Stella and Chewy's

Does anyone feed their diabetic cats Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw food? Both my cats love it, and I enjoy feeding it to them, but I need to keep Martha's carbs really low and there seems to be dispute as to the carb count in this food. If I subtract the G.A. from 100% I get about 24% carbs. But looking over the ingredients, there does not seem like much in there to cause this high a carb count. This is the information I have from Stella & Chewy's website:

Ingredients: Turkey (ground with bone), Turkey Liver, Turkey 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, Riboflavin, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

Guaranteed Analysis:
crude protein.……min 40.0%
crude fat…………min 35.0%
crude fiber……......max 1.0%
moisture………….max 5.0%
taurine…………..min 0.25%

Thanks so much.

 

I'd be interested in your responses to this post, as I just bought some Stella & Chewys Freeze Dried Raw Cat Food and also their Freeze Dried Raw Dog Treats. I don't feed it as a meal, but break apart the nuggets and feed them as after test treats or as food toppings.

 

My girls LOVE this - I only buy the chicken flavor - I got it because my civvie, Buster wanted crunchies desperately and since that is no longer an option, my pet sitter mentioned this. She gave me some to try and Maui/Buster love it.

Now, they won't eat it with water added, they only eat it dry. I read the ingredients and they look fine to me and as Maui is in remission, this doesn't seem to have any impact on BG's. So, I keep a bowl of this out all the time for them to eat as their substitute crunchies.

Now, if you are going to buy it, the cheapest place I found online - is http://www.petfood.com/item/stella-and- ... od/498360/

They have different promos and if you sign up for auto ship, you lock in the cheapest price and discount.

 

I want it for two reasons, and the CRUNCHIES are certainly one of them. Our babies do get a hankering for something crunchy and this sounds so good. I also want Martha to eat as much raw as possible as I've heard many times how it has cured IBD, which she is seriously into right now. I won't feed ordinary raw food because I just don't trust it, but S&C has had such good reports. Martha is also in remission and I don't want to do anything to rock the boat!

 

My cats love-love-love it - I add warm water.

I have not noticed increased BGs in Tiggy from this food, but I don't know the carb count.

I called the other day to ask about Phosphorous content, and got the following info:

Chicken 0.51% Phos
Duck 0.89%
Salmon & Chick 0.53%
Turkey 0.70%

if watching phos content for CKD (kidney) kitties - lower is better and 0.5 or less is recommended but I think the chicken flavors are "close enough"

phoebe

 

I personally won't use Stella & Chewy's because I have called and asked them for carb content in the past and they refused to give it to me because it's "proprietary." Well, my diabetic cat's health isn't proprietary, so I won't support them with my money based on principle alone.

But to answer your question, according to the carb calculator, it's got over 18% carbs (probably in part due to the low moisture?). As a treat, I wouldn't think it's too much of a problem, although with how sensitive Mikey is to carbs, I probably wouldn't give it to him as a treat. ECID, so this might work for you. I would keep an eye on their BG, though.

 

Maybe they're giving the info out now? They wouldn't tell me when I've called before. I hope they've changed that policy. :smile:

 

if the carb calculator is correct - the chicken flavor is 24% carbs!

ok - that's it no more of this stuff - they are going to have to just eat boring ole fancy feast only.....darn and here I thought this was a good alternative.

 

Inspecting the ingredients list a bit further, I suspect it might be the "fermentation products" that increases the carb content.

 

I have been emailing one of their representatives, who seemed very helpful at first. She staunchly maintains that S&C is 1% carbohydrate. She has emphasized this over and over. When pressing to tell me how they get the 1% she does not explain. She said, I PROMISE you S&C is 1% or less because there's just no ingredient in it that could cause a high count.
I have put my two bags away for now. I just don't think I want to take a chance with Martha.

 

Hi, the fourth listed ingredient is 'pumpkin seeds'. That may also be where some of the carbs are coming from...?

 

I think you'd have to consume a lot of pumpkin seeds (and/or pumpkin) for it to affect the carb level significantly. From here: