10/19 Asia AMPS 348 Raw Food Question & SS help please

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Stacy & Asia

Stacy & Asia

Member Since 2017
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/10-18-asia-amps-194-1-149-3-5-177-9-468-pmps-449.185581/

Paws crossed, this is bounce is clearing. No further vomiting or loose stools, still scooting a bit, hope that clears up. Excited to meet the new vet tomorrow.

Question, we have been feeding Stella & Chewys (frozen raw chicken) for years and never had any issue. The most recent 2 lots have contained black pieces that look like ground up plastic bags, it's not, I called the company. Whatever they sourced before for vit K they had to switch to dandelion greens (that according to them look black because they have oxidized, yuck) and neither of my cats will touch this food right now, they might eat one chunk and then I throw the rest away. The timing of this couldn't be better. :banghead: I can't have them not eating, so in the mean time, I've been feeding them the S&C freeze dried raw chicken, still leaving the frozen out too, just to see if they will acclimate. Don't want to keep doing that because I just don't think it's same, and I'm sure the freeze dried lots will end up with the new recipe sometime soon anyway. Looking for brands to switch to, it's a lot of research and I'm super picky about them putting veggies and things in cat food. I'm going to guess changing foods can mess with glucose numbers, regardless if they are similar in protein/fat/carb makeup. So is it best to hold current dose for longer than I normally would until I pick a new food and feed it for a few days/see what it does to the numbers? That's what my gut says to do, but it's not really covered in the protocol, so I figured others may have some experience here.
 
As long as you're switching to another LC food there's no real reason not to continue "as is" with the protocol. However it is a good idea to make notes in the comment section so you can monitor the food changes. I'm with you about the fruits and veggies along with most ingredients. Too bad my cats don't care what I think :rolleyes: My kitten likes the Primal freeze dried raw. Have you thought about making your own raw? Many here use Food Fur Life's, ezcomplete premix for raw or home cooked. Loads of info on their site http://www.foodfurlife.com/ . If you put "raw food question" in your title sure others will chime in.

Come on back down Asia...nothing good up there pretty girl.
 
Doodles & Karen said:
As long as you're switching to another LC food there's no real reason not to continue "as is" with the protocol. However it is a good idea to make notes in the comment section so you can monitor the food changes. I'm with you about the fruits and veggies along with most ingredients. Too bad my cats don't care what I think :rolleyes: My kitten likes the Primal freeze dried raw. Have you thought about making your own raw? Many here use Food Fur Life's, ezcomplete premix for raw or home cooked. Loads of info on their site http://www.foodfurlife.com/ . If you put "raw food question" in your title sure others will chime in.

Come on back down Asia...nothing good up there pretty girl.
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We fed Primal raw a long time ago and switched to Stella & Chewys because Primal had some serious quality control problems when they were new. My pet food guy assures me they have improved and recommended them over any other brand, but because of CRF, it's no longer an option for Asia as they mix their chicken variety with salmon and she can't do that protein.

I so wish I could make her food for her! I don't eat meat, haven't since I was 5 and found out where it came from. I just don't have the stomach to make my own and grind bones and all that. p.s. I'm not judgy about people who eat meat, it's a personal choice for me, everyone else in my family eats it. Just adding that because I've met one too many militant/judgy vegetarians/vegans (and even vegans who make their cats vegan, oy!) ...that's not me.
 
My kittens like Primal fd and frozen. With the frozen I mash it up and sometimes add a little hot water to make it room temp but they don’t mind it right out of the fridge. I started with the fd and then added the frozen small pieces. They all look exactly tge same and the ingredients are identical.
 
With EZ Complete, you don't need to grind bones because they use eggshell as their calcium.

I just tried Darwin's and my cats liked the duck, chicken, and turkey .. the first time, then not so much the following times. I also noticed they didn't like the bone pieces very much. That's my personal experience, though.

I wish S&C, Primal, and Rad Cat weren't so expensive!!
 
Mandy & Rex said:
With EZ Complete, you don't need to grind bones because they use eggshell as their calcium.

I just tried Darwin's and my cats liked the duck, chicken, and turkey .. the first time, then not so much the following times. I also noticed they didn't like the bone pieces very much. That's my personal experience, though.

I wish S&C, Primal, and Rad Cat weren't so expensive!!
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I agree Rad Cat is too expensive. Where I buy Primal they have a card where you buy 12 and get one free. It works with frozen but not sure about fd. I get the 3 lb bags.
 
Here's to hoping Asia breaks that bounce quickly, and comes down nice and slow today!

I'll be interested to see where you go with the raw diet. My dog has been on a raw diet since I adopted her from the rescue at 12 weeks, but Darwin has never taken to it. That being said, he never touched canned until now either. That is going to be my next mission, as I would love to have him on a raw diet as well. I may look into some of the ones mentioned above! Good luck in finding something they like - I know we have Rad Cat at our local pet depot.
 
Mandy & Rex said:
With EZ Complete, you don't need to grind bones because they use eggshell as their calcium.

I just tried Darwin's and my cats liked the duck, chicken, and turkey .. the first time, then not so much the following times. I also noticed they didn't like the bone pieces very much. That's my personal experience, though.

I wish S&C, Primal, and Rad Cat weren't so expensive!!
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I'm very picky about the grinded bone, there are so many nutrients in bone & bone marrow that I prefer that to eggshell, but also if the bones are larger, they can pierce their mouths/throats and that's no fun. S&C and Primal are pretty fine ground.

I looked at Darwin, someone had mentioned it before, I had 2 issues with it. The first is that if it ships to you through ups/usps/FedEx, I'm very skeptical about how it arrives and if it stays frozen. Because of the way it is packaged (in one big clump), you'd never really know if it had thawed and been refrozen at any point. S&C and anything else with the small nugget size, the tell is if the bag is frozen into one large clump instead of individual pellets, you know it had thawed at some point and been refrozen...I don't buy the suspect bags! Second thing was their rx formula for CRF had sweet potatoes and a lot of other junk (veggies they can't digest and beef proteins that aren't species appropriate) in there that I believe would do more harm than good for the kidneys. Yes, their prey have seeds and veggies and all that stuff in their stomachs, but it is also predigested by the prey animal. Just my opinion based on what I know of cats and renal insufficiency.

It is so much cheaper to make yourself, especially if you own a kitchenaid type mixer, you just buy attachments for it. Added bonus, you are giving them human grade foods which is an extra safety measure. I would if I could. :(

I'm looking in to the EZ complete, thanks for that. not having to deal with necks and organs and bone might be just the thing for me.
 
Tasha & Darwin said:
Here's to hoping Asia breaks that bounce quickly, and comes down nice and slow today!

I'll be interested to see where you go with the raw diet. My dog has been on a raw diet since I adopted her from the rescue at 12 weeks, but Darwin has never taken to it. That being said, he never touched canned until now either. That is going to be my next mission, as I would love to have him on a raw diet as well. I may look into some of the ones mentioned above! Good luck in finding something they like - I know we have Rad Cat at our local pet depot.
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Cats are so picky! Asia was a kibble monster until age 13 when she had some serious teeth issues and had to have almost all of her back teeth extracted. Eating kibble was no longer an option! This was around the same time as all the horrible pet deaths from melamine? I think that was it. Anyway, I researched the best diet/safe suppliers and found out about BARF diet and raw food. Luckily those boutique pet health stores started to pop up around the same time and I've never looked back. Night and day difference, she was young again. Our other cat started raw as a kitten and has never eaten anything else, she was much easier to transition than Asia the kibble monster.
 
Bones are high in phosphorus, which is the reason I switched to raw with eggshell calcium or calcium carbonate.

I go to my local exotic meat butcher and get him to grind the hormone free, antibiotic free meat for me. Adding premix and water is easy, peasy. If squeamish, do you have a friend or relative who would do it for you?
 
I do want to mention I was impressed with Darwin's shipping. They package the Styrofoam box with dry ice with the meat underneath. Dry ice was still in one big piece and the meats looked good. They were packaged individually in 4 packs with each piece being half pound.

Have you heard of Alnutrin? I'm looking into that now because EZC does have a strong smell that is off - putting to my cat that is sensitive to smells and changes in food. My other 3 cats love that smell though.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Bones are high in phosphorus, which is the reason I switched to raw with eggshell calcium or calcium carbonate.

I go to my local exotic meat butcher and get him to grind the hormone free, antibiotic free meat for me. Adding premix and water is easy, peasy. If squeamish, do you have a friend or relative who would do it for you?
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Isn't it the calcium/phosphorus ratio that is important (2:1)? I'm defiantly not an expert on this, but that was my understanding back when she was first diagnosed and I researched it. Asia has had several blood draws since CRF and I think she's been okay in these areas (roughly 2:1). In fact, to everyone's surprise, her creatinine & BUN have improved since initial CRF diagnosis. To the high end of normal, or just out of normal range.

I know nothing about butchers, but I'm sure there are plenty in NYC, I will look in to this. I could totally handle adding premix and water. Has your cat/cats found it palatable? Compared to what they were eating before?
 
Mandy & Rex said:
I do want to mention I was impressed with Darwin's shipping. They package the Styrofoam box with dry ice with the meat underneath. Dry ice was still in one big piece and the meats looked good. They were packaged individually in 4 packs with each piece being half pound.

Have you heard of Alnutrin? I'm looking into that now because EZC does have a strong smell that is off - putting to my cat that is sensitive to smells and changes in food. My other 3 cats love that smell though.
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It's not the shipping from Darwin which concerns me, it's the middle man. What if you are not home to receive shipment?

Have not heard of Alnutrin, will add it to my list.
 
Toebeans said:
It's not the shipping from Darwin which concerns me, it's the middle man. What if you are not home to receive shipment?

Have not heard of Alnutrin, will add it to my list.
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They send you a tracking number. We were not home either. The dry ice would have kept it frozen a good 2 more days.

But anyway... Good luck looking at different raw food options!
 
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