Primal vs Stella & Chewys?

[jolie0216]

Hi all,

My gang LOVES the Primal freeze-dried nuggets.   They will also eat the Primal frozen raw nuggets pretty enthusiastically  (I first tried NV Instinct frozen, but they really don't like it - I had to keep going back and adding toppers to get them to finish a plate of NV).   

I really like the Primal ingredient list on their freeze-dried products.   But, it's really expensive and I think it's a good idea to rotate brands for variety and in case of a recall..........how do you guys feel that Stella & Chewys stacks up against Primal?  They are a little cheaper than Primal at the indy pet shop I go to, so it would be nice to save a little $$.     Does anyone's cats really like the Stella brand?   Or are there any other brands of freeze-dried raw (besides NV - cats don't like their freeze-dried raw mixers too much) that are good quality and maybe a little less $$ than Primal?  

I see chewy has the 14oz bag of Primal turkey for $25.99 - the store I go to sells it for $28 - so it would be a little cheaper if I order online I suppose...I end up buying a bag of Primal every single week (I have 4 cats)   I would like some other brands of freeze-dried raw that you guys trust or have had good experiences with.    Thanks!

 

[LTS3]

Here's a list of other freeze dried raw foods:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/295314/alternative-to-stella-and-chewys-raw-freeze-dried-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292312/freeze-dried-food

Stella and Chewy's is good. It's super stinky which many cats like.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I feed both Primal and Stella and Chewy's. (freeze dried only...mine no longer like any of the frozen stuff).  They also eat the Feline Naturals freeze dried, but I think they're a little burned out on that

.    I mainly use the freeze dried foods as treats though, and feed  low carb wet food as their main source of food.  Used to feed REAL raw meats, but when two of them went on strike, I decided it was too much work cutting it all up for just one cat (sorry Darko) when he would want to check out what was in the others' bowls anyway

 

[jolie0216]

Thanks for the suggestions yall!

I would rather have them eating all frozen raw, but they don't eat it consistently enough, and it's way too expensive to throw out what doesn't get eaten in thirty minutes.    I've had the best luck with the Primal frozen, but the only other frozen brand I've tried is NV......so I don't have a whole lot to compare it with.

I got a list of foods from another website (not sure if OK to name here, but yall can probably guess...)

Wanted to see if anyone had experiences with these brands' freeze-dried products?

Honest Kitchen

K9 and Feline Natural Pet Foods

Vital Essentials

And, should I really be concentrating on transitioning them to frozen?  Or is (hydrated) freeze-dried raw just as good & nutritious for them?

I feed an all-wet diet (good quality canned) mixed with the Primal freeze-dried nuggets & extra water for each meal.   I can't do 100% Primal (or any raw product) as it's just too expensive - it works better for me financially to mix the raw w/canned.    But if would be a lot better to mix the cans w/frozen product instead of the freeze-dried, I can try to work w/them on that.......

 

[LTS3]

The Honest Kitchen isn't freeze dried raw. It's dehydrated raw, basically a dry powder that you have to rehydrate in water for a few minutes before feeding. It's higher in carbs compared to other raw foods.

Any type of raw is good. Some cats won't eat frozen or homemade raw but will eat freeze dried instead. It's probabaly a texture and smell thing. You can do canned and freeze dried raw if that works for you and your cat.

 

[lisahe]

Any type of raw is good. Some cats won't eat frozen or homemade raw but will eat freeze dried instead. It's probabaly a texture and smell thing. You can do canned and freeze dried raw if that works for you and your cat.

I agree that it must be smell and texture: our cats love Primal freeze-dried but will hardly touch frozen... Though we used to mix the two kinds. We now feed them two Primal FD meals, a Rad Cat snack, and two canned meals a day. That works well for them: otherwise they get bored!

We haven't tried many other kinds of commercial raw: NV was not happening, they don't love Stella & Chewy frozen (though we use the FD as a garnish), and they weren't interested in Bravo.

 

[lvmygrdn]

I have tried both Primal and S&C. My crew loves S&C freeze-dried. I had to play with

how much water to add for these fuss buckets. Their favorite is the turkey but they also eat the chicken and the duck & goose.

 

[lisahe]

 
I have tried both Primal and S&C. My crew loves S&C freeze-dried. I had to play with

how much water to add for these fuss buckets. Their favorite is the turkey but they also eat the chicken and the duck & goose.

A hearty "Indeed!" about the water! One of our cats prefers a little less water and balks if there isn't some crumbled Stella & Chewy's on top. I swear that "plating" is a huge factor in feeding cats!

 

[lvmygrdn]

 
A hearty "Indeed!" about the water! One of our cats prefers a little less water and balks if there isn't some crumbled Stella & Chewy's on top. I swear that "plating" is a huge factor in feeding cats!

They are spoiled and I take full responsibility. ha!

 

[lisahe]

They are spoiled and I take full responsibility. ha!

Yes, I think we all have to own that!

 

[jolie0216]

I wish Primal made a FD version of the Pheasant......my guys really seemed to like the frozen Pheasant the most, so I'm going to get more of that.   Plus I've never seen a Pheasant cat food before!

 

[rainbowkitty]

Stella and Chewy's

 

[peterbald love]

Stella and Chewy's my cat loves it and the ingredients are great. I recommend Stella and Chewys.

 

[percy boy]

Percy eats Stella and Chewy Freeze Dried (Chicken, Turkey Blend, Duck Blend) as well as Primal Freeze Dried nuggets (Venison, Pork). I tend to mix all the protein sources together to vary 'tastes'...he gets bored and some proteins he won't eat if it's by 'itself'.

Because he has problems w/tooth lesions (have to really watch 'carbs') - his treats are 'chunks' of raw meat (reward for letting me brush his teeth..2x daily!!!) which does a good job of 'scrubbing'. He loves his 'chunkies', although he refuses to progress - no bones, won't chew large pieces and does not like 'fresh or raw frozen' ground meat...so he's on freeze dried for the main part of his diet.

Sorry for rambling! High maintenance kitty...[emoji]128566[/emoji]

image.jpeg

• percy boy
• May 24, 2016

 

[maureen brad]

I feed Primal only as a treat. I do supplement with S&C Duck, duck Goose. Because Primal sells two sizes here , Primal is less expensive but, I prefer S&C. It always crumbles easier whereas, Primal tends to be hard , that is why I give it to them as a treat. The S&C hydrates faster. I guess either is fine but my cats like the S&C fd more than the Primal.

 

[mehow]

I've tried both. I personally like Primal more. The recent recalls with stella really have me worried. They had 2 recalls for the same exact thing only months apart. 

 

[furbulousbunz]

I like Stella and Chewy's better. I can get it cheaper, too, from pet360.com (I'm sure you could get primal from there too...haven't looked). I've tried the frozen raw nuggets from Primal and neither of my cats liked it (I've fed them raw before). I even had to struggle getting the outdoor stray to eat it! He eats just about anything I put in front of him usually. I did try the freeze dried in pork flavor, they seem to like it okay, but it doesn't soak up much water at all, and it's messier because I have to crumble it with my hands, whereas Stella and Chewy's I can just scoop and be done. And also I don't like how they add veggies and random stuff in Primal. So there's my two cents!

 

[sophie1]

My cats like Stella and Chewys too, but when I try to feed it to them for more than a couple days they start refusing to eat it.  Plus, it's really expensive stuff.  It's wonderful and all, but I'm just not sure the freeze drying is really worth the price difference over Honest Kitchen, i.e. about DOUBLE the cost.  Primal nuggets, and the freeze dried nuggets that Nature Variety just introduced, are all in the same ballpark.

One of my cats fell so much in love with Honest Kitchen he begs for it every day, and sometimes holds out for it i.e. won't eat his raw food.  I try to limit the amount I give him, but I'm too much of a softie so around 1/3 his diet now is Honest Kitchen.  My other cat always prefers raw but will eat HK if nothing else is available.  I can't tell any difference between them in terms of energy level, coat quality, or poop.

Of the two Honest Kitchen varieties, I feed only Grace which (per company website) is at most 13% carbohydrates.  This is definitely more than I'd like but it's hardly a disaster.   I am seriously falling prey to the utter convenience of it, compared to the effort of buying, making, storing, thawing, and feeding raw food - and as a bonus, not having to pay a premium price.

Another option that is only slightly less convenient but is also the same price:  Nature Variety 5 lb chubs, cut into large serving-size cubes and frozen in baggies.  My cats like this better than any other commercial raw option.  It does require me to add taurine because the food is for dogs.  I think it is fresher because the size better resists thawing in transit.  Somewhat off topic because neither Primal nor Stella's provide this option, but I think it's great and deserves consideration.  I wonder how much of cats' dislike of commercial raw has to do with freezer burn and thawed/refrozen food.