Stella and Chewy

[Robyn5678]

I was looking at Stella and chewys freeze dried food. My brain is not computing the size and how much to feed etc. once rehydrating.

If anyone currently uses this or something similar, would you be able to tell me about how many days an 18 ounce bag may last for 4 cats once rehydrated with water? Currently I am going thru 4-5 5.5 ounce or 6-8 3 ounce cans a day.

One reason I am looking for something different is that their poop smells AWFUL with friskies. It’s not as bad with fancy feast but still pretty bad

 

[ladytimedramon]

I would suggest if you are interested in it, get a small bag and see if they'll even eat it before you start going through the calculations. One of my cats would only occasionally nibble a dry nugget, wouldn't touch it wet. The other cat wouldn't touch it at all.

The problem that I was having is one of my cats seems to have sensitivities to something. She has to be on a limited ingredient diet, period. The only thing that stopped the smell was putting her on a novel protein (rabbit wasn't working, switched her to duck, smell is gone).

 

[Robyn5678]

I would suggest if you are interested in it, get a small bag and see if they'll even eat it before you start going through the calculations. One of my cats would only occasionally nibble a dry nugget, wouldn't touch it wet. The other cat wouldn't touch it at all.

The problem that I was having is one of my cats seems to have sensitivities to something. She has to be on a limited ingredient diet, period. The only thing that stopped the smell was putting her on a novel protein (rabbit wasn't working, switched her to duck, smell is gone).

What food do you use?

 

[LTS3]

I feed one of my cats freeze dried raw but a different brand, Vital Essentials. One bag of the parties lasts about a week and a half or so. I feed two parties a day. I have not tried the freeze dried bites.

A bag of Stella and Chewy's food probably won't last a week between 4 cats

Stella and Chewy's food has a lot of veggies in it that aren't very digestible. It may not make a difference in litter box. smells.

 

[Robyn5678]

I feed one of my cats freeze dried raw but a different brand, Vital Essentials. One bag of the parties lasts about a week and a half or so. I feed two parties a day. I have not tried the freeze dried bites.

A bag of Stella and Chewy's food probably won't last a week between 4 cats

Stella and Chewy's food has a lot of veggies in it that aren't very digestible. It may not make a difference in litter box. smells.

Ok great info. Thank you. I may trying them fully on fancy feast classics for a few weeks and see how that does with the smell. Right now I’ve been alternating the friskies and fancy feast

 

[ladytimedramon]

Ok great info. Thank you. I may trying them fully on fancy feast classics for a few weeks and see how that does with the smell. Right now I’ve been alternating the friskies and fancy feast

My vet said on a food allergy trial it can take up to 3 months.

With 4 cats it's possible that 1 of them is having issues with the food, not all of them. It also might just be 1 responsible for the smell. It's hard enough identifying which cat is having a problem when it's just 2 so I can't imagine with 4.

One thing I can suggest, and it's easy enough with Fancy Feast - you might try avoiding fish of any kind. They don't use fish oils, so only the fish varieties are problems. Friskies uses fish in a lot of their non-fish flavors.

I know 1 of my girls, if she has anything with any fish products (even just fish oil) has diarrhea. She had that problem before kitty #2 came into the scene. Kitty #2 has her own set of problems. Right now she's been on a limited ingredient diet. When I adopted her I was giving her chicken, beef, and turkey varieties of Fancy Feast like #1. Then the smell started. We tried rabbit only, but it only slightly reduced the smell after 2 months. I moved her to duck (Koha LID shredded) and after 1 month, smell is what I consider a normal kitty poo smell (based on her sister). I'm slowly trying to introduce her to other novel proteins because she's now tired of the duck only.

 

[Robyn5678]

My vet said on a food allergy trial it can take up to 3 months.

With 4 cats it's possible that 1 of them is having issues with the food, not all of them. It also might just be 1 responsible for the smell. It's hard enough identifying which cat is having a problem when it's just 2 so I can't imagine with 4.

One thing I can suggest, and it's easy enough with Fancy Feast - you might try avoiding fish of any kind. They don't use fish oils, so only the fish varieties are problems. Friskies uses fish in a lot of their non-fish flavors.

I know 1 of my girls, if she has anything with any fish products (even just fish oil) has diarrhea. She had that problem before kitty #2 came into the scene. Kitty #2 has her own set of problems. Right now she's been on a limited ingredient diet. When I adopted her I was giving her chicken, beef, and turkey varieties of Fancy Feast like #1. Then the smell started. We tried rabbit only, but it only slightly reduced the smell after 2 months. I moved her to duck (Koha LID shredded) and after 1 month, smell is what I consider a normal kitty poo smell (based on her sister). I'm slowly trying to introduce her to other novel proteins because she's now tired of the duck only.

I don’t typically feed them fish. I actually had bought a case by accident and they really didn’t like it. One of them does seem to have diarrhea or pretty loose stools. I have 3 litter boxes. My 17 year old has her own but she barely touches the wet food. My other 3 share 2 boxes. I think it’s my little tabby that’s having the loose poops. I’m going to check the ingredients of the FF that I have to make sure there’s no fish in them

 

[ladytimedramon]

I don’t typically feed them fish. I actually had bought a case by accident and they really didn’t like it. One of them does seem to have diarrhea or pretty loose stools. I have 3 litter boxes. My 17 year old has her own but she barely touches the wet food. My other 3 share 2 boxes. I think it’s my little tabby that’s having the loose poops. I’m going to check the ingredients of the FF that I have to make sure there’s no fish in them

You'll have to check the pates. I don't use them. The grilled, gravies, and medleys don't, otherwise I couldn't feed them to Delilah. But I just checked one of the Friskies chicken, and it has fish added.

 

[ladytimedramon]

What food do you use?

Both of my girls get Fussie Cat Duck and Quail for their kibble. I keep it in a drop feeder that I can control remotely and set a timer. This one has no fish oils.

Delilah, my older cat, eats mostly Fancy Feast. She likes the grilled, the gravies, and the medleys. I only give her chicken and turkey flavors, and occasionally beef. No fish. I've also fed her the Purina Pro Plan which is pretty much identical to the Fancy Feast. I compared some of the recipes ingredient to ingredient.

Fancy, my younger cat, is currently eating Koha Limited Ingredient Diet Shredded Duck. I'm slowly trying to introduce her to the lamb (same brand) since she's tired of just duck. The vet said if she's having a food reaction it's most likely to the chicken or turkey in the diet since she's not eating fish.

I use microchip feeders to keep their wet food separate. Delilah isn't that interested in Fancy's food at the moment, but Fancy will eat Delilah's because she's tired of the LID duck.

 

[BaileyCat]

I was looking at Stella and chewys freeze dried food. My brain is not computing the size and how much to feed etc. once rehydrating.

If anyone currently uses this or something similar, would you be able to tell me about how many days an 18 ounce bag may last for 4 cats once rehydrated with water? Currently I am going thru 4-5 5.5 ounce or 6-8 3 ounce cans a day.

One reason I am looking for something different is that their poop smells AWFUL with friskies. It’s not as bad with fancy feast but still pretty bad

I add this to our rotation every so often, to give me a break from making raw. Our cats love it.

Using a 10 lb cat as an example: One cup of dry with 1/2 cup of water added, feeds one 10 lb cat 3 meals. I feed 3 meals a day.

I feed 6 cats. An 18 oz bag of the freeze dried raw feeds our 6 cats for two days...with a smidge left over. Approximately 36 meals total.

PS. The freeze dried raw doesn't have fruits or veggies.

 

[Robyn5678]

I add this to our rotation every so often, to give me a break from making raw. Our cats love it.

Using a 10 lb cat as an example: One cup of dry with 1/2 cup of water added, feeds one 10 lb cat 3 meals. I feed 3 meals a day.

I feed 6 cats. An 18 oz bag of the freeze dried raw feeds our 6 cats for two days...with a smidge left over. Approximately 36 meals total.

PS. The freeze dried raw doesn't have fruits or veggies.

That is helpful! I’m going to pick a bag up to try.

 

[neely]

Our guy loved his Stella & Chewy but due to the expense I only gave it to him as a treat every night after dinner. When he had his first bout with pancreatitis he stopped eating it and never went back. For awhile Fancy Feast was the only wet food he would eat and, yes, his poops smelled too. Then he stopped eating that too. It's always a case of trial and error but fortunately I was able to find another wet food that is better quality than FF, poops are not as smelly and fingers crossed he likes it.

 

[Robyn5678]

Our guy loved his Stella & Chewy but due to the expense I only gave it to him as a treat every night after dinner. When he had his first bout with pancreatitis he stopped eating it and never went back. For awhile Fancy Feast was the only wet food he would eat and, yes, his poops smelled too. Then he stopped eating that too. It's always a case of trial and error but fortunately I was able to find another wet food that is better quality than FF, poops are not as smelly and fingers crossed he likes it.

Mine like fancy feast more so than some of the expensive foods I buy. Sometimes I will put 2 different kinds in their bowl and while they eat both, they tend to eat the FF or friskies first. I find friskies makes their poop smell 100 times worse than fancy feast. So I’m trying to phase out the friskies and keep FF plus some of the others I found they like.

 

[BaileyCat]

That is helpful! I’m going to pick a bag up to try.

I should add that my cats have been eating ground homemade raw for 10ish years, so the Stella And Chewys isn't a complete shock to them. If you are currently feeding canned, you will likely have to go with a slow transition.

One last tidbit of info, raw fed cats don't have stinky poops! There are a zillion benefits to feeding raw, but that one is a plus for the humans.

 

[Robyn5678]

I want to make sure I understand the instructions. If I have 3 7-8 pound cats, for each one I will use 3/4 cup of the food plus a little less than half a cup of water since it isn’t 1 full cup of food?

they are suuuuuuuper active kittens so right now they get 2 5.5 (for all 3, not each cat) ounce cans of wet in the am and another at night plus whatever my 4th doesn’t eat from her 3 ounce can.

 

[BaileyCat]

Super young kittens need more food and fed more often than adult cats. If your cats weigh 7 to 8 pounds, I would guess they are 6 months or so. ?? If so, I would feed the recommended amount on the package for 8 lb cats. You could also make a bit more, if they don't seem satisfied. It can be refrigerated up to two days, if you make too much.

To answer your question about the water... yes, you would add a tad less than a cup. Water doesn't have to be exact. Enough to hydrate it. My cats prefer mush, so I actually add a bit more than what is recommended.

By the way, I think their instructions STINK. They do not make it easy for beginners to understand!

Cats that are fed raw require a less amount compared to kibble or canned, because it isn't loaded with all the carbs, fillers, etc. That was one of the hardest things for me to get used to... feeding less. I bought a baby scale and weighed them once a week to make sure they weren't gaining or losing weight.

If you are planning on feeding an all raw diet, you should also know that they will poop less. Furballs will go out the backend also.

Not to add more stress to you... to avoid picky eaters, rotate proteins and brands. My two cents.