Prepared ground raw preference?

Hi!
So glad you chose raw! My guys favorite here is Rad Cat.... Lucky, who is Just starting, Likes Chicken and Turkey best - hasn't tried Lamb yet. The other two LOVE the lamb and Turkey, and chicken is their least favorite
It comes in tubs.... I put it in the fridge, and warm the portions I will feed in a ziplock bag inside a container with warm/hot water until it is a bit warmer than body temperature.
They also like Nature's Variety Rabbit, although it is not their favorite.....
I am going to introduce Nature's Menu Lamb and Chicken soon, and Hare Today also - several different meals.... I am not sure how they will like it yet, so Can not give you feedback so far.

Welcome to TCS!

Several of us are in the process of transitioning our cats to commercial raw right now (Carolina, Feralvr, and me (LDG)), and we're having some VERY interesting experiences. The threads are a little long, but FULL of information you'll probably find really useful!

AC and I put together a GREAT overview of the commercial raw foods available. It lists ingredients, and makes it very easy to see the percentages of meat/bone/organs - and what organs - and whether the meals are single-sourced proteins or not. On this link http://catcentric.org/ , scroll down to the third "box" on the right hand side: you'll see a link (Fifth one down) to "Commercial Raw Products Compared." Very handy.

I'm limited right now by what I have access to at the local shop - I have no freezer space. That means Nature's Variety, Bravo, Vital Essentials, and what he can order. He had Stella & Chewy's lamb, so we tried that, and we just picked up Primal Turkey today, I haven't introduced it yet. I haven't tried any of the Bravo balanced meals yet. The local shop only carries these HUGE chubs - just too big for my freezer space.

The Nature's Variety comes in patties, medallions, or "chubs." The chubs (packed like fat sausages) are less expensive, and if you have a sharp large knife, they're easy to cut frozen yourself. The medallions and patties are convenient (Nature's Variety, Primal, and S&C), as they're already measured. I'm feeding 8 cats, so I prefer the larger patties. But compared to food that comes in tubs (Feline's Pride and Rad Cat), the medallions and patties tend to be drier.

Rad Cat seems to be a HUGE hit with almost all cats. I haven't tried it yet.

My cats LOVE the NV rabbit - but it's not a single-source protein. It has pork in it, and that must make the difference. There's a shortage of NV rabbit right now (no one seems to have it in stock - apparently the plant in France that makes it the workers are on strike?). I ordered Feline's Pride, which is VERY highly rated... but my cats hate it. Rabbit, by itself, is a very lean meat.

Lamb is fatty, so many cats love it - but it has a strong smell.

A number of cats seem to have a problem with beef. Most NV foods are NOT single-source protein, and I think both venison and bison have beef heart. Something to be aware of.

Carolina has been focused on commercial raw products that contain no veggies - that's pretty much Rad Cat, Nature's Menu, or Vital Essentials. There are several others, but I think they're mixed proteins. My cats definitely prefer the Vital Essentials chicken to the NV chicken.

My cats definitely preferred the S&C (Stella & Chewy's) frozen lamb to the NV lamb, but I don't have much choice, and I have lamb in the rotation. BTW - the S&C frozen is marketed for dogs, but it has a 95% meat/bone/organ to 5% other stuff mix (appropriate for cats), and is supplemented with Taurine - so it's good for cats, even though it's not marketed that way. I don't know why they don't - everyone else markets to dog and cat.

Most of my cats like the S&C dehydrated feline chicken formula rehydrated - or even a few of the little nuggets dry as a treat here and there. Feralvr's cats prefer the S&C freeze-dried lamb rehydrated to the frozen lamb.

I'm sure at least Feralvr and Carolina will pop in - hope I didn't post ALL their information for them.

The one thing I will say... having done a lot of the work to put that spreadsheet together (the commercial raw overview) - it seems to me it's important (in the long run) to rotate both manufacturers and proteins. And the one thing we've all learned is that until you know how your cat handles it, it's really helpful to make introductions to raw - and to new proteins - REALLY slowly.

Introducing our kitties to raw has been really fun and exciting - but also sometimes frustrating.

I do want to add... the change we're seeing in them is amazing. Many of my kitties are going to be 10 this year. They ate kibble mostly for many years. I thought they were thriving on kibble. Then I switched them to all canned. And the change in their energy and coats and overall demeanor was really apparent with THAT switch. And I thought they were thriving then. And now that I'm switching to raw... again, the changes are RAPID - and it's amazing all over again, that the changes in them are THIS apparent! Raw is definitely what they were designed to eat.

WELCOME There are a few of us that are right not transitioning our cat's to RAW!!!! It can be a very easy process and so natural for some cats and other's - well - let's just say they "try" our last nerves They need quite a bit of convincing to even taste the raw meat. There are a few theads going on right now and we are all discussing the commercially made raw diets in these threads.

There are three manufacturer's that use High-Pressure Processing - where the meat is subject to extremely high elevated pressures with or without the addition of heat, to achieve microbial inactivation. Pressure inactivates most vegetative bacteria. HPP also retains food quality, maintains natural freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life. The three manufacturers are Nature's Variety, Stella & Chewey's and Primal. These are a safe bet to start with as they are said to be completely pathogen-free . I am also going to try to add in other manufacturer's in the hopes of finding something the four "stinker's" will eat - Rad Cat and Nature's Menu. Also - Vital Essentials is another that I will try. SO MANY CHOICES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am currently trying different brands and proteins in the hopes to get ALL of my cats on a raw diet. So far, two of my six are. The other four are really balking at this whole raw meat idea The four picky ones just love the S&C (dog) freeze-dried patties. Of course, I rehydrate them extremely well so they are mushy. You can use the S&C frozen or freeze-dried patties for dogs. They are supplemented with taurine and are safe for cats too.

We are finding that each kitty is a bit different in which protein they prefer - and it is trial and error. SO what is appealing for my cat's might not be appealing to your kitty. You must make sure you do the introductions very, very slowly though. Glad you are using the Raw Resource Thread that Auntie so generously recently prepared for all of us It is loaded with great information to get you started on this healthful journey for your cat!!!

I took so long posting, Carolina already did!

Oh I'm so sorry reading is so much of a problem! I hope it doesn't cause headaches or pain.

PLEASE feel free to ask any questions - this is new to several of us, and it's just fun to share.

No one thread collecting the info on behavior changes in the kitties. I probably wrote the most about it in mine, but I'll just tell you what I've seen.

We live in an RV with 8 cats - all feral rescues. Our four oldest are going to be 10 years, this year (Lazlo, Sheldon, Spooky, and Tuxedo). Flowerbelle will be 9, Ming Loy will be 8, Billy will be 6, and Chumley will be 5 or 6. And they were rescued in the order listed.

The dynamic: Tuxedo was deemed unadoptable as a feral kitten because he was so aggressive. He got very sick, and we brought him in. He's basically fine with the other cats - does gets bouts of the crazies. Spooky is our "pariah" kitty, and used to get picked on by Billy, Tuxedo, and/or Sheldon. Ming Loy has cerebellar hypoplasia, and falls over a lot. She'll use whatever's around to lean on, and that is often the other cats. None mind except Spooky, who usually gets upset about it.

Spooky has always taken the longest to adjust to a new rescue. Took six months with Ming Loy, a year with Billy - and it was two years later that Chumley came inside (August 2010) full time - and before raw, Spooky was STILL hissing at him - for even just lying down somewhere.

Tuxedo had been rather viciously attacking Ming Loy for about two weeks before we started feeding raw - to the point we were giving him time outs. He got her in the mouth one day, and it was bloody.

Within a few days of starting on raw, I noticed changes immediately. Tuxie stopped attacking Ming Loy (and hasn't since). Spooky stopped hissing at Chumley altogether. Spooky and Billy were PLAYING together. Sheldon and Lazlo were running around playing with each other like they did when they were kittens - the only two here together (they were our first rescue babies).

Tuxie loves to sleep on the bed - when no other cats are on it. He usually lies right at the end of the bed, and prevents anyone else from getting on it. He's been sleeping on the bed - but letting others on it. At night we usually have 3-5 kitties in the bedroom with us. Now there are usually 7 (Chum and/or Tux usually being the odd man/men out) - and there have been several nights now where for at least part of the night there have been all 8 of them!

Flowerbelle used to CONSTANTLY bother me for food. She's deaf, and LOVES gravity. She would constantly push things off of stuff to get our attention. She would also rip at my clothes when I ignored her tossing things off of tables. When they were on canned, after a meal, Tuxie would immediately ask for more. Lazlo often would too.

On raw - the only thing I can think is that they are satisfied, and feel satisfied eating the food. Flowerbelle no longer pushes things off of stuff or rips at my clothes. NO ONE asks for more food after a meal. They have more energy - but direct it in play, not at being aggressive to each other. They are more tolerant of each other (the ones that didn't like others). Spooky has been GROOMING Ming Loy. Sheldon has been grooming Spooky... Chumley is FINALLY not as "on edge" as he was (as an older feral rescue, he's taken the longest to adjust, though really, he did so well pretty darn quickly. He was in really bad shape when we rescued him, and I think he was just really relieved to be safe and have food).

Sheldon - usually our ambassador kitty - had a "thing" against Chumley. It was so bad, we used an animal communicator to help get at the problem. She did, in fact, identify it, and did help solve it. But Sheldon doesn't like Chum, and Chumley was always nervous around Shel. That hasn't stopped entirely - but has changed a LOT. If Chum jumps up onto the bed at night, and Shel's in here - Chum doesn't immediately turn around and flee.

So I'm going to have to say - we are seeing a LOT of changes. I totally did not expect any of this. But it seems that kitties that aren't hungry, that are eating food that obviously agrees with them (and I thought canned was!) - they feel better. They have more energy - but direct it at play, not in aggression. They're friendly to each other, and definitely calmer, less on edge.

****************************************************

And what a sweetheart you are for rescuing your dog! SO sad - just so sad to think about... but he's in good hands now.

Yeah we definitely did it in loooooooong stages, having no idea until a month or so ago I even wanted to feed raw. So we made the moved to canned and timed meals in November 2010. Even then - three of them weren't completely on only canned or just timed meals. But yes, it's a process, and going slow can REALLY help them ... not hate it.

I was discussing the changes in behavior with a long time raw feeder. I commented on how quickly I was seeing changes. And though she didn't put it quite like this, this is how I put it when discussing it with other people now: imagine you've lived your life eating only cereal for breakfast, and canned stew for lunch and dinner. That's all you eat. You rotate your stew proteins between beef and chicken, but ..... then all of a sudden, one day, you let yourself run out. There is no more cereal or canned stew. And you go to the health food store, and stock up on organic vegetables, whole wheat pasta, etc. Within a few days, you feel amazing. You have more energy than you've ever had, you're sleeping better... of course you're going to be happier, and nicer to people. You don't feel cranky because your body and your energy is just... healthier! Happier!

I'm sure our kitties miss those "tasty treats" and foods as much as we would... but once you stick to that healthy diet for a while, anything with sugar in it will make you gag, and those Spaghetti'Os you used to love will taste like cardboard with catsup on them.