Freeze Dried Raw

[sarah430]

I've been trying out different brands of freeze dried raw to see if my kitties will eat it. So far so good. I've been feeding it to them rehydrated, but am wondering if feeding it to them dry on occasion is just as bad as feeding dry kibble.

Right now they are mainly getting commercial frozen raw: Small Batch or Vital Essentials and some high quality wet canned for convenience. I don't plan to buy any more canned but still have about 30 cans to finish off. Then the freeze dried will take it's place as an occasional meal (mainly when my son or husband have to feed them). Long term goal is to make my own raw but I have a lot of other things going on right now and I'm happy with the commercial for now.

Thanks!

 

[abyeb]

I don't feed raw, so I'm afraid I won't be much help here, but hopefully you'll get some more well-informed answers soon!

Anyway, I think, that in general the freeze-dried raw is considered healthier than just dry food, because it doesn't contain grains or fillers. Just be sure that you're supplementing the raw food (which it sounds like you're doing) to be sure that your cats are getting balanced nutrition!

 

[sarah430]

Thanks! Yes, all the food I feed them aside from the occasional raw chicken neck is complete.

 

[Ardina]

Non-hydrated freeze dried raw is certainly better than kibble for the reasons abyeb mentioned - no carbs, grains, or other fillers. That being said, minimal water content is one of the biggest issues with kibble, and not hydrating the freeze dried raw puts it into that camp too. If your cats are willing to eat the hydrated freeze-dried raw, I would stick with that just to make sure they're getting adequate water intake.

 

[maureen brad]

It is okay on occasion to give the freeze-dried as a treat or even as a topper on other food.I would not feed it as a meal with dehydrating it. Even grain free dried food is not healthy for cats. Cats were meant to get their water in their food.

 

[karrotlover]

I agree with the above replies.... I think technically you CAN feed the freeze-dried raw food as they are, but from my personal experience it's not best to go back and forth between fresh/re-hydrated raw and dry raw... But my cat does have a very sensitive tummy. Maybe your cats will be just fine when fed non-rehydrated raw on occasion? I would try it and see.

 

[missmimz]

Don't feed it dry. It's meant to be rehydrated only because it contains bone. You can give freeze dried meat treats, dry, something like Halo, whole life, bravo, Vital essentials also has 100% freeze dried chicken breast treats. Alternatively, you can use freeze dried raw foods as a topper on canned or raw food. I use Primal freeze dried venison as a topper on raw food pretty often, that way they get the moisture when they eat it with their raw/canned food.

 

[sarah430]

Thanks all! I decided to not try it dry. They really like it rehydrated - I add more water than needed and they lap up all the "gravy". I've given them Vital Essentials freeze dried duck liver treats and they love them.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

I got a small bag of Primal freeze dried rabbit (my wallet softly murmured, "ouch"), and my cats love that stuff. I've been giving them each half a brick as a snack at night. I don't think we could afford to feed it as a true meal. We did get a free sample of The Honest Kitchen and that was a total no-go. Literally walk up, sniff, touched their tongues to it and walked away. I don't think they liked the texture of it.