Question about freeze-dried/dehydrated raw brands.

[rivertherb]

I have been trying to find a good dehydrated/freeze-dried raw food that you rehydrate at feeding time for my 10 month old kitty. I went into my local pet food store earlier today to ask if they had an opinion on Stella & Chewy's and Primal, which one they thought was better, as I had seen some good things about both brands on here. They said they don't recommend either because they contain HP something, I can't remember exactly what she called it and instead recommended Feline Naturals. So, I decided to come back to here and get some feedback from everyone here. What are your thoughts on primal, Stella & Chewy's and Feline naturals? Are there any other dehydrated/freeze-dried raw brands you prefer?

 

[LTS3]

I have been trying to find a good dehydrated/freeze-dried raw food that you rehydrate at feeding time for my 10 month old kitty. I went into my local pet food store earlier today to ask if they had an opinion on Stella & Chewy's and Primal, which one they thought was better, as I had seen some good things about both brands on here. They said they don't recommend either because they contain HP something, I can't remember exactly what she called it and instead recommended Feline Naturals. So, I decided to come back to here and get some feedback from everyone here. What are your thoughts on primal, Stella & Chewy's and Feline naturals? Are there any other dehydrated/freeze-dried raw brands you prefer?

Stella and Chewy's uses a hydrostatic high pressure process (HPP) to pastuerize the food, http://www.stellaandchewys.com/safety.php I wonder if that's what the store employee was talking about?

Many people here feed Stella and Chewy's.  The food is currently hard to find in stores, Here's a thread that discusses it: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/288313/stella-chewys-on-backorder-everywhere

Here's another thread with freeze dried food suggestions: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292312/freeze-dried-food

For dehydrated raw food, there's The Honest Kitchen and Addiction. OnlyNaturalPet.com probably has a few other dehdyrated raw foods.

 

[felineempathy]

I'm not sure what the problem is with Stella and Chewy's or if there's something wrong in it?  My cat likes it.  Although I do mostly feed her Honest Kitchen which is technically a raw food that is dehydrated (add water to it).

I've actually never heard/haven't heard much of it of Feline Naturals.  -Upon investigation, Feline Naturals looks like it's from New Zealand but looks all natural.  I bet it's pricey though like Ziwipeak.

 

[lisahe]

I have been trying to find a good dehydrated/freeze-dried raw food that you rehydrate at feeding time for my 10 month old kitty. I went into my local pet food store earlier today to ask if they had an opinion on Stella & Chewy's and Primal, which one they thought was better, as I had seen some good things about both brands on here. They said they don't recommend either because they contain HP something, I can't remember exactly what she called it and instead recommended Feline Naturals. So, I decided to come back to here and get some feedback from everyone here. What are your thoughts on primal, Stella & Chewy's and Feline naturals? Are there any other dehydrated/freeze-dried raw brands you prefer?

Our cats love Primal and Stella & Chewy's. I like the HPP processing they use because it's used to kill bacteria, though some people think it may also reduce the benefits of raw meat for animals. Here's a brief piece that looks at the issue. Considering the spectrum of concerns about various kinds of food, this one is a minor one for me!

I'd like to try Feline Naturals out on our cats, too, for variety.

 

[rivertherb]

Thank you for your input! I'm thinking HPP is what she was talking about. I definitely will be feeding River some of both Stella& Chewy's and Primal and maybe also try out feline naturals. I want her to eat some dehydrated raw that is rehydrated at meal time and I want her to get as wide of a variety of proteins as possible so alternating brands may also be a good way to get all of those different proteins. She eats a lot of chicken so I'm trying to find some stuff other than that, that also isn't fish.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad that was helpful, @rivertherb! Freeze-dried food is incredibly convenient -- I hope your cat likes it. It did take a bit of time for our cats to really get into it but now they prefer it to Primal and Stella & Chewy's frozen foods or even a blend of frozen and freeze-dried. Though RadCat (especially turkey) is still their favorite raw food! Anyway, good luck!

 

[stephanie42]

HPP is something that makes me more comfortable feeding my cats raw foods because i am immunocompromised.  it makes it that much safer for me to be handling it.  i've fed my cats both and they prefer stella & chewy's.  primal at varieties have fruit and veg added - not necessarily a 'bad' thing, but something i try to avoid.  as for the honest kitchen, my cats wouldn't touch it.  samantha can't smell and will eat anything (literally) - she took a lick and walked away.

 

[lisamarie12]

Possibly the store employee's hesitation with HPP has to do with the procedure eliminating some "good" bacteria along with the bad, the debate being that healthy cats can handle bad bacteria due to the acidity of their digestive systems. Also, that proteins can still be slightly denatured with HPP vs non-HPP.

I feed both HPP and non-HPP but mostly the former b/c I have an FHV kitty. He eats Primal FD turkey, which is HPP, and Primal frozen  rabbit, which is not HPP along with occasional RadCat, non-HPP.  The only reason I allow him to eat the non--HPP is because I trust the sources, both RC and Primal. My preference would be to feed S&C over Primal because S&C has less veggies / fruit, however, the cats don't like S&C that much, they sniff and walk away - Primal they inhale.

Good luck.

 

[lvmygrdn]

My cats love Stella and Chewy's.

 

[rivertherb]

UPDATE: I tried the Feline Naturals freeze-dried raw sample with River today. I added water to it to rehydrate it at feeding time. River started vomiting half way through the meal so I do not believe this is the right fit for her. I will probably stick with Primal and Stella & Chewy's since she seems to do well with those. It anyone has any other brand recommendations that are similar to these that would be greatly appreciated! (:

 

[felineempathy]

Like I recommended, try some sample packets of Honest Kitchen, they have Prowl (chicken) and Grace (turkey).  It's a powdered dehydrated raw food that you add water to and it turns into a thick gravy like food.  A lot of owners on here, including myself have been using it.  It's a high quality and natural food.