Review on 🐱 Instinct Raw Boost: Grain-Free Dry Cat Food with High Protein Kibble and Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food by Sherry Esco

I am a Registered Veterinary Technician and have had no luck treating my 11 year old cat with IBD. I have been using steroids and prescription foods for 1 year but he was still throwing up every day and had a major problem with hairballs. My other cat had hairballs so I gave her this food as well. She is 10 years old and both have passed all the necessary tests to determine that they have no other illnesses. I bought it for its high protein/low carb content. Cats still need up to 12% carbohydrates in their diet, plus at least 45% protein and a moderate amount of fat. Unfortunately, 98% of the pellets on the market contain 25-50% carbohydrate and less than 40% protein. Having already tried prescription foods and medications, I decided to limit his carbs and increase his protein since carbs are much harder to digest. I gradually switched to this new food over the course of 3 weeks. His vomiting and hairballs stopped by the 6th week. Now there is cream-colored droppings in the bowl. I hope his hair can finally be rendered properly (he's a brilliant white cat). Although light-colored poop can indicate absorption issues, I'll have to test that at work now. Why 3 stars? One reason is white feces. But remember I said I put the other cat on a diet too? Well, I rarely believe in coincidences - and that would be a HUGE coincidence: my other cat, Ziva, has been changing just as slowly. In the first week after the full transition, she began throwing up. She didn't eat for about a day, then we heard howling at night, then nothing. We found her face down in her own vomit and having a seizure. Her X-ray showed that her entire gastrointestinal tract was full. Her stomach was still full after 16 hours of fasting. They could actually see all the "raw" pieces on the x-ray in the exact shape they are in the pouch, filling most of their stomach. The next day she had cluster seizures that lasted for over 30 minutes before finally stopping. There was no mechanical jam, but it took so long for all those "raw" parts to erode out of their system. Now she is constantly on wet food (the best cat food, only expensive). Cats don't chew a large percentage of their food (so if they vomit within 2 hours of eating, it's always a lumpy form just swollen with gastric juice). Raw products are no exception. You are dehydrated! Guess what happens when you put something dehydrated in a stomach full of juices and the water they drink? They swell so much that their stomachs fill up quickly! Again, we can't link her sudden seizures to her inability to get the "raw" chunks out of her gastrointestinal tract in days - but it's a freaking coincidence, IMO! We immediately removed all the "raw" bits and just fed my cat IBD. But the "raw" chunks are where the high protein comes from, so I will be switching my cat from IBD to the Instinct Ultimate Protein line once the white poop mystery is solved.