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Need to switch to canned/freeze-dried - any suggestions?

589 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  LakotaWolf 
#1 ·
Hi guys, long time no see! Some of you may remember I used to post quite a lot here - I had a CRF/CKD kitty named Wintressia, who was also hyperT and was on a raw diet. She died in February of last year, two months shy of her 20th birthday. I think she had a good long life for a CRF kitty, but I still miss her terribly - we were together for 19 years of our lives :{

That being said, I fortunately still have a kitty in my life - my little black cat, Kohl. She is around 3 years old. I found her in the back parking lot of my office building in December of 2016 and the vet estimated her at around 7 months old at the time. I never would have thought I'd have a black cat in my life, but she's every inch your stereotypical "house panther" and is a pure delight. She is a rather small lady and weighs in at about 6.6-7 lbs. (Win was only ~8 lbs in her prime, but still, all of Win's old costumes/clothes are HUGE on Kohl!)

Since I had been feeding a raw diet to Wintressia for many years at the point when I adopted Kohl, there was no question about the fact that Kohl would also be eating a raw diet. So, basically, she's been on a raw diet since I got her, and is in vet-stupefying good health. Her last dental cleaning was a joke - the vet said it took 10 minutes. She is a ball of Chinchilla-rivaling softness.

Unfortunately, my financial/job situation has changed drastically recently due to some personal and family issues, and I don't know if I can afford to feed Kohl raw for the foreseeable future until things are more stable again.

I have been feeding her Darwin's brand raw at $6.95/lb. and she usually goes through a lb. of food every 3-4 days, so we'll call it ~2 lbs a week for ease, so a monthly cost of about $55.

However, it's now been so long since I fed anything other than raw (other than the times when Win only wanted to eat Fancy Feast, or at the very end, kitten food) that I have no idea where to start looking/considering for reasonably-priced canned food brands.

For example, I used to think Weruva was a good brand - but it's actually rather pricey, and I've been hearing that it's actually nutritionally kind of crappy!

I know there are also freeze-dried raw options which I'm happy to consider - I was thinking of pricing out a couple of brands as well as canned foods.

However I also don't really get the "feeding guidelines" I've been seeing in my early investigations - things like "feed 1 to 2 cans per day for every 6 lbs of body weight" or "feed 2.5 - 4.5 pouches per day for cats that are 4-10 lbs". I know feeding guidelines have to be super generalized, but I don't even know where to START with them, other than start feeding Kohl and monitor her weight like a hawk until I find the right amount - she tends to fall right in the middle of most feeding guidelines at 7 lbs.

Anyway, all this rambling leads to my actual point - what would you guys suggest for some brands to try? I am fine trying either canned or freeze-dried, though I'd like to avoid fish-based foods.

Also - Kohl is absolutely NOT picky. The one silver lining to this situation is that I know I won't have to spend time convincing her to eat something new - she will happily transition to anything. I've fed her Fussie Cat on the times I've had to board her somewhere (most places around me were worried about handling a raw diet or didn't have the capabilities to store it.) This cat will eat bread and tomato skins. She will eat pretzels. She'll be just fine on a different food :}

I know everyone will have their own favorites in terms of foods, but that's what I want - peoples' experiences and opinions.

Plus if anyone has an opinion/experience for an average number of cans (either 3 oz or 5.5 oz) per day for an active adult cat who weighs about 6.5-7 lbs!

Thank you guys so much. I'm at a bit of a loss here as to where to start and my family/life situation isn't helping >_<
 
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