Frozen FF isn't working for us: Freezedried Option?

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Brittney

Brittney

Member Since 2016
It's been a while since I have posted here, but for good reason. My Emmy was diagnosed in September, I switched to an entirely wet FF diet and started insulin in October. By Christmas Emmy was in remission. She has been in remission and without insulin since, and she's healthier than ever! I attribute her health to the dramatic shift in diet (primarily dry food for 1o years, to an all wet food diet).

Here's the problem: I travel A LOT for more than a week at a time. My pet sitter charges $20 a visit so I can only afford to have her come one time a day. For my past few trips I have done one visit with fresh wet food served, and a frozen patty with icepack set in timed feeders (I have two cats). This has been nothing but trouble. 1/10 times my feeder just doesn't open leaving the cats without food. The rest of the time I come home to puke everywhere- clearly the frozen food patty option is making my cats sick. When I return home they seem un interested in eating or even suspicious of their food.

I am looking for a food option that I can use while traveling that isn't frozen wet food. I estimate that this meal will need to be about 100 calories. I will have the pet sitter feed a little bit larger portion at the morning visit, and then set a timer (hopefully a newer unit that is more reliable) with something else in it. My vet is telling me there are great "diabetic dry food options, which are better for their teeth anyway" but I've read here so many times that dry food is bad. Does anybody have something like a freeze dried meat that they have tried?
 
Brittney said:
It's been a while since I have posted here, but for good reason. My Emmy was diagnosed in September, I switched to an entirely wet FF diet and started insulin in October. By Christmas Emmy was in remission. She has been in remission and without insulin since, and she's healthier than ever! I attribute her health to the dramatic shift in diet (primarily dry food for 1o years, to an all wet food diet).

Here's the problem: I travel A LOT for more than a week at a time. My pet sitter charges $20 a visit so I can only afford to have her come one time a day. For my past few trips I have done one visit with fresh wet food served, and a frozen patty with icepack set in timed feeders (I have two cats). This has been nothing but trouble. 1/10 times my feeder just doesn't open leaving the cats without food. The rest of the time I come home to puke everywhere- clearly the frozen food patty option is making my cats sick. When I return home they seem un interested in eating or even suspicious of their food.

I am looking for a food option that I can use while traveling that isn't frozen wet food. I estimate that this meal will need to be about 100 calories. I will have the pet sitter feed a little bit larger portion at the morning visit, and then set a timer (hopefully a newer unit that is more reliable) with something else in it. My vet is telling me there are great "diabetic dry food options, which are better for their teeth anyway" but I've read here so many times that dry food is bad. Does anybody have something like a freeze dried meat that they have tried?
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Many people on here feed Young Again Mature Zero dry food that's very low carb. It's available online from their website. They'll send you a sample if you ask. Dr. Elsey's has recently come out with a low carb kibble. I believe you can request a sample of that also. I know of another product, Primal freeze dried nuggets, that are low carb.
 
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Primal does have freeze dried, but freeze-dried food is even more water-depleted than kibble, so I wouldn't recommend leaving that out dry as a food source. It really has to be re-hydrated before it's used or you could run into even more health problems than you get with kibble. Given the circumstances, I would say that Young Again Mature Zero or Dr. Elsey's is probably the best bet -- and this is coming from someone who really doesn't think cats should eat kibble. But you have to travel, you have to do what you can afford, and your cats have to eat - so given those factors, I'd say go with one of the kibble options.

If you try that and still come home to puke, I would go back to the frozen patty option though. It's quite possible that they are just stress puking from being left alone for a week. It might not be connected to the food itself.
 
Also, hate to be graphic but one of the best things I've learned that's good for their teeth is tearing through flesh. There is a thread about raw chicken wings as treats and great for keeping healthy teeth and gums :cat:
 
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