Fetching Foods v. Small Batch Pet v. Homemade Cat food nutritional / meal questions!!!

[LisaDi]

hi all - required info below:
Charlie, female, spayed, approx 7 years old, approx 10 lbs, recovering from a dental procedure / cleaning with 3 tooth extractions (was on Dec 1), on Smalls Cat food, she is behaviorally worrying me and being spicy when unprovoked, she had health issues only arise after roughly 2 years ago, was put on a corse of prednisolone for biting bald spots in her fur at the time (she still does sometimes), and had a rabies Purevax in July 23, and also then had some other meds from that same vet (I'd have to look up the names for) around that time - appetite is normal-ish, although she is not eating as much at one time as she used to, and energy is a bit lessened, mood varies between her normal sweet self and then being agitated or irritable

I'm looking at Fetching Foods, based out of Las Vegas which seems like a fantastic company - their formulas are purely meat, no added vegetables and minimal added supplements, nutrition gotten from the parts of the animal included in their formulas. What are you thoughts on this? I've currently got her on Smalls Cat food, and want to find her something higher quality. I've been trying to work out making it on my own and I'm not going to be able to grind organs and offal together, so for now I wanted to find a good alternative, ( I've asked many butchers in town but no one can accommodate).
I also recently came across Small Batch pets which has veggies added and I'm wondering what anyone's thoughts are. the Fetching foods has a free shipping offer until midnight so I'd like to take advantage of it as it seems like real high quality meat, but wondered if this is a complete food for a kitty that has bowel issues (She doesn't poop frequently enough and I'm weaning her off the 2x daily Miralax our former 'holistically minded' vet had me put her on when she got a constipation issue from meds she was on 2 years ago (Was completely fine before that). In a nutshell jus looking for some input, I feel like I'm missing something.

Also, I'll add another secondary food question just since it's on the same topic. if I was to make her food, I found the breakdown from Force of Nature company ancestral blends where I can buy them at Whole Foods. I am not sure which completer I would need to buy to make this a complete meal for my cat. I'll copy paste the company's response when I emailed to ask about the products' composition in terms of specific organ v muscle meat. Thanks!

• Heritage, Slow-Growth Chicken Ancestral Blend: Contains 5% organ blend made up of heart, liver, and gizzard. We don’t have the exact percentages for each individual organ. All our chickens are fed certified organic feed, even if product packaging looks different at retailers like Whole Foods—so the formulation is the same, just labeled differently.
• Grass Fed Beef Ancestral Blend: Contains 4% liver and 4% heart.
• Bison Ancestral Blend: Contains 4% liver and 3% heart (8% total organ meats).
• Venison Ancestral Blend: Contains 10% organ meats (venison liver, venison heart, and a small amount of beef).

@Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina @Dr. Jean Hofve

 

[Dr. Jeff]

I also recently came across Small Batch pets

That’s what I alternate with Viva raw for both my pup and kitties. Dr. Jean also Smalls.

I’m not familiar with Fetching Foods so will check it out.

. I am not sure which completer I would need to buy to make this a complete meal for my cat. I

Do the mixes contain anything else like bone?

 

[LisaDi]

That’s what I alternate with Viva raw for both my pup and kitties. Dr. Jean also Smalls.

I’m not familiar with Fetching Foods so will check it out.


Do the mixes contain anything else like bone?

Hi @Dr Jeff! thank you for your reply! Good to know that you use Small Batch, I will keep in mind for the future. I just placed a significant order with Fetching Foods to take advantage of the waived 35$ shipping fee! Here is the Cat sampler pack, it has ingredients on each photo if you click on. Just Cat Sampler Pack - Fetching Foods
I'll copy paste one of the recipes here, for the boneless rabbit. Ingredients: Oregon pasture-raised deboned rabbit, heart, kidney, liver, whole fresh egg (shell, white, yolk), psyllium husk, vitamin E, astaxanthin, manganese gluconate. *All ingredients organic unless otherwise noted.
Most of their formulas don't have any bones, I think a few of them do but I don't use any bone with her due to her infrequent bowel movements. They describe on their site that they don't add additional taurine due to the sufficient, and over the phone the guy told me it was exceeding, requirement of daily taurine for cats. I do have a taurine supplement at home, and can always add more if you think that would be wise, but I've never used it with her since I don't know the daily dosage

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Most of their formulas don't have any bones, I

Eggshell calcium is a great source!

Let's see what @Dr. Jean Hofve says about the taurine or other supplements.

BTW-Fresh and freeze dried chicken and turkey hearts are a great supplemental source of taurine.

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Hi, this is interesting food but obviously not a balanced diet, nor does it claim to be. Rabbit is notoriously deficient in taurine, and ruminants (lamb, venison, beef) are lower than other meats, so you definitely want to add it. A cat requires about 100 mg per day total. You can't overdo it, so I would add that full amount. Calcium is also lacking and that is crucial. I use about 1 rounded tablespoon of calcium powder per pound of meat in a homemade recipe. There are other vitamins and minerals that may not be quite enough, look at the recipe at www.catinfo.org to see all the things needed to make up a complete cat diet. Alternatively, use a product like Holistic Vet Blend or TCFeline which will balance the meat blend.

 

[LisaDi]

Hi, this is interesting food but obviously not a balanced diet, nor does it claim to be. Rabbit is notoriously deficient in taurine, and ruminants (lamb, venison, beef) are lower than other meats, so you definitely want to add it. A cat requires about 100 mg per day total. You can't overdo it, so I would add that full amount. Calcium is also lacking and that is crucial. I use about 1 rounded tablespoon of calcium powder per pound of meat in a homemade recipe. There are other vitamins and minerals that may not be quite enough, look at the recipe at www.catinfo.org to see all the things needed to make up a complete cat diet. Alternatively, use a product like Holistic Vet Blend or TCFeline which will balance the meat blend.

Hi @Dr. Jean Hofve ,

Happy new year! Thank you very much for your reply! I'm really shocked and disappointed to read what you said, that their products aren't a balanced diet!

They claim that the nutrients are provided from the parts of the animal, not largely from synthetic supplements, which is obviously preferable, so it sold me, and I didn't know it wasn't nutritionally complete. Here is a quote copy pasted from their FAQ's - "All of the recommended and required nutrients including Taurine are provided by our whole food ingredients. Remember, when you see added vitamins and minerals on your cat’s or dog’s food label, it means the ‘food’ ingredients were not of high enough quality or do not have the nutrient density to provide those nutrients themselves. These nutrients can be destroyed by over-grinding, over-mixing, or by a high temperature cooking process. "
They also state in the FAQs
"Fetching Foods ranks in the excellent range relative to all other pet foods. The exact values are listed on the product pages for the food you’re purchasing."

I'm not able to grind offal to add to her food, so I am not doing homemade rn. I tried holistic Vet blend senior premix with ground turkey, and she didn't love it. I'd also rather not give her just ground muscle meat and a completer. That doesn't feel complete to me.
Every other pre-made raw or frozen food companies which I thought looked great, all use bone, which she can't have rn. either that or they have additives I don't want to feed her long term or exclusively.

Regarding the Fetching foods order I placed, I'm trying to understand what I should add to it based on your reccs here. I'll also include details of exactly what I ordered below. There are only 3 packets of the rabbit recipe that I ordered. she's never had rabbit before, and bc of her itching issue and occasional missing patches of fur, I don't' know if she's allergic to chicken or turkey - she gets a good deal of those, so wanted to try her on different animals. She also eats pig and cow from Smalls too.

- I have taurine capsules , 500 mg from Whole Foods lying around (365 brand),so maybe estimate 50 mg per meal? (Or maybe I should buy one with an easier dosing option)
- Re Calcium, I've heard egg shell powder maybe, but maybe I'm mixing that up with something. Or what kind of calcium do you recommend? I'm happy to add that, but as you said, that's what you'd add to a homemade recipe. Would I be adding just that to the Fetching Foods flavors/animals, maybe just the specific animals you mentioned here?
- you said there may be other nutrients lacking too, so I'm just not sure what to do.
- I actually do have a container of Holistic Vet blend Senior premix, so I could use some of that if you think necessary. the dosing instructions with that are only for a whole batch of that food, so idk how to measure it otherwise.

I got her two of the Fetching Foods Sampler packs, one gently cooked and one raw, which include one of each recipe: rabbit , chicken, turkey, venison, pork, beef, lamb. if you care to look, here are two links: is the link to the sampler pack, the photos have the ingredients: Just Cat Sampler Pack - Fetching Foods, and the nutrition info I found on the site is here, she is getting "Just Cat" https://fetchingfoods.com/detailed-nutritional-analysis/

I'm feeling really overwhelmed and frustrated trying to navigate getting her the best food short of teaching myself things I'm obviously not fluent in to make her own homemade food right now. I've spent so much time online researching and I just placed a big order with them, couldn't really afford it in the first place, but did it with a free shipping offer, and I was so excited about it - now I'm feeling very defeated. I've been reading about this stuff for over a year at this point. these are the same feelings i've had not being able to find her a holistic and comprehensive vet to be in charge of her care, so I feel like I'm floating around in the dark here spending my months and now years going down rabbit holes of researching with a head full of possibly incorrect knowledge. She's on Smalls food right now, btw. I don't want her on it forever and certainly not exclusively to be clear.

I don't know what to do from this juncture, but I'm absolutely fried and spent, trying to give her the best care I can and feel like I'm absolutely failing. (This is not just regarding her food, but her unresolved health issues I'm either struggling with, or not attending to at all due to 'no solution from the vet' or no holistic or drug-free solution I've found).

To be clear about her vet, I found her a wonderful vet who just did her dental on Dec 1, I really like her, and she was the only one I found who would do a dental on her without pushing shots. However, her knowledge doesn't extend to the realm of holistic options really.

I know that's a lot and I appreciate you reading all of it, and your time. didn't mean to conflate two issues, but it's really gotten overwhelming to me at this point so I hope you don't mind the transparency and info dump. Thank you!!

@Dr. Barbara @Dr. Christina @Dr. Jeff @DrTamara