<aside> 👅 You are what you eat, same for cats.
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Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they require meat in their diet and need little carbohydrates. Russian Blues should be fed with high-protein, premium cat food to keep their coat shiny and soft.
We feed a mixture of nutritionally balanced home-made raw food with varied proteins (pheasant, chicken, quail, beef, venison, turkey, ostrich, etc), premium canned food (TikiCat, FirstMate, TikiCat, Stella&Chewy), and some premium dry kibbles (TikiCat, Orijen). It is very important to keep the pet RB hydrated (especially the male RB) to prevent urinary problems, so it is better to feed mainly wet food (raw or canned) with occasional dry food.
Don't feed dog foods to cats. They have different nutritional needs!
Feeding raw guarantees the highest nutrition absorption efficiency as that's what cats were born to eat (mice are raw). Raw food is also high in water content so it keeps your cat hydrated. As raw food is mostly protein and fat with very little artificial carbs, the food is better digested and your cat will have fewer and less stinky poops— also less likely to have diarrhea.
DIY Raw Food (not recommended unless you have plenty of time)
If you would like to spend time making BALANCED raw food for your cat, it would be the cheapest way to get them hydrated with great nutrition. However, you need to prepare the food with the right bone:meat:liver ratios. If you need more info, you can ask us or join the raw feeding FB groups for recipes and local co-op groups for good meat sources. More info on feline nutrition here. You should feed the meal within an hour so that food doesn't go bad.
Commercial Frozen Raw Food
Commercial frozen raw food is a good and convenient option. All you need to do is to thaw the food ahead of time and put the thawed food into dishes.
We are using mostly Viva Raw for cats(as it’s the closest human-grade and small-batch brand in the bay area with the least shipping cost and best packaging) with the chicken, turkey, rabbit, and beef recipes; we are mixing in meats from other brands (pricier and more shipping hassle for us) Souly Raw blends(quail, rabbit,chicken) and Fetching Foods blends (Pheasant, chicken, just cat & premium cat). You may choose only feeding Viva Raw (a mushy pate texture) and we use the other two brands (minced/ground) mostly because momma cats prefer that texture.
You may check the following brands which is large-batch manufactured (sometimes subject to recalls): Primal, Stella Chewy, Small Batch, Instinct, Kiwi Kitchens, etc. They are usually available in local pet food stores such as Petfood Express. You can ask if they offer a refund during tasting periods. You should take away the dish within an hour of serving so that food doesn't go bad.
We still recommend supplementing fish oil and vitamins/quail egg yolks regularly in case the raw blends are missing certain nutrients.
Commercial Freeze-dried Raw Food
Commercial freeze-dried raw food is dry food with maximum nutrition retained as the freeze-drying process doesn't include high-temperature treatment that damages enzymes/amino acids/heat-sensitive nutrients. It is easy to store and has a long shelf life. Freeze-dried raw foods can be fed hydrated or just as dry (make sure to keep cat hydrated with water intake if fed dry). If fed as dry, you can leave it out for a day.
Remember to make sure it is BALANCED MEAL instead of TREAT when you order the freeze-dried raw food on Chewy or local stores. The brands we used are Primal, Stella Chewy, Nulo. Primal has a free refund policy during the tasting period and it's better to buy in person for the first few times in local stores.
People might think feeding commercial raw food is more costly than wet food. However, we have compared Primal with premium wet food and realized that the cost is similar (both~$2-4/day).