Commercially Prepared Raw Foods

I am thinking of switching my 4 month old kitten over to commercially prepared raw food over the next few months. How good are the following commercially prepared raw foods?

Steves Real Food
Natures Variety
Wild Kitty

Do I need to add any additional supplements to his food when using any of these? Anyone here using any of these raw foods successfully & did you notice an improvement in your cats overall health & well being?

I know there a few on the forums that use Nature Variety...



I am using what my vet has ... aka ... just starting the raw but I do know a homeade and canned diet has kept my crf kitty stable so I expect more improvement with the raw..

What does your vet have?

Umas pride...

I did try to do it myself raw wise but was well not doing it right so when I found a vet that was willing to help and had prepared stuff I went for it... I started a diary thread..

I've just successfully made the switch with my kitties They're on Healthy Paws, but I don't think that'll help to you as they are only available in southern Ontario at the moment.

Most Prepared Raw Diets are "complete" meaning you don't have to do any other supplimenting unless you CHOOSE to. Some have different options available. If in doubt, most companies I've encountered are more than happy to answer customers questions. Don't be afraid to ask them! Best of luck!

I use NuDimensions. I supplement since its not specifically feline and since there are no hearts added, I add additional taurine. Other supplements are intermittant but a good one is Call Of The Wild by Wysong.

Its really easy to use prepared foods, especially as it has the ground bone in it, but its also pretty expensive. Mine comes out to $6-8 per week per cat and I have 3. Its a lot cheaper to make it myself and eventually I am planning on doing this.

I'm totally spoiled, here in the Netherlands we have so many brands of pre-prepared raw foods. My cats eat carnibest which they like very much, it's so convenient to use for me too. This is a complete raw food which contains organs, muscle meat and ground bone, a little bit of rice and some extra vitamins and minerals. Since I've started feeding this plus some homemade food my overweight cats have finally started to firm up and lose some weight without having to starve (they get 150 grams a day) , their teeth are whiter but the biggest change of all is the amount of shedding ! I switched foods when we got our two kittens, we have less hairs on the floor with 4 cats then we did wirh 2. Our female stopped coughing up hairballs twice a week (I've found only 3 over the last months). One of my kittens is much bigger and 2 pounds heavier than his brother who lives with my best friend and doesn't eat raw. We took the brothers to a cat show this sunday and the judges and the public couldn't believe they were brothers.

I'm trying to make their food myself but I would like to get a meatgrinder first, they can eat whole drumsticks themselves but with bigger birds (duck, turkey) or other kinds of meat the bones are too hard for them to handle.

I spoke to our Vet today & she was not opposed to a raw diet for our kitten. Her concern was that we be extremely diligent in our handling of the raw food in order to protect ourselves from any salmonella problems that could arise. Our vet was also concerned that a household with small children would need to be extra careful when it comes to feeding a raw diet to pets. You wouldn't want the kids getting into the raw food. Since we are obsessive when it comes to keeping things clean I knew that we would have no problem with handling the raw food.

Armed with our vets approval and her concerns in mind I proceeded to our local groomer/store which happens to be one of the best stores in our area for buying pet food. I spoke to the owner about feeding a raw diet and we discussed the many options available to us. The owner of the store gave me a sample of Wild Kitty, a commercially prepared complete raw diet. I was anxious to see if our kitten would take to this new food. Once home, I let the food thaw and placed a bit out for our kitten to try. He was at his kibble bowl (which we leave out for in between snacks) nibbling. I put a plate with a bit of the Wild Kitty raw food down next to him. He looked at the raw food, sniffed it, sniffed the kibble & then proceeded to eat the raw food. He seemed to really enjoy the raw food!

I would like to know if these commercially prepared complete raw diets are worth it? We are unable to make our own raw food at home so buying a commercially prepared raw food is our best option.

Should the raw food be fed to our kitten cold, right out of the fridge? Or should it be warmed up?

Will we need any additional supplements? I don't think we will but I am hoping some of the experienced raw feeders can chime in on this.

Is there anything that I need to know when it comes to feeding our growing kitty a 100% raw diet? He is about 5 months old and weighs around 5 lbs or so.

Thank you in advance for your replies & allowing me the opportunity to learn from all of you who are much more experienced than we are.

I am not experienced but ... your vet sounds good ... premade s are complete add if you want.... I tried to do raw at home from the local store with supplements and was a bit scared about missing something and evan two years of nutrtional science( human) didnt make me feel smart enough to get it right.. thou I know a few here do but they have access to whole carcasses .. so I am getting the girls to eat premade raw ... so far evan my Zoey who thinks canned food should be given to the birds has nibbled some///


just keep up with your vet visits and kittens usually gain a lb a month or so//

Your on the right track . Its so wonderful the vet is on your side. My vet is ok with it but leaves it up to me. Don't warm it up though!! I'm not sure if Wild Kitty has bone in it but bone you want to be super cautious with. Even running it under hot water some say poses dangers to slightly cooking the bone. Out of the fridge is fine. My kitties will leave it for a little bit to let it warm up naturally. Meeka dives right in and will end up shivering because its chilly. I sometimes add some warm water in and she seems to like that (I think boiling hot is the dangerous one). But for the most part he will adjust to the fridge or leave it for a little while to warm up on its own.

The commercially prepared diets are always worth it if you are willing to spend the money. Its leaps and bounds ahead of any other food for our cats. Its just most people are turned away from the cost. Eventually if cost is an issue you might attempt to start making it yourself. I'm in that position right now. After using this diet for a little over 6 months I'm at a position where it dosen't seem to overwhelming anymore and I've learned so much that making my own diet sounds more cost effective.

Originally Posted by kaseri

Should the raw food be fed to our kitten cold, right out of the fridge? Or should it be warmed up?

Will we need any additional supplements? I don't think we will but I am hoping some of the experienced raw feeders can chime in on this.

Is there anything that I need to know when it comes to feeding our growing kitty a 100% raw diet? He is about 5 months old and weighs around 5 lbs or so.

Thank you in advance for your replies & allowing me the opportunity to learn from all of you who are much more experienced than we are.

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I've been feeding raw for quite some time now. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have via PM.

i'm very interested in switching to raw as well, i'm planning to go for commercial product as first, and then switch to homemade eventually.

for those of you who r feeding raw, could you tell me how to evaluate the products? like what kind of questions should i ask the company to know if they r good or not?

I know i should ask about the veggie contents of the product, i've read that it shouldn't be anything more than 10% becuz cats r carnivores. are there any other quesitons i should ask?

out of those commercial products mentioned in this thread, only Natures Variety is available in Toronto. I did see some other brands (Healthy Paws, Pets 4 Life)in the petstore i frequent, but i've no idea how good they are.
and if anyone is from ontario and know a vet that could give me some directions about raw diet, please PM me.

Originally Posted by hareting

i'm very interested in switching to raw as well, i'm planning to go for commercial product as first, and then switch to homemade eventually.

for those of you who r feeding raw, could you tell me how to evaluate the products? like what kind of questions should i ask the company to know if they r good or not?

I know i should ask about the veggie contents of the product, i've read that it shouldn't be anything more than 10% becuz cats r carnivores. are there any other quesitons i should ask?

out of those commercial products mentioned in this thread, only Natures Variety is available in Toronto. I did see some other brands (Healthy Paws, Pets 4 Life)in the petstore i frequent, but i've no idea how good they are.
and if anyone is from ontario and know a vet that could give me some directions about raw diet, please PM me.

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If the raw food dosen't contain bone then plan on a calcium supplement. Make sure they are not using fillers in the raw (some companies do). The one I use is 100% raw meaty bones preground. I choose against veggies. I use salmon oil occasionally as a supplement and Call of the Wild frequently. I occasionally use bee pollen for immune system health and probiotics to promote healthy intestinal flora. If I had to choose just one supplement to go with I'd say Call Of The Wild.

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

If the raw food dosen't contain bone then plan on a calcium supplement. Make sure they are not using fillers in the raw (some companies do). The one I use is 100% raw meaty bones preground. I choose against veggies. I use salmon oil occasionally as a supplement and Call of the Wild frequently. I occasionally use bee pollen for immune system health and probiotics to promote healthy intestinal flora. If I had to choose just one supplement to go with I'd say Call Of The Wild.

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Do you have a link to the product you buy? Do you buy it in bulk?
Also, many butcher shops sell preground and frozen meat and bone for about $1.00 a lb. although I haven't tried it because I make my own.

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

Do you have a link to the product you buy? Do you buy it in bulk?
Also, many butcher shops sell preground and frozen meat and bone for about $1.00 a lb. although I haven't tried it because I make my own.

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the mix I am getting is between 1.50 and 1.75 lb I thought it was cheap compared to a dollar and up for a 5.5 ounce can

I haven't found any pre-prepared raw foods for cats on-line that I consider to be complete, and locally...that's a laugh. I can't get anything locally.

I use My Natural Cat by Feline Instincts. It's a pain in the butt making it every week, but it's worth it. I use a food processor to shred the meat and it only takes about 10 minutes to do ~4lbs. I was cutting it by hand before, into bite-size pieces, and it took about 30 minutes-45 minutes. UGH!

Originally Posted by Purr

I haven't found any pre-prepared raw foods for cats on-line that I consider to be complete, and locally...that's a laugh. I can't get anything locally.

I use My Natural Cat by Feline Instincts. It's a pain in the butt making it every week, but it's worth it. I use a food processor to shred the meat and it only takes about 10 minutes to do ~4lbs. I was cutting it by hand before, into bite-size pieces, and it took about 30 minutes-45 minutes. UGH!

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I never shread the chucks of meat after I cut them up (in rather large peices). My cats love to chew those chucks of meat. Cutting the meat off the bone and grinding the bones with a hand crank grinder takes the longest.

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

Do you have a link to the product you buy? Do you buy it in bulk?
Also, many butcher shops sell preground and frozen meat and bone for about $1.00 a lb. although I haven't tried it because I make my own.

Click to expand...

Its mostly just available in the southeast and I get mine from a health food store locally so I just go in once a week. I would buy from a couple places online if I had a large freezer I could store the stuff in. I like the idea of $1.00 a lb mine is more like $1.30-$2.00 (depending on chicken or turkey). I really need to go see a butcher. I think over the vacation I'll be able to do that.
http://www.nudimensionsnutrition.com/

Originally Posted by bengalbabe

I never shread the chucks of meat after I cut them up (in rather large peices). My cats love to chew those chucks of meat. Cutting the meat off the bone and grinding the bones with a hand crank grinder takes the longest.

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Cupid likes the texture to be like canned food. I've given him whole breasts before, he didn't like having to chew off pieces--probably because he's used to mommy cutting it up for him .