You guys, my cat is weird.
I know this to be true because every time I find myself talking to other people with cats, my experiences are vastly different. We were in the pet store the other day chatting with this woman who said her cats are so picky that she buys all this food but ends up cooking for them. I have friends who tell me that their cat will only eat one food for a while, then refuses, then another food for a while, then refuses… and I’ve heard people say that their cat skips meals altogether.
Not Newt.
Newt eats anything. If I don’t put her bowl on the counter before I put down the dogs’ bowls, she shoves them out of the way to start eating their kibble. (Please note that she weighs 8.08 pounds.) She attempts to eat everything I’m eating. Leave a plate out? She licks it clean. Eating a bowl of oatmeal? She’ll stick her paw in it to claim it as hers.
It’s up to me to make sure she doesn’t eat what she’s not supposed to… and that she gets the healthiest food out there. Because she’s open to anything and because I’m committed to feeding her high-quality natural cat food, we thought we’d give Instinct® Raw a whirl!
It’s an all-natural, grain-free, raw cat food frozen into little bites. I always thought that feeding her raw would be gross or cumbersome, but you just stick the bags in your freezer and pull out the amount of bites you need per meal. It said that it would thaw in minutes. I think it took a bit longer than a few minutes, but it takes ages to measure out everyone’s pills and supplements, so for us anyway, filling her dish before I start that process would ensure they were thawed in time for her to NOT shove her brothers out of the way…
In truth, I think she would’ve eaten them raw. As soon as I opened the bag, she was trying that cat-paw-fishing maneuver, sticking her arm into the bag and attempting to snag a bite. Since they were all frozen together, she was unsuccessful. (I chalk that up as a win for me. I gotta take what I can get.)
That said, I probably wouldn’t feed this to her for every meal every day. I like to rotate things for the herd, so I’d probably alternate this with typical canned food for her breakfast and dinner, or switch things up and give her some of this in her puzzle toy rather than regular kibble. Actually, I switched back to her regular canned food for dinner tonight, and I got a distinct “disappointed” vibe from her!
If you’re interested in learning more, you can visit Instinct’s website or Facebook page, or if you’re ready to take the plunge and give it a try, you can sign up for a $3 off coupon for Instinct Raw and do a trial for $3.99.
Have you tried raw for your pets? Please tell me someone else has a cat like Newt? Or are yours super picky when it comes to food?
Ann says
10•01•15 at 7:08 pmI’ve tried to feed my boys really good food. I’ve spent a fortune on cat food that they won’t touch. They will stand in front of their full bowl and scream at me for something else. I’ve tried everything. They only want crap. First, Simba will pretty much only eat canned food and prefers Fancy Feast in gravy. He turns his nose up at any other brand. He won’t even eat tuna or canned chicken, although he loves chicken flavored FF. He used to only eat pate but then one day he decided it was gross and he would no longer touch it. Willy will primarily only eat kibble and he also prefers a chicken flavor. Neither of them like anything fish flavored. That’s the situation today. Any given day, they can and will change their minds and decide they don’t like anything they have eaten before. That usually happens after I have purchased a very large quantity of something. Then I will again be testing every food on the market until they decide which one they want. Usually after a week of trying and refusing new things, we end up back with FF and they decide they like it again.
Maggie says
10•01•15 at 7:24 pmI was actually thinking of your boys while we were testing this food! I was wondering if it was one you had tried before. I know how picky they are! There is a chicken flavor in this, though we tried the rabbit…
Vicki Cook says
10•02•15 at 8:58 amMy cats also eat anything I give them. In fact, I’ve never had a picky cat. I wonder if I’m just lucky that way. As far as thawing the food is concerned, could you run it under cold water to speed up the thawing process? It would still be raw, but it would thaw quicker than just sitting it at room temperature.
Maggie says
10•08•15 at 8:41 amYou’re a genius, Vicki! That’s what I’ve been doing the past few nights, and it works perfectly. I left a smidge of water in her bowl the first night and she wouldn’t touch it (sigh) so thawing under the cold water then draining is working great! Thank you for the suggestion!!
Debra says
10•02•15 at 10:44 amI’ve actually started the pups on some raw with their kibble and while Julius loves all things flesh and organ, Ray will only eat the meaty bones. I have noticed very positive results, though.
The cats are not super picky and self feed. As long as their bowls are full, they are happy. Jae indicates that he would like to try some raw duck hearts by using the “cat-paw-fishing” maneuver, but I haven’t given him any yet. (Something about envisioning a cat running proudly over my new beige carpet with a bloody heart clasped in his teeth, gives me pause.)
Maggie says
10•08•15 at 8:42 amI’m SO glad you’re seeing great results! And I have to be honest… I’d have to pause at that scenario as well. 😉
konadog says
10•02•15 at 11:20 amRaw food is excellent and a lot more convenient than most people think. I have since moved onto dehydrated foods made by The Honest Kitchen. It has had serious success in helping my dog’s skin problems. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com
Maggie says
10•08•15 at 8:43 amWe’ve been testing one of their foods for Cooper!! I’ll share that story in a future post–thank you for the prompt!
Rebekah says
10•02•15 at 11:17 pmMy dogs love Instinct. My kitties are weird, and will only eat raw that is room temp or slightly warmer. But they do enjoy it.
Maggie says
10•08•15 at 8:52 amI think there’s a theme! Kitties are weird! 😉
Jan K says
10•04•15 at 3:17 pmI wish Sam was like Newt! Her pickiness makes feeding her a constant challenge, and all she wants to eat is low quality foods that we’d prefer not to feed her, and kibble (at least her kibble is a good name healthier one)! But we have to do what we have to get her to eat.
Consider yourself lucky to have a weird cat! 🙂
Maggie says
10•08•15 at 8:55 amThere’s nothing wrong with that at all! Sweet Sam! You gotta do what you gotta do…