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A history of Feline Future and the origin of the Instincts cat food.
“Backing our research with the test of time”.
Since 1995 Feline Future has been a leading voice in advocating a raw meat base diet for companion cats,
educating thousands of cat owners worldwide about a more sensible way to feline nutrition. Our company’s
ethics are rooted in a deep passion for cats, and our devotion to their wellbeing has been an inspiration to many over the years.
Over a period stretching from 2007 to 2008 Feline Future introduced a second formula
"Instincts 2" - a premix which can be used as a base for the preparation of several therapeutic formulas, including a no fibre food for kittens
and a reduced protein food for cats with kidney disease. During this period, Feline Future gave its flagship product "InstinctsTC"
a fresh look, and together with a cat enthusiast and cat food store owner in Germany launched Feline Future's licensed manufacturing
site for Europe.
 This brainchild was born to cat lovers Natascha Wille and Scott Baker in 1995, who initially named it
the “Feline Future Foundation” - a non-profit organization with a focus on the ethical treatment
of companion cats, which made its home near Vancouver, British Columbia. Just one year later, the
organization specialized entirely in finding much needed alternative nutritional solutions for cats,
driven by a progressive pet owning population who was ready to embrace a do-it-yourself cat food.
Above: 1995 Feline Future Foundation info leaflet. One issue the organization focused
on was the right of people to keep companion cats in rental housing. Designed by
Natascha Wille.
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Left: the new business logo.
By 1996 Feline Future had created the “Instincts – nutriment for cats” cat food formula and published
it on its website, as well as in its 39 page hand-out booklet: “Nurturing the True Carnivore”. Soon later,
the organization turned business to supply an ever growing local demand for a ready-to-serve product of
this formulation. Before the time when pet stores were equipped with freezers, the Instincts frozen cat
food was available through home delivery. In addition, Feline Future supplied customers with a raw
meat-heart-liver blend for home preparing the formula, as well as frozen mice and chicken necks!
Through the internet, the do-it-yourself recipe for the Instinct formula circled the globe and found a
followership with an amazing number of cat lovers, who re-published this recipe in emails, on websites,
articles, magazines, and even in books.
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Above: the foundation formula of the Instincts cat food, or “nutriment for cats”, created by
Natascha Wille and Scott Baker. In 1996, the formula still included vegetables.
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The frozen Instincts cat food was available made with chicken, lamb, venison, rabbit, and duck.
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Left: Natascha Wille and Scott Baker with favorite cat “Cheops” and the Feline Future cat food delivery
vehicle in 1996. The slogan on the vehicle was “Taking cats back to their roots”.
Below: a sample label of the ready-to-eat frozen Instincts cat food. The round label was applied to the
top of clear plastic containers of 100g and 200g sizes.
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Left: cover of Feline Future’s 1996 39 page informational booklet, discussing the cat’s dietary needs
as carnivore, how to make the Instincts cat food at home, as well as enclosing itemized information of
the ready-to-eat frozen food. This booklet was the precursor to Natascha and Scott’s book “The Backyard Predator”.
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Ever expanding their informative and educational website, and reaching more and more people through the
word-of-mouth spread of their recommendations, Feline Future developed the “InstinctsTC” powdered pre-mix
in 1998 in response to a growing North American wide demand for this food. Since shipping a frozen product
over large distances presented real problems, Natascha and Scott decided to supply all necessary ingredients
for the formula as a powdered pre-mix. The customer only needed to add raw meat and liver. 1998 is also the
year when Feline Future moved its home to set up an expanded facility on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia,
to house its large study group.
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 Left: the first InstinctsTC powdered pre-mix – or “dry ingredient component”. The powder was packaged as
“batch” size in a plastic zip-lock pouch and sealed with all necessary instructions in a paper envelope.
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 Right: The first InstinctsTC logo symbolized the research behind the product: from analyzing natural prey,
to the study of small felines, into your cat’s food bowl. Designed by Natascha Wille.
In 1998 Natascha and Scott met American Shorthair breeder Michelle Bernard through the common interest
in home preparing cat food. As an editor by profession, Michelle offered her skills to proof-read the manuscript
for “The Backyard Predator” and later wrote her own book: “Raising Cats Naturally”
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In 1999 Natascha and Scott published the book “The Backyard Predator – a guide to nutrition for companion cats” through
their affiliate the “Centre for Feline Education”. The main feature of the book was the “Instincts Recipe for a Nutriment
for Cats” – now completely without any addition of vegetables, and one of its kind. Feeding companion cats an all meat
diet was revolutionary!
Left: On the cover: Feline Future’s signature cat “Rubus” – born and raised at Feline Future.
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 In 2001, Feline Future’s founding members parted ways, as Scott Baker pursued a different career. Natascha Wille
brought Heather Bovey on board, who gave the company a publicity push.
Right: 2001, Natascha and Heather at a local venue – representing Feline Future and “Know Better Dog Food”. Natascha
developed the dog food formula on request of customers that same year, but was – in the end – a true cat lover at heart.
The company was sold a year later and now makes its home on Texada Island, British Columbia.
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Above: a new face on the team, and a new face for InstinctsTC. Packaged in jars, the product took on a very clinical look.
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Below: except from the May 2001 issue of “The Whole Cat Journal” who chose our mix as” top pick”.
The article also mentions our new US-distributor, who would eventually cause Feline Future its greatest heart-ache.
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Left: 2003, a less clinical, and warmer look for InstinctsTC. The original logo was replaced by this new look in motion,
featuring, for the first time, our cover boy “Corylus” – also one of Feline Future’s own. This handsome tuxedo cat has since
become the icon for InstinctsTC.
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 In 2003 Feline Future incorporated its own feline amino acid-mineral supplement “Felamin” into the InstinctsTC pre-mix,
replacing bone or bone meal in its formula, and setting itself apart once again by no longer recommending the use of bone
meal or grinding whole carcasses to feed cats.
Feline Future moved from its research facility to Three Gables Farm that year, retiring the cats from 6 years of being a
controlled study group. Half of the group went to new homes.
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Also in 2003, Feline Future sustained a very personal theft. Being temporarily compromised in supplying customers with
InstinctsTC during the Mad Cow Crises, which stopped all import of pet food to the US for some weeks, former distributor
Felice Aratha-Rhodes of “Feline Instincts” plagiarized the InstinctsTC formula and created a copy of the product. The
former appropriateness of the similar company names was going to be a permanent thorn for Feline Future, as customers
could no longer differentiate between the real company and the imposter. This violation of copyright was devastating to
Natascha Wille, who had over the past 8 years painstakingly developed this formula – waking up to cats and falling asleep
with them. Although Feline Instincts makes claims to have been in this business independently from Feline Future for years,
this simply is not true. It is true, however, that Felice contacted Feline Future as a customer in 1999 – which later
developed into an internet friendship and lead to the creation of “Feline Instincts”. Since both Natascha and Scott
considered Felice a friend, a legal agreement did not exist, which would have enabled Feline Future to seek justice in
the court of law.
In response to the theft of the Instincts formulas, Feline Future no longer published its recipes on its website, including
the recipe for the original Instincts cat food, a recipe using Calcium Lactate instead of bone meal, a recipe for using
whole, ground chicken/rabbit (whole carcass), and the recipe for the kidney diet.
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Forging ahead into 2004 with a much improved and highly refined formula, which proved itself to be even more effective for
feeding cats, Feline Future went back to packaging InstinctsTC in pouches to better protect the product from light and air.
Now termed the “Original” and “Ultimate Raw Meat Diet”, graced with the classic and friendly face of the product’s icon
cat, InstinctsTC surely has come a long way. Nurtured like a child and born out of a passion, we look back with pride at 10
years of Instincts cat food.
In 2006, Feline Future entered into a very positive business relationship with “Know Bones Pet Supply” in Oregon, who started
manufacturing the InstinctsTC under license to provide US customers with a product made in the USA, and not to subjected the
product to the irradiation of imported goods – a practice implemented by the US government for biosecurity.
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