[nanook]

Hi all! It's been a long time! For those who remember us, Lucy and Nanook are doing fine and say hello!
I've just come across Stella and Chewy's food and it looks pretty good. I've tried transitioning mine to raw several times but Nanook is a tough one. He only likes turkey Wellness or Natural Balance. Period. They do get raw meat as a treat several times a week but that's all he'll tolerate. I've tried all the prepared frozen foods out there and he just won't have anything to do with them and I just can't get it together enough to do the whole raw regime from scratch. But I would like them to be on it as I think it's probably the best diet for them.
Any thoughts on this food? Has anyone tried it?

 

[koobe]

I have tried Stella & Chewy's freeze raw. The instructions said add water before feeding. I give them to my cats dry as treats. My cats love it. I have given it to a few friends and their cats love it. I found out most cats like it dry more than adding water.

But the good thing is if your cat loves it, wet or dry, when you transition to raw, you can use it as a "topping". And you can use it as long as you want, as much as you want, since it is balanced. My cats will eat anything with I sprinkle Stella & Chewy's freeze raw on it.

 

[doodlebug]

Hey Victoria...long time no post! Welcome back!

S&C came out with freeze dried for cats about a year ago and it's been a tough sell for them. They are now in the process of reformulating and repackaging the product. They have eliminated the beef and beef & chicken flavors and are coming out with 4 new ones. If I remember correctly, 3 are fish based and the other may be turkey.

The 14 oz bags will still be available, but they are also coming out with a small packet that is the equivalent of a 3 oz can when rehydrated.

The ingredients are great. Be aware that they do high pressure pasteurize their foods.

My girls refused to eat it either wet or dry. Kobi will eat the nuggets as a treat, but not rehydrated.

Another alternative that's also brand new is by Primal, they have two cat specific flavors...Beef & Salmon and Chicken & Salmon. I haven't tried them on my cats, but Jake loves the doggie version.

Holly, Kobi & Jake all love the Nutrisca freeze dried, but it's not balanced for cats...I use it as treats. Orijen is coming out with a new freeze dried product in the next couple months...don't know any more than that.

 

[CJinCA]

I mix it in with the canned food and sprinkle on top when they decide to get finneky. They love the chicken and the chicken & salmon. They were kind of so so about the beef flavor.

 

[robocop]

I am transitioning my kitties to raw and they both love this stuff. They eat it dry, but I wet it down to make sure they get the hydration.

They loved the chicken and chicken flavor (it had a weird name, something like that), and are now working their way through a beef and chicken flavor.

 

[nanook]

Thanks! So, we tried the chicken tonight, with warm water and, they LOVED it! Of course! Since it's crazy expensive! Only the best for Nanook. Haha!
I did look at the Primal but mine don't get fish so...
The pasteurization isn't with heat, it's with pressure. Never heard of that before but, supposedly, it's better? Who knows!
We'll give it a whirl for awhile and see if it will help transition then to real raw. Here we go again!

 

[hoofmaiden]

These foods are fine to transition, or for cats with NO teeth (even cats w/ a few teeth can eat real food), but please consider transitioning to real raw. Cats need to CHEW their food for physical and psychological reasons. It's also far less expensive to feed real raw meat, bone, and organ, or even to feed whole prey.

 

[mel2mdl]

My cat LOVES this stuff! I don't feed except as a treat due to cost - but he'll eat most anything if it has this on it. It's like KittyCrack to him.

 

[nanook]

Hi Elizabeth!
That's why they do get meat from Whole Foods a few times a week! Just to chew! I've also tried chicken necks. Lucy will eat them but Nanook will not. I have tried transitioning to raw several times in the past. Lucy is fine but Nanook (who tends to be quite thin, of course) will not touch it and goes on a full on hunger strike. At this point, I figure some raw is better than none. I'll keep trying though! Heck, I got my others off dry years ago, so I'm not a wimp! And that was quite a battle of wills but Nanook is a tough little stinker! Haha!

 

[hoofmaiden]

Yes--sometimes they truly are difficult. I've not had that problem w/ cats, but my dog Sophie (who recently went to the Rainbow Bridge ) simply REFUSED to go raw entirely. She would eat ground stuff but not anything bone-in and she clearly didn't WANT to eat ground stuff. After a solid year of trying to transition her (during which she lost weight) I gave up and let her eat grain-free kibble w/ water added (dogs don't have the same issues w/ dry food that cats do). She was 11 when we went to raw and had many neuroses involving new/unfamiliar things, so I feel I did my best and when I couldn't get it done I gave up. She did get ground beef and such mixed in occasionally and got a raw egg nearly every day, plus salmon oil.

 

[doodlebug]

My cat LOVES this stuff! I don't feed except as a treat due to cost - but he'll eat most anything if it has this on it. It's like KittyCrack to him.

Nature's Variety Boost is a freeze dried raw topper product that is nicely ground up. A canister is around $25 but it goes a really long way.

 

[robocop]

Just an update- we went on vacation and had a bag of Stella's beef and chicken in case the ground raw didn't go well when we were away (we are just starting the transition).

Unfortunately, it seems as if both of my cats dislike the beef and chicken flavor, and one of them has gotten sick after each time he ate it. The other hasn't, but she hasn't even touched it!

So, buyer beware on the beef and chicken variety. I would have gotten the chicken, but they were out, and boy do I wish I just would have waited for that flavor to be back in stock!

 

[koobe]

Unfortunately, it seems as if both of my cats dislike the beef and chicken flavor, and one of them has gotten sick after each time he ate it. The other hasn't, but she hasn't even touched it!

When you said your cat has gotten sick, did s/he throw up? One of my cat cannot tolerate beef, so it may be the beef, but not the brand itself.

 

[lovetimesfour]

The beef and chicken is being discontinued anyway.

I recently turned to Stella&Chewy's freeze dried raw in desperation. I have a 2 year old cat with suspected nutrient absorption issues and NOT a hearty appetite besides. She is on a canned diet (limited brands because of certain food intolerances) but never eats enough canned to stay anything other than slightly underweight. I've been supplementing with 1/8 cup of Evo grain free kibble at bedtime every night, just to get enough calories in her, though I don't think she derives much nutrition from it.

I say desperate because I could not seem to find another food to add to her diet, to encourage her to eat more. Then I started reading about raw. No local source of commercial frozen, but the freeze dried didn't cost a fortune to ship.

I started her on just a few nuggets, rehydrated, and she liked it so I gradually worked her up to a one meal a day of 8 nuggets rehydrated. (I worked out that 7-8 nuggets equals one meal for her, out of 6)

It's been 8 weeks now, and she has gained (as of today) 4 1/2 ounces! Not only is the S&C meal extra to what she was already eating (rather than replacing a meal) she is also eating her other canned food BETTER.

I no longer have to follow her around with her half eaten food, coaxing her to eat another bite or two either off the spatula or......Get this: she has trained me to wipe the left over food on her coat, and she licks it off. Since adding the S&C meal, she hasn't made me do that more than once or twice in the last 8 weeks.

Anyway, since I am only feeding one cat, one meal a day, with it the cost is doable and I will continue.

In an effort to replace the kibble, I am now introducing Ziwi Peak air dried raw. (starting with lamb). Air dried makes a jerky texture, not to be rehydrated, but it is only 15 % moisture, which, still, is better than that darn kibble.

 

[MowMow]

Anyway, since I am only feeding one cat, one meal a day, with it the cost is doable and I will continue.

If she has all these dietary issues, wouldn't it be better to give her more meals each day, smaller amounts? At the very least she wouldn't have to eat so much in one sitting.

 

[lovetimesfour]

If she has all these dietary issues, wouldn't it be better to give her more meals each day, smaller amounts? At the very least she wouldn't have to eat so much in one sitting.

You've misunderstood.

She eats six meals a day. Only one of those meals is the Stella&Chewy. She now eats three servings (.75 ounces each) of one kind of canned, two servings of another brand, and one serving of S&K.

Then she has that Evo kibble snack at bed time which I am hoping to eliminate, with the replacement of one meal of the Ziwi Peak air dried raw.

 

[MowMow]

Oh, I'm sorry. That makes MUCH more sense.

Poor little thing with so many issues, thankfully she has an owner who works hard to try and keep her healthy.

 

[Tabbylove]

I feed the chick chick chicken to one of my cats that is super picky and refuses to eat canned and raw. I have tried every single type of canned out there. She is dry food addict so I feed the Stella and chewy for half her meals to cut back on some of the dry. Are they getting rid of the chick chick chicken? That is the only one she loves...I hope not

 

[lovetimesfour]

I feed the chick chick chicken to one of my cats that is super picky and refuses to eat canned and raw. I have tried every single type of canned out there. She is dry food addict so I feed the Stella and chewy for half her meals to cut back on some of the dry. Are they getting rid of the chick chick chicken? That is the only one she loves...I hope not

The chick chick chicken remains, but I think will be repackaged. Feeding the S&K freeze dried un-hydrated is a tricky way to get a kibble addict to eat better! You might try the Ziwi Peak too, for the dry food addict, if you are looking to add variety. The lamb is a HUGE hit here.

 

[Tabbylove]

We have tried the lamb ziwipeak air dried - she would not even touch it. We also tried pre made raw - she will eat it great for a day or two then will refuse to touch it again. I wish I could just get her to eat canned like my other cat The only way she eats canned is if I finger feed her (she likes to bite the food off my finger, the food has to be formed and shaped a certain way for her to eat it!) And even then she will only take a few bites then run away. It's like she doesn't know how to eat the canned food on her own. I took her in as a 1 day old, 3 ounce stray and bottle fed her so I don't know if she thinks I have to feed her forever lol.