Raw food storage concern

Hi,
I just recently started my cat on a commercial raw diet. I seem to have the opposite problem as most people, in that my freezer is basically empty, which is what I'm concerned about. About a week ago I got a bag of Primal frozen raw, and since then I think there are more ice crystals on the nuggets than when I opened it? I'm worried that when my freezer goes through the defrost cycle that it's not keeping the food cold enough.

Does anyone think I should try to pack my freezer with water bottles and such to hold the temperature, or any other ideas? Or am I worrying about nothing?

Welcome to The Cat Site, LeeChi! I used to feed Primal's frozen foods and also found that they got crystally.

That said, it might be worth buying a refrigerator/freezer thermometer to be sure your freezer is holding a consistent temperature. And it is generally considered a good practice to keep a freezer full so it's most efficient: I've been known to add water bottles to make ice when our freezer's relatively empty. That has added bonuses when there are power outages in the summer, due to thunderstorms: even with the power off a full freezer can maintain it's temperature pretty well!

Thanks, I think that's what I'll do. Fill it up with jugs of ice, and getting a thermometer is a good idea

Good freezer management tips.

It's also possible that your nuggets were defrosted then refrozen while in transit to the store you bought it from, or perhaps at the store itself due to customers/staff opening the freezer.  Judging by the bags I've gotten, this is very common.  I prefer to buy food in tubs (like Rad Cat) or 2 or 5 lb chubs (Nature Variety) for this reason.

That's an excellent point, @sophie1, on the advantage of a larger block of meat ice--like Rad Cat or chubs--over little nuggets or, especially, those tiny pieces that some companies sell that are designed to, ahem, thaw quickly!

Btw, my cat loves the Primal frozen nuggets, as well as the Rad Cat and Stella and Chewy's FD that I got her to try! It's been an easy transition, but I'm not surprised since she also eats any brand of canned food I've given her. I did find though that if I give her too much of the Rad cat at one meal, she'll throw it up from eating so fast

That's great to hear, LeeChi, well, other than the barfing! One of our cats is the same way: there are a few foods that she'll throw up if she eats too much, too fast. Rad Cat is too expensive for that so I never feed too much at once.