Raw to dry/wet? Advice please!

[JenFid]

Hi all,

As per the subject line, I've a question on the raw diet and transitioning to dry/wet.

A bit of background first - my husband and I are getting cats in March (just a few months to go!). I'm getting a Sphynx, of course! And he is getting a Maine Coon. My breeder feeds Royal Canin dry and wet. His breeder feeds a raw diet though, and they actually get it from a local store: www.woodyspetdeli.com/deli_menu (sorry, I am not sure that link is allowed or not!).

We were planning on doing a high quality dry/wet feeding regime for our kitties. The current plan for my Sphynx at least is to start on the RC since that's what the breeder uses, and slowly transition to Blue for kittens. Once they're adults I then want to switch them to the Costco/Kirkland brand mixed with something like Orijen. That's the plan at least, terms and conditions subject to change

I've read the benefits of the raw diet but wasn't interested in pursuing it. Although having a place that pre-mixes it for you is pretty neat, I can't accurately say how much that would cost us per month for 2 cats.

My husband is thinking he could mix the dry in with the raw and transition that way, but I've read that can cause some bad stomach upsets because the two foods digest at different rates. I find plenty of articles regard transitioning from dry to raw, but nothing for the other way around.

Any tips or advice? I'd be willing to try the raw diet from this place if I can figure out if the cost is pretty close to the dry/wet diet. But I have questions - I read it's good to leave food out for Sphyxes to "free" feed throughout the day, how would that work with a raw diet? Also, say we go overnight somewhere the cats can't go, normally you'd just leave dry food out for them, but you can't with raw, obviously. For longer term trips we'd have his sisters watch the cats at their place most likely, and it'd be so much easier just to give them a thing of kibble than ask them to prep raw food.

Thanks so much! Looking forward to becoming a more active member once I finally get my naked baby

 

[zoinks]

For the reasons you mentioned it is not good to mix raw with dry.

You could mix the raw with wet and do gradual switch over and feed a seperate kibble meal at first in the morning or at night about 6-8 hours outside of the raw feeding.

I really think you should evaluate how much more expensive the raw would be though. Sphynx have notoriously sensitive stomachs and it can be tough to find a food that gives firm poop that doesn't stink the house out. My sphynx Alfie was on the Costco brand when he came to me and he had diarrhea.

You do not free feed raw. You give a few meals a day which is more natural for the cat anyway. They don't need constant access to food. I pick up the dish after 15 minutes but it's usuall gone sooner.

If you are on vacation, you could keep some freeze dried raw on hand and leave some of that out (dry) for them to snack on overnight or have your sister feed that freeze dried food wet if it is easier for her than the raw if you are gone a while.

If you do switch back to wet/dry don't be surprised if you go from good poop to bad poop regardless of how you transition

I recommend you do more reading on the benefits of raw on a website such as feline-nutrition before ruling it out. For us it is worth the extra cost for the litter box benefits.

Hope this info is helpful

 

[Kate]

Agreed, you don't want to mix the dry with raw for the reasons you've mentioned above. I can tell instantly (via the little box) when my older male has managed to get a few of the dogs' kibbles!! When I brought my new kitten home a few weeks ago, she was eating kibble at the breeder. The day she came home I switched her to a raw diet, and we've never looked back. The benefits I've gotten from the raw for both my cats is unbelievable!

I was worried at first that it would be too much work/trouble to keep up with the raw diet, but it's really not difficult at all ... especially if you have a place close by that will mix it for you. In the end, for me it's actually cheaper to feed the raw diet than it would be if I used the wet/dry (and I don't go bargain hunting for cheap meat, just use what's readily available). Plus, the firm non-stinky poop, no poop foot and no poop tail make it totally worth it in the end!

Good luck with your decision. It would be nice for you if you could get both cats eating the same diet at least.

 

[MollysMom]

We have transitioned to dry and back to raw... I do keep kibble on hand for times that we are going to be gone for 12 -18 hours. I feed them their morning meal of raw, then wait 8 hours before they are fed again. I leave bowls of kibble out while we are gone, then wait a few extra hours til they eat raw again once we are home. It does result in looser and smellier poops, and you can see how much more they poop eating kibble.

When we are gone any more than that (24 hours - 1 week), we have someone come over 3x a day to feed them raw. It is definitely inconvenient, but I can usually call in favours with family, and I pay a pet sitter to come once a day to feed and scoop their box.

The times that I have transitioned to kibble only - I just did it cold turkey. Feed them raw, then 8 hours later start them on kibble. Every time I have done it though, I have regretted it. Within 3 days there is dribbly bits at the end of their poops. Which means chasing and bum wiping. And it stinks to high heaven. Also, their poops are literally double the size compared to when they eat raw. And softer in texture. Which means more frequent litter box scooping.

Try the kibble and see what you think. But I would keep your baby on the same kibble that the breeder feeds for probably a month. They can get soft or runny poops just from the stress of a new home, so it would be difficult to tell how the new food actually is.

We ended up looking at raw feeding just because I get free meat and I liked the health benefits. I would have ended up switching them to it anyway just because of how awful their poops are on wet and dry food.

Truly, I wish I had known what a sensitive stomach they had before we had gotten them. It seems that it is not really advertised (other than here LOL).

 

[weaves]

I would also suggest that if you decide you really don't want to do raw that you do add canned food into their diet. Cat's really need the moisture content and will aid in preventing urinary tract infections.

 

[JenFid]

Thanks guys and gals for the replies! I've raised dogs all my life but we are new to cats. It's hard to say yet how much it will cost monthly to feed the two of them! Whatever we decide it won't be without a lot of careful reviews and scrutiny. I think we'll at least start them both on dry/wet so that they're on the same diet for awhile, then we can figure out how much it is monthly and start comparing possible raw diet costs.
Loving the supportive community here, you guys rock!