Do I put my cat back on the expensive cat food?

[Novatherova]

Hi I currently have one female pedigree cat who is 2. She is the light of my life who I love very much.

She was on Royal Canin Intense Beauty wet and dry food which was £13.50 for 12 pouches and then the dry when I ran out.

Due to cost of living Pets at Home put Price up to £16.49 for 12. My DP asked me to change the food due to how expensive.

I put her on Purina One and then Purina Mon Petit. For 48 pouches it was £18 on another website.

Since changing her coat has gone downhill and she now also has dandruff. Her fur looks shabby and I feel v guilty.

I want to put her back on Royal Canin. I also pay fee 22 per month to vets for all consultations, flea, vacs etc plus 17 for insurance. So it all adds up.

I pay it all out my wages. If I put her back on Royal Canin I won't be able to adopt a cat.

Wedding and baby on the way so I need to minimise costs. But I can't justify cutting her food that makes her healthy. When she was on it she glowed.

But my DP is adamant. I will ignore him and do what I want as I say its my money. But want other opinions??

I have noticed stories about cats being ill from their food but I thought that was Felix, and that was what came up when I did google it. But at least Applaws has high meat content and no grain!

We give our cat Hill's Science Plan Oral Care to reduce tartar build up on her teeth, I don't know if that's a decent dry food but it was the only one she would eat Total princess, has proper carnassial teeth but wants her chicken snipped into short strands or she won't eat it. And I muggins of course I do it for her

I can imagine.

I'm the same with mine. She has us wrapped round her paws.

Sounds silly but I've honestly felt awful for weeks like I'm a bad mum for changing her food to more cost effective.

I'm glad all of you have given me tips. Thanks so much.

Our cat (18 years old in June) is on Felix senior 'As Good as it Looks' (40g breakfast and dinner) with Royal Canin Senior dried 10g on top, also for breakfast and dinner. He also has snacks during the day.

Vet always says how good and shiny his coat is (it is!), weight is also spot on, she and has no issues with us continuing to feed him as we have done since we adopted him 9 years ago.

I give Katkin, pure human grade meat, but for half our spoiled princess's meals.

You're meant to give a whole ouch over two meals a day, but I give a cheaper pouch in the morning and half a Katkin pouch in the evening. It's expensive so this keeps it manageable and her coat is so much better than when she was on Whiskas, she's like a different cat, happy, relaxed and silky.

Also a big fan of Katkin but my cat decided she doesn’t like it and won’t eat it anymore, we’ve moved onto Cool Cat Club which is also high meat content, grain free and the cats both have lovely coats and are very healthy. You can get 30 pouches for £23.99 a month and supplement with a good dry food.

Please do not give your cat anything made by Purina.

We have been using Katkin for a couple of months - seen a massive improvement in our cats. They are 13 years old, their coats look amazing again and have loads of energy. It may be worth giving their trial a go. It is all 100% meat - no grain / fillers. They come frozen, so you do need a bit of freezer space (but slim sachets).

Cool Cat Club and Untamed are great cat foods

I've tried loads of different foods both wet and dry and have just ordered Meowing Heads, he loves this - at the moment - itv does seem to have a high meat content so I'm hoping he will eat it and it will improve his coat.

He also has Royal Canin Oral biscuits, he likes those but doesn't like the Ageing 12+ any more so I've half a bag loafing about in the cupboard.

Brilliant thank you all. Going to look at Katkin now. Quite a few of you have mentioned it.

Yeah exactly how much is he spending on football. If you're not going to football then the difference in the price of cat food is just your football

Thank you very much for taking the time to do that.

Could I ask how much do you feed your cat a day pl?

How many pouches a day do you feed your cat pl?

Mine gets loads but I wouldn't go off him as he's the size of a walnut with a metabolism I can only dream of
He gets 3-4 pouches a day, no dry and then topped up with raw mince

Also have a look at classic cat food, it's made by butchers who make the dog food I think.

It's very cheap and looks cheap too 😄, but it's grain free and very high meat content. Very very good value for money.

Also Pets at home own brand, high meat content as well.

Our old boy wouldn't touch Katkin - we tried for 10 days 😔

You tell them your cats weight ,age and activity level and they advise the pouch size /calorie content required . Each days food is then calculated. No need for dry food top ups. They are currently changing the pouches for a different packaging, and are having some issues with it . I had several days supply of the new packages arrive split, which they replaced and refunded immediately.

@Novatherova how often do you use flea and worm treatment?

Flea every month and worm every 3 months

The flea treatment give her a three month break. It knocks them about and maybe contributing to her poor coat. Ditto the worming treatment.

My cat has a gourmet pouch in the morning, dry food after that, oh and a few dreamies at night when she snuggles up.

@Novatherova you've reminded me have just ordered some more omega 3 oil for dog and cat. 😉

If you really need to cut down, try Butchers. It's the best economy food, no sugar or grain. You could alternate with another food, from Zooplus, look through them for high meat content, they are mostly pates.

Scrumbles is good if you don't want to order in bulk from Zooplus (which can be a lot cheaper). Blink, Meowing Heads and similar (think they are the same type as Katkin) but not Applaws or Encore which are not complete foods. Natures Menu is no longer a nice food, used to be very good.

I currently have a selection of Feringa, Macs, Wild Freedom, Animonda Carny, Thrive, Miamor (not the best but for a change) Smilla, Blink, Yarrah, and a few other high meat foods, plus a box of Butchers pouches because she likes chunks as well as pate. Some of them contain vegetables, some not.

Dry serves no useful purpose in a cat's diet.

You need to know the weight of your cat, the packaging gives a guide as to the recommended amount per day.
I forgot to add, I also have a selection of Bozita tetra paks, it's a reasonable price but the jelly is easier to deal with when serving than the gravy. It smells odd sometimes but is not full of sugars and fillers. Also from Zooplus.

Heating and dust from litter can also affect the coat. I have recently turned heating down and let more fresh air in, also use vitamin paste as a treat (Gimpet from Zooplus but there are others) as dandruff can appear in dry heat.

If op can’t afford RC she defo can’t afford katkin