Thoughts On Balanced Blends Raw/steamed Cat Food?

[daftcat75]

This looks pretty good to me, especially for a boneless raw. I would order it in a nanosecond if the raw /steamed food didn't use eggs, which one of my cat's can't have. But otherwise I wouldn't hesitate.

Do you feed an eggless commercial raw, powder, or homemade? I think Krista might have an egg sensitivity.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

This looks pretty good to me, especially for a boneless raw. I would order it in a nanosecond if the raw /steamed food didn't use eggs, which one of my cat's can't have. But otherwise I wouldn't hesitate.

I'm wondering the same as daftcat75. I don't know if my boys have an allergy to eggs (I don't know if they have any food allergies yet), so I'd like to know any raw alternatives in case they happen to be sensitive to eggs.

 

[lisamarie12]

Do you feed an eggless commercial raw, powder, or homemade? I think Krista might have an egg sensitivity.

and

Show Me Your Kitties

For the last two years or so, Mikey hasn't had any raw other than some freeze dried raw treats (with no bone, eg duck liver or turkey breast).

He tested high positive for an egg allergy several years ago. I removed eggs entirely from his diet (at that time Rad Cat, some canned and EZ Complete for homemade raw, the meats I ordered from Hare Today). He did very well on Primal for about one year (no eggs in Primal) until he started getting constipated. I tried different commercial raw foods to no avail, a couple times he became obstipated.

His vet didn't find any blockages that would cause constipation so I put him on lactulose but decreased commercial raw.

I took him off lactulose because it didn't make sense to me to give him lactulose when the bones in his diet were the obvious culprit.

So now I have him and his sister back on canned food which I'm not happy about especially when both cats did so well on raw (and Molly now doesn't get any raw other than some Raw Dynamic rabbit treats I mix with her food because the canned food mostly gives her too soft stools, she has no problem with bone). Mikey wants what Molly is eating and it causes too much discord between them if I feed them different foods.

I wish the companies that make boneless raw foods or that have the supplement powder's (both far and few) would make one without eggs. Our only option would be a homemade raw with Balance It, which, for various reasons, I'm ambivalent about.

I had hoped I could maybe do my own supplements using calcium, however, I haven't found any info on a vit / supp recipe using calcium for cats.

Show Me Your Kitties

Mikey would scratch bloody lesions on his neck, fur removed. I hope your kitties never have any allergies, scratching to varying degrees would be a symptom.

 

[Azazel]

and

Show Me Your Kitties

For the last two years or so, Mikey hasn't had any raw other than some freeze dried raw treats (with no bone, eg duck liver or turkey breast).

He tested high positive for an egg allergy several years ago. I removed eggs entirely from his diet (at that time Rad Cat, some canned and EZ Complete for homemade raw, the meats I ordered from Hare Today). He did very well on Primal for about one year (no eggs in Primal) until he started getting constipated. I tried different commercial raw foods to no avail, a couple times he became obstipated.

His vet didn't find any blockages that would cause constipation so I put him on lactulose but decreased commercial raw.

I took him off lactulose because it didn't make sense to me to give him lactulose when the bones in his diet were the obvious culprit.

So now I have him and his sister back on canned food which I'm not happy about especially when both cats did so well on raw (and Molly now doesn't get any raw other than some Raw Dynamic rabbit treats I mix with her food because the canned food mostly gives her too soft stools, she has no problem with bone). Mikey wants what Molly is eating and it causes too much discord between them if I feed them different foods.

I wish the companies that make boneless raw foods or that have the supplement powder's (both far and few) would make one without eggs. Our only option would be a homemade raw with Balance It, which, for various reasons, I'm ambivalent about.

I had hoped I could maybe do my own supplements using calcium, however, I haven't found any info on a vit / supp recipe using calcium for cats.

Show Me Your Kitties

Mikey would scratch bloody lesions on his neck, fur removed. I hope your kitties never have any allergies, scratching to varying degrees would be a symptom.

I’m pretty sure you can replace the eggshell I use in this recipe I posted in the link below with a calcium carbonate supplement, but not exactly sure how much. @mschauer uses calcium carbonate I think.

Post Your Recipes! (with Pics!)

You can also replace the turkey with chicken.

 

[daftcat75]

I’m pretty sure you can replace the eggshell I use in this recipe I posted in the link below with a calcium carbonate supplement, but not exactly sure how much. @mschauer uses calcium carbonate I think.

Post Your Recipes! (with Pics!)

You can also replace the turkey with chicken.

It’s not the eggshell but the egg yolk that would be problematic. With Krista, her allergic reaction (if it’s an allergy vs a sensitivity), is that one of her ears fills up with fluid and she scratches at it and shakes her head. Remove the allergen (or irritant) and it clears up in a day or two. We (the vet and I) thought she had a recurring ear infection that we couldn’t get rid of. Once I eliminated the fish flakes and egg yolk powder from her diet, her ear cleared right up. Now I can tell when she finds stray fish flakes in her environment.

 

[Azazel]

It’s not the eggshell but the egg yolk that would be problematic. With Krista, her allergic reaction (if it’s an allergy vs a sensitivity), is that one of her ears fills up with fluid and she scratches at it and shakes her head. Remove the allergen (or irritant) and it clears up in a day or two. We (the vet and I) thought she had a recurring ear infection that we couldn’t get rid of. Once I eliminated the fish flakes and egg yolk powder from her diet, her ear cleared right up. Now I can tell when she finds stray fish flakes in her environment.

Oh, you can also take the egg yolk out of the recipe and just replace it with more vitamin B complex (I think)

 

[sevenplus1]

I have been feeding my two cats (3 and 2 years old) Balanced Blends since they were kittens. I rotate commercial raw foods: Darwins, Balanced Blends, Big Bear Pet, Longevity (Dr. Buchoff is my vet), and now Tiki Cat's raw food. Knock on wood, so far so good. My cats love all brands (turkey, beef and lamb - they don't like chicken oddly enough) and they are thriving with these foods.

I have two vets (one holistic and one mainstream) and the mainstream vet marvels at how well hydrated my cats are and also how lean and muscular they are (I weigh their food). I hope this continues but as I read the experience of other pet parents on this forum I see that cats can be very finicky with their food pallets and turn on a dime (the dreaded "boycott").

But I hope they continue to both like and thrive on raw because they both don't like any of the better canned food brands (they won't eat any of the expensive brands no matter how hard I try). The only canned food they will eat is Fancy Feast which is largely crap. Even that I haven't fed to them for over a year. They're totally raw fed and their coats are silk, their poops small and odorless and their energy boundless (at least when post meal crazy time comes around lol).

I do intend to experiment with making a home made raw food for them using one of the popular recipes here. Whether or not that adds any further health benefit or not I don't know. But its something I would eventually like to try.

But I give Balanced Blends a thumb's up from my experience.

 

[Azazel]

I'm wondering the same as daftcat75. I don't know if my boys have an allergy to eggs (I don't know if they have any food allergies yet), so I'd like to know any raw alternatives in case they happen to be sensitive to eggs.

Have you tried offering your cats some raw egg yolk? That’s what I did when I first started out on homemade raw. I offered them the ingredients that would eventually be a part of their diet individually to see how they did with it. All 3 cats went nuts for the yolk.

Just like the meat, you can try offering them a little of your yolk next time you make eggs for yourself.

 

[lisamarie12]

I’m pretty sure you can replace the eggshell I use in this recipe I posted in the link below with a calcium carbonate supplement, but not exactly sure how much. @mschauer uses calcium carbonate I think.

Post Your Recipes! (with Pics!)

You can also replace the turkey with chicken.

Thank you, looks like a good recipe, I would omit the eggs for Mikey and then I'll have to see about the cal carbonate. I'll ask Mikey's vet, he was encouraging me to just use Balance It but I prefer an alternative. Again, I have no idea how much cal carbonate to use, I'll just ask his doc to see if he can write out a recipe I guess. I'm fortunate that Mikey / Molly's vet is pro-raw so at least I don't have that battle to deal with. Thank you.

 

[lisamarie12]

Oh, you can also take the egg yolk out of the recipe and just replace it with more vitamin B complex (I think)

I think choline maybe? Egg yolks are rich in choline, I'll have to look into it, thanks again.

 

[lisamarie12]

It’s not the eggshell but the egg yolk that would be problematic. With Krista, her allergic reaction (if it’s an allergy vs a sensitivity), is that one of her ears fills up with fluid and she scratches at it and shakes her head. Remove the allergen (or irritant) and it clears up in a day or two. We (the vet and I) thought she had a recurring ear infection that we couldn’t get rid of. Once I eliminated the fish flakes and egg yolk powder from her diet, her ear cleared right up. Now I can tell when she finds stray fish flakes in her environment.

Just an fyi that Mikey's vet told us (or me, lol - Mikey stood by and took notes), to avoid eggshell as well because there could be egg protein, albeit small amounts, in ground eggshell.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

Have you tried offering your cats some raw egg yolk? That’s what I did when I first started out on homemade raw. I offered them the ingredients that would eventually be a part of their diet individually to see how they did with it. All 3 cats went nuts for the yolk.

Just like the meat, you can try offering them a little of your yolk next time you make eggs for yourself.

Yeah I could give that a try. They eat the quail egg in their Tiki Cat so maybe they'd like a yoke.

 

[daftcat75]

Just an fyi that Mikey's vet told us (or me, lol - Mikey stood by and took notes), to avoid eggshell as well because there could be egg protein, albeit small amounts, in ground eggshell.

Well, that's likely the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity.

In any case, I have a seaweed calcium supplement that's very easy to use. I think it's one tsp per lbs of meat.