Darwin's Natural raw food

[mschauer]

On a whim I decided to try the ground raw offerings from Darwin's Naturals. They are a complete food with few non-animal ingredients:

chicken: Free Range Chicken, Ground Chicken Bone, Chicken Hearts, Chicken Liver, Psyllium, Kelp, Salmon Oil, Catnip

turkey: Free Range Turkey, Ground Turkey Bone, Turkey Hearts, Turkey Liver, Psyllium, Kelp, Salmon Oil, Catnip

http://www.darwinspet.com/our-cat-food/

They have a special for first time buyers of 10 lbs for $15 including shipping. I figured for that price why not give it a try?

I don't remember if they are in Washington or Oregon but it took 3 days to get to Houston and arrived still completely frozen. The dry ice was all gone though. I doubt it would have stayed frozen if it were summer. It looks good, nice and red. The bones are finely ground.

The kitties aren't crazy about it. Zara ate quite a bit the others not very much. Considering how simple the recipe is I don't know why they wouldn't like it. I'm going to keep trying to "encourage" them to eat it. They might once they get over the "I've never smelled *this* before!" stage. Zara wouldn't eat it at first.

For $15 you can't go wrong.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I thought about ordering that since it is a GREAT DEAL, but then again, it's only a great deal if they will eat it

.  So far, my pickies haven't liked raw chicken or turkey mixes, and I really don't have the room to store it at the moment (still freezer hunting), so I have put off ordering it.  Glad at least one of yours is eating it.

 

[feralvr]

WOW... that is a great deal!!!! $15.00 bucks is about what I pay for shipping anyway so to get 10 lbs of free meat. I am in !!! Thanks, I am going to order. :nod: Pipsqueak seems to love chicken and/or turkey as does Walden and Wendall.

 

[feralvr]

I tried calling - but it must have been before business hours or something. Will try later or do it on-line. The thing is with this introductory offer is that you have to be on automatic home delivery. AND what if they don't like it and you don't want to order anymore. I will call and talk with someone first before I order,. But that is such a great deal for your first order :bigthumb:

 

[mschauer]

You can cancel at any time including before the first regular shipment is sent.

 

[feralvr]

GREAT! That is what I wanted to hear. If they love it, then it will be super to have another brand in rotation. If not, then I would cancel. Thanks.

 

[dianev66]

I read somewhere that some cats do not like ground bone that's why some companies use a human-grade bone meal. I have never tried ground bone with BooBoo but I am thinking of trying Raw Advantage and they use ground bone in their food.

 

[mschauer]

I read somewhere that some cats do not like ground bone that's why some companies use a human-grade bone meal. I have never tried ground bone with BooBoo but I am thinking of trying Raw Advantage and they use ground bone in their food.

I've never heard of a cat that didn't like ground bone.

The reason companies usually give for not using ground bone, and the reason usually given by people who don't want to feed ground or whole bone, is concern about the possibility that the bone fragments could have sharp edges or points that can perforate the intestines.

 

[carolina]

I've never heard of a cat that didn't like ground bone.
The reason companies usually give for not using ground bone, and the reason usually given by people who don't want to feed ground or whole bone, is concern about the possibility that the bone fragments could have sharp edges or points that can perforate the intestines.

Like..... I don't know.... But here is one - Lucky can't digest them and will get very very sick whenever she eats it. Bones is a for her. No clue why, but simply a fact of her life - hopefully this will change one day.....

There are other reasons for bone meal - for some cats it can be more easily digestible (cats with IBD for example), and you have more control over how much calcium is being absorbed by the system (same with other forms of calcium supplementation). IMHO with bones you really can't be 100% of how much the kitty is digesting and how much calcium is being absorbed, how much bone is going right through them. When I fed ground bones, I saw quite a bit of it in the litter pan.

 

[mschauer]

I've never heard of a cat that didn't like ground bone.
The reason companies usually give for not using ground bone, and the reason usually given by people who don't want to feed ground or whole bone, is concern about the possibility that the bone fragments could have sharp edges or points that can perforate the intestines.

Like..... I don't know.... But here is one - Lucky can't digest them and will get very very sick whenever she eats it. Bones is a for her. No clue why, but simply a fact of her life - hopefully this will change one day.....

There are other reasons for bone meal - for some cats it can be more easily digestible (cats with IBD for example), and you have more control over how much calcium is being absorbed by the system (same with other forms of calcium supplementation). IMHO with bones you really can't be 100% of how much the kitty is digesting and how much calcium is being absorbed, how much bone is going right through them. When I fed ground bones, I saw quite a bit of it in the litter pan.

Sure but none of those reasons are that "some cats don't like ground bone" and none of them are reasons companies give for not using ground bone in their products which are the issues I was addressing.

 

[mschauer]

yes, its right this is dangerous for cats.

fresh bones or fresh meat is good for a healthy cat.Cat Site

If by "fresh" you mean whole (not ground) then the danger is actually greater because the bone pieces the cat bytes off and swallows can be quite a bit larger and so do more damage than any found in ground foods. In fact when vets object to raw feeding one reason often given is because of their experience with having to perform surgery to repair damage done by bone fragments when an animal has been allowed to eat whole bone.  

Whether someone considers the dental benefit of feeding whole bone to be worth the extra risk is a personal decision. 

 

[ldg]

If by "fresh" you mean whole (not ground) then the danger is actually greater because the bone pieces the cat bytes off and swallows can be quite a bit larger and so do more damage than any found in ground foods. In fact when vets object to raw feeding one reason often given is because of their experience with having to perform surgery to repair damage done by bone fragments when an animal has been allowed to eat whole bone.  

Whether someone considers the dental benefit of feeding whole bone to be worth the extra risk is a personal decision. 

And then there are the cats that don't like the ground mixes - whatever the reason. I don't know if it's the bones, the organ content in there or what. Mine transitioned great on ground, but then decided they preferred fresh meat. I'm not ready to feed bones yet, and am not sure I want to use them as the source of calcium, so I supplement.

In the study of feral cat diets, it was found the cats naturally eat a Calciumhosphorous ratio of about 1.5:1. The authors speculate the Cah ratio is higher than the Cah ratio of their average prey (1.1:1) due to the issue of bioavailability - which speaks to the companies that supplement calcium rather than using bone, with the reasoning that you know more precisely how much calcium the cat is getting. :dk:

Of course, there's a lot more in bone than just calcium and other trace minerals though, so calcium supplementation will never be as "complete" as feeding raw bones - ground or not.

 

[mschauer]

And then there are the cats that don't like the ground mixes - whatever the reason. I don't know if it's the bones, the organ content in there or what. Mine transitioned great on ground, but then decided they preferred fresh meat. I'm not ready to feed bones yet, and am not sure I want to use them as the source of calcium, so I supplement.

And there are those that won't eat whole meats or organs. Mine sometimes will but most of the time won't. It's just about finding what works for your kitties.

BTW - Ground meat is "fresh" it is just ground. 

 

[ldg]

Good point. I should have said they decided they prefer chunks of meat and organs, not grinds with meat/bones/organs.