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This is a dedicated place for all of your questions and answers about Raw Diets. There are also some really cool groups like "Raw Fed" on the topic you can join. This forum is for people who already know they like the Raw dieting or sincerely want to learn more. It's certainly not a place to argue about it Also, please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals... if you have specific health-related question about your cat's diet, please contact your vet!
Starting a raw food diet - Nature's Variety
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Since being adopted Mommy has gradually transitioned me from cat chow to better foods and I am now eating grain free. Mommy is now thinking about starting a raw diet and through much internet research came across Nature's Variety Raw Frozen formula. Does anyone have experience with this brand? Is this a good place to start?
We're in transition now...the Nature's Variety Medallions are in my freezer but we've yet to try them out. I figured it would be a safe way to slowly introduce them to raw, by mixing it in with their wet.
But the problem for me is that my guys don't much like wet. So that's what I'm working on first.
If you are eating wet, you could try slowly mixing in a little of the medallions (I've heard start with a teaspoon and put in a little more everyday - less and less wet until it's all raw). Having a pre-made raw meal just felt safe to me.
I've also read that you could try putting down various kinds of raw meats to see if they like any off the bat, or to at least get them used to the smell and the fact that it's being served at meal time so they recognize it as a food.
Actually, I did try that both raw and cooked, but my guys won't eat any human food I give them.
Those buggers.
I even steamed a chicken breast and gave them each their yummy shares. It really looked good, and I'm a vegetarian! But did they eat it? Nope!
I don't know how sensitive you are to new foods, but if you're the type who isn't too sensitive, you might try putting out some different raw meats and/or organs to see if they like it,...that might clue you in to if they might like the medallions.
But who am I to say? I put out various raw meats and organs, they didn't eat them, and then I bought the medallions LOL. I guess I'm kind of hoping that they happen to like the taste of the medallions better than they do their Wellness and Evo wet.
One thing I'm a bit confused on is that some people say not to let them eat dry food and raw food, since the digestion times are so different (that it makes for bacteria breeding), but then I'll also see people suggesting to serve the raw with a "bribe" food, such as coating it with their favorite dry.
Goodness, I'm rambling and not being helpful at all.
I hope you can weed out something helpful in this post LOL. And if you get any good ideas on transitioning to raw, I want to know them!
Hi,
I transitioned all three cats over to raw food with NV medallions. They absolutely love them. But take it slow. If your cats are on dry food, start introducing wet food first before raw. Once they are on at least some wet food you can start mixing in some raw. Depending on how your cats take to it, you start adding more. Simple and easy!
My cats fully transitioned to raw within 3 weeks and haven't looked back. Best thing I ever did for them.
Now they'll eat any kind of pre-made raw, or whatever raw meat I can give them. They love chicken necks and quail!
Finn or anyone else, can anyone tell me a little from experience about giving raw when you're still eating dry (and wet)?
I'd love to try out the medallions, but we're all still eating wet + dry for our three meals in the day, and I keep reading contradicting information about getting them completely off of dry before starting on raw (the flip side being to put "bribe" dry ON the raw to get them to eat it).
Can anybody clear that up?
Can I feed my guys Nature's Variety Medallions if we are still eating dry at meals?
Hi Mooch - I have heard the same contradicting things about the dry so I am a bit confused also whether or not I have to stop eating the dry all together before switching over to a raw diet. The NV website shows in their feeding guidelines a diet consisting of some dry. But I have read in several places that digesting raw and dry is very different so they should not be fed together.
If I should cut out dry my concern is the following: I am currently at home all day, sometimes 10 hours while Mommy is at work, with only some dry to nibble on and without that, will I get hungry? Or is the proper raw diet sufficient?
I've just written to NV to ask their opinion on feeding raw while serving wet + dry. I'll tell you what they respond.
>If I should cut out dry my concern is the following: I am currently at home all day, sometimes 10 hours while Mommy is at work, with only some dry to nibble on and without that, will I get hungry? Or is the proper raw diet sufficient?
I've gotten lots of answers to this when I asked it -- I've stopped free-feeding dry because I'd like to get them to all wet, and then to wet + raw. I've also got a strange work schedule, and feeding times can vary for me.
I'm sorry, I'm forgetting, do you also feed wet? Many people think it's alright to leave wet out for up to 12 hours. Others suggest leaving chilled or even frozen wet that will keep fresher thawing through the day. Others think that 2 feedings are the healthiest and best way, in which case you'd eat once in the morning, then 10-12 hours later would be dinner. That would work for you, if it works for Maggie! LOL.
I've been trying to get them to like 2-3 meals, but they insist on their mini-meals. I'm not sure how things will go when I have a spurt of work and need to be out much of the day.
Anyway, I'll get back to you after I hear back from NV!
In my mind, it is ok to feed raw and wet together but raw and dry must be separated by hours. Dry is so overprocessed, it takes a long time to digest.
I fed my guys Nature's Variety raw for a few months until one cat went on a hunger strike, but I'm still very glad I did it. Oscar's health improved a LOT. (Oscar took to raw immediately, his brother took a little more time. Then Oscar was the first to hunger strike on it, while his brother was fine with continuing to eat it).
I'm so tempted to try out the NV medallions in hopes they might like it better than wet (which they're not so hot on).......NV still hasn't responded to my question.
My guys tend not to eat any wet if it doesn't have the main course of dry in a separate bowl.
Hmm. Maybe I'll feed them their dinner tonight and then in the morning try out the medallions and not serve dry and see what happens.
I hope Oscar will be willing to go back to his raw diet. Especially if it made things so good for him when he was eating it.
ETA : Just curious for my own guys - when you were feeding medallions, were you using various flavors or just one? (There are only two flavors available where I live - the organic chicken and the chicken & turkey -- that's the one I got.)
My cats were eating wet and dry when I transitioned them. Although the dry was grain free. I'd tried keeping the raw and dry at separate meals, but I did use some kibble crumbs and crushed kibble as a topper (or bribe).
I found the easiest thing to do was to mix the wet food with the raw, say for breakfast and then give kibble and wet at night. I phased out the dry pretty quickly. And did a combo of raw and wet for a little while( a month, I think). By that point I was feeding 100% raw in the morning and raw and canned at night. It got to the point where none of them finished the wet food but they were all licking they're bowls after the raw.
My cats now totally prefer raw food. I've have now tried a few different pre-mades as well Turk and Finn will happily eat chicken necks. And all of them love chicken breast, etc...
Take it easy, don't stress about transitioning your cats. They just take some time.
But it was the best thing I have ever done for my cats. They all look wonderful and Turk who was the reason we started raw due to constant urinary issues (struvites, etc) has had no problems at ALL!!! And the chicken necks have done wonders for their teeth. Good luck
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Also, please remember that you are receiving advice from peers and not professionals... if you have specific health-related question about your cat's diet, please contact your vet!
So that's what I'm working on first.
