I am an advocate for feeding your cat a species appropriate raw food diet. Our cats are obligate carnivores and are meant to eat meat, preferably raw meat. The Resident Cats have been on a completely raw food diet for over 3 years now. It has amazed me how many positive changes I started noticing in my cats just by feeding them a diet that allows them to thrive. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to completely transition all 18 cats to a diet they deserve at this time. However, there are ways that I can improve their diet to give them the benefits of a raw food diet. So, let’s get real about your cat’s food.
Ditch the Kibble
Quite possibly the best way to improve your cat’s diet is to ditch the kibble. Dry food has absolutely no nutritional value to your cat. Instead, it could potentially start causing health issues. You do not want me to get started on exactly what goes into kibble and how they process it. However, I do strongly recommend watching the documentary, Pet Fooled. That documentary helped seal the deal of taking kibble out of my cat’s diet. As much as I wanted to completely remove dry food as an option for my cat’s, some of my cats refuse to follow along.
Agatha, one of my kibble addicts.
Sadly, I have at least 4 cats in my other 2 groups of cats that absolutely refuse to kick the kibble habit. Agatha, of the Kracken Kitties, and Ghost, of the Cat House Cats, will literally starve themselves if they don’t get at least a tiny bit of kibble each day. It pains me to give them a tiny bit of dry food each day. But they need to eat. Luckily, as soon as they eat the tiny bit of kibble they move to the wet food. So, it is a compromise that I am willing to make at this point. I have been incorporating different ways to include some raw into their diets and they have been willingly accepting it.
Small Changes, Big Results
If you have already ditched the kibble, awesome! Your cats will be so grateful. However, I am not here to food shame anyone. I know that there may be reason why you may still need to feed kibble. Me being one of them. However, there are ways that you can make that kibble healthier. I already limit the amount of kibble I put down and I have been mixing freeze dried with it. I have been increasing the amount of freeze dried each time. It has taken some time. Cats are smart and crafty. Agatha would eat the dry food around the freeze dried and leave it in the plate. Well played, Agatha.
Freeze dried in place of kibble.
I have also been crumbling freeze dried over their wet food as a meal topper. Now way for them to eat around it if it is mixed it. They actually love it. The first time I tried it with the Cat House Cats, they all gathered around the plates and made those “nom nom” noises as they ate. Even Ghost decided to partake, after she ate her few pieces of dry food. We have also been making changes in the treats that they get. Freeze dried and limited ingredients have replaced the highly processed treats.
Where to Begin
It can be very overwhelming once you make the decision to start feeding your cat a better diet. Which food is the best? How do I transition them? What if they don’t like it or won’t eat it? So many questions. Too many variables. Don’t fret. There are so many great resources out there for you. Just last week, The-Two-Crazy-Cat-Ladies did a weeklong, Get Fresh with Your Feline event. Each day, they had some of the top professionals in the cat and raw food industry talking about all things raw and fresh. It was absolutely amazing. Each day covered a different aspect of feeding your cat a fresh diet. Why should you feed a fresh diet? The fears of feeding a fresh diet. Your options of better foods to feed your cat. Feeding fresh on a budget. And, finally, how to start the transition.
Emmet and his healthy treats.
It was an amazing week full of so much information, tips, and tricks. As a raw food advocate, I thought I was pretty up to date on my raw food knowledge. Boy was I wrong. I learned so much. New ways to incorporate raw/fresh food into my cat’s diet. Tips to trick even my pickiest eaters. How to add some of my own food into their diet. The knowledge and passion about providing our cats with a diet that will help them to thrive and live a long healthy and happy life was inspiring. All the videos are on The Two Crazy Cat Ladies Facebook page. I highly encourage you to check them out and make the decision to provide your cats with food that is more appropriate for them.
“A home without a cat – and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat – may be a perfect home, perhaps but how can it prove title?” – Mark Twain
Lora Lee 
