Commercial raw food what is your cats favori

[bebemau]

Hello forum,

I have tried Stella freeze dried and one cat likes it the other doesnt.

What is your cats’ favorite, i know they all have different preferences but will try what you recommend next.

Thanks for any recommendations!

 

[Jabzilla]

Hey Bebemau,
My cats don’t get commercial raw food very often since it almost always has too much bone content. But I did use it when first transitioning them to raw and will occasionally give them a meal or two of it every few months as part of their homemade raw food rotation to stave off boredom. Both of my cats have liked Red Dog Blue Kat, the freeze dried Stella and Chewies (though I don’t buy that anymore after seeing phosphates in the ingredients list), freeze dried Primal rabbit, and Big Country Raw (Fare Game rabbit & pork, Pure Rabbit, and Game Bird Blend).

 

[bebemau]

Thank you J Jabzilla . Looks like Red Dog Blue Kat is a Canadian brand? Already tried Stella and no luck. I will look into the others you posted.

 

[Jabzilla]

You're welcome. =D Yes, both Red Dog Blue Kat and Big Country Raw are Canadian. I've heard good things about Viva Raw, but haven't tried it since they only sell it in the US.

 

[Tobermory]

I use Northwest Naturals freeze-dried raw. It’s a company in Portland, Oregon. One of the reasons I like it is because it has a lower bone content than Stella & Chewy or Primal. And, of course, I like it because Mocha likes it.

 

[bebemau]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Nice, I got Northwest Naturals samples before seeing your message Tobermory . The picky one seems to be okay with it, at least he didnt smell it and walk away. So I will buy a bag and hopefully give my kitties better food. Do you give the freeze dried as is?

 

[Tobermory]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Nice, I got Northwest Naturals samples before seeing your message Tobermory . The picky one seems to be okay with it, at least he didnt smell it and walk away. So I will buy a bag and hopefully give my kitties better food. Do you give the freeze dried as is?

I rehydrate it; Mocha won’t get enough moisture otherwise. I rotate among duck (her favorite), chicken, turkey, and beef/trout. She’s not enthusiastic about rabbit (of any brand), and since it’s more expensive, I don’t buy it. I may try her on it again, though.

Sometimes it seems as if she’s not as excited about the turkey, but I sprinkle a bit of FortiFlora on top for two or three days and that seems to get her interested again.

 

[bebemau]

Thanks Tobermory, I do have a finicky cat you can find all kinds of toppers in the cat food cabinet lol.

 

[sophie1]

I tried Viva Raw's food....I really do like their ingredient list, and decided I could get a small delivery and use my cats' poop to judge bone content (since they wouldn't give me that information). I'm going through sheer hell right now between a very stressful and demanding job and caring for my ailing mom (Alzheimer's), so I could use some convenience in my life right now.

So far, I'm very happy with it. My cats got used to it quickly, and between their stools and lack of post meal vomiting, I don't see evidence of the too much bone problem that nearly all commercial raw foods have. And, they're the only manufacturer of complete raw cat foods with a good variety of proteins: chicken, turkey, duck, beef and rabbit. Bonus is that the form factor is very space efficient and makes for quick defrosting.

They also sent out a note saying they're opening some new facilities to speed up shipping, which will result in 1 day deliveries for me. And, in the past I had marveled that they are the only dependable source of rabbit food in the off season. I had asked them about this and they said they source rabbit from Spain to ensure their supply.

 

[bebemau]

Hey Sophie, thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to respond to my post, you cat moms/dads are just super awesome. And sorry about your mom, my dad is also showing signs of alzheimers but he is doing fine. Different people at different age simply has different things to worry about. At ours, parents is always in the equation.

You saw my other post about my cat possibly having a brain tumor (definitely a mass). So I think I shouldnt bother with Viva Raw for now, I will check if they have freeze dried though I assume it's okay compare to totally raw.

 

[5CatDraw]

I’m on a quest to find a freeze dried that my cats will eat too, and so far not much luck.
I’ve taken to trying to find FDs that are small, crunchy nuggets so I can mix them with the dry food my cats have been eating, as a way to transition, but so far that has been a failure too.

These are the ones I’ve tried, and how they went over with my 5 cat panel:
Feline Natural Lamb & Salmon: This is the only one that seems to have any potential at this point. They are small nuggets and have a bit of a greasy texture. One cat will eat a few nuggets at a time as is and one will eat a little if rehydrated with warm water. Although I have found it to be a little difficult to fully rehydrate. Requires a lot of mashing for quick rehydration.
Nulo Turkey & Duck: Small somewhat crunchy nuggets and I have had just a tiny bit of success with mixing with dry food. An occasional nugget gets consumed as they pick around for the dry kibbles.
Bixbi Rawbble: no, but I can get away with mixing a little bit rehydrated with some canned.
Stella & Chewy Duck Duck Goose: no way
Vital Essentials (various recipes): no way
Quest (Steve’s Real Food) Pork: nope
Ziwi Peak Air Dried: I had high hopes for this being a replacement for dry because it is small firm pieces, but the texture is more like a jerky than a dry food. Another nope.

I’m going to look into some of the other brands mentioned in replies. Thanks for the post, and good luck with your quest.
So sorry about your brain tumor kitty.

 

[5CatDraw]

I tried Viva Raw's food....I really do like their ingredient list, and decided I could get a small delivery and use my cats' poop to judge bone content (since they wouldn't give me that information). I'm going through sheer hell right now between a very stressful and demanding job and caring for my ailing mom (Alzheimer's), so I could use some convenience in my life right now.

So far, I'm very happy with it. My cats got used to it quickly, and between their stools and lack of post meal vomiting, I don't see evidence of the too much bone problem that nearly all commercial raw foods have. And, they're the only manufacturer of complete raw cat foods with a good variety of proteins: chicken, turkey, duck, beef and rabbit. Bonus is that the form factor is very space efficient and makes for quick defrosting.

They also sent out a note saying they're opening some new facilities to speed up shipping, which will result in 1 day deliveries for me. And, in the past I had marveled that they are the only dependable source of rabbit food in the off season. I had asked them about this and they said they source rabbit from Spain to ensure their supply.

Viva looks interesting and I may give it a try. I like that they offer a full nutritional profile online. Disappointing that they wouldn't give you the bone content, but it seems that through your own very scientific research that proves to be acceptable.
Sounds like you definitely needed some convenience in your life. Glad you found some with Viva.

 

[Jabzilla]

I’m on a quest to find a freeze dried that my cats will eat too, and so far not much luck.
I’ve taken to trying to find FDs that are small, crunchy nuggets so I can mix them with the dry food my cats have been eating, as a way to transition, but so far that has been a failure too.

These are the ones I’ve tried, and how they went over with my 5 cat panel:
Feline Natural Lamb & Salmon: This is the only one that seems to have any potential at this point. They are small nuggets and have a bit of a greasy texture. One cat will eat a few nuggets at a time as is and one will eat a little if rehydrated with warm water. Although I have found it to be a little difficult to fully rehydrate. Requires a lot of mashing for quick rehydration.
Nulo Turkey & Duck: Small somewhat crunchy nuggets and I have had just a tiny bit of success with mixing with dry food. An occasional nugget gets consumed as they pick around for the dry kibbles.
Bixbi Rawbble: no, but I can get away with mixing a little bit rehydrated with some canned.
Stella & Chewy Duck Duck Goose: no way
Vital Essentials (various recipes): no way
Quest (Steve’s Real Food) Pork: nope
Ziwi Peak Air Dried: I had high hopes for this being a replacement for dry because it is small firm pieces, but the texture is more like a jerky than a dry food. Another nope.

I’m going to look into some of the other brands mentioned in replies. Thanks for the post, and good luck with your quest.
So sorry about your brain tumor kitty.

I know its frustrating trying to switch to a different kind of food. I'd say you've made progress though! The fact that some of the Feline Natural, Nulo and Rawbble will be eaten at all when mixed with their current food is good. Eating one piece is better than not eating any. It takes time and going slow, but the fact that some of your cats will eat small amounts of the freeze dried food is positive progress. I'm currently trying to get my raw fed cats to eat whole prey and something that really helped me was reframing their behavior. Rather than thinking of them as being picky, I now think of them as cautious. The freeze dried food is new to your cats, so it makes sense that they'd be cautious about accepting it as food. The fact that some of it gets eaten is good as it shows some of them are slowly overcoming that caution and trying it out. With persistence and patience, your cats will learn to accept it as food. That's why slow transitions are important, as you're teaching them that this new thing is food.

 

[bebemau]

I’m on a quest to find a freeze dried that my cats will eat too, and so far not much luck.
I’ve taken to trying to find FDs that are small, crunchy nuggets so I can mix them with the dry food my cats have been eating, as a way to transition, but so far that has been a failure too.

These are the ones I’ve tried, and how they went over with my 5 cat panel:
Feline Natural Lamb & Salmon: This is the only one that seems to have any potential at this point. They are small nuggets and have a bit of a greasy texture. One cat will eat a few nuggets at a time as is and one will eat a little if rehydrated with warm water. Although I have found it to be a little difficult to fully rehydrate. Requires a lot of mashing for quick rehydration.
Nulo Turkey & Duck: Small somewhat crunchy nuggets and I have had just a tiny bit of success with mixing with dry food. An occasional nugget gets consumed as they pick around for the dry kibbles.
Bixbi Rawbble: no, but I can get away with mixing a little bit rehydrated with some canned.
Stella & Chewy Duck Duck Goose: no way
Vital Essentials (various recipes): no way
Quest (Steve’s Real Food) Pork: nope
Ziwi Peak Air Dried: I had high hopes for this being a replacement for dry because it is small firm pieces, but the texture is more like a jerky than a dry food. Another nope.

I’m going to look into some of the other brands mentioned in replies. Thanks for the post, and good luck with your quest.
So sorry about your brain tumor kitty.

Hey 5CatDraw,

I have 2 cats one of them will pretty much eat anything so any brand I tried is good when it comes to him. The brands I tried are Feline Natural, Stella, and Northwest Naturals.

The picky one will not touch Stella, and he wont eat the other two freeze dried alone, but I could get him to eat when I sprinkle his favorite treats all over. So if you cats have their favorite treats you might want to try that. The treat I use is also in a freeze dried format so I just crush it into powder over the food. Or you can maybe also try a topper, whatever that will entice the cats. Sometimes it might not be the brand and may just be the flavor, maybe trying different flavors before giving up on a brand. Good luck!

 

[sophie1]

I've gotten freeze dried foods that my cats love as a treat, but they never liked any of them once rehydrated. I think it has to do with the texture being weird. They're quite spoiled having been fed fresh raw food all their lives.

They're doing well on Viva raw, intermixed with the last of my most recent Hare Today order (using Alnutrin supplement). It's a bit expensive, so if I ever happen to be able squeeze in a trip to a nearby shop that sells wonderfully fresh chicken and turkey chop meat for astonishingly low prices, I'll mix that up with EZ complete. For anyone within reach of northern NJ it's Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

EZ complete is wonderful btw. Hope the founders (members of this forum) get to see this. It's so easy that it takes seconds to mix and I can do it right there at mealtimes with hungry cats watching.

 

[5CatDraw]

I've gotten freeze dried foods that my cats love as a treat, but they never liked any of them once rehydrated. I think it has to do with the texture being weird. They're quite spoiled having been fed fresh raw food all their lives.

They're doing well on Viva raw, intermixed with the last of my most recent Hare Today order (using Alnutrin supplement). It's a bit expensive, so if I ever happen to be able squeeze in a trip to a nearby shop that sells wonderfully fresh chicken and turkey chop meat for astonishingly low prices, I'll mix that up with EZ complete. For anyone within reach of northern NJ it's Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

EZ complete is wonderful btw. Hope the founders (members of this forum) get to see this. It's so easy that it takes seconds to mix and I can do it right there at mealtimes with hungry cats watching.

Thanks for sharing all of that. I’m incredibly envious that your cats like raw food. I have tried many times to get mine interested and have always given up. The problem is that I free feed dry, and have all of their lives. So to have any real success transitioning to raw I will probably need to take the dry away, but so far I haven’t worked up the courage to do that.

I just got a Hare Today order too, with some ground duck (with and without organs) and ground turkey thigh. I thought these might go over better than regular ground turkey. The blend with organs/bone they will have nothing to do with, but there is slight interest in the ground duck. A couple cats will take a few tiny bites per meal, but that’s it. I have some Alnutrin, but so far they are not eating enough of the ground meat to bother mixing it in.

Thanks for mentioning EZ Complete. I was not familiar with it, but just checked it out online. It looks like good stuff and I’m going to order some. I like that they provide so much info online. In case the founders are watching - sure wish they offered a dog version without calcium. I like for my dogs to get their calcium from RMBs.

I may try some Viva Raw too, but am hoping to work up a little more interest in the ground duck first. Thanks again.

 

[sophie1]

Free feeding dry food means they'll never convert to raw. If you're serious about it, you'll have to switch your cats to dry food meals and then present them with raw food along with their dry, until they start eating the raw food (could take weeks or even months). Some have recommended switching to canned food first, since cats addicted to dry food are more likely to take to that.

My cats were raised on raw food from the moment they were weaned and never took to dry food at all. Before I learned about the downsides of dry food, I wanted to give them some for convenience & cost reasons. One would never touch it even as a kitten - he used to pick the pieces out of his bowl one by one, then put them on the floor - hilarious. So it seems that preferences for raw vs dry are mutually exclusive.

Oddly enough, the cat who has always refused to touch dry food or any cat treats other than freeze dried raw, for god knows what reason LOVES dog biscuits. The crappiest kind that you find in jars on the counter of nice local stores. I gave him one for his birthday.