Classic canned food

[Cat_Crazy]

Mine tried it last year.. after a few mouthfuls of the first tin they all turned their noses up at it 

[Millys Mum]

Zoe your menu sounds fine! They could do a lot worse than RC/Hills and natures menu.
Theres so many brands trying to be the best but ultimately all processed pet foods are unnatural, if your lot are happy then dont worry, what your feeding isnt poor quality 

[Mark]

I think they are all more than 4% meat. It is just that they have to include at least 4% of the named flavour. Whiskas supermeat tins are "better" quality than the jelly or gravy versions as they don't contain soya. They are "meat and meat byproducts with added vitamins etc.

What I do and I think many others is give the cats the wet food they enjoy - in our case, Felix & Whiskas and try to improve their diet with a decent quality dry food. Mine have Hill's senior light which has 50% chicken & turkey. The standard adult has less meat in it. Mine prefer the light anyway.

I would be happier if mine ate something like Arden Grange as they use organic chicken - but they won't eat it. I have tried quite a few times.

[Fire Fox]

I have no idea on food.

What kind of dry food and wet would you recommend as being good and not to expensive.

I got little experience but try best i can, thats why i love this site for the experience and recomendations of experienced cat members

The key is that cats are obligate carnivores - they have to eat meat (including offal, bone and fat). I don't find Noah can eat a lot of cereals without in the litter tray three times a day, but some cats seem to be able to digest grains better!

Wet-wise there is not anything 'better' in most pouches than tins nor 'better' in the well known brands over own brands: as much as anything you should choose a food that your cats enjoy and you can afford. If you are happy to mail order Bozita has a very high meat content for under £3 per kilo. Your other choice is to add some raw into the diet which can help keep the teeth clean - fresh chicken wings and frozen chicken portions are dirt cheap.

Dry wise, this is really the point to start reading the labels so you know what you are paying for - Go Cat, Whiskas and supermarket own brands tend to be just 4% meat. You can do far worse than buy one of the Pets at Home own brands, many on Purrs recommend the Premium in the silver bag which I think it 20-30% meat from memory. They also have another own brand Purely which comes in 40% meat and 70% meat variants. If you have a Jollyes pet store nearby they have an own brand dry which is dirt cheap at £2 per kilo at 25% meat or thereabouts, also Lidl/ Aldi do own brand Premium which has similar sort of meat content. I personally wouldn't buy the big names (Hills, RC, Iams, JWB etc.) due to the ethics of the parent companies BUT most of the Hills range is 50% meat and is great value when on an two for one or three for two offer.

[Desley (booktigger)]

The main thing with food is what your cat will eat and what you can afford - I would love the girls to eat better food than Felix, but unfortunately their stomachs cant tolerate rich wet foods anymore, and Molly can't even tolerate the dry food I prefer to feed (JWB).

Julie, I think some vets have commented on Go-Cat being responsible for certain illnesses, especially urinary issues.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

I have no idea on food.

What kind of dry food and wet would you recommend as being good and not to expensive.

I got little experience but try best i can, thats why i love this site for the experience and recomendations of experienced cat members

To be honest, Zoe, you just have to experiment. Wild horses won't get a cat to eat something it doesn't want to.  So you may not have much of a choice about what you give them.  The dilemma for me comes every now and again when I get given a different food or am forced to buy something I don't know about - hence my original post.  Often thse new things they develop a fad for are fine but's it's good to check. 

So I think the best question to ask is what foods to try on them to see if they'll eat it. I would avoid the ultra cheap savers lines in supermarkets as it's mostly cereal from what I've seen.  I personally think Kitekat is poor value for money and mine don't like it although I don't think it is 'bad' per se. Never had a problem with Whiskas or Felix wet food. Mine quite like Pro Plan biscuits - a bit more expensive than some brands but I think it's good for them. And we tend to avoid P&G products like Iams for ethical reasons. 

One thing.... in rescue I've noticed a high percentage of cats with health issues have been fed Go-Cat biscuits. This may just be because Go-Cat is a highly popular brand and therefore more cats in general are going to be fed them. Even so, I rarely buy Go-Cat because I can be a bit paranoid even though I have no scientific proof. 

I bought some more of the Classic and so far it continues to be well recieved here. Jumpy usually buries food he doesn't approve of but no signs of that yet. Clean bowls all week! 

Hope that helps a bit.

[Liz]

Ours love Royal Canin and eat 12 varieties of the biccies and will turn their nose up at the day we offer Whiskas biscuits in fact the outside cats now seem to have joined that gang - they love their Hills and oyal Canin biccies and Classic food - still got 28 tins and cardboard cartons of Bozita even they won't eat it!

[puggy1975 Zoe]

 I have no idea on food.

What kind of dry food and wet would you recommend as being good and not to expensive.

I got little experience but try best i can, thats why i love this site for the experience and recomendations of experienced cat members

[Desley (booktigger)]

The tins are on offer in PAH, 24 tins for less than £10. I personally dont rate Hills or Royal CAnin, although Zi has the Royal Canin renal. Sam is very picky with Natures Menu, I stocked up last year when it was on offer and of course he didn't want to eat it then!!

[puggy1975 Zoe]

I think i will try the classic with my two. Tyler gets sore gums at times. So may help

Just now they get Natures Menu pouches and Hills Indoor dry food, was thinking of mabey trying the Royal Canon indoor stuff

I get so confused with cat food about what foods are good and what kinds are bad. Just wish i could understand better.

Never know what to buy, just want them to be eating ok and not complete rubbish

Knowing about cat food really gives me a headache,

[Desley (booktigger)]

The pouches are the same, but they seem harder than the tins. They do trays as well, but they contain cereals

[Gillian Harvey]

Mine all like it  but only the meat varieties. I've only fed the tins, not tried the pouches (are the ingredients the same in the pouches as the tins?) Its not particularly high meat content, but I like the fact it doesnt contain any cereals, soya, veggies, or artificial colours or preservatives. Mine have Classic or Felix in the mornings and raw in the evenings. They went off Bozita and Hi Life (when they changed the recipe  )

[tab]

I got some classic last year to tempt Mogs but she wouldnt touch it. I tried it with Amber and she wouldnt eat it either so it went to the rescue 
love
Tab

[Mark]

There are lots of tips on Dr Addies website, i can't do most of them with Sam though.

It will probably be the same with Shelley. She eats like a mouse and turns her nose up at most things

[Rosella moggy]

Ours like it on occasion but never for long.

[Janeyk]

My 2 like this on and I always have some in but occasionally they won't eat for some reason.  I was dubious about it at first being so cheap but I think it's pretty good stuff one thing I have noticed is Byron has a less of an irritated tummy which she occasionally got.  I wish I'd have known about this when I had Schui I'm sure he would have loved it and especially when his gums were really sore.

[Desley (booktigger)]

There are lots of tips on Dr Addies website, i can't do most of them with Sam though.

[Mark]

Thanks Des. I remember now. That was the reason I recommended it to my mum. Her cat, Shelley has gum problems. She came from her local CP after cats and kittens were rescued from a druggy's house. They all had health problems. I'm [retty sure it is Calci and her gums flare up at times. She wouldn't touch classic. Is there anything else she can try. I thought I read about a fatty-acid you can give cats to help this?

[Desley (booktigger)]

I would love Sam and Zia to eat this, as it works wonders on gingivitis - the first time I tried Sam on it, it cleared his red gums up in a couple of days, but now they refuse to eat it. I might buy another box of the pouches (Mark, have seen them in Morrisons, Wilkinsons and sure one other place) to try them again.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Jaffa likes it.  But then again, Jaffa likes anything you give him.

[Liz]

Have to say that the Clan love all the varities of this and although it is cheaper they still enjoy it now on the other hand having bought a shed load of Bozita am having a problem getting the outside ferals to eat it and the the ones who live in the house went no thanks and even Sunny the doggie walked passed 14 cat bowls of this and never stopped so no Bozita for our mob but the love Classic - go figure!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

bit like this forum then

 

Tripe is supposed to be a luxury food now and all the celeb chefs are cooking it.  They can poke it!  I can imagine my Tilly liking it though. If it's good enough for Jamie Oliver it's good enough for my cats. 

Yes, JS, it does have the look of fairly good meat in it. But at the same time it could be just coloured mush compacted into cubes. I don't examine too closely as I'm not about it eat it myself.  I am impressed with the look of the jelly as it doesn't look bleached and thinned out the way Felix looks sometimes. 

[JackSpratt]

bit like this forum then

 

Julie, it's actually meant to be pretty good meat. Mine go through phases and Classic is one of the meats that stays in favour the longest, which is pretty good going with this lot.

[hOrZa]

bit like this forum then

[Mark]

It is made by Butcher's I think - so probably has a good amount of tripe in it 

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Thanks guys. 

I guess I just wanted confirmation it hasn't been known to make them sick or is full of bad stuff. It seems so cheap compared to Felix/Whiskas you'd expect it to be made of wood shavings. 

[hOrZa]

mine like it but only the fish variety

hth

[Mark]

I have tried it a few times after hearing good things about it - ie no soya etc. It is also supposed to be recommended for cats with diabetes - however, none of mine have ever taken to it. My mum bought some classic pouches (I haven't seen them anywhere) and her cat refused to eat it  She gave it to my brother & SIL who have a cat that eats what it is given or goes without and it went down very well.

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

What do we think of Classic? 

My two are such picky eaters (has to be Felix, has to be jelly but not beef or rabbit. But Whiskas chicken in gravy is okay sometimes.  ). Last night I realised I had run out so popped round the Spar... 70p a tin!  to that!  Anyway, they had a special on Classic so I got some of that to try as they've not had it before.  They loved it!  It's almost half the price of Felix. 

So what do we think?