What do you feed your cats and how much does it cost?

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

Our kittens are five months old now and eating three pouches each of Whiskas kitten food - costing approx £12 a week. I have tried supplementing with various types of dried food but they are not terribly keen.
So, I have two questions here. First, once they are six months I assume normal cat food rather than kitten food should be fine, even though the marketing seems to suggest 12 months. Is this right?
Second, what wet food do people use and how much does it cost? We are on a fairly tight budget atm, and while I do not want to stint the kitties in any way, I would like to feed them in a reasonably economical way.
My dear departed elderly moggy was incredibly fussy and had to be tempted with those minute tins of caviar and hand pureed roast chicken. I am anxious for this pair not to fall into such bad habits.

Kitten food is recommended up to 12 months because kittens, like puppies, have small stomachs but high energy needs so need a calorie-rich diet.

Dry food always works out cheaper than wet - wet food is up to 80% moisture so you're paying a lot for water.

I feed my 4 adult cats on Royal Canin dry food and a 10kg bag costs about £40, but that lasts me 4 weeks or so. I reckon that's about £10 a week for 4 cats, and Royal Canin is about the most expensive of the dried foods. Be aware though that dried food is very much cheaper in the bigger bags.

Cats usually prefer wet food to dry but if you persist they will eat the dried, and it also helps to keep their teeth clean, helping you avoid big dental bills later.

HTH

Thanks Bella. How long do I persist with the dried food? at the moment the scenario goes like this. One meal a day, usually lunchtime, I put dried food in their bowl. They ignore it and follow me around the house mewing piteously as if auditioning for a feline version of Oliver. After about half an hour I give in and open the pouches.
Help me to devise a better strategy!

lol - they've got you sussed, LadyGlencora!

If they've ever eaten any of the dried stuff before then I would just go cold turkey snd only put out dried from now on (although you may want to use up the last of your pouches first!). They may look at it with disdain for a day or so but they will eat it, honest! Make sure there's plenty of water available too.

I give mine the occasional pouch as a treat but the dried food is much better and I'd need a second mortgage if I was going to feed them Whiskas or Felix all the time

hi we used royal canin kitten food until a year and then moved to the adult food. think it's fit 32 we get now. a big £40 bag used to last about 2/3 months with our 2. we mixed the cat food for a while-dry and wet and then just put out dry. good luck!

Well according to the contrary, our cat is 10 months old and has never had kitten food. She does not like it. I bought a huge box of kitten pouches and she turned her nose up at it all.

I just give her Whiskas now. She will have 2 pouches a day with dry food mixed in. Plus extra dry food if she seems hungry.
She will have a can of Hi-life or Sheba once a week as a treat and usually on a Sunday, she will have leftover meat from our roast dinner. Usually chicken, beef or lamb with carrots.
If times are hard, she will have a tin of supermarket 'value' tuna or pilchards, or a 'can' of Whiskas supermeat. She does prefer the puches though if it's Whiskas. She hates Felix!