Feeding Wet Food And Raw?

[Neo_23]

I have decided that I want to switch my cat over to raw food to replace the kibble currently in his diet. Currently he is eating Weruva cats in the kitchen which he loves and kibble. What I'd like to do is give him 3 feedings a day: morning Weruva, afternoon Weruva and night time Stella and Chewy frozen raw.

Is this okay to do? I've read many conflicting things online about how it's bad to feed both raw and wet to a cat because they digest at different rates. Is this true?

 

[Ardina]

I think it should be fine. Most of the warnings are for feeding dry food and raw in the same meal because they digest at very different rates, but canned and raw together should be okay. Some cats have more sensitive stomachs than others, so give it a try and adjust as necessary if he has issues.

 

[Neo_23]

Thanks for your reply. Are there any other on this forum who do a mix of wet and raw?

 

[orange&white]

I also think raw and wet is an all right combination.

It's the dry food that's bad. Dry food makes the cats stomach acid more alkaline to digest all those carbohydrates that they aren't designed to eat. Cats need an acidic ph environment to digest and get nutrients from raw...so you can see the "battle" in the cats system trying to determine if it needs acidic or alkaline stomach secretions for proper digestion.

 

[Neo_23]

I also think raw and wet is an all right combination.

It's the dry food that's bad. Dry food makes the cats stomach acid more alkaline to digest all those carbohydrates that they aren't designed to eat. Cats need an acidic ph environment to digest and get nutrients from raw...so you can see the "battle" in the cats system trying to determine if it needs acidic or alkaline stomach secretions for proper digestion.

Thanks -- by the way, I was also considering trying Instinct instead of S&C but I settled on S&C because the ingredients looked better to me. But, I'm still interested in others' opinions. Would you recommend Instinct frozen raw over S&C and why?

 

[himawari]

orange&white What do you mean "battle"? What are the signs of that?

Neo_23 tbh I feed wet, raw, and dry. I know, I know dry is a bad mix but I need to finish this Orijen bag and he doesn't care for Ziwi Peak anymore. I've never fed S&C raw but have you looked at Small Batch or Rad Cat? I hear Primal is about the same as S&C. I personally would prefer S&C over instinct due to ingredients

 

[orange&white]

orange&white What do you mean "battle"? What are the signs of that?

Our autonomic nervous system controls functions that we don't have to think about: digestion, breathing, heart beat, etc. So if the cat is eating a food that requires an alkaline environment to digest (kibble) and a food that requires an acidic environment to digest (raw food), then there is a "battle" within the autonomic system to "decide" how much acid secretion to provide.

Incomplete or poor digestion would result in larger, stinkier stools, and/or vomiting undigested food.

Kibble normally moves more slowly through the digestive tract and raw should travel quickly through provided the acidic/alkaline environment is correct and balanced.

 

[himawari]

orange&white I've been doing wet, raw and dry for almost a month now, and so far my cat has vomited undigested food only once and that's because I think he was eating too fast. Other than that, his stools have been normal (every other day, right amount for raw food). Does that mean his digestion is actually okay with the variations? I'd ask my vet but she's against raw food. I just like the convenience of dry food whenever I'm in a rush or as a night treat (tho I only give less than 1/4 cup per night).

 

[orange&white]

Most cats seem to have cast iron stomachs at least when they're young. Kind of like human kids can eat just about anything and health issues don't show up until we're older. If you aren't noticing any digestive issues, then it sounds like he's ok for now.

 

[himawari]

orange&white He's 7 so I'm not sure how long his digestion will be strong lol But I probably will stop feeding him dry after I finish this Orijen bag. Thank you so much for answering~

 

[orange&white]

orange&white He's 7 so I'm not sure how long his digestion will be strong lol But I probably will stop feeding him dry after I finish this Orijen bag. Thank you so much for answering~

As far as ingredients in dry food, Orijen has one of the best listings. Orijen is heavy in animal proteins and fats and the vegetable/starch/carbohydrate ingredients are way down the list. So that's good. That may not change the stomach acid/alkaline scenario, but high animal ingredients won't stress the liver and kidneys the way that carbohydrates do.

Your kitty could very well live into his 20's and beyond, because you're being a caring owner.

 

[Neo_23]

orange&white What do you mean "battle"? What are the signs of that?

Neo_23 tbh I feed wet, raw, and dry. I know, I know dry is a bad mix but I need to finish this Orijen bag and he doesn't care for Ziwi Peak anymore. I've never fed S&C raw but have you looked at Small Batch or Rad Cat? I hear Primal is about the same as S&C. I personally would prefer S&C over instinct due to ingredients

I agree about the ingredients. I was most impressed by the ingredients in s&C than any other frozen brand.

I had considered rad cat but I'm wondering if it's more expensive than S&C?

 

[himawari]

Neo_23 I think S&C is less expensive than Rad Cat but that's according to my local pet store. I'm not sure about yours.

orange&white That's actually why I chose Orijen over Acana. Honestly I would prefer to feed ZP over Orijen but /sigh/ he stopped liking it. Thank you! Here's hoping that he actually will reach his 20s. Honestly that's all I can ever ask for.