Switching Russian Blue from raw to wet food

Switching from raw to commercial wet food is a smart move when life gets busy — and honestly, for a 6-year-old Russian Blue, a high-quality wet food can come very close to what raw offers nutritionally, as long as you pick the right one. Cats are obligate carnivores with specific protein and moisture needs that many commercial foods miss, but the good ones don't. Before I point you in the right direction: does your Russian Blue have any health issues or sensitivities, and has the raw diet been a single protein or a variety?

That's a really good starting point. She's used to variety and real meat, which means she'll likely reject anything that smells or tastes heavily processed — so we need something with a short, honest ingredient list and a high named-meat content. How is she with pâté-style versus chunks in gravy? And is she prone to being fussy at all?

Perfect — that makes this straightforward. My recommendation is Applaws Natural Wet Cat Food in the pâté range, specifically their chicken varieties. It's 75% chicken breast with broth, no added grains, no sugar, no thickeners — the ingredient list reads almost like a raw meal. The texture is smooth enough that cats coming off raw rarely reject it, and the high moisture content is genuinely good for kidney health in middle-aged cats like yours. It's available in multipacks on Amazon UK, which keeps the cost reasonable. I'd start with the chicken pâté as the base and rotate in the turkey variety once she's settled — it mirrors the variety she's been getting from raw without you having to think too hard about it.

It's a fair concern. The main things raw does well are moisture, fresh protein, and avoiding the fillers and starches that bulk out cheaper wet foods. Applaws ticks those boxes. The one area raw has an edge is natural enzymes and some micronutrients that degrade slightly in processing — but for a healthy cat eating a complete wet food, this isn't something that needs fixing. If you want a belt-and-braces approach, a weekly sprinkle of a quality probiotic powder designed for cats can help maintain the gut flora she's built up on raw. But honestly, for a healthy six-year-old, the switch you're making is a sensible, sustainable one — don't overthink it.

Good plan — a week of mixing, increasing the proportion of Applaws each day, is all you need. She's not fussy and she's healthy, so she should take to it well. Enjoy having your evenings back.