Hey there
My name is Iida (iida) Lindqvist, and I share my life with my beloved husband and four wild potatoes—that is, sphynx cats.
I began searching for information and independently studying the secrets of raw feeding well before our first cat arrived. At first, my head was spinning and everything felt far too complicated, but gradually things started to make sense.
In autumn 2023, I graduated from Luonnollinen ruokinta Oy's training program as a Certified Raw Feeding Consultant® (Raakaruokintaohjaaja®) and Canine Nutrition Therapist® (Koiran ravintoterapeutti®) studies I completed in February 2025. Don’t let the name fool you—most of the knowledge applies directly to cats as well. I stay up to date with new information and follow developments in the world of raw feeding every day.
I am part of the CatRisk research group at the University of Helsinki. I am also studying homeopathy in the Academy Of Transformational Homeopathy in Helsinki, so within a few years, homeopathic treatment will become part of the Kenonai Raw service offering.
The name Kenonai Raw is partly inspired by the Japanese language, where a hairless cat is called ke no nai neko (毛のない猫), and Raw naturally refers to raw feeding. The name combines my love for my hairless wild potatoes and my passion for providing them with the best possible nutrition.
My goal is to encourage cat owners to improve the diets of their beloved pets—both furry and hairless—and to equip them with the tools they need to embark on their own journey with confidence and peace of mind.
Every cat deserves the best, and in my opinion, a species-appropriate diet plays a key role in achieving that.
Ritchie Ra
Ritchie is the household’s OG—the one and only grump. This gentleman joined our family at the age of 5 on December 18, 2022, as something of an experiment to see whether we were “cat people” or not. And, as it turned out, we fell so in love with this little leather ball that the answer was a resounding yes—we are indeed cat people.
Ritchie is, to be honest, a bit of a difficult personality at times. If other cats get too close, the response is often grumbling or even hissing—but without company, Ritchie doesn’t thrive as well. On the other hand, you might just as easily find Ritchie peacefully sleeping in the same bed with Dio, without a care in the world.
Ritchie loves food—especially the kind that's not good for him. If you're not careful, the master quality inspector will snatch a french fry or a piece of bun right off your plate. As long as there’s a treat in front of his nose, even being picked up for a wash doesn’t bother him nearly as much as it normally would.
This gentleman’s signature move is what my husband and I lovingly call the “Mace to the face”. When it’s time for breakfast, for example, Ritchie will march into the bedroom with purpose, yowling, leap onto our faces, and let it rip— a bony cat skull straight into an eye socket or nose. We coined the term because the sensation truly feels like a bony fist grinding into your face. And while he wakes us in this less-than-gentle fashion, his purring engine is going at full speed.
Ritchie has clear boundaries about where he allows himself to be touched and what kind of affection he accepts—but overall, he’s incredibly people-loving and enjoys even rough affection, as long as the person giving the pets sticks to the right spots.
Dio
Dio joined our household on February 26, 2023, as a scrawny little thing about 7 months old. Of all our cats, Dio is the most dog-like—he has seemingly endless energy. In Dio’s eyes, my husband is the best person in the world and loves him on a whole different level than he loves me. To put it bluntly: pappy is best. It’s truly wonderful that my husband has his own “special cat,” especially since getting a cat in the first place was originally my idea.
Dio is a prime example of the best qualities of the sphynx breed. Technically speaking, Dio is an elf—a sphynx with curled ears—but his ears are straighter than what’s typical for the breed standard. Curled ears or not, Dio is a highly social creature, talks a lot, and doesn’t care one bit about Ritchie’s grumbling.
Fortunately, Dio eats almost anything and is open to trying whatever new food is put in front of his nose. The transition to raw food was immediate—there was no adjustment period from industrial food at all. The only downside is that Dio often doesn’t chew his food properly; he tends to go with a quick chomp-chomp-gulp style.
Dio is also very affectionate, so you can often find him parked closely next to your ear or demanding to be held and cuddled—especially in my husband’s lap. His quirky habit of pushing his nose right into a person’s nostrils when he’s feeling especially loving didn’t just stop after kittenhood; it continues to this day.
Cozy
Cozy, who joined the family on June 6, 2023, at about one year old, is our second cat adopted from a breeder. In fact, we first saw Cozy and fell in love with him back in December 2022—before we even knew about Ritchie—but at that time, he couldn’t come home with us. Cozy is a very sensitive soul, yet with that charming clumsiness typical of orange cats. He is loving and sweet, and every night he comes under the blanket to cuddle up next to us. He’s gained a lot of confidence, which is great, because Ritchie can be quite the bully.
When we got our first cat exercise wheel, it quickly became clear that Cozy is a passionate trainer. While others were still wondering what it was all about, Cozy was already running laps one after another. Another thing that excites Cozy is tunnels and burrowing under anything that rustles. That’s why in the picture, he dragged some baking paper onto the floor and decided, “This is good.”
When it comes to feeding, Cozy was—and to some extent still is—a very challenging case. He was used to free feeding and processed food. The transition to a fully raw diet took nearly two months and several stages, and even then, only certain ingredients were accepted while others were sniffed at. Now, I’ve learned what motivates Cozy to even try new foods, and variety on the plate has won over.
Hanabi
Hanabi is the newest member of the group—a bambino sphynx and the only girl. I personally picked up Hanabi directly from a breeder in Bulgaria on September 6, 2024. The flight was exciting and quite tough for me, but Hanabi handled the ordeal wonderfully. After settling in, she did present some challenges. Hanabi reacted poorly to vaccinations, and combined with the stress of the flight, it triggered a snowball effect. We’ve worked through issues with her digestive system, skin, and eyes. This little lady has taught me a lot, and I believe she came into my life for this very reason. But that’s not all—at first, Hanabi didn’t understand how to use a litter box with cat litter. She did enjoy tasting it though (I use grass-based, unscented cat litter). At least she was okay with the grate-style litter box. It took a few months, but now she uses the regular litter box very well too.
Hanabi’s personality is just as the breeder described—slightly stubborn, but steady. She doesn’t stress over small things and does things in the way she sees fit. That’s exactly why we named her Hanabi, which means “fireworks” in Japanese. If the boys start getting too rowdy, Hanabi definitely stands her ground and lets them know how things are. She’s a little princess with a purring engine, a doughnut, a five-star baker of buns, and an enthusiastic groomer. That last trait isn’t quite as charming as it sounds—waking up at 4 a.m. to a cat licking your arm raw isn’t exactly pleasant. Of course, you can’t get mad about it; instead, you have to try distracting her with pets and strategic blanket corner moves.
Hanabi was switched to raw food immediately after weaning, which is one of the reasons I chose her breeder. Almost everything placed in front of her nose has been accepted. In her breeder’s words, “Hanabi has a quiet passion for eating”.