Good cat food questions :-)

[SunsetDream]

I have some questions, if you wouldn't mind helping - I'm new to this...

Wet or dry? (I had assumed wet, but read dry could be left if they don't eat straight away)

What are the best brands and where do you buy from? I've been shocked about the amount of non meat ingredients in the foods. I thought cats were carnivores!

What are the best times to feed? Twice a day? Any tips I ought to know?

Do plastic bowls really matter?

Thank you

Lurking!

🐅

These!

Gorgeous! I'm getting mine soon and I'm trying to get prepared!

Oh! I've remembered my other question... Off to start another thread!

What's with the plastic bowls?!

I read somewhere (I love reading/ researching something I'm excited about!) that plastic can 'taint' the food/ start to gather food smells unlike stainless steel or ceramic so cuts don't like them as much.. (I've bought plastics, but wondered what other people's experiences were)

How old are your cats?

I have 13 year old boys and they are fed a mixture of wet and dry. They came to me having been used to only dry food, although the rescue centre had been feeding them wet food. They wouldn't touch the wet food when I gave them it, but went for the dry. I buy Harringtons, which they really like. It isn't too expensive, but isn't cheap, either. They won't touch Tesco's own cheap dry food, but adore their wet food pouches. They also, very fortunately, love Lidl's Coshina pouches, which really are as cheap as chips. I give a handful of dry food and a pouch each in the morning. For tea, they get a big handful of dry food. That has helped Dcat 1 lose weight (he was fat when I got him and less than dynamic) and they are both well on it. And they refuse to eat senior food.

I fed mine breakfast of Arden Grange Salmon and potato and an evening meal of high meat content wet food. I use wide shallow stainless steel bowls that don't bend whiskas and allow them to look across the bowls. Water bowls ( we have several) are in a separate location to food bowls, but are also wide bowls though they are deep as the arrogant boy likes to 'play' with water. I have previous had a fountain on a timer, but the boys need to play with the water made a huge mess.

I'm a convert to Nature's Menu raw. You can order it pre-prepared online. It has been instrumental in getting my rescue cat well. (Search 'Bibi then and now' in this forum for results).
My other cat gets Thrive, which is equally good but too expensive really. I just cave to her too easily when she won't eat what I want.

PolterGoose, I am unreasonably charmed by the idea of your cat going round collecting food from the neighbours /helpful

I'm still really confused

Even the better ones contain vegetables (carnivores don't eat vegetables...

The high meat content ones (applaws?) say complimentary... Not complete

It there a complete cat food out there (wet) that has a high meat content (no wheat/ grains etc.)

I'm not going to do raw - not with the children around.

The only one I know that would fit the bill then is Thrive. It's expensive though.

Of course, it's up to you, but I know several people who do raw with children. I wouldn't do the DIY way (too messy/too many stages) but the Nature's Menu complete literally goes freezer-->fridge in covered bowl to defrost-
-->cat. You don't even have to touch it if you're careful. If your kids are old enough to know to leave it alone when it's defrosting it shouldn't be a problem.

Formatting messed my arrows up! Freezer->fridge-->cat ;)

Spud will only eat Sheba Luxury Fish Cocktail.

Spud actually thinks his name is Sheba. I walk in, waggle the pot and say "Sheba" and he comes running like a loon.

He occasionally deigns to eat some wee heart shaped biscuits for "Cats with difficult appetites".

Difficult appetite my arse, he's just the feline equivalent of those kids who will only eat mashed potato.

And I am his slave.

vegetables: hungry cats eat the stomach & intestines with contents, partially digested veg in there. So some veg is ok. (never mind those of us who have cats who eat stuff like banana peel)

hmm... I feed Applaws dry, says complete in the blurb.

Bozita wet or Butchers for mine.

I use cereal bowls to feed them, charity shop cheap.

Dry: I reckon it's bad for teeth IF it's high grain, all the carbs bad for their teeth like carbs would be for ours.

2 of mine are prone to being fat so I only put food out when the Porkers are crazing me, or when skinny cat turns up. The others have to scavenge leftovers when Skinny is done.

Applaws wet is complementary but high quality, it needs to be served with a complete dry food. My kitten prefers having wet and dry food (he takes turns eating a little from each bowl ) I use Britcare, Lily's Kitchen, Applaws and Aatu dry food. Also used orijen and acana but they are quite expensive.

My kitten loves his wet applaws because there's such a variety of flavours, I get mine in Petsathome they normally have 20 tins for the price of 16 offer. Also feed him natures menu, canagan, animoda carny and hi-life (same brand as applaws but different packaging). Recently I have been buying Wellness Core in gravy it's a new grain-free food at Petsathome which he just loves. As his tummy has gotten on ok with the gravy, I've now ordered Bozita chunks in sauce to try. Works out much cheaper ordering bulk food online with bitiba or petplanet.

I buy so many brands because my spoiled kitty refuses to eat the same meal two days in a row so he's fed two different pouches a day with one bowl of dry. I suggest you try out a few brands and see what your kitten prefers. Hope you can find a good quality food that he likes but also suits your budget

My two have wetfood in the morning & dryfood (Applaws) in the evening.

Their wetfood is rather more varied, I shop on ZooPlus & read the ingredients lists for things, basically. Mine are very partial to things like chicken & pumpkin so I just make sure I'm buying ones that are basically just that (I don't mind added taurine etc).
Almo, Bozita, Leonardo & Yarrah Organic are currently in rotation here. I can't remember who made their Festive!Food of turkey & pheasant with salmon oil & cranberry sauce...

My two are terrible for trying to snaffle foods that are very much NOT meant for them (thankfully not anything harmful to them!) but I'm committed to making sure their food is the highest quality possible & reflects the fact they are MEANT to be completely carnivorous...

Acana or orijen are the highest meat content dry foods and are fab quality.
Wet foods, feed chicken or tuna it is cheaper and far better than cat food.
Feed a mix of the two.

Thank you all of you for taking the time to answer!

I hadn't thought of that, lijkk it's a good point.

The brands I've seen that seem to fit the bill are:

James wellbeloved (wet)
Liky's kitchen (wet)

Tins, not punches, seem better value.

I've also seen Butcher's mentioned (but I don't know why) that I can get from the supermarket. I don't know whether that's a comparible brand.

James Wellbeloved (wet & dry) = vg & one of the less expensive high-quality foods. My two weren't keen on the wet food & they're not fussy eaters, but All Cats Vary.

Lily's Kitchen is popular here - have only ever had the trays of it. They preferred the kitten food to the adult one - they don't dislike it, they just enjoy some of their other foods more.

It will involve some trial & error so I wouldn't rush off to buy a load of anything: give the cats a chance to try a few things & figure out what they like. My two don't really like fish & from experience with mixed sample packs, they really want to eat poultry, particularly chicken. (The exceptions being that they like salmon with pumpkin; & tuna with fruit is considered acceptable.). You don't want to encourage fussy eating, but you want to be feeding them meals they enjoy as well as the food being nutritious. My two get VERY excited about mealtimes - I shut them out of the kitchen & they stand up on their hind legs to look through the windows in the door into the kitchen, squeaking gleefully. As soon as I open the door they leap in & fall onto their bowls with delight.

Speaking of bowls, mine have things called Beco Bowls, that are made from plant fibres & are super eco-friendly. They're also designed to be an ideal size & shape for cats.

Good luck with it all!

(Oh & if you're at all worried about the cats' oral hygiene - dental problems are a big issue for domestic cats - I give mine a little Logic Oral Hygiene Gel every night, they just have to eat it, you don't need to brush their teeth. Mine think it's a yummy treat & it helps protect their little fangs...)

My cats love Carny wet food from Zooplus - if you buy in bulk it's not too expensive.

hello I'm looking into feeding my kittens raw food rather than just the cheapo puches and dry food, but want to keep costs down as some of it is really expensive. Can you mix raw food with the basic pouch food or does this upset them/defeat the point? Also if you're feeding them raw can you also feed them the dry food inbetween meals? Would be gratful for any advice!