premade raw questions

[Connie & Em (GA)]

Ok, I'm on the road to changing my cat's food once again. I fed Dr. Lisa's recipe for years, but grinding is so hard on me (the sounds, the smells, etc) and with eight cats it is a little time consuming.

I bought Feline's Pride for a while, but it cost three times what making it did, and there wasn't a distributor near me so I needed to drive two hours to meet the woman who always had us meet up in a parking long (can you say questionable!!)

So I looked around. There is Wild Kitty up here, but all of their varieties have seafood in them. I stumbled upon Oma's Pride. I wasn't thrilled with the veggie content, but it was priced right and the distributor was just down the street from DH's work.

We fed that for quite some time. Jack who has had problems with crystals in the past started peeing in the tub and licking his belly bald (I jokingly called it his brazillian) so we had him looked at and his urine was very alkaline, so I started him on an acidifier. He's been doing very well on it.

Well right before Christmas Ollie stopped eating. Took him to the vets and couple of hundred dollars later he was "fine" He started eating again. Well then a few days later he stopped. Muffin stopped and had very foul diarrhea. Then Jack had very foul diarrhea. Skippy had three different incidents of getting bone fragments stuck on his teeth and would gag on the meat that was still attached to it. Not very fun to deal with a frightened kitten who doesn't want you looking in his mouth on a good day..

Then Eli started jumping in the bath tub. I tested his urine and he was alkaline too. Then I found a huge chunk of bone jabbed on to his tooth. was about the size of a chocolate chip and at first glance it looked like he had a human molar.

So I wrote to the company, and they are "trying to get to the bottom of it" but won't tell me if they changed anything in their recipe or their processing, so I'm pretty certain I'm just going to have to find a new food. (I am trying to find a butcher who will grind bone for me, but I didn't have luck in the past, so I'm being proactive)

I did get a sample of feline instincts - the powder you mix in - and offered that last night, and several of the crew vomited after eating it..

I googled raw food and found a bunch of websites on how to make it, but not much on manufactures of it. Anyone got any companies who makes raw who sell up in New England? :smile:

Connie

 

[Venita]

I suggest Hare-Today. You buy the meat already ground and then add your own supplements. They do have meat that is ground with organs and bone.

 

[Connie & Em (GA)]

I suggest Hare-Today. .

I like this very much, and if I can't find anything better will probably go this route. Only draw back for me is the shipping costs which is why I'm still looking, but it is nice to know the option is there.

Thanks

 

[LynnLee + Mousie]

I had similar problems with Oma's. Kitty cut her gums with bone shards a couple times. The first time i panic'ed 'cause yeah it looked like she was gagging big time so off to the vet we went and she found a slice in her gums. after the second time, i would actually pick out the larger bone pieces before i gave the food to her.

also, the oma's rabbit we used was not complete. i had to add supplements to it to make it a "complete" meal.

i'd still like to make my own and at some point i hope i get the opportunity but in the meantime, i'll definitely be watching this thread 'cause nature's variety is pricey too and i even get to buy it locally