looking on switching over to honest kitchen... any advice?

I am looking on switching over to honest kitchen... any advice? Right now my cat is on Royal Cannin Persian, I do plan on transitioning her slowly if I plan to switch over.through research I am trying to educate myself, as this is my first cat and I want to be a responsible pet own (or you could say a responsible person owned by a cat haha).   However,I am never dealt with the quote on quote raw foods either, switch is a little scary due to experience. Has anyone dealt with this product or have any experience? Good or bad, anything would be helpful. Also on their site it says a 2 lb box can last any where from 32-64 days is this true? Bianca (our cat) only will go through a 3 lb bag of Royal Cannin dry a month. 

Honest Kitchen seems to be a good quality food and is easy to use, however palatability has been an issue each time I've tried it. I found I had to add strained chicken to it before the kittens would even consider it. They did eat through it though, once it was doctored. My other issue with it is that if it dries in the dish, it sets like concrete.

Because you are forced to measure out Honest Kitchen and to meal feed, it does last as long as it says it does, provided you leave it in a cool, dry place!

I've heard several vets praise Honest Kitchen, but I've always wondered about all the potatoes, cranberries, and other veggies in it. Have you looked into Stella & Chewy's? Several members on the site use S&C and would be able to give you their take on it.

If you're tenative about feeding raw, there are commercial brands that use processing techniques that kill bacteria.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes will help in the transition.

Our cats love Stella & Chewy's (freeze-dried and frozen), though their "everyday" commercial raw foods is Primal, mostly freeze-dried with a little frozen mixed in. Primal has a fair number of vegetables and fruit but the carb levels are pretty low because there's nothing starchy. The big thing is that the cats will consistently eat it and it agrees with them; I usually mix up varying combinations of chicken, turkey, and beef so it doesn't (I hope!) always taste exactly the same. I've avoided Honest Kitchen because of the carb levels are relatively high plus one of our cats can't seem to eat potato.

As for processing, Stella & Chewy's is all treated to kill bacteria and all the Primal poultry foods are, too.

Good luck, Biancaboo!

Perhaps the vegetable quantity is why I have had to add so much chicken to it - proving once again that what smells good to me may not smell good to them and vice versa. I think I'll stick to weaning our foster ankle biters onto Royal Canin!

Dry to canned first might be easier then to raw

Raintyger said:

 
If you're tenative about feeding raw, there are commercial brands that use processing techniques that kill bacteria.

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I've never tried commercial raw, but I've tried premixes listed in the raw forum's stickies.  I was a little concerned about raw and bacteria at first, so I lightly baked the chicken thighs then shocked them in ice water to kill surface bacteria but leave the insides raw.  That and premixes might be an option to look into without worrying about all the added veggies that many don't need.

peaches08 said:

 I was a little concerned about raw and bacteria at first, so I lightly baked the chicken thighs then shocked them in ice water to kill surface bacteria but leave the insides raw. 

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I made Dr. Pierson's lightly baked recipe once, when our previous cat was very, very sick (she liked it; it was the last thing she would actually eat), and then froze the rest and fed it to our new cats, who loved it. I still have all the nutrients and have been thinking about making it again.

The samples arrived to day, I mixed her the prime package (which is the chicken) She is noisy so she came running and tried to eat the powder and the mix as I was stirring it. I put it on the floor and she started to eat it. Now she will not touch it , I mixed her royal cannin with it and she started to eat again around dinner . The bowl almost looks about 3/4 full,now I am worried if she doesn't like it or not.

Raintyger said:

I've heard several vets praise Honest Kitchen, but I've always wondered about all the potatoes, cranberries, and other veggies in it. Have you looked into Stella & Chewy's? Several members on the site use S&C and would be able to give you their take on it.

If you're tenative about feeding raw, there are commercial brands that use processing techniques that kill bacteria.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes will help in the transition.

Click to expand...

From what I have learned about cats and dogs everyone believes they only eat meat however, in the wild in a pack, herd, or pride the most wanted part of their kill is the stomic which contains essential nutrients of grass, berries, etc. Mainly the herd of the group receives this part, I remember my professor mentioning this randomly.

Don't let it sit in the saucer too long or you're going to have a bowl full of concrete, no kidding!

Biancaboo said:

From what I have learned about cats and dogs everyone believes they only eat meat however, in the wild in a pack, herd, or pride the most wanted part of their kill is the stomic which contains essential nutrients of grass, berries, etc. Mainly the herd of the group receives this part, I remember my professor mentioning this randomly.

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I don't think most people on this forum believe cats eat only meat. There are many members, especially in the raw and homecooked forum that are very well educated in what cats eat and their dietary needs. They do believe, however, that the amount of carbs in most cat foods is way too high and cite the example that in the wild carb amounts are typically limited to predigested stomach contents of their wild kills.