RAWZ Natural Pet Food

[suzannef]

Has anyone tried this?

http://rawznaturalpetfood.com/dry-cat-food/chicken-cat-food/

Is it a combination of dehydrated raw and kibble? The ingredients seem pretty good except for the tomato pomace. Might be too heavy on peas?

It's interesting that the feeding guidelines on their website emphasize the importance of moisture and suggest adding water before feeding. I know that's not recommended for kibble.

 

[LTS3]

It looks like regular dry food that has been processed differently (looks like less cooking) and uses dehydrated meats instead of whatever other dry foods use for their meats.

I have to disagree with the web site's claim that raw food is too expensive and time consuming to do

There are various way to feed raw. It takes about 15 minutes for me to mix up 2 lbs of raw meat with a pre mix and freeze in meal portions. Making raw from a recipe can be time consuming if you have to grind meat and bone and measure out supplements and /or are making a large batch. Freeze dried and other shelf stable raw foods are easy to feed.

 

[lisahe]

I live in Maine, where Rawz is based, so their foods are in several of my local independent stores. I think LTS3 is right about how the food is made: unless they've invented a cooking process that doesn't actually cook the meat, that makes the name seems rather deceptive to me. (Is the "z" supposed to be a signal that it's not really, truly raw food, just faux, ersatz, raw food?!) And I couldn't agree more with LTS3 that the company's criticism of raw and homemade diets is silly at best. Our cats love the freeze-dried raw foods we feed them and they're super-convenient. Many are HPP treated for bacteria, so at least as safe as dry food. And supplements make homemade pretty painless, too.

All that said, Rawz does sound like very decent dry food in terms of ingredients because they don't use meat meals, though of course I don't like that stretch of pea and tapioca ingredients! Someone at one of the stores I shop in recently adopted a cat who loves Rawz: it's one of the only foods he'll eat, though she's hoping to switch him over to real raw food.

 
 

 

[suzannef]

Thanks for the info. I probably should have given a little more context. I have 7 cats, 6 of the 7 are young, ranging from 9 months to 14 months.

I've been reading the Raw Food board for several months, just haven't posted much because I've found most of my questions answered in previous threads.

I started feeding primarily Rad Cat chicken and turkey a few months ago, along with occasional Rad Cat lamb, beef, and venison. I also have Stella and Chewy's rabbit or Bravo rabbit in the rotation.

Prior to that, I was feeding canned, all grain free and carrageenan free: Merrick LID chicken, turkey, duck; Wild Calling rabbit and bison, the Weruva shredded chicken with gravy, and occasionally ZiwiPeak venison and lamb.

But I'd also been keeping a bowl of Orijen Cat and Kitten out at all times, as a supplement for the hungry hungry hippos - I mean kittens. :-) I starting trying to phase out the kibble because I noticed that 4 of the 6 kittens had started to prefer the kibble over canned. That was definitely not the case when I first adopted them. The shelters had them all on kibble, and they were all thrilled to get soft food twice a day after I brought them home.

My oldest kitty, eight-year old Jack, had his first UTI recently, so getting more moisture into his diet was also priority. Fortunately it was easy to convert him to mostly Rad Cat, some canned, but no kibble at all. UTI cleared up right away.

Max, George, Isabelle, and Delilah were also all perfectly happy to give up kibble in favor of Rad Cat.

Alice won't eat frozen raw yet, but loves canned and will eat S&C dehydrated raw.

Ivy is my kibble addict. She will eat a few bites of the Merrick LID canned turkey once in a great while. She'll also eat S&C or Feline Nature dehydrated raw, but only if I don't rehydrate it. She's young (14 months) and on the thin side right now, and got even thinner when I was really pushing to get her completely off kibble. So I decided it was better to be patient and not make her life miserable. We'll get there, just not this week or maybe even this month. She's been eating Orijen, but I read that the new US made food is higher in fish than the Canadian formula. So I was wondering if RAWZ might be a better alternative. Other suggestions are certainly appreciated.

In the long run, I want all my kitties to eat all raw, preferably homemade from Hare Today meats. I know it would save a ton of money, and I don't mind the work. I'm just waiting until I feel more certain that they won't reject it. My first trial with grinding chicken at home and adding EZ Complete was not exactly an unqualified success.

All this is a very long way of saying that my question wasn't so much RAWZ vs raw as RAWZ vs Origen. I guess that Ivy's opinion is only one that really matters, so I might as well buy a small bag and see what she thinks. I'll post back when I have an update. :-)

 

[lisahe]

Ah, got it! Yes, it can take some time to convert a hard-core kibble addict. It's funny that your question is about Rawz vs Orijen: the woman at the store and I were talking about that just last week. I'd definitely go for the Rawz. (And she seemed glad her cat prefers Rawz the Orijen... at least until she converts her cat to raw, which will also take some time. He and Ivy seem to have something in common.) Rawz does have those peas but Orijen has two fairly high-on-the-list "meal" ingredients as well as peas, lentils, and lentils. 

FWIW, our cats much prefer their EZcomplete shredded, sliced, or diced... anything but ground! (I do only make them cooked food.)

Good luck with Ivy!

 

[suzannef]

Thank you! Ivy will also eat rotisserie chicken, the type made for humans. It has too much salt and stuff to be healthy for cats, but that's a good sign. Maybe I should try roasting a plain chicken at home, dicing, and adding EZ Complete. But I'm definitely going to give RAWZ a try also.

I thought we'd had a real breakthrough a few days ago. For the first time she *chose* to eat the canned turkey food even though kibble was available. I was so happy! Previously she'd only eaten the canned when I'd withheld kibble. She went back to kibble the next meal, but I'm optimistic that eventually she'll start choosing canned more often. I just don't want to force her and stress her out too much. It's not like the Orijen is the worst thing she could be eating. It's just not the absolute best.

 

[LTS3]

There is a dry food that has pieces of freeze dried raw mixed in: http://www.instinctpetfood.com/instinct-raw-boost-for-cats You can also just take a regular dry food and mix in freeze dried or air dried raw yourself. Air dried raw is almost as hard and crunchy as regular dry food. ZiwiPeak is one brand but it's really expensive for a teen bag. There's also The Real Meal but I'm not sure how expensive that is or if it's sold in stores.

 

[lisahe]

Thank you! Ivy will also eat rotisserie chicken, the type made for humans. It has too much salt and stuff to be healthy for cats, but that's a good sign. Maybe I should try roasting a plain chicken at home, dicing, and adding EZ Complete. But I'm definitely going to give RAWZ a try also.

I thought we'd had a real breakthrough a few days ago. For the first time she *chose* to eat the canned turkey food even though kibble was available. I was so happy! Previously she'd only eaten the canned when I'd withheld kibble. She went back to kibble the next meal, but I'm optimistic that eventually she'll start choosing canned more often. I just don't want to force her and stress her out too much. It's not like the Orijen is the worst thing she could be eating. It's just not the absolute best.

Yes, I just roast various cuts of chicken, turkey, and pork, get them into smaller pieces, and add the EZcomplete. It's definitely worth trying that. Shredded meat is the most popular around here. If cooked meat works for Ivy and you want to start making your own raw food, you could start cooking the meat less and less.

We found that taking kibble away gradually worked well with our cats. They weren't absolute diehard kibble addicts but they had a definite preference and did wait for it, often ignoring their canned food. First we cut back their daytime kibble amounts, then started feeding it only at night, gradually reducing that amount, too, until it was just a small garnish on their wet food. And then, one night, we all forgot it. The whole process took about a month or two. Our cats were underfed when we adopted them and one still has some moderate food anxiety more than two years later but that gradual method worked very well for us and didn't stress the cats too much. I think their wet foods were mostly canned then, though I'd probably already started them on some Rad Cat by that time.

 

[suzannef]

There is a dry food that has pieces of freeze dried raw mixed in: http://www.instinctpetfood.com/instinct-raw-boost-for-cats You can also just take a regular dry food and mix in freeze dried or air dried raw yourself. Air dried raw is almost as hard and crunchy as regular dry food. ZiwiPeak is one brand but it's really expensive for a teen bag. There's also The Real Meal but I'm not sure how expensive that is or if it's sold in stores.

Thanks, LTS3. I haven't heard of the Real Meal but will check it out. I have tried ZiwiPeak dry in the lamb and venison, but no one on my crew were fans. They are unbelievably picky, and it's clearly my fault because they didn't come that way from the shelter. My dog was happy to help out with it, so at least it wasn't a complete waste of $$.

I was actually wondering if the RAWZ was a mix of kibble and freeze dried like the Instinct Raw Boost. My Mom's cat eats that and loves it. Either way I'm going to pick some up RAWZ next time I'm at the store.

 

[lisahe]

Thanks, LTS3. I haven't heard of the Real Meal but will check it out. I have tried ZiwiPeak dry in the lamb and venison, but no one on my crew were fans. They are unbelievably picky, and it's clearly my fault because they didn't come that way from the shelter. My dog was happy to help out with it, so at least it wasn't a complete waste of $$.

I was actually wondering if the RAWZ was a mix of kibble and freeze dried like the Instinct Raw Boost. My Mom's cat eats that and loves it. Either way I'm going to pick some up RAWZ next time I'm at the store.

No, it's not your fault! Our two were underfed and skeletal when we adopted them and they would eat just about anything, albeit preferring dry food. But they've turned into total dining divas. We're lucky that they like some good foods!

I'm not a fan of dry food at all, but you could do a whole lot worse than Rawz.

 

[suzannef]

I placed an order with The Real Meat Co. last night. They offer sample packs with small bags of three types of meat, with free shipping, so I figured it was worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion, LTS3!

And LisaHE, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm glad your cats are enjoying their good fortune and top-notch foods these days!

 

[lisahe]

I placed an order with The Real Meat Co. last night. They offer sample packs with small bags of three types of meat, with free shipping, so I figured it was worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion, LTS3!

And LisaHE, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm glad your cats are enjoying their good fortune and top-notch foods these days!

I hope you'll report back on The Real Meat Co., that sounds promising since they say it can be served with water. And the prices seem reasonable. (@LisaMarie12, have you ever heard of these?)

Yes, our cats dine in luxury. It sounds like your do, too, SuzanneF!

 

[lisahe]

Hmm, by chance I found out that Tiki is now making dry food -- in terms of ingredients, it sounds somewhat similar to the Rawz food, though it does have chicken meal. The carbs coming from tapioca, peas, and chickpeas. Here's a link. I think it's interesting that they specifically mention that all the protein in the food is coming from meat, not plants!

 

[suzannef]

I finally picked up a bag of RAWZ yesterday. It's very small, uniform triangular kibbles, definitely not a mix of dehydrated raw and kibble.

Ivy took to it immediately, definitely preferring it over the Orijen Cat and Kitten. Of course, my real goal was to find something she liked just well enough to avoid a hunger strike, but found less desirable than wet food. [emoji]128512[/emoji] Anyway, at least I have a good backup for whenever my Canadian-made Orijen is gone.

There are two things I find nice about the RAWZ company right now. One is that they list their ingredient sources on their website - transparency. The second is that the feeding instructions recommend adding water, basically admitting that dry food causes health problems - which we all know is true. I know that there are threads an this site that argue that adding water to kibble is not a good idea, but to me it makes sense as long as it's not left out too long.

So anyway, big thumbs up on RAWZ so far! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

 

[lisahe]

I finally picked up a bag of RAWZ yesterday. It's very small, uniform triangular kibbles, definitely not a mix of dehydrated raw and kibble.

Ivy took to it immediately, definitely preferring it over the Orijen Cat and Kitten. Of course, my real goal was to find something she liked just well enough to avoid a hunger strike, but found less desirable than wet food. [emoji]128512[/emoji] Anyway, at least I have a good backup for whenever my Canadian-made Orijen is gone.

There are two things I find nice about the RAWZ company right now. One is that they list their ingredient sources on their website - transparency. The second is that the feeding instructions recommend adding water, basically admitting that dry food causes health problems - which we all know is true. I know that there are threads an this site that argue that adding water to kibble is not a good idea, but to me it makes sense as long as it's not left out too long.

So anyway, big thumbs up on RAWZ so far! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

I'm glad to her the Rawz went over well. It really does sound like very decent dry food.

I'm especially waiting to hear Ivy's review of the Real Meat when it arrives. Here's hoping she may like that one, too!

 

[mosimom]

I finally picked up a bag of RAWZ yesterday. It's very small, uniform triangular kibbles, definitely not a mix of dehydrated raw and kibble.

Ivy took to it immediately, definitely preferring it over the Orijen Cat and Kitten. Of course, my real goal was to find something she liked just well enough to avoid a hunger strike, but found less desirable than wet food. [emoji]128512[/emoji] Anyway, at least I have a good backup for whenever my Canadian-made Orijen is gone.

There are two things I find nice about the RAWZ company right now. One is that they list their ingredient sources on their website - transparency. The second is that the feeding instructions recommend adding water, basically admitting that dry food causes health problems - which we all know is true. I know that there are threads an this site that argue that adding water to kibble is not a good idea, but to me it makes sense as long as it's not left out too long.

So anyway, big thumbs up on RAWZ so far! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

How is the smell compared to Orijen? Do you have a realistic picture of the food?
Thanks!

 

[suzannef]

How is the smell compared to Orijen? Do you have a realistic picture of the food?
Thanks!

To my human nose, RAWZ smells better - milder, less stinky than the Orijen. I hadn't paid any attention to the smell of Orijen recently, but boy, it really kinda smells bad by human standards. (I only have the Canadian-made Orijen, no clue what the US stuff smells like.)

Here are some pics for comparison - RAWZ on the right, Orijen on the left.

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

Of course, some of the gang thought I needed their input:

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

Alice is team RAWZ all the way, but Max prefers Orijen.

Delilah says "Hey guys, why are you eating that when Mommy just gave us Rad Cat and Tiki Cat?"

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

 

[mosimom]

To my human nose, RAWZ smells better - milder, less stinky than the Orijen. I hadn't paid any attention to the smell of Orijen recently, but boy, it really kinda smells bad by human standards. (I only have the Canadian-made Orijen, no clue what the US stuff smells like.)

Here are some pics for comparison - RAWZ on the right, Orijen on the left.

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

Of course, some of the gang thought I needed their input:

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

Alice is team RAWZ all the way, but Max prefers Orijen.

Delilah says "Hey guys, why are you eating that when Mommy just gave us Rad Cat and Tiki Cat?"

image.jpeg

• suzannef
• Jun 22, 2016

Thank you so much, Suzanne! Wow, big color difference. The new USA Orijen doesn't smell very much. It has a sweet grassy smell. That is probably why my cat doesn't recognize it as food.

 

[suzannef]

I got my samples from The Real Meat Co a couple of days ago - chicken, beef, and lamb. It looks and smells like real jerky. Very much like the ZiwiPeak Daily Cat dry food. Unfortunately none of my cats are the least bit interested in any of the three varieties. They don't care for ZiwiPeak either, though. My dog finished the small plates of Real Meat Co. food for them, somewhat reluctantly. :-( Oh well, it was worth a shot!

 

[lisahe]

I got my samples from The Real Meat Co a couple of days ago - chicken, beef, and lamb. It looks and smells like real jerky. Very much like the ZiwiPeak Daily Cat dry food. Unfortunately none of my cats are the least bit interested in any of the three varieties. They don't care for ZiwiPeak either, though. My dog finished the small plates of Real Meat Co. food for them, somewhat reluctantly. :-( Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Thank you for the report! And, for your sake, thank good news for samples!