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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

What's wrong with Whiskas?

26 replies

TheCakes · 06/12/2016 22:47

I see Whiskas getting a bit of a slating on here. Is it like the feline equivalent of Maccy D's?
Ozzy's rather partial to the emergency chicken in gravy we got when we'd run out of the good stuff.
And while we're on the subject - I always give him kitten food. How is it different to adult cat food? He's the first cat I've had for 20 odd years and back then we just fed them Felix.

OP posts:

GardenGeek · 06/12/2016 22:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chickydoo · 06/12/2016 22:58

Watching.
My girls love whiskers & felix pouches.
One of them doesn't have back teeth (born like it) so biscuit type food is hard for her to eat.
The others get a serving of purina dried food along with pouches & the occasional dish of cat milk.
They all love fresh chicken & fish too.

OliviaStabler · 06/12/2016 23:03

It's like feeding your cats a crap diet every day.

If you can afford it, get the food from the vets. Cats last longer and are healthier with a good diet in my experience.

tabulahrasa · 07/12/2016 00:35

Yep its basically Maccy d's for cats.

Kitten food, I've checked the nutritional information for a couple of brands, it's pretty much a higher calorie version of the same brand but in adult version.

hollinhurst84 · 07/12/2016 00:43

It has barely any meat in it just filler stuff. I prefer a higher meat content as its more natural

hungryhangry · 07/12/2016 00:59

It's full of rubbish ingredients they can't digest - so is the stuff from the vets though! Look for high quality, high meat content wet foods - cats are only meant to eat meat, not grains!

Orangebird69 · 07/12/2016 01:07

It's not the highest in quality but it's not going to kill them.... a cat that adopted me when it was 14 had lived on it so I kept her on it until she died at 17. Of feline leukemia. Fuck all to do with her diet and she was right as rain until she got ill.

OlennasWimple · 07/12/2016 01:10

We give the Wimple Cats an occasional pouch of Whiskas - it is indeed like Maccy Ds, as although they shouldn't have it every day they love it!

notangelinajolie · 07/12/2016 01:23

There was a time when Whiskers was the posh stuff. My cat won't eat any kind of dried food, will only eat chicken flavour anything, how the hell she knows which flavour she is eating is beyond me as I'm sure that very little chicken ever makes it into those tins.

torthecatlady · 07/12/2016 01:31

My two won't eat it, but they do like Felix... interested to hear if anyone knows how they compare. They also have go-cat biscuits and occasionally tinned tuna (in water).

Qwebec · 07/12/2016 01:32

Every cat we started on grocery store food got sick after a few years and only got better when we got the better quality food.

OhMrsQ · 07/12/2016 01:51

Mine was a Fancy Feast nut, and when we moved to the US I stressed that there was none to be found here. I had to try so many brands to see what she liked. And the one she liked most was the meat-only, grain-free.
She now eats a meat-only diet - I don't know if you can get Weruva there? Its literally pouches of meat - fishes and chicken and whatnot. And she loves it. I spend more on her diet than my own!

Agiraffeisnotacat · 07/12/2016 07:58

My two will also not eat Whiskas (or most food even) but they love a pouch of Felix doubly delicious. Which I believe is equally crap nutrition wise at 4% meat.

Their main food is a better quality dry food, the Pets at home purely range which has a lot higher meat content. They have this and a couple of pouches of felix a day.

They would prefer to eat felix all day long.

Is giving them a couple of pouches of felix a bad thing if it is not their main food?

Weedsnseeds1 · 07/12/2016 08:22

Pet food has to be legally labeled differently to animal food. Ash and inorganic matter are a measure of the mineral content, not ingredients. The 4% meat is the named species, not the total meat content. Animal derivatives are category 3 animal by products I.e. fit for, but not intended for, human consumption. Offal, chicken wings, lung etc. and a lot of "good" cuts like chicken legs and front ends if lambs that there isn't a human market for

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/12/2016 09:28

If you can afford it, get the food from the vets

Half the food sold by the vets is crap - at least Whiskas is cheap crap! My cat eats Natures Menu but is probably going to have to switch to one of the cheap brands as we can't afford it now he can only have wet food.

On the subject of derivatives, surely if they were catching their own food in the wild they'd be eating far worse!

pumpkinpie5 · 07/12/2016 09:33

I agree with the above re whiskas. Felix as good as it looks is a little better. A lot of cats we see in rescue do have trouble digesting whiskas and get runny tummies.

I feed felix pouches but as a supplement to a good quality dried food.

Kitten food has a higher calorie and protein content to help their growth. Essential for kittens and pregnant and lactating females but shouldn't be fed regularly to adult cats.

steppemum · 07/12/2016 09:39

well, mine get asdas meat in jelly.

They are well and healthy and have good teeth.

ButteredToastAndStrawberryJam · 07/12/2016 09:47

Three cats brought up on Whiskas lived to a ripe old age.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 07/12/2016 10:11

Felix as good as it looks is a little better. A lot of cats we see in rescue do have trouble digesting whiskas and get runny tummies.

We had the opposite problem, Harry can't have Felix but was OK on Whiskas. It was not pleasant...

Once he's finished his antibiotics I'm going to try him on Aldi trays. He'll probably turn up his nose but I'm going to have to be tough...

Fruitcocktail6 · 07/12/2016 10:14

Whiskas absolutely stinks. I refuse to feed it to my cats, it smells so much.

roundandroundthehouses · 07/12/2016 10:36

Every cat we started on grocery store food got sick after a few years and only got better when we got the better quality food.

Are these pedigree cats? I have a 14 yr old who's never had anything else - usually Sainsbury's own brand with a bit of Felix here and there when we decide to push out the boat, and Go-Cat crunchies. She's fine and healthy, bloods fine re. kidneys, etc., and only recently retired from hunting due to a bit of arthritis (hence the blood test). But she came to us semi-feral at 6 months old so was presumably a hardy sort to start with, to survive kittenhood. I wonder if that's made a difference?

roundandroundthehouses · 07/12/2016 10:38

(Having said that, Whiskas Creamy Soups were on offer last week so I got her some. She loves it but won't be getting it again because of the smell.)

QueenFuri · 07/12/2016 10:39

My cat refuses whiskas not sure why the only wet food she will tolerate occasionally is Felix As Good As it Looks fish flavours. The rest of the time she eats Purina biscuits for indoor cats.

asmadasmax · 07/12/2016 10:40

If you can find it, Butchers Classic is cheap tinned food without all the rubbish ... no cereal I believe. My cats love it. I buy it from tesco and it's about £2.60 for 6 cans I think.

Norahy · 07/12/2016 10:42

My cat has stopped eating any wet food at all!

It brings in two mice a day and eats them head to tail in the kitchen. One in the morning and one after dinner. Everyday.

The crunching is grim

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