cat foods

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Hi Louise

I wouldn't wait too long to spay her. Queens can come into heat while they are still suckling kittens, so I would whisk her down to the vet ASAP. Much better do that than risk another pregnancy straight on top... because that really is a risk to her health. 

[louise_81]

Thank you,

Going to stick with Felix, which is what she is on at the minute and give felix kitten food once or twice a day, just to make sure she is getting enough to help her repair herself and get her ready for her spay.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

 

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the foods out there, but the most important thing is to feed a complete food.  There are a lot of complementary foods out there (a lot of those described as "gourmet" are complementary so should only be fed occasionally and shouldn't make up more than 10% of the diet.  Provided you feed a complete food, your cat will be fine.  To begin with, you should feed your cat whatever she is used to eating and make any changes slowly.  If she has just had kittens and needs feeding up, kitten food might be a good idea to begin with.

Objectively, foods with a high meat content are better for a cat than those with a low meat content and lots of cereals, but if she will only eat felix, whiskas etc.  she will still do fine.  If she is fine with the higher meat stuff, try hi life essentials (available from morrisons), tesco finest and tesco luxury, pets at home Purely, Tesco just nature and Morrisons The Best.    I also feed animonda, bozita, schmusy and a few others that I buy online from zooplus.  Aopplaws and almo nature usually go down well but they are complementary foods.

Wet food is good for the water content but if you want to feed some dry alongside, that can be convenient (I wouldn'nt persoanally recommend feeding all dry unless that's all she will eat).  As far as dry food goes, applaws (available from PAH) and Orijen (available from zooplus and a few other online suppliers but not in shops as far as I know) are both grain free dry foods with approx 80% meat.  Alternatively, pretty decent dry foods include PAH premium (in the silver bag), PAH Purely, James Wellbeloved, hi life, Joe and Jills etc.  Best to avoid the supermarket dries such as go cat and whiskas if possible.

[Mark]

Given what we know about nutrition now, I still think it is a good idea to include omega oils and probiotics in a cats diet. Also for older cats to include glucosamine/chondriotin. Also to give older cats a reduced phosphorus diet. I know some cats do live to be a ripe old age on things like Whiskas but it does not harm to try to give them some help.

A decent quality dry is Lidl Opticat which is £2 something for 750g

A good rule-of-thumb is if it says cereals as the first ingredient, leave it on the shelf  (ie go-cat)

[Hippykitty]

My personal favourite is Whiskas wet food. With just one cat, this is a great all rounder. I feed my tribe Asda Tiger wet food, purely due to cost, but they seem to be doing well on it.

One of the reasons I prefer Whiskas is that I raised two very old ladies on it. One died recently at the age of 22, the other is still going strong (touch wood) at approx 18 years, though she's now eating Tiger; for most of her life she's been fed Whiskas.

So if your new cat likes it, go for Whiskas. It's easy to find in the shops and won't cost you an arm and a leg. However, some cats do find it too rich.

Have fun with your new pusscat 

[Mark]

I agree there are a lot of foods out there. If possible it is best to avoid low quality dry foods as they contain far too many carbohydrates which are not good for cats and can cause weight gain as well as other health problems. Things like dry Go-cat, Dry Whiskas and cheap supermarket own brand are the ones to steer well clear of if possible. Good quality dry foods include Hill's (although a lot of people including myself think it causes weight problems), Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, Burns, Purina One, Purina Proplan (higher quality than purina one), Arden Grange, Techni-cal, Pets at Home own brand is very good and a bit cheaper than branded stuff - the one is the silver bag is the good one (they also do a low quality one) and lots of others as you will find out  , High end, high meat content foods include Orijen and Applaws (sold as Encore in Sainsbury's). The ultimate which very few people are willing or able to do is to feed a raw food diet where you buy meat (which must have a % of bonemeal, fat etc) and adding a nutrient supplement. A good part of a cats diet should include wet food, especially as some cats don't drink much water.

A good compromise (which is what I do) is to feed a regular wet food such as Whiskas or Felix with a good quality dry food. There are better quality wet foods such as Bozita and applaws which are obviously more expensive. Other wet foods like Sheba and Gourmet pearl are no better than Whiskas in quality just posh packaging. One thing to watch out for is some wet foods are only complementary which means they don't have the correct vitamins and minerals added to make them a balanced meal (eg Applaws) As long as they are fed alongside a good quality dry food, that is fine.

There is a lot of trial and error and you will probably end up with a cupboard full of different foods that your cat will refuse to eat 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

  to purrs 

so pleased you are about to get a cat and have her neutered.

you are right with the amount of cat food out there is sooooooo hard to know what to buy.

you will find mixed opinions on here as to what is best and some cat foods with that amount of meat are too rich for some cats.

they are fussy devils and will only eat what they are used to often,


i would ask what the cat is eating at the moment and start there, then if you wish to change it do it after she has settled and do it slowly and gradually.

[louise_81]

Hi

I'm NEW!!

I am about to get a cat and wonder if someone can help me.

I've been reading about cat foods and how it should be around 70% meat, with little or no plant proteins, and I have to say I am a little over awed by the prospect of having to choose a good quality cat food.

What would you recommend?

p.s. the cat I am getting has just had kittens (8 weeks old weaned and gone to homes), so I want to build her up and get her neutered before I go about doing anything more.

thanks