Wow - I didn't know Pet Valu carries Nature's Variety here in Winnipeg? One place you may want to look for a raw diet is "It's Raining Cat's and Dogs" on Academy. They have many different raw food diets at there store. And made in Manitoba as well. But most are geared towards dogs. If you see a certain diet you like and hear good reviews about them from people the owner may get the product in for you.
I used the Urban Carnivore to tranition my cats to a raw food diet. I think it is very good for this purpose. It was good at the time but I did become concerned with the bone to meat ratio. Once I started to feed my cats fresh meat they turned their noses up to the Urban Carnivore because it wasn't as fresh. I have heard of many people feeding the NV raw diet with good results as well. But many cats seem to become constipated on this diet it seems.
I never had problems with big bone pieces in the Urban Carnivore. But I like to break up my cats food before I feed it to them anyways - even canned food...lol! I like to make sure there is nothing in the food that my cat should'nt be eaing.
You don't have to buy a grinder to feed raw to your cat. You can chunk up the meat and feed it like that (or even feed whole pieces). For bone I would start off with Quail, Cornish Hen ribs or wings. These have VERY small bones in them. Making your own food is MUCH cheaper then the pre-made types of diets. There are many different websites and forums that you could join to learn more on feeding a balanced raw diet for your cat. If you want some links to look over please let me know
