Cat food

[Gillian Harvey]

Most supermarkets sell a good range of meat and offal but you might struggle to get heart.

Morrisons sell heart 

[Mymblesdaughter]

Thanks, he's on a complete dry food so I think I might just buy some meat from the supermarket to try him. Then if he likes it I can either start making up stuff for him or buy it online. I'll have a read through your guide.   

[Alcatraz]

I want to try my boy on raw to supplement his dry food as I can't find a wet food he likes.

Hi Mymblesdaughter

I guess it depends on what dry food your man is getting.  If it's a complete food and you're just supplementing, then simply raw meat will suffice, but if your dry food is supplementary, then you'll need to either find a complete diet like Natural Instinct as Gillian suggested, or make a raw meal consisting of meat, organs and bone.

By making your own you can "try before you buy" in small quantities and don't need to order online etc.

As Gillian said, supermarket meat is fine (modern technology means most meat is fresh and healthy) but you'll need to do a bit of work...I suggest a mix of 80% meat (chicken, beef, lamb, pork, etc), 10% bone (your boy will get through a chicken ribcage/wing with ease if he has his own teeth), 5% liver and 5% other offal (kidney, heart, etc).

My opinion is to cut this into chunks (start small and work up to big chunks when your man can handle it) rather than grinding into a paste or mince.  Apparently by grinding you're reducing the amount of taurine in the meat (an important amino acid in a cat's diet) and exposing more of the meat to oxygen which can cause the meat to spoil.

I wrote a brief review/guide with new pictures on Raw diets here: http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,42407.0.html that might help but there are loads of good sites to read up on.  Try different meats, start slow and make sure your cat's getting fresh meat (or meat that has been frozen and defrosted) as they can't deal with "off meat" like a dog.

Most supermarkets sell a good range of meat and offal but you might struggle to get heart.  If you have a local butcher, you can save yourself the hassle of chopping the meat and can get a good variety.  You might also get a good discount if you buy off cuts at the end of the day.

Good luck, have fun and enjoy the new menu!  Give me a shout if you need help with anything and let us know how you get on.

[Gillian Harvey]

Prize choice isnt a balanced complete raw diet for cats, ok as a supplementary food tho. Natural Instinct is complete and balanced, http://www.naturalinstinct.com/categories/Cat-Food/

Supermarket meat is fine, but also not complete/balanced on its own, although if you add organs/bone you can make it balanced.

[Mymblesdaughter]

Hi Alcatraz

I want to try my boy on raw to supplement his dry food as I can't find a wet food he likes. I went to the local pet shop and they had lots of raw dog food but no cat. The woman said the frozen stuff was ok for cats but not a complete food. Do you think this would be ok? I don't want to buy online as I just want to try him with it. I think this is the stuff they had
http://prizechoice.co.uk/products/freeflowmincedmeats/chicken.php

Do you think buying some raw meat from the supermarket would be ok or wouldn't it be fresh enough? 

Thanks

[Alcatraz]

As long as they have a loving owner, tasty food and a warm bed I figure you're a good owner!  You'll know if your cat is happy and that's all to worry about!

As for diets...Cats need water to ensure they stay healthy so if you're going 100% dry food, just make sure they have lots of water available to them.  Our two have a fountain and they drink loads now!  They also splash a lot on the floor!

If you're going down the wet-food route, find something that works for you both...balance price, convenience and health.  Amazon sell cat food and do "regular order discounts" for things you order every month.  It's about 10% off.

As for quality...we find the higher protein percentage makes less smelly poos and I think that's pretty important!  Yes it's meant to be healthier but I know cats that have been healthy and very old that have lived on dry food diets or low protein pouches.

As a side note...My wife's gran is 92 and has smoked 40 a day her entire life!  Sometimes a healthy diet or lifestyle makes little difference!

As a third option have you thought about raw food to supplement the biscuits?  They'll get lots of water from the meat and it's very good for them (it mirrors a cat's natural diet).

Raw can be cheaper (especially if there's a local butcher who will do you a good deal) and poos are even less smelly and fur is glossy and soft.  It's easy to do but means you'll need to do a meat shop every now and then, chop and bag the meat into meals and have freezer space (about the size of an ice cream box per cat per month).  If you want help or advice on Raw, message me and I'll see what I can do.


Good luck with whatever route you take!

[fluffybunny]

My lot like James Welbeloved dry but detest the wet version? Go figure. 

Mine too!  I was so excited when they bought out a wet version but my two will sniff it and walk away in disgust 

Mine both eat Royal Canin now, it's so expensive and not the best, but having tried virtually everything, they do seem to thrive on it.  Geoffrey is currently on a weight loss plan with the obesity control (he has the light version as 'maintenance' but has another half kg to go first) and Milly is on the new 12+ which she LOVES.  I too feed a mix of wet and dry, I think it gives the best overall compromise. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Ive always bought food on line as its so much easier and cheaper, was amazed about the amount of different ones on zooplus. The only reason i asked about whiskers and such is when we got barney i asked about those foods on a different forum and i was made to feel like a very bad owner for feeding him those types of food.

No you would not be a bad owner, some people are just snobs!

[alisonandarchie]

I use a combination of science plan light and a gourmet pearl pouch for my six year old and 12 year old.

About 8 years ago a vet told me not to feed iams as they can cause kidney damage, do not know if the formula has been changed since then

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It's best to feed some wet food if possible simply because cats need water but don't have a strong thirst drive (since they, in the wild, would get most of their water from food) so hard to get enough water into them if they eat all dry.  Even if they are observed drinking water, it's often not enough to counter the effect of eating dry food.  But if they will only eat dry, there isn't a lot you can do except keep trying with the wet food.  There is some useful info here, including an article about transitioning cats from dry to wet food

http://www.catinfo.org/#Cats_Need_Plenty_of_Water_With_Their_Food

I feed one cat all wet (he's 15 and has early crf) and my other half wet and half dry (he's just turned 7).  Tbh I only really feed any dry at all because it helps keep the cost down.  I feed Applaws or Orijen as they are grain free dry foods.

As to the quality of wet food - I think the reason whiskas, felix etc. tend to be frowned upon by some is because they tend to contain cereals  and/or soy which are not ideal for an animal that is an obligate carnivore, but they are balanced foods so don't feel bad about feeding them if you have to.  I do try to look for foods that don't contain cereal or vegetable deriviatives etc.  and they aren't necessarily more expensive.  Butchers classic, for example, isn't bulked out with cereal and it's one of the cheapest foods going.  Hi Life Essentials is under £3 for 12 pouches at quality save and it only contains chicken, minerals and tapioca.  I'd rather it didn't have tapioca but at that price you can't have everything!  The hi life essentials in the tins doesn't have tapioca but does have some glucose, although it won't be much.  I aim to feed Mosi (7 yr old) canned/pouches with no/little grains and topped up with grain free dry.  Jaffa is a bit fussier and has a more sensitive tummy now that he's older so I feed him what he will eat which tends to be a variety of supermarket own brand senior foods.

I like zooplus too although most stuff on there is beyond my budget these days so I've not bought from there for a bit.  I bought Mosi some Miamor pate recently and he loves that - it's just meat and added minerals.  They have lots of special offers and multi packs which allow you to try small quantities of lots of different flavours etc.  I find it good to feed a variety of foods if possible as they all differ in respect to things like how much fat they contain (a complete food just means it contains the  minimum nutritional content required by a cat, there will still be variations between foods) so a variety of foods is probably going to result in a better balanced diet than the same food all the time, imo.  Plus it makes life easier if they suddenly stop making a particular food.

[weesilvie]

I feed Silvie dry food for breakfast and wet food in the evening - she seems to appreciate the variety.  She is the sort who would eat everything I put out so I regulate how much I give her!

Silvie is on special diet (Hills j/d for her arthritis) but for regular food, I would just recommend getting the best quality stuff that you are happy with being able to afford and that your cat likes.  I too recommend Zooplus - loads of choice!

[sheilarose]

I found the smilla range very successful from zooplus, but tend to stick to felix or gourmet pouches as a wet supplement to the dry food. My lot like James Welbeloved dry but detest the wet version? Go figure. 

[girlinleeds]

Ive always bought food on line as its so much easier and cheaper, was amazed about the amount of different ones on zooplus. The only reason i asked about whiskers and such is when we got barney i asked about those foods on a different forum and i was made to feel like a very bad owner for feeding him those types of food.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I personally feed a 50/50 mix - wet for breakfast and dinner with a bowl of decent quality dry down 24/7 to munch on. I know some cats are too greedy to have this as they would overeat the dry but my two seem to regulate their intake very well.

Are you happy to order food online? If so Zooplus have a mind boggling range of wet foods to choose from - well worth a look. I use Bozita cartons which are great value and have a high meat content (one carton = roughly 4 pouches).

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

You need to feed a complete cat food supplimented by a complimentary one if you wish.

Its important to feed a wet food and nothing wrong with felix or whiskers as long as your cat likes them. A good biscuit is useful to leave down during the night and day but again needs to be a complete food.

[girlinleeds]

I know this can be a bit of a issue but just wanted a bit of advice in advance. Barney always ate applaws dry cat food and seemed to thrive on it, the vet always said how well he looked, since losing him to kidney issues ive done a bit of reading. I've realised it appers that feeding a completley dry food diet may not be best, we thought it was ok as we'd chosen a good quality dry food. Barney loved applaws wet food but it was to expensive to feed him all the time, looking forwards to getting another cat i want to do the best we can for it. Is it better to feed a cat food like felix/whiskers wet food then applaws dry food or do i mix feed. depending obviously on what the cat will eat. I'm a bit confused but just trying to forward plan as the thought of another cat is sort of stopping my heart hurting to much at the moment
thanks in advance
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