Freeze-dried?

[fiorya]

Hiya everyone,

I have a few questions for anyone who has experience with freeze-dried raw food:

What brands do you like? (Or perhaps, which ones do your cats like? )

How does the cost compare to canned food, or to commercial frozen raw food?

If you feed freeze-dried food, is that all you feed your cats? Or do you also feed dry, canned, and/or a raw diet?

Does freeze-dried raw food offer the same health benefits as actual raw food?

Since it's dried, do you mix it with water when feeding to your cats?

Both of my cats eat high-protein canned food. I'm pretty satisfied with that, as it's not too expensive (when rotating both cheap and expensive canned foods). And I know it's a huge improvement over dry food. But I'd like to eventually try other types of food. I've read a lot about frozen raw food here, but not a lot about freeze-dried. So I'm just curious about how other people here feel about it.

Thanks!

 

[lalagimp]

So far my cats will eat freeze dried, but not dehydrated. They love Nature's Variety raw boost bits and toppers, but hate The Honest Kitchen food. I hope I'm not confused.

 

[Neo_23]

I have fed freeze-dried before. The 2 brands I have tried are Primal and Northwest Naturals. I think they are both good quality but I liked Northwest Naturals better because of the consistency. It re-hydrated much better than Primal did.

I would say that freeze-dried is more expensive than canned food and can even be more expensive than frozen raw. When I was feeding it, I fed it in combination with canned food.

There have been zero studies done on the benefits of freeze dried raw food (for cats, anyway - not sure about humans or dogs). But, the freeze drying process is supposed to retain most of the nutrients that you get with frozen raw so I suppose it would give a lot of the same benefits.

Yes, I would definitely always re-hydrate with water. It is meant to be served with water and I think it can cause tummy upset if not hydrated.

 

[duckpond]

I feed mostly canned foods, and a low carb kibble. I have occasionally bought a freeze dried food, just to give them a change. Most of my cat are ho hum about it. I did re-hydrate it with warm water.

I have one out of 4 that will usually eat northwest naturals.

I did feed some primal, but i read a few things about coconut oil being harmful to cats, liver problems, so i quit them.

I use to feed Stella and chewy occasionally, but my cat got sick, nothing too bad just a lot of throwing up for a day or two. She recovered fine, this was when they had their Listeria contamination. I had one of the bags that was recalled. I know these things can happen with any food, but i guess i'm a little gun shy.

They all hated Vital cat.

They hated Feline Natural

They would not go near WholeLife.

 

[abby2932]

The two brands that I would absolutely recommend are Vital Essentials and Stella & Chewy. Those two offer free-dried raw with only meat, bone, organ and essential supplements. No fruits and veggies, etc.

Freeze-dried raw is probably the most expensive type of food to feed. It ks totally fine to feed that as the entire diet but since it is so expensive, many people just feed it in addition to other raw or canned food. I don't think it has exactly the same health benefits as frozen raw but it is the next best thing.

If you wanted to continue to feed a mixed diet of canned food and some freeze-dried raw (hydrated at meal time, of course), I think your cat would benefit greatly.

 

[Neo_23]

Be careful with Stella and Chewy. It contains a lot of bone and wouldn’t be good for a cat with a sensitive stomach or kidney disease.

 

[cifelliac]

I have tried Stella and Chewy's Freeze Dried as well as Primal. Our one cat who likes raw and wet food will eat it. We also had a sample of The Honest Kitchen Turkey, which I think is Dehydrated and she sniffed it and walked away. Wouldn't eat it even when offered on a different day.

I think Freeze Dried and Dehydrated is more expensive that commercial frozen fresh raw.

 

[lisahe]

We feed a lot of Primal and Northwest Naturals, with smaller amounts of Feline Natural (the price has gone up) and a little Stella & Chewy's (I, too, don't like that it has so much bone). Our cats love freeze-dried and prefer Primal's freeze-dried over their frozen food, though they're (allegedly anyway) the same food. The freeze-dried and frozen have generally been the same price for the same protein, at least in the stores I shop in, so I can't say I think freeze-dried is costlier. But maybe other stores are different?

 

[lisamarie12]

I have been using Primal freeze dried raw now for several years for my two cats, previously in combination with homemade raw and canned foods, although the past several months, pretty much Primal only.

The most money I've spent on food was when I was feeding higher price point canned foods, e.g., Nature's Variety Instinct, Ziwi Peak, Feline Natural. I'm actually saving money using commercial raw pretty exclusively.

I feed both cats the same food, at least for now. One cat will eat frozen, thawed raw, the other, despite many attempts, only freeze dried reconstituted.

Freeze dried must be rehydrated, cats must have moisture with their food, cats do not eat anything dry in nature.

Homemade raw was the cheapest even when I ordered from Hare Today, a site specifically for raw feeders although there are raw feeders whose costs are much lower using meats locally sourced, e.g., butcher, grocery, farmer's markets, etc.

Homemade raw, if you can do that, is excellent especially if you use chunks of meat (vs ground), chunks of meat can help with kitties teeth as well as exercise their jaws. You could also consider a combo of homemade and commercial raw.

Primal hydrates very well for me. I put the nuggets in a glass measuring jar, mash with a pestle, making it chunky or pate, then I add enough water so that it's a bit soupy. I never add the recommended amount of water that Primal states on their freeze dried bags which is a mere 1 tablespoon, but much more.

Despite the veggies in Primal, I look at the percentage of carbs, the two proteins I'm feeding have a carb range of 1 and 4 percent.

As far as health benefits between frozen raw and reconstituted freeze dried, both cats have shiny coats, lots of energy and produce minimal stool waste / odor.

Northwest Naturals, as others have mentioned, looks really good too, I would love to try it with my cats but one cat is allergic to eggs.

Good luck, you have quite a few options. I'm sure you'll find something that works for your kitties as well as your budget and people will be here to help you along the way.

 

[Neo_23]

I have a question for freeze dried raw feeders that I thought I'd add to this thread.

Do you think that freeze dried raw food is "safer" in terms of being less susceptible to bacterial growth than frozen raw? Is the freeze drying process supposed to kill more bacteria than just freezing?

 

[cifelliac]

Stella & Chewy's bag says after you re-hydrate the food it should be removed after 2 hours, so I'm guessing yes as Raw Food you need to remove after 30 minutes.

 

[Neo_23]

Stella & Chewy's bag says after you re-hydrate the food it should be removed after 2 hours, so I'm guessing yes as Raw Food you need to remove after 30 minutes.

I guess bacteria would grow more slowly on freeze dried food, but what about bacteria that was already there. Does freeze drying kill more bacteria than freezing?

 

[EmmiTemmi]

I guess bacteria would grow more slowly on freeze dried food, but what about bacteria that was already there. Does freeze drying kill more bacteria than freezing?

Most bacteria can't grow on foods with a water activity under 0.91, and molds can't grow under 0.7, so freeze-dried would be pretty bacteria free, other than possibly exotoxins being present if there was a lot ofbacteria on it prior to drying.
Freezing on the other hand also kills bacteria, but although most are killed, some are just put in a suspended state until warmed back up, and some spores might be able to last through freezing (maybe? It's been a while since my food micro class...). But I think either way, freezing or freeze-drying, the product will be pretty safe. I'm not sure if one preservation method is significantly 'safer' than the other.