Thinking of Switching to Raw - Suggestions?

[yogakitty]

Hey all

So, my little 9.5 month old man is on an all canned diet. At this point, I rotate Ziwipeaks, Feline Naturals, Koha, and so that I don't go bankrupt, fancy feast pate. I also feed chicken gizzards and necks twice a week.

I'm thinking of possibly switching to raw when he reaches a year...not sure yet. Would have to check the cost analysis as well. I'm already spending so much money on cat food per month. I went and got a 12 pack of the 6oz cans of Ziwipeaks the other day, plus 4 additional cans of something else and paid over $85. Not so easy to sustain...

Anyways, was wondering what recommendations everyone has for ready made raw? I won't be going it on my own. I don't have a grinder, and just don't have the time to make up the recipes myself.

Which companies are good, wholesome, trustworthy and balanced? Any concerns about any of the companies? Anything I should take into consideration? And should I be adding anything extra or is it truly ready made and ready to go? Can I just transition over or do I have to do it slowly?

I note that I live in Canada. Some of the brands may not be available. I'd have to check I guess. I don't think I can get Rad Cat here...not yet anyways. They sell it out west but haven't made it to eastern Canada yet.

Thanks guys!

 

[LTS3]

You may want to look into using a pre-mix. No grinding or following a complicated recipie is needed at all. You add boneless raw meat of your choice (some pet stores sell chubs / rolls of ground raw meat) to the pre-mix, add water, mix together, and portion out into serving sizes. TC Feline is one that you can buy in Canada.

If you prefer a ready to serve type raw food, see these threads:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/307676/commercial-raw-ontario-canada
http://www.thecatsite.com/t/248687/canadian-raw-food-suppliers

 

[orange&white]

I would probably buy the pre-mixes if I could afford them, but my two cats and 25 pound dog go through 40 lbs of meat every month.

I do feed them for $60-$75 per month total, but I also mix their foods from scratch (without a grinder).  It's more work, but it's the only way I can budget the diet, and I think it's well worth the time.

Sorry I'm not much help right now, but if you find that the pre-mixes are out of your reach budget-wise, you might reconsider a "from scratch" recipe.

 

[Graceful-Lily]

I'll just put in my two cents and hope it helps you a bit since I live in Canada too. I buy pre-ground organic meat from Barkside Bistro. I tried premixed raw brands but my cats don't like it too much. They enjoy having bones and things to chew on. You save when you buy in bulk so I buy the 32lb box which last my cats about 3 months. I spend $60 - $80 on that depending on the type of organic meat I choose. Turkey and others are more expensive than chicken. Then, I buy TCFeline supplement mixes online. I follow the instructions. Adding organic beef liver and eggs. The liver and eggs aren't that much. Maybe about $6 or $8 all together. For me, TCFeline cost about $80 after shipping but it last a long time. Roughly 6 months. It's actually less complicated than you think. At first I thought it was but after months and months of research, I finally tried it. The fact that your cat is already on wet should help with the transition. Some cats take to it right away and others don't. It's important to take it slow. Took me about 5 months before both my cats went completely raw. Smokey, my grey cat, took to it right away. She loves it a lot since she's had a lot of different types of foods over the years. Felix, my white cat, had a harder time since he ate mostly dry food before. It took several tries and tones of patience. But I always tell myself that the cost in food will make up for the cost in vet bills. Meaning that I probably won't be in and out of the vet so often since they're eating good food. I've noticed a lot of health benefits and also, the raw helps with Felix's reoccurring struvite crystal problem. I hope this helps some. I think I'm just rambling at this point...

 

[gwennad]

I use a combination of Big Country Raw and premix with meat. My cats like both, I have 3 cats and they each prefer different things so I try and mix it up a bit. For the BCR I use their Farm Fest which is balanced for cats, but I also use their Pure or Blends and dilute the bone using the calculator I found on here to reduce the bone content to 10% by adding in more chunks of meat and organs. I only have one cat who will eat bones so I find the mixes easier to deal with. My cats love it, my new puppy also loves it, though he gets a bit different mixture than the cats do And everyone is healthy with lots of energy.

 

[lalagimp]

It's about $120 for me to feed my two male cats raw. Turned out it was going to be so much cheaper than premium cans I was feeding them. I have a grinder but I go the premium route feeding the guys to keep it simple. I've never used the grinder. I get ground rabbit with bones and organs from Hare-Today in Pennsylvania and then I get turkey thighs from the grocer. The grinder would be for using bone in chicken and then using hearts, gizzards, livers, stuff like that.
There's a company called Darwin's Pets that puts you on auto ship and sends the raw made ready to you in portions, but I don't know about their shipping to canada.

I had to do a ton of reading at catinfo.org probably 9 times before I decided what I was going to do and getting the appropriate supplements. I said ok I'm going to do this for real and I also bought 24 ice cube trays and a 30 quart stainless mixing bowl.

 

[yogakitty]

Thanks everyone for responding. The thing is, I think I would definitely want to buy a pre-made raw. I'll look into some of the Canadian brands sold here locally...however, any preference? Which companies are good/best in comparison?
Thanks again.

 

[gwennad]

I'd probably suggest seeing what is available to you, perhaps going to your local stores to check it out? See what is most easily available and give it a try.

I really like the Big Country Raw, my cats like it (puppy too) and it's convenient for me to order. The store I pick it up at sells a lot. I love that I can order their 4 lb box which has little 1 lb packs in it that are easy to thaw and last my dog two days, cats 1 1/2 or so. I only have to thaw a bit at a time. I also like that it is good quality meat (human grade) and their Pure and Blends do not add a bunch of fruits/veggies or other things. I do add taurine powder and herring oil to the mix, as well as green lipped mussel for my older cat. The puppy gets kelp powder too. Their website is very informative of their products and they list the ingredients and percentages for everything. The bone content is a bit high in everything but their Farm Fest, so I add in chunks of pork, chicken, beef or whatever meat for the cats as I have one that gets constipated.

The only other prepared raw I have tried is Nature's Variety but I found it very expensive, and seemed to change formulas. Bold is one I have heard good things about from my cats breeder but it's further for me to to go buy it so I haven't tried it.

Good luck! Oh, using the BCR and added in meat I spend up to $140 a month to feed 3 cats and the puppy. It will increase a bit as the puppy grows but should level back out to about that.