Frozen Raw or Freeze Dried Raw

[oakshimmer]

Okay, so what to do when you are going away for a weekend and you feed your pet(s) frozen raw meats? :dk:
I am thinking about giving freeze dried raw as an alternative, and even as a treat for my cat and dog. But is freeze dried reqired to be handled differently than the regular frozen raw? Can it be left out in a bowl like kibble? What are your thoughts? How do you organize feedings when on the raw diet, when planning a trip away from home without your beloved cat? :cat:

I have ran into issues before since feeding the raw diet, like when Kitty needs to be at the vets office and she needs a meal but it is not available or convienient. Could freeze dried raw be the answer? I really need to get some ideas about feeding raw on the go, or in situations where frozen raw is not an option. Cans and kibble is certainly not an option, so what should I be doing to make sure Kitty is never without a raw meal?

How do I handle freeze dried meats? Do I need to add water, or can it be fed as is? Do cats like freeze dried meat? Any ideas are welcome! :nod:

 

[otto]

Freeze dried raw products are meant to be rehydrated with water. I use Stella&Chewy's as part of a rotation of commercial raw, prey model raw, and canned.

My advice is to measure out individual portions for whoever is coming in to feed your cat. You can label them in order, the cat sitter can put out a thawed one and a frozen one (depending on how often the sitter is coming) and take out the next one to put in the fridge, for the next visit, then leave out a thawed and frozen again, etc.

Start feeding some re hydrated freeze dried raw now, to accustom the cat to it, and perhaps that could be another left out meal. I guess you could leave them out unhydrated for an hour or two, I have never tried it.

I don't go away ever, so I'm never faced with the problem of how will someone feed my cats.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[Willowy]

Freeze-dried is intended to be fed rehydrated, but if you had to feed it dry for a few days, I don't think it would be a problem as long as you left enough water. Assuming your cat is healthy and doesn't have any issues with dry foods, of course. I can't think of any trouble that would come from leaving it in a bowl dry. . .what's the difference between leaving it in the bag and putting it in a bowl? :dk: Besides that it might go stale after a while.

My cats do like freeze-dried foods, every brand I've tried, both rehydrated and dry. Your kitties might have other opinions!

When I go away all day, I freeze canned food in advance and put that down right before I leave. Seems to work, so far at least. I'm sure you could put frozen raw out like that, too---I've done it with just meat, but not with a premade product yet. I haven't gone away for a full weekend since I started feeding all canned + raw food, so now I have to think about that!

 

[oakshimmer]

Well I will be likely gone from Xmas eve evening till boxing day. The pet sitter is only able to come once a day on christmas and again on boxing day. 

My kitty eats usually twice a day and also get an evening snack. So I know that the pet sitter can't leave out raw food to get gross for the rest of the day.

This is why I need to find a good alternative choice during my time away. I can't feed canned or kibble as my cat is very sensitive and will likely have an upset tummy which will lead to diarrhea.

That is why I was considering the freeze dried raw. I was wondering about the rehydrating thing though, I think the cat would drink water if she was thirsty.

I just don't know what to do.

I want to make sure she is eating enough throuth the day though.

 

[ldg]

Since the sitter can only come once a day, I'd go with having her put out her normal dethawed frozen meal. And maybe leave out some frozen frozen food to dethaw, AND leave some unrehydrated freeze dried raw out. That's probably what I'd do. It's only two days. I don't think she'd become constipated from the lack of water from eating the FD, because she'd still be eating some of the normal frozen, and it's only two days. :heart2:

 

[goingpostal]

I wouldn't think a day or two of freeze dried food is going to hurt her, my cat won't eat any rehydrated FD I've tried although she loves canned.  She'll eat FD vital essentials nibblets dry though.  If we leave I prepare her meals in cheap little plastic bowls, the petsitter can just put one out in the morning, one out in the evening, if it's multiple days he can take a stack of bowls out of the freezer to thaw for following days. 
 

 

[oakshimmer]

I wouldn't think a day or two of freeze dried food is going to hurt her, my cat won't eat any rehydrated FD I've tried although she loves canned.  She'll eat FD vital essentials nibblets dry though.  If we leave I prepare her meals in cheap little plastic bowls, the petsitter can just put one out in the morning, one out in the evening, if it's multiple days he can take a stack of bowls out of the freezer to thaw for following days. 
 

Well I can only hope that this will be the case for my Kitty. She has yet to try out the FD yet, I will be picking it up on Saturday though and see if she will touch the stuff.

I did find some FD treats though, although they are not raw but cooked but are at least a pure meat source with nothing added. So far so good with that too, she seems to really like it. I will update to inform if she will eat the FD, if she won't then I might have to do what LGD suggesseted with leaving out a frozen medallion for her to eat later in the day.