Lots of people here feed partial raw, and it's OK
It's good that he is not free fed
Sounds like a good plan! Oh, I bet they'll notice, lolI will probably keep up with giving him the rehydrated NV Raw Market along with wet food. I will continue to remove any kibble set out for him. And I've decided that once this Orijen is gone, I'm not going to get any dry food and see if my parents notice
I hope they won't go and buy more.The raw boost mixers may contain bone. The ingredients isn't clear, but you could email the company to ask. It's intended as supplemental feeding only so it shouldn't replace kibble. I wouldn't feed it dry unless you can find out the ash/phos ratio. Those will be quite high if it contains bone.
I know the chicken one says ground bone but the rabbit does not. Regardless, I will email the company and get back to you when they respond.
Rabbit is very boney, so I assume it probably does contain bone, but Instinct is very responsive so you should get a reply. Have you tried something like Ziwipeak air dried as a kibble alternative? I use it as a night snack for my younger cats.
Ive tried the ZiwiPeak treats,which I believe are the same texture, and he wouldn't touch them. Guess he only likes crunchy? Although it waa only that one flavor and I could always try a different one
I actually started with ZP using the venison and fish flavor, I don't think the fish is too much as long as it's not their primary meal. I mixed it with their kibble at the time to get them used to it. Then i switched to just plain venison for one cat and the rest eat lamb venison and beef in rotation for a snack.
Yeah it is a bit high in phos/ash because of the bone, but not too much more than kibble. I just don't feed it exclusively. It's a treat at night only.
So the ash content is forever unknown, it seems....I will continue to feed this as an occasional treat and avoid feeding them a lot as was the original plan.
Manx, just an fyi re: bone / ash: I noticed that Dr. Pierson (catinfo) updated her site, June 2016. This is what she has to say about commercial raw products (which I feed quite a bit of actually, but I've changed the brands I've been using and hoping to get to homemade soon):I'm still a little worried about the high ash content, but it's not much more than Orijen's, and I mean, cats eat bones in the wild. I'm sure if I keep up with majority wet, he will be fine
I wouldn't be. Bone isn't bad in proper amounts. From what I can tell she's probably referring to commerial raw companies that refuse to release info on their products, like Stella and Chewy, or even Instinct's raw. Primal, for example, has their phos, ash, bone content right on the package (and their website) Instinct easily released me info on their Raw market. I do think it's lame they don't "have" to calculate info on their boosters, but I don't use those anyway. I think the bigger issue is people that feed commercial raw full time and don't rotate proteins or brands. It's just another reason to feed a large variety in order to avoid feeding too much bone.
No, I didn't mean for it to make you apprehensive, just to be aware that some commercial raw products,fed as meals - specifically if someone is doing 100% commercial raw, some might be higher in bone content than what cats would naturally consume from wild prey.
I picked up the ZiwiPeak Venison today.
Bummer. Some cats are a bit finicky about the texture. When i introduced it to my older cats I mixed it with their kibble at the time.
Try offering it again at a later time. Sometimes cats turn up their noses at a new food but may sample it at a later time. Maybe you can leave a few pieces out or in a treat ball for a couple of days to see if curiosity gets to your cat and he decides to check it out further.
