Nature's variety raw food Questions

I wish my first post would be under better circumstances however I am writing here today with some questions about Nature's variety frozen, whole carcess raw food's after a very bad month. Max and Mitten, are brother and sister and are both altered 10 year old cats who have been eating Wellness wet and dry cat food for the last 4 years after we became more enlightened pet owners and switched them from Iams. Max then developed crystals and had to be put on extremely shitty anti-crystal hills vet food. He was then switched off of it and put on the royal canine matinance something diet along with a bit of wellness mixed in. Last month this food was recalled and his sister and him both began displaying signs of illness. Mitten the female who ate primarily Wellness wet and dry but also had a bit of Max's mixed in ( they are now feed seperatly) began vomitting daily and had severe diherea, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrom and has also been switched onto a crappy medi-cal hypo allergenic diet. Max is schedualed for an x-ray tommorow after he began urinating blood 3 weeks ago and was diagnosed with another crystal and as such put back on royal canines anti-crystal food.

Long story short, after several thousand dollars and having to feed both cats multiple pills daily and having to feed them disgusting vet food I am looking for another alternative especially with the recent recalls which I doubt will end anytime soon.

I have been considering raw for ages but do not yet feel confident yet to prepare it myself however I found a Canadian company called Nature's variety which sells frozen, whole carcess raw diets for cats and dogs.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...90FCwWQ3059DEB

For the female due to her inability to digest some foods I have heard lamb is usually the best choice so I was considering putting her on there lamb diet and continue her on her meds and moniter how she does. For the male, who has crystals right now and is prone to them i am unsure if I can safely feed him raw or If i will risk the problem getting worse. I have heard some reports on how the higher acidic content of raw foods makes it harder for crystals to grow however I am unsure of how true this is. I am calling my vet tommorow (even though I know they don't know very much about pet nutrition) to see if it would be ok to put the male on a raw diet, continue him on his meds and keep a close eye on them ( he's schedualed for an x-ray tommorow).

Thanks
Kayla

Lamb is the HARDEST meat to digest ... Chicken is the easiest ... That formula is a Complete not a Carcass( that would be a whole bird or mouse )...

here are two raw food sites with lots of info ...

www.barfdirect.com

www.omaspride.com

I cant say much about the acid .. but my mostly raw girl just has to avoid fish to stay UTI free

Do you have access to a holistic vet??

Originally Posted by Colubridz

For the female due to her inability to digest some foods I have heard lamb is usually the best choice so I was considering putting her on there lamb diet and continue her on her meds and moniter how she does. For the male, who has crystals right now and is prone to them i am unsure if I can safely feed him raw or If i will risk the problem getting worse. I have heard some reports on how the higher acidic content of raw foods makes it harder for crystals to grow however I am unsure of how true this is. I am calling my vet tommorow (even though I know they don't know very much about pet nutrition) to see if it would be ok to put the male on a raw diet, continue him on his meds and keep a close eye on them ( he's schedualed for an x-ray tommorow).

Thanks
Kayla

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Kayla...

In my reading, I also came across info that suggests that raw meat has naturally acidifying qualities to it. I also don't know how true it is. There seem to be a lot of people who say it is...and not a lot of people countering that theory...but still I'm not sure. I also read that vegetables tend to have an alkaline effect, so the NV being one of the lower veggie content "complete" raws (only 5% fruit/veg) seemed like a good choice.

I put my crystal prone boy on the NV raw. At his first U/A test after the switch, his results were good (no crystals/no blood/no bacteria) however his pH was a bit high (7.0), and he was exhibiting some cystitis symptoms. I talked the options over with my vet and she gave me the OK to give him an acidifier, to keep the pH out of the danger zone. I'm hoping his next recheck indicates less of a need for the acidifier. I feel much better about everything because his vet is OK with his diet and meds.

Chicken does sit better with my girl who has a tendency to vomit other meats. Lamb came right back up. Sometimes beef is OK with her, if I don't let her have too much.

I belive Nature's Variety is american company but some canadian pet stores do carry them.

Here's two brands that's Canadian, I've been feeding both and it yields great result. However none of my cats have crystal problem so I dunno if it'd help or not.

Healthy Paws
http://www.healthy-paws.ca/

Homemade 4 Life
http://www.homemade4life.com/

I tend to go for Canadian company as it's all frozen meat, I'm a little worry about them being shipped all the way from the states.


This is a holistic vet located in Toronot, ONtario. They suggest ppl to feed raw diet to their pets. Maybe you can consult them for all your questions.

http://www.holisticpetvet.com/

My cat had crystals from dry food too. I was feeding wellness. Now all my animals get NV raw diets in am and chicken wings at night. I give my cat Wysong biotic ph- powder on his food w/ a little water. And at night I just mix the powder w/ water and he eats it right up. I use the ph- cause he had struvite crystals. They make a ph+ for oxalate crystals. My cat has been on this diet for over 3 yrs now and all the urinalyses have come back normal.

Originally Posted by Jujube

My cat had crystals from dry food too. I was feeding wellness. Now all my animals get NV raw diets in am and chicken wings at night. I give my cat Wysong biotic ph- powder on his food w/ a little water. And at night I just mix the powder w/ water and he eats it right up. I use the ph- cause he had struvite crystals. They make a ph+ for oxalate crystals. My cat has been on this diet for over 3 yrs now and all the urinalyses have come back normal.

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OFF topic
Welocme to TCS... may i ask your locationsince I dont know where it is based on what you put

I am currently in the process of switching my cat and dog to nature's variety frozen raw. I first tried my cat on the lamb which he barely looked at and a week later still doesn't want anything to do with it. I've heard that lamb can be rich so it can be hard to digest. I next tried the chicken & turkey which he ate mixed with 1/4 can of wellness and since that day has eaten it just fine without adding anything to it. I don't have any experience with crystals or IDB so I can't help you there but good luck!

Originally Posted by qhgirl1

I am currently in the process of switching my cat and dog to nature's variety frozen raw. I first tried my cat on the lamb which he barely looked at and a week later still doesn't want anything to do with it. I've heard that lamb can be rich so it can be hard to digest. I next tried the chicken & turkey which he ate mixed with 1/4 can of wellness and since that day has eaten it just fine without adding anything to it. I don't have any experience with crystals or IDB so I can't help you there but good luck!

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That was my experience as well..they took to the chicken/turkey more readily than the other meats. Eventually, they decided lamb was edible, though...so have faith.

Originally Posted by beandip

That was my experience as well..they took to the chicken/turkey more readily than the other meats. Eventually, they decided lamb was edible, though...so have faith.

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Yeah, the lamb was....different. It is very bloody, so some cats might be attrracted to that.

I'm not sure why but juju always throws up when I feed him the lamb. He also doesn't do goods on the beef. I stick w/ chicken/turkey, venison, and rabbit. There is another raw food company I buy from it's called Columbia River Gorge Raw Food. I get pheasant, guinea hen, quail, and duck. It is just meat and bone so I replace his p.m. chicken wing w/ that when I buy it. So far I really like them. Their meat looks really fresh!