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You are here: Home / Diary / Raw and Unfiltered – We Taste Test #InstinctRaw Cat Food

Raw and Unfiltered – We Taste Test #InstinctRaw Cat Food

September 21, 2015 By: Summer Samba45 Comments

This post is sponsored by Instinct® and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Instinct Raw but I only share information I feel is relevant to sparklecat.com readers. Instinct is not responsible for the content of this article.

Posing in the car before shopping

As you know, I went crazy over the raw chicken hearts my human brought home a few weeks ago. So my human and I were very excited to be one of the bloggers chosen to give Instinct Raw Bites for cats a try! The main reason my human doesn’t feed us cats raw is time — buying whole birds and grinding them up, then preparing a week’s worth of meals is not something she would do. She doesn’t even spend much time on her own food. She is the queen of to-go. That’s the reason that the Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw is so appealing to her. It’s totally convenient — and good for us kitties!

How come the dogs get so many choices?

So my human and I went to our nearest PetSmart, and the freezer containing the Instinct Raw Bites was right there! For us kitties, they had the Chicken and Rabbit bites (there are also Duck and Tuna available, but they weren’t in stock). Since we cats are most familiar with — and love — chicken, that’s what she got.

Hurry up - I can't open this bag by myself!

I couldn’t wait to give the Instinct Raw Bites a try! Even though I am a breed cat, I have a wild soul… and metabolism. We cats are obligate carnivores, and a raw diet is as close to what we would eat in nature as we can get as housecats. The Instinct Raw Bites are 95% meat, organs and bones, 5% fruits and vegetables (sort of like what you would find in the stomach of caught prey), and 100% grain FREE.

My human is not big on washing dishes either

My human started us off with a snack, and put about 1/4 cup in each dish. That’s about the same amount as a light breakfast for us.

Patience is not MY virtue!

Because the Raw Bites are so small, they only take a few minutes to defrost. Since they are raw, you are not supposed to let them sit around and get too warm — just enough to take off the chill and become palatable to us kitties.

I pretty much thought they were palatable right out of the freezer

I thought a few minutes was too long to wait! I wanted to try them right away.

I was hoping they wouldn't like it, so I could have theirs!

Ideally, humans should gradually transition their cats to a raw diet over a period of a few weeks by mixing it with their regular food. This makes it easier for their taste buds and digestive system to adjust. I just wanted the Raw Bites and since it was a snack, that’s what I got. Binga and Boodie got some canned food mixed with theirs. They weren’t 100% sure about the Raw Bites plain, but once it was combined with some canned food, they chowed down.

Go back to your own food!

Binga had to make sure I wasn’t getting something better first! But she went back to her own food and finished it.

She did not appreciate being disturbed for this photo

It turned out that Boodie liked the Raw Bites as much as the mixed-in raw food.

Can I have more, please?

All of us were members of the clean plate club!

I'm waiting.

Instinct Raw Bites for cats is a great solution for humans who want to give their cats a raw diet, but don’t have the time or tools to make it from scratch. If you want to give it a try, you can get a $3 off coupon here: http://www.instinctpetfood.com/getraw

You can find out more about Instinct’s Raw food on their website.
Or you can get social: Visit Instinct on Facebook

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Comments

  1. Bernadette says

    September 22, 2015 at 7:43 am

    We’re glad you ladies liked it! I fed my cats Instinct Raw for almost two years, until last year when they reformulated all their meals. I really think they are an excellent company and their food is consistently very good, or at least my kitties thought so. My fine felines don’t like chicken at all, and the little bags of raw bits don’t go far with 7 to 10 cats, so we are waiting until they have their other formulas for cats in patties again, and hopefully they’ll have venison for the kitties again!

    Reply
  2. Spitty the Kitty says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    I am TOTALLY impressed at that skeery face you used to keep Binga at bay–geez, she was really gonna steal your foods, wasn’t she? As if! The Human might look into those things for me next time she’s at PetSmart!

    Reply
  3. meowmeowmans says

    September 21, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    That stuff sounds great, Summer! We’ve already eaten our dinners, but your review made us hungry all over again! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Fraidy Cats! says

    September 21, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    our mom would get that for Minnie. it was nice that it will thaw quickly in case mom forgot to get any out of the freezer the night before a breakfast meal or the morning before a dinner meal. plus, we don’t know about you kitties, but it seemed like Minnie needed to chew more – she wasn’t swallowing the food whole. Mostly we eat shtinky goodness any more because it is more economical. we’re glad you all liked this food. it does make going raw easier (our mom would never take the time to make us raw from scratch) purrs,

    pip, smidgen, minnie, hollie

    Reply
  5. William says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:49 pm

    I’m pretty impressed with all of you! The only raw stuff we have around here are bugs…if Mom doesn’t trap and release them first.

    Reply
  6. PHoebe Kitten says

    September 21, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    This looks fascinating. raw is the source of much discussion and, yes, for 8 of us that would be to much work. This looks a great way to go for transitioning to raw!

    Reply
  7. Flynn says

    September 21, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    It looks very tasty. My mum wishes ie was available in the UK, but I am so picky I probably wouldn’t eat it anyway.

    Reply
  8. Cathy Keisha says

    September 21, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    Binga didn’t like the chicken livers either. TW is not fond of raw. She sterialized the entire kitchen after she cooks chicken. She’d prolly put it on paper plates too. I don’t like freeze dried raw so she didn’t sign me up for this campaign.

    Reply
  9. Maxwell, Faraday & Allie says

    September 21, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    We have this food in our raw repertoire and are so glad more people are willing to try raw!

    Reply
  10. Mary Franz says

    September 21, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Great product.. Have used it for a long time. Summer’s Mom loves it !!

    Reply
  11. Kitties Blue says

    September 21, 2015 at 1:30 pm

    We had not heard of this food before and really appreciate the review. Mom does not have time to make raw food for eight kitties but says she would definitely give this a try. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    Reply
  12. The Swiss Cats says

    September 21, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    That sounds great : raw food ready to eat ! We have to search if something like this is available in Switzerland ; Mum is interested but too lazy (she says busy) to prepare it. Purrs

    Reply
  13. Famous SpokesGoat Pricilla says

    September 21, 2015 at 11:36 am

    You really chowed down on those raw bites. I do not like meat – I am an herbivore. But Harry the Farm cat is all in favor of raw food. Especially if he can catch it first.

    Reply
  14. BeadedTail says

    September 21, 2015 at 11:33 am

    Mommy wants us to eat raw so she went to PetsMart here in our town but they only had the raw for dogs (it’s a very small PetsMart). She went to a local pet food store and they had raw for kitties but not that brand but she got some anyway. We did not like it – no how, no way! She mixed it in our regular food but we refused to eat it. She gave up since they went on vacation but now she’s back at it and trying some other frozen raw stuffs. We’ll see how long we hold out!

    Reply
  15. Emma and Buster says

    September 21, 2015 at 10:04 am

    We have not tried the raw food anything. You kitties are such good tasters. So will this be on the menu regularly then?

    Emma and Buster

    Reply
  16. leia & toby says

    September 21, 2015 at 9:39 am

    Looks like a total win at your house.

    Reply
  17. GLOGIRLY CATS says

    September 21, 2015 at 9:17 am

    We’ve tried Instinct Raw too and really enjoyed it. It appears that more and more PetSmarts are starting to carry it too. We hope this will open the door to more pet parents feeding raw to their cats. Reeding raw and whole foods has made all the difference for us. In fact, we believe it’s helped change the course of Katie’s IBD. We’re definitely believers!

    Reply
    • Summer Samba says

      September 21, 2015 at 10:51 am

      Only this morning my human realized that Binga has been throwing up fewer hair piles (they’re not really hair “balls”) since we’ve included the raw in her diet. If she’d known earlier, I could have included that in my post.

      Reply
      • GLOGIRLY CATS says

        September 21, 2015 at 2:38 pm

        That’s an awesome benefit! Waffles has no trouble at all. Katie still needs a hairball remedy. As cats go, she just carries more stress than Waffles does. ; )

        Reply
    • Mary Franz says

      September 21, 2015 at 3:17 pm

      Yes, raw seems to help IBD.

      Reply
  18. Tamago says

    September 21, 2015 at 9:12 am

    That’s a great review and glad you liked the Instinct raw food! I love it comes in bite size 🙂

    Reply
  19. Annabelle says

    September 21, 2015 at 9:07 am

    Summer that’s a paws up good review.

    Reply
  20. Kjelle Bus aka Charlie Rascal says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:47 am

    Looks tasty for being raw food 😀

    XOXO

    Reply
  21. Ingrid King says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Since you all liked this so much, I hope your human makes this part of your regular diet now!

    Reply
  22. Marg says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:39 am

    Looks like you sure like those treats Summer. They sound really good.

    Reply
  23. Crepes says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:26 am

    Super tasty! We love it, too. Nice photos!

    Reply
  24. Sue Brandes says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:06 am

    Thanks for the review. Might have to give it a try.

    Reply
  25. Kitty Cat Chronicles says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:05 am

    These sound really yummy!!! The Mom just got us some chicken cutlets from the grocery store actually! We can’t wait to dig into those. She has been wanting to get us back on a raw diet. These sound really convenient, but we are wondering about the price. All of the prepackaged raw foods like this we have seen have been out of our budget. It is much cheaper to prepare yourself, though you’re right — it is much more time consuming.

    Reply
  26. Ellen Pilch says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:02 am

    That was quite a look that you gave to Binga. These sound great, I would love to feed raw, but can’t see my lazy self grinding up meat so this would be a good option.

    Reply
  27. selina says

    September 21, 2015 at 8:00 am

    Our local grocery store carries this, but we thought it was only dog food. MomKatt will look more closely when she goes shopping this week! Ya’ll look like it’s REALLY yummy!~

    Purrz!
    Selina

    Reply
  28. Laila and Minchie says

    September 21, 2015 at 7:18 am

    Great review guys! It got Mom to print out that coupon and the next time she goes to Petsmart she’s going to buy a bag for us to try.

    Reply
  29. Brian Frum says

    September 21, 2015 at 6:00 am

    Dang, Dad said he doesn’t remember seeing those at our PetSmart, but then again they are usually out of what he goes to get. They do look yummy pretty Summer!

    Reply
  30. dma says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:51 am

    might have to let the boyz give those a try… for whatever reason diego-san seems to think the food in Thompson’s dish tastes better.

    Reply
  31. Melissa, Mudpie & Angel Truffles says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:21 am

    I’ve tried raw bites with Mudpie and so far she’s been pretty picky with it but I’m going to keep trying!!!

    Reply
  32. Katie Bella says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:15 am

    Summer, I love what you say more than anything! BIG BIG smile here.

    Reply
  33. The Island Cats says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:09 am

    We got to try the Instinct Raw too. We mixed it in with our wet food…and give it a big paws up!

    Reply
  34. Sasha says

    September 21, 2015 at 5:03 am

    We don’t seem to have raw.

    Reply
  35. Madi and Mom says

    September 21, 2015 at 4:43 am

    Golly Summer I just had breakfast and now I’m hungry all over again.
    Hugs madi your bfff

    Reply
  36. Pawesome cats says

    September 21, 2015 at 4:36 am

    An empty plate is always a good sign! We’re big advocates of a raw food diet, so am glad you’re getting to try it and spread the word!

    Reply
  37. The kitties of purring pines says

    September 21, 2015 at 3:31 am

    Thanks fur the info. We saw Katie and Waffles endorsement too.

    Reply
  38. Sometimes Cats Herd You says

    September 21, 2015 at 3:16 am

    That looks tasty! Newton was eating Instinct Raw Bites exclusively for a while, but the places that carried it near us stopped. One of them told the head peep that she was the only one buying it from them. It’s unfortunate that there are so few people interested in feeding raw that it impacts availability. Hopefully that will change in the future for us!

    Reply
  39. Mr Puddy says

    September 21, 2015 at 2:46 am

    Drooling like a doggie !!!
    when this brand is going to hit Australia ???

    Reply
  40. Layla Morgan Wilde (Cat Wisdom 101) says

    September 21, 2015 at 1:28 am

    Darn, how did I miss this campaign? We need a combo of raw and having easy to defrost bits makes it easier. Clearly your guys like Instinct.

    Reply
  41. Georgia and Julie says

    September 21, 2015 at 1:06 am

    Gee that sounds yummy and by the looks of empty plates, it is yummy 🙂
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tongue Lashing says:
    September 23, 2015 at 12:10 am

    […] that is just what I should give my human! When we were doing the photo shoot the other day for the Instinct Raw Bites blog post, she really wanted to get a photo of me licking my lips, and you should see some of the terrible […]

    Reply

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