# Stella and Chewy's Freeze Dried



## Tabbylove (Aug 14, 2011)

Hello,
I'm hoping to see if anyone has any experience with Stella and Chewy's freeze dried cat food. I currently have 2 cats - one eats 95 percent canned (she is 18lbs and a naturally large cat but she needs to drop to about 15lbs). The other is only 8-9 lbs but a dry food addict! I have tried every canned food out there, she likes some of them but will not eat on her own. I have to finger feed her :sad I took her in as a 1 day old kitten so maybe that's why. With 4 pets I can't finger feed her forever. she's a picker and eats tiny amounts at a time so it's hard to feed her 5-6 a day like that. I've learned that she will also eat some Nature's variety raw chicken so I'm hoping to change her to that for some meals and then for the other meals to Stella and Chewy's freeze dried (she goes crazy for the stuff both as is and when I hydrate it with water). 
I can't find any good feeding guidelines for the food though - on the back it says 1 cup which seems like a lot. Does anyone feed this? I'm hoping to do half this and half raw. she has luxating patellas so I want her off the dry food so she doesn't gain weight. Thanks 

*ngredients:* Chicken (Ground with Bone), Chicken Liver, Chicken Gizzard, Pumpkin Seed, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Phosphate Monobasic, Choline Chloride, Dried Pediococcus Acidilactici Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Taurine, Tocopherols (Preservative), Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

*Guaranteed Analysis:*
crude protein……min 45.0%
crude fat……….min 25.0%
crude fiber….…...max 1.0%
moisture………..max 5.0%
taurine………..min 0.15%
Calorie Content: (ME calculated); 4,730 kcal/kg; 135 kcal/oz


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## CJinCA (Dec 5, 2011)

thats funny, the back of my bag gives a range of cat weights and corresponding amounts in ounces, although its says its a daily amount but then says feed twice a day, so I'm not clear either (I'm not at home right now or I would look and see). I don't feed just that though, I usually add it to their canned when they get picky - maybe you could try that too. I mix some in and sprinkle some on top, then they eat the whole thing (usually ;-)) My girls love it! Nature's Variety freeze dried raw is not nutritionally complete enough for cats, so I wouldn't make that a major part of the diet, but you could do the adding to the canned food trick with that as well.


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## Tabbylove (Aug 14, 2011)

I've tried mixing it with the canned she didn't touch it  It's like she thinks she can only eat the canned if I let her eat if off my finger. There was a small guideline but it just said for her weight I should feed 1 cup which seems like a lot.
The nature's variety raw isn't complete? I don't do the freeze dried - I do the regular raw meat nuggets


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## CJinCA (Dec 5, 2011)

> The nature's variety raw isn't complete? I don't do the freeze dried - I do the regular raw meat nuggets


sorry, I was thinking you were doing the freeze dried raw. I don't know about the raw...haven't gotten my kitties to eat raw, just the freeze dried stuff.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

The bag says it should feed an 8lb cat for a week. It has 12 oz in a bag, divide by 7 and you get 1.7 oz of the dry product. The calorie content is 140/oz, so 1.7 oz x 140 cal = 238 calories per day. That compares with a 5.5 oz can of Wellness or other good canned food. 

Typically we recommend one 5.5 oz can of wet food per day as the starting place for a 10lb cat since most of the labels go heavy. So I'd recommend doing the same for the S&C. 

I would assume that since the pellets are fairly large and light, when you measure out one cup there's a lot of air and it weighs about 1.7 oz. (note...one cup of kibble weighs about 5 oz.--you can't go by the liquid measure on a measuring cup).

Oh...and NV frozen raw is nutritionally balanced for a cat.


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## Tabbylove (Aug 14, 2011)

Wow so 23 bucks for 1 week of food if fed alone! Of course she likes the most expensive stuff lol. Do you know of any other freeze dried products for cats that might be less expensive? Maybe once she's used to eating the stella's moist she will finally accept canned...


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

I haven't compared prices per day, but other choices would be Honest Kitchen and Grandma Lucy. Primal is coming out with something soon, but no details available yet.


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## Tabbylove (Aug 14, 2011)

thanks  We tried THK Prowl- my dogs eat that. She wouldn't even go near it. I havent tried Grandma Lucy's yet.


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