doing research on cat diets and I'm thinking of transitioning him to raw. A commercial raw brand I can get within my price range is Feline Natural, which is significantly cheaper than the only other brand available in my area, Ziwipeak. Has anyone tried this, and is it good or just repackaged junk?

Also, any tips on transitioning my new kitty would be greatly appreciated. Can I do it right away, as he's still a kitten?

 

[ritz]

Welcome to The Cat Site. Ritz is my first cat ever, and I had loads of questions. And when I decided to transition Ritz to raw, loads more.
There are lots of threads in the Raw & Home Cooked forum that you might find useful. Some deal with transitioning, some with the different ways of feeding raw, and a thread about different commercial raw foods.
I feed prey model raw (frankenprey), although I started off by feeding Ritz commercial raw. She doesn't like rehydrated foods. I looked at the ingredients of Feline Natural K9 and they seem good, but I wonder where the bone is (perhaps in the meat)?
Regarding transitioning: I would wait until your cat is totally comfortable in your new home. And start substituting / transitioning very slowly to avoid tummy problems. I'd start weaning your cat off the kibble entirely, then proceed to switching over the wet food to the raw.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Thanks for your response! I did read about the importance of slow transitions, but the K9 website says it's recommended to just stop feeding the cat's current food and start feeding nothing but Feline Natural, claiming that feeding both Feline Natural (basically, raw) and standard commercial food at the same time while transitioning would upset tummies. Is that really okay, or does that sound way off base?

It makes sense to make the changes in his life one at a time, how long do you think a new cat needs to settle in? He's getting very affectionate already, but he still hides under the bed a lot. We've had him 3 days.

But I have to say our new kitty Odin is a good eater. He even accepted two small pieces of chicken nugget as a treat while I was getting him used to hanging out with the humans at dinnertime. When he's settled in I could stop feeding kibbles and just have him on the canned wet food while I order Feline Natural, and when it arrives in a few days just swap him onto that? Would that be too quick?

Also, probably a really dumb question but we have two bunnies. He is okay with them, but would having him start eating raw sort of switch on his predator mode, and maybe he'd smell the same raw-meat scent in the bunnies and start thinking of them as food..?

Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for bearing with me

 

[ritz]

In my opinion (and only my opinion): You've only had him three days, a blink of an eye in a cat's life. I would wait to transition him until he feels a bit more comfortable, i.e., not hanging under the bed as long. You can feed him raw without worrying about balancing as long as it is under 15%. By chicken nugget, is it the kind that has breading and spices in it? Should be plain, no spices, no breading. It can be raw or lightly cooked.
I would not switch foods abruptly for fear of causing stomach distress. Changing foods too quickly can cause diarrhea. The difference in how a cat metabolizes kibble is very different from raw; less of a difference going from canned to raw.
I would decrease the amount of kibble you feed as you increase the amount of wet food. You could buy high quality canned food, no grain, low carb, to get him use to no fillers, grains. Fancy Feast Classic actually isn't a bad brand if money is an issue.
Once you get the Feline Natural, mix it in with the wet food. Try a tablespoon of the FN mixed with the wet food, and increase as Odin dictates.
With Ritz I basically transitioned her overnight--and about a month later she developed a stress induced UTI. I think while she loved the new food, I transitioned her too quickly. (Ritz has the type of personality where any change is stressful.)
Regarding bunnies: One of Ritz favorite things to do is look outside and watch Peter the Rabbit munch on the grass and bird seed. One of Ritz’ favorite food is rabbit. I tell Ritz, it’s impolite to eat your friends. Frankly, I’d be worried but I don't have any personal experience. There is a forum about cats and other animals, this is an article about cats and rodents, and here is a thread about cats and rabbits.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I feed Feline Naturals, AS TREATS ONLY.  All my cats love it, but only in the dehydrated form AND, IMHO, it's very expensive for raw food, especially because kittens eat so much.   (at 6 months, I would think he's still eating more than his fair share

)

There are lots of commercial raw foods out there that are FROZEN, which are actually much less expensive than  Feline Naturals, unless you are in Australia, which is where Feline Naturals are made.  Perhaps that's where you are located?   If so, then that may be another story, but I know there are a couple of raw feeders on TCS that live in Australia.  They are probably like Ritz and do their own food rather than buying a commercial product.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Ritz: Thanks for the links and the advice on transitioning! I will take it as slow as he wants. I plan on clipping Odin's claws before introducing him to the bunnies, but I want him to feel more comfortable and secure first. Right now they're in their pen where they can see and smell each other, but Odin hasn't dared go near it yet. I hear a lot about bunnies being the bullies in bunny-cat relationships though, and Odin doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in his body so I have high hopes. I would never feed him rabbit meat though, that's just way too close for comfort!

On a side note, I hope this isn't taken the wrong way and I don't mean to be preachy, but as a primarily bunny person I have to point out that birdseed and grains are as junky for bunnies as they are for cats. Peter should be fed fresh herbs and dark leafy greens alongside his grass and pellets.

Mrsgreenjeens: I am in New Zealand! Here I can get about 1kg's worth of reconstituted Feline Natural for around US$30. I'm not great at the math, is that considered expensive for raw-fed cats?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh!  I stand corrected.  I see on my package now that Feline Naturals is actually a product of New Zealand!  I actually pay about $25 U.S. for what amounts to 1.4 kg worth of reconstituted product, but then have to pay for shipping on top of that, since I cannot find ANY stores locally who sell this product.   I buy freeze dried Stella and Chewy's  in a 12 oz bag (fairly similar size) for around $22 and not have to pay for shipping (different proteins, so I buy both), but I still only give these as treats because I think they are BOTH quite expensive and prefer to feed REAL meat/liver/bones from the grocery store or farms as opposed to freeze dried. Besides, mine HATE reconstituted freeze dried food.  Honestly, I can't say I have read about too many cats that really like it much.   That being said, though, I have no idea how expensive meat is there.  I know people in Canada say the cost of meat is almost prohibitive, even just chicken!  However, New Zealand is famous for raising sheep, I think, so lamb might be fairly inexpensive, right?  (maybe not

)

On a side note, I am so jealous of you living in New Zealand.  That's one place I would dearly love to visit!  One of these days....