Raw brands?

[karenlynn79]

We are feeding a primarily canned (Weruva) diet to our SV Zyon and we leave dry out which he does eat but not much daily.. I've been doing lots of research and reading about cats' diets and have been blown away/overwhelmed by so much info and contradictions! So I read all of the info from the vet Linda I believe on catinfo.org and it was very illuminating.

Long story short, we're bringing home our new baby F3 RP (that's his name...) in early December and his breeder has him on raw with some kibble in the future. Being a house of 75% vegetarians, it was tough going to canned but I've pretty much gotten used to it except some of the nasty (IMO..) fishy flavors. RP's breeder really wants me to give him raw chicken at least for a period of time when he comes home. There is NOOO way I can prepare that myself, I won't cook meat for my hubby =)

So my question is: what is a good and not terribly expensive pre-made raw brand? I was looking @ Primal and Darwin's maybe, but not sure if I can even get those in my area. What should I look for in a packaged ready-to-eat raw brand? I was really interested in the vet's info re: caloric intake and nutritional composition. The Weruva we feed Z is great in all elements except the calories in the 5.5 or 6 oz cans are about 50-80 less than he should have per day (per the catinfo.org site). So I'm thinking IF I can find a non-bank-breaking raw brand, I'd supplement that with the Weruva for all of our cats in the future..
?? Thanks,
Karen

 

[SavannahLuv]

Let me start by saying Shango has been a very, very picky eater from the day I got him. He scratched a lot when I gave him canned chicken so I thought maybe he had a chicken allergy and tried Nature's Variety limited ingredient wet rabbit canned food. After that, he fell in love with rabbit and wouldn't eat anything else... until one day he decided he no longer liked rabbit and has now been eating Darwin's raw turkey and Weruva pumkin lickin chicken pouches. He gets 3-4 meals of raw and 1 pouch of Weruva before bed.

I've tried Nature's Variety, Primal and Darwin's commercial raw foods. The Nature's Variety rabbit Shango loved at first, but always ended up throwing it back up. After throwing it up a few times, he didn't want anything to do with it so I switched to Primal rabbit. He loved the Primal rabbit and ate it without any issues for a couple of months in addition to the NV canned rabbit. Then one day he started throwing up the Primal and no longer wanted to eat it or anything rabbit. I then ordered a trial offer of Darwin's that included chicken, duck & turkey. He wouldn't eat the raw chicken, 9 times out of 10 wouldn't eat the duck, but ended up loving the turkey and knock on wood still loves Darwin's turkey.

Darwin's ships anywhere in the US and they have a convenient auto ship schedule so you can have them ship more automatically based on the schedule you choose. I think after shipping to CO from WA, the turkey ends up being about $6 per pound which has been the cheapest option I've found so far. I was paying about $9.50/lb for the Primal rabbit from my local pet store (they ordered it in for me) and they were a lot cheaper than getting it online. The Nature's Variety rabbit was by far the most expensive. I got it from a "local" Petco (about 1.5 hr drive) for $16.99 plus tax for a 1.25 lb bag.

A lot of people also like rad cat brand, but Shango wouldn't eat it. I tried chicken, beef & venison in Rad Cat brand.

Most of the time, you can ask your local pet store to bring in the raw frozen food and they usually will. That's usually only the case with smaller/boutique stores. Pet Smart, PetCo, big pet food stores usually won't do special order requests. There are also select stores online that sell the commercial raw, but be prepared to pay high shipping costs

 

[DumaLove]

We primarily feed homemade raw, but I have used Darwins and Rad Cat. My cats all loved the Rad Cat chicken, some liked the Turkey. But I don't know if they ship and its very pricy. Cheapest I've found around here is $13.25 for the 24 oz containers. Darwins does an autoship so is very convenient and a little cheaper. Not sure exactly how expensive as I've only done their trial offer of 10 lbs for $14.95 shipped free. My cats just didn't care for it in any of their flavors- chicken, turkey or duck. So I've never bought any more of it. The trial offer is great though because cats are so fickle- you never know what they are going to like.

 

[karenlynn79]

Great, thanks both of you, that is very helpful. I know it's so frustrating to do online ordering and not know what flavors/brands/textures of food each cat will like!! I'll definitely check out trial offers to see if that can help me narrow down what they like. My SV has eaten most of the options I've given him in canned, but my old rescue girl is very picky and the expensive cans with lots of real meat, she literally will lick all the juice off the meat and/or pick it up in her mouth, suck on it, and leave the chunks in the bowl! Pretty much defeating the purpose of healthy food! Cats are so much like children, it's scary!

 

[Patti]

Is your breeder by any chance local? The best option would be to feed the same raw he has been raised on, most commercial raws taste very different (at least to a cat's palate) so RP may not find any of them pleasant. If buying from the breeder is not an option then I would start by finding out what you can find locally - some of the chain pet stores carry raw, and some independent pet stores do as well. Even my local feed store carries raw. Just make sure it's formulated specifically for cats, otherwise it will not have the proper nutrients in the appropriate amounts.

 

[karenlynn79]

Is your breeder by any chance local? The best option would be to feed the same raw he has been raised on, most commercial raws taste very different (at least to a cat's palate) so RP may not find any of them pleasant. If buying from the breeder is not an option then I would start by finding out what you can find locally - some of the chain pet stores carry raw, and some independent pet stores do as well. Even my local feed store carries raw. Just make sure it's formulated specifically for cats, otherwise it will not have the proper nutrients in the appropriate amounts.

Hi Patti - no sadly RP is in Ontario, and I in California. Neither the raw or dry she uses is obtainable in these parts =). I'll definitely start with local pet stores. We have a couple of smaller privately owned stores that would probably order for me if they didn't carry any. I might also see what I can get here, then see if his breeder could get a bit to at least introduce it to him before we come get him. Just booked our flight to bring him home on December 5th!

 

[Rafiki]

Hi. I am in Los Angeles and you can get Darwin delivered out here. I would strongly suggest getting their trial pack. Rad Cat is also available locally but difficult to find. When I tried Rad Cat, I looked at their website for where to buy it. Depending on where you live in California, you may also find meat markets that make pet food.

 

[SavannahLuv]

As Patti suggested, it's best to keep the same diet the breeder has the kitten on. A sudden change of foods can cause digestion issues and the kitten may also not like the new food. Hopefully the breeder is willing to work with you on sending enough food to give you time to slowly transition the kitten to a new food that you are able to purchase here in the states.

 

[Rafiki]

Rafiki's breeder makes their own raw and I was given enough for a couple of weeks. I was also given the recipe. Even though you are crossing the border, you should be able to bring it back with you as long as it does not contain beef (US prohibits beef coming in due to mad cow disease). Just make sure that it is frozen solid and well packed to not thaw out mid-journey.

Jammu (Pixie Bob) was weaned from milk to Darwin so I ordered Darwin for him. It was very easy to transition Rafiki to the Darwin chicken. I think that at 12 weeks old, they are considerably less fussy and easy to transition than even a 6 month old kitten. If you do go with a commercial raw, make sure the cats eat several different ones. When Darwin changed their formula, both of my cats snubbed it and that is how I would up making my own.