I fed my four cats raw for most of their lives - first Rad Cat, then Darwin's and Wild Coast and Stella and Chewy's after Rad Cat went out of business.
My late acro kitty Chewie never showed a sign of illness until March 2022, and sadly she was gone within the year, but I really credit the raw diet for keeping her so healthy for so long despite the ticking time bomb inside her.
My vets were always skeptical of it, but also always marveled every year that her labs were so good for her age, so... I found that just keeping quiet about it at the vet's unless it was relevant to the issue at hand was easier for me.
There are a couple of things I would be mindful of before transitioning a cat to raw, though:
- like Wendy said, the formulas with ground bone tend to be high in phosphorus, which isn't great for the kidneys and therefore for older cats (or cats with kidney issues)
- for a cat that's prone to constipation, I would absolutely stay away from formulas with ground bone and try to feed one that uses ground eggshell or calcium powder instead. Even those can create chronic constipation issues in a cat that's prone to them.
Chewie's brother Wicket decided in his old age that he didn't like raw anymore and would only eat canned and freeze-dried food, and after years and years of having to give him a bunch of supplements every single day to keep him regular, he's suddenly not constipated at all anymore - a giant relief, but had I known sooner I probably would have stopped feeding him raw years ago.
All in all, I think it's worth a shot. Darwin's shipping option was convenient, but there's a LOT of bone in their formulas. Depending on where you are located, there could be some much better local options.
Freeze-dried raw is also a good option, if you serve it rehydrated.
