Could you please do a review on the brand Nutrience? I was recommended Nutrience Subzero frazer valley for my baby and so would love to hear your thoughts about it. Thank you.
I sure wish these companies made a sample box so you could try a smaller bag. I just bought the Northwest Naturals Rabbit. This is super expensive and the only reason I purchased this is because the store will take it back if kitty won't eat it. So far he won't touch it, I'll give it a little more time and see if he changes his mind. I'm trying to get him away from chicken which is in everything and makes it difficult to find food that is chicken free. Thanks for the video.
I have Jasper that is a very big boned kitty. Concerned about weight at 21 lbs. His doctor recommended 3 lb loss. Took him off full dry food but only to mix in wet for teeth health. Decided to stop all packaged treats. I purchased Stella and Chewy dinner pellets and cut into 3rds as his treats. Within 3 months Jasper lost 3 pounds. Decided to also feed my other 6 cats Stella and Chewy after researching the quality.They are healthy, more active and I found they eat less then past foods. Expensive? Not as expensive as Vetinaries bills and shortened life.
It's good to hear about the lack of scary bacteria in these foods. I'm hearing a lot of buzz in my raw feeding communities about some freeze-dried brands having bacteria.
WELL DONE with the reviews on Dry, Wet and Freeze Dried Raw food diet! The video was laid out good with the stats and explanation for each ingredient and what to look out for!! Keep up the good work!
I've been feeding Stella & Chewy's for several years, and my cats love it and have continued to love it. I feed it dry; I don't add water. They like it better than way, and I can also leave it out. I give them the Chick Chick Chicken and occasionally Absolutely Rabbit (since it's more expensive). The rabbit has less ash in it than the chicken, by the way.
This video was posted at the perfect time! I have been thinking about switching my kitty to a freeze-dried food diet. Thank you for the info! Love your content 🐱❤
Yes! I transitioned my 8yo cat who had food allergies to raw about 6 mo. ago. The freeze dried made it an easier transition. He can't eat chicken or turkey so the vital essentials and NW Naturals have duck and rabbit I can give him (which are the most expensive, but worth it to not have his open sore and constant itching). Thank you for your review and analysis!
Thanks for the thorough review. It's good to have alternatives to try. My cats have been eating Stella & Chewys Rabbit for years. Some tips based on my experience... crush the nuggets with your fingers, add pour just a little warm water and stir till rehydrated. If I leave excess water in the dish my older cat chokes and barfs. Cats can't eat and drink at the same time. I trained my younger cat to eat the nuggets by breaking them in half and throwing them for him, satisfying the chase-catch-kill instinct. If the nuggets are too hard to smush with my fingers, I use a small jar to smash them gently and loosen them up.
Thanks so much for speaking to raw food in this review! I love the concept of freeze dried raw, I was considering using it as a shelf stable back up if I ran out of frozen raw or forgot to thaw it so that my cat would be eating raw no matter what, but I find the price is even more than frozen raw and rehydrating is a bit of a tedious process. I spend about $1.50 - $$2.50 per day feeding my cat frozen raw and she loves it, couldn't get her to eat the rehydrated raw (but she is picky). I just use high quality canned food as a back up now. That said, I am so happy to see these options available, especially for cats or cat parents with health problems that can't risk fresh or frozen raw!
Hey, I was wondering if you could check out ziwi peak air-dried again. They have changed their formula and wanted to know what you think of it. I'm hesitant to buy it again untill someone like you takes a look at it. I never feed straight ziwi peak by itself partly because of the price. But it does seem to make s difference to my cat's overall health. I just haven't tried the new formulas.
Very interesting. I especially liked the note about raw food, washing hands, counters, etc. that is not something I would have thought about. Thank you
Great video! Maybe you would consider doing a review of Steve's Quest Freeze dried?? He did pioneer the raw food industry and by my research the ingredients seem top notch (especiallyfor a diabetic cat). I would be interested to see how the food looks on a lab analysis!
What were your thoughts on Primal? That and S&C's are basically the only common freeze-dried options in Canadian shops, and right now S&C's is basically out of stock of all freeze dried for cats except the fish one because of supply chain issues (and they have been out of stock for months, so I had to switch my cat to the raw coated kibble S&C's).
Thank you for this video, this is exactly what I've been looking for. I've recently switched my cat from all-dry to 80% canned wet/20% dry. And I've been thinking about supplementing this with a little bit of (re-hydrated) dehydrated raw food.
Hi, my 2 years old cat is extremely picky eater and very stubborn. Can you please tell me how you did it. I mean how you switched your cat from dry food to wet ? Appropriate your help. Thank you.
@@edytag1979you just need to be more stubborn than your cat 😂 Id try to buy every brand/flavor to find out what your cat would eat. You just gotta keep trying
Thank you for this Mallory! I love freeze-dried food and I'm happy to see Stella & Chewy's made it here. (Minus their docked points) My cats eat about 70% canned (cooked/raw) wet food but they get one rehydrated morsel of Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried rabbit for breakfast and dinner (for budget reasons LOL!) but I love the added probiotics and it makes me feel a bit better knowing it's helping to boost their probiotic intake. They don't eat cooked kibble and their snack options are either freeze-dried treats or a small portion of Ziwi Peak's air-dried food. One major thing that I've noticed since we've overhauled their diet from a dry kibble and 100% cooked canned food diet to their current diet is the poop smells! (Or lack thereof) I'm super intrigued by the Northwest Naturals morsels because our local pet shop just started carrying this brand. :)
My cat loves the northwest naturals and doesn’t care for Stella and chewys or vital cat. She is a raw feeder. But I keep some raw food and treats for when I travel. She is actually a huge fan of freeze dried chicken. It’s her fav treat.
I’m loving free dry raw. I think it helps keep them at an appropriate weight, and they’re waste doesn’t smell! I feed my cats Stella and Chewy. They love it all, except the salmon and cod recipe! First time my cats have walked away from food and they aren’t picky eaters. They’ll eat the dog food if I let them!
Excellent research and explaining ... very thorough and easy to understand. ... just found out about freeze dry raw dog food ... I have 2 cats; was searching to see if they have raw cat food. You made this so easy.
Wow this is great I'm super excited to try out some freeze dried cat food soon!! Do you have to soak it in water for a minute beforehand or simply serve it with water just like preparing cereal? Are you able to feed Wessie high protein foods as a senior cat? These freeze dried foods are way higher protein content than wet food right?
Great Video, thanks for reviewing. I recently switched my very picky cat to Quest Freeze Dried Raw Food (made by Steve's) He LOVES the pork but I have tried the chicken and he doesn't care for it. I would love to get your input on how you feel about this food. 🥰
Hi, just wondered have you tried Boss Cat Freeze dry as we are in U.K. and this is one that is available, also vital Essentials cat thank you for your help
thank you for this. My cats like the instinct freeze dried which can be eaten wirhout rehydration so easy to transition from dry. but didn't see on list so wondered if you had info on it.
S&C is good , my Himalayan get crazy with it! And she loves Northwest Natural too. But VE is okay, the only issue is my cat does not like to eat it wet. Appreciate your work! I will try open farm in the future ❤
I have to say, I have fed my cats Vital for years and I CONSTANTLY have to take the bone chunks out because they’re too huge for my IBD cat to digest. She eats the duck and rabbit. Never tried the Pork as you showed in the video, so just sharing my experience for others who may be enticed by the no bone comment
I’ve been trying to find a video comparing Stella & Chewy and Open Farm freeze dried for my dog. I’ve started her off on Stella & Chewy, but found the lack of transparency on their sourcing to be concerning, so was looking into Open Farms and realized they also had cat food. I’ll be switching both my cat and dog over to Open Farms. Thank you for such a high quality video with great research!
Question: is it back to feed my cats any of the above mentioned products in dry form? They prefer it this way Thank you as always for your informative videos. Hope you will come back to do some more!!!
To me, the benefit of freeze dried over frozen is that I have frequent power outages, often for days. There's something very sad about throwing out $400 worth of frozen raw food. And I love the nuggets - makes it very easy to portion control my 4 cats.
My cats enjoy Dr. Marty's freeze dried raw food. I mix it in with Petco's brand Whole Hearted Urinary and Healthy Weight bags. I'm on a monthly subscription, one bag at a little over $31 per bag. What's nice about mixing it in a large food safe container with the other dry food, it lasts and my cats like it dry instead of wet. I tried it by itself when I first got it with water and my cats wouldn't touch it. Dry, they scarf it down. I also give canned wet Petco brand Whole Hearted once in the morning before work. My R.C. and Misty are doing great!
I know in the description it says you tested the primal freeze dried food but I can’t find a video on it. That’s the one I use for my cat is it any good or should I change her food??
Hi Heaven, thanks for asking. I did try it but didn't publish a review-Primal has been involved in a concerning FDA investigation that revealed noncompliance with requirements for thiamine and vitamin D content. I don't feel 100% confident about this brand. truthaboutpetfood.com/two-warning-letters-to-raw-pet-food/
I just hate that they are so expensive. Right now I'm supplmenting canned food with (raw) chicken necks and duck feet once a week each, with the occasional treat of a chicken heart. . .and that's already pretty expensive.
Thank you so much for these reviews! Are these appropriate for a 5 month old kitten? Thinking of feeding one of these (whatever comes in smaller nibs) as a dry “snack” in the middle of the night in her timed feeder. She’s currently getting kibble for that meal, but I’d like to take that away and give her a better option!
I would love to know about Open Farms product that consists of both freeze dried coated kibble along with freeze dried pieces . Thank you for all of your research!!
I recently watched Jackson Galaxy’s cat nutrition video and found out the EXPENSIVE wellness Core shredded food had tons of starch…. Well I got 3 more packs via autoship on accident so AFTER I get through this, I’m planning on switching by to Stella and chewy since I add water to his wellness core anyways. My kitty eats Ziwi Peak air dried food in his automatic morning feeder
Our girls love the NWN freeze dried chicken and whitefish. Not a fan of the turkey. They get a mix of mostly freeze dried raw and wet canned food, with a night time treat of kibble.
I’m thinking my cats have sensitive tummies as they have gotten sick 2x for a period of about 10 days when we tried switching them over to raw ( specifically freeze dried). I’m giving up on that as the vet bills were costly and many vets in our area don’t accept animals on a raw diet either. All that said, I love your videos as they are very informative and short:)
Currently serving Stella & Chewy. Not much to add to the comments because everyone’s cats are just different, but it’s too early to come to conclusions here about S&C. First meals were yummy for them, but that attitude has changed. I’m thinking that it’s become a mental issue with them and I’m mulling over this (human) desire to give them variety when it may actually be causing the “wait and see” eating problem that I’m experiencing with 2 of the cats. “Maybe dad has got something better, so I’ll wait…”
My cat loves the Nulo freeze dried food, even more so than her favorite wet food. I want to switch her over completely but the bags are so small. I will definitely try what you’ve recommended.
Would it be possible to compare the phosphorous content between these brands? I've recently started feeding Stella & Chewy's rabbit and it's done wonders for the chronic diarrhea my cats have been struggling with, but one of my cats recently had some concerning numbers on a blood test and could be developing kidney disease. I don't want to speed up problems with her kidneys but at the same time, it's so nice not to have puddles of loose stool in my kitchen floor.
I'm a new, very proud cat owner and not fully in touch with the food that's presented in this video, as well as all the different kinds of raw foods for cats that are featured throughout the comments. I mean, I'm used to Purina and Fancy Feast. All this talk about frozen, raw, chicken's feet, necks, legs...it's all so overwhelming. Almost makes one feel bad for not giving your pet more. 😞
Not really; all of them are pretty high in phosphorus. You may be able to get away with them if your cat is in the early stages and has low blood phosphorus or in conjunction with a phosphorus binder. Alternatively, Darwin's Natural has a frozen raw food appropriate for kidney disease, but it requires a vet's prescription to buy.
I feed Maisy 4x daily--2x wet food and 2x dry food. Is this okay? Could I replace either the wet or the dry and add freeze dried for half of her diet? Should I go 100% freeze dried? Thanks!
My lab test came back with some mold contamination; because freeze-dried food should never have mold growth due to the low moisture content, it's unclear whether this is due to inappropriate handling by the lab or an issue on their end, so I'm hesitant to make a statement about it until I have more information.
Based on the cost, it seems that the freeze-dried option would best be used in combination with other types. In my case, the only freeze-dried products I have are for the ferret. He's a very senior ferret and I anticipate he has less than a year left, so his Wysong products should be able to safely get mixed in to the cat food over time until its all gone. At least, that's the plan unless someone can give me reasons otherwise.
All of my cats love the Northwest Naturals Turkey, in fact it's one of their favorites, right behind Open Farm, but unfortunately it makes my one with a sensitive tummy barf.
Thank you! I like Open Farm, but a little concerned about the clay in their freeze dried. Information about it is mixed. Some say good. Some say not good. My take on it is that it's a great detoxifier, but can cause constipation for some cats. Overall, good one to try! It was the first one I had looked at when looking for a freeze dried. Didn't buy because of the m..... (can't spell!) clay. But now reconsidering. Good price! Currently using Dr. Marty's Nature's Feast and Small Batch Meal Bites for my two cats. Mostly I feed them unhydrated as for very small "kibble substitute" snacks. (No more free feeding kibble. Hooray!) Sometimes, I rehydrate and feed as meals, using filtered water and maybe some bone broth and/or goats milk. I like rotating and adding different things. My cats like all the various combinations!!! As for the unhydrated snacks, they get so excited, practically jump up and down, when I open the Dr. Marty's bag. 😻😻 Because of expense, I'm considering two other brands that are a little less expensive. Simple Food Project and Steve's. Already ordered samples from Simple Food Project. Very impressed with both of these brands so far. I would love to see a video reviewing Dr. Marty's, Small Batch, Simple Food Project and Steve's freeze-dried. The only one here I'll reconsider is Open Farm. The others, no.
I have two adolescent kittens that are now on their third large bag of the chicken recipe of Open Farms. At the beginning they were OK with it but never really ate it with appetite and now it is getting worse for one of my kittens has now started to lose weight. I want a suggestion that cats love the taste and that it is also top quality and can't seem to find them a freeze dried cat food where they actually love the taste.
This is very helpful. Thanks!! We have such polluted food in our country for humans so I am mind of leery about raw food for my cat. I know it is what our kitties would eat normally but our food manufacturing processes stink in our country. And what brand might be safe today could possibly be contaminated anytime later. I'll stick with nice quality canned. Thanks.
I have a question...my vet wants me to change from Stella & Chewy to Royal Canin. My one cat seems to get bored of his food or maybe dissatisfied with it. He cries around even though I have set out their meal. He doesn't completely finish the serving I give him. I've tried so many brands and favors but he still acts discontented. What are your thoughts and recommentions? Should I go with Royal Canin? Kibble and/or can. Thank you
I've been feeding primal but everything is going out of stock. Trying to find another one but it sounds like they are all similar. Unfortunate that they are going out of stock and primal basically told me they dont have a return date for the freeze dried raw. Basically stating that they had other options I can choose from.
I didn't mention it because the subscription won't appeal to everyone (and because of the dryness), but I do like it as a snack or kibble alternative/transitional food for cats being weaned off of dry.
@@AllAboutCatsYT I throw it at my cats when they have eaten their smalls portion for the day and acting like they want more I have an oriental shorthair and a bengal both rescues so the chatter is deafening
Open farms FOURTH ingredient is clay (i just find it suspicious that everybody is recommending this food), northwest naturals has garlic in their formula even though it is labeled as poisonous to cats.
In the USA do you have a different thing to measure percent? Like you use feet instead of meter or Fahrenheit instead of celsius? if not, then I just want to let you know, that a high percentage of protein is not necessarily good. As same as Phosphor, Protein is straining the kidney. I know that through the acute kidney failure my cat had. Luckily it could be regulated and became normal again through food with low protein and low Phosphor. Of course this is being rehydrated with water but I doubt, that it will bring the protein level down to a normal level. Most dry foods here in Germany for Cats have between 30 and 40 % protein and wet food between 3 and about 15 %. Sometimes I'm just so frustrated that the food industry and also the pet food industry is continuously tricking us in believing that whatever they want us to believe is healthy. It's so difficult to get what is right and what is wrong.
Percentages are calculated the same way here, though I've noticed that European brands are more likely to differentiate between animal-derived and plant-derived protein on the label. I think you may have some misconceptions about the relationship between dietary protein and kidney disease. To my understanding, there has been no link established between long-term consumption of a high-protein diet and developing kidney disease, nor a high-phosphorus diet and kidney disease. There's some speculation about protein _quality_ contributing to kidney disease, but the main issue is that cats who already have reduced kidney function have a harder time filtering out protein metabolism waste products. As such, a low-protein diet can help (just as you saw with your cat). Some, however, argue that high-protein diets are beneficial to a cat with kidney disease, as long as that protein is high-value and handled efficiently by the body. Furthermore, wet foods are generally higher in protein than dry ones. The numbers appear higher on a dry food because they're calculated as a percentage of the food's weight, and water distorts that. On a dry matter basis (with water removed from the equation), that 5% protein may increase to 45%. Thank you for the thoughtful comment, and I wish you all the best.
