Royal Canin and Lily's Kitchen

[Sunshine49]

Hi everyone, my two young rescue cats (one girl, one boy) are currently eating Royal Canin gastrointestinal wet food, plus boiled chicken and lots of Dreamies. The Royal Canin was supplied by the shelter when we took them as they had runny tummies, which the shelter thought was due to stress. That has now cleared up and I have about 10 pouches of the Royal Canin left.

I'm wondering what to buy them next - I bought a box of Whiskas wet food before I collected them, but the shelter said they only like chicken flavour and the rest will go straight through them! They apparently don't like Felix either.

Is Whiskas a decent brand of cat food or should I stick with Royal Canin? I'm also thinking about Lily's Kitchen as it's meant to be really good quality, from what I've read - does anyone have any experiences with that? Thanks!

I like Lily's kitchen, natures menu and wellness core. I feed a mix of all three, wet and then some dry left down for "snacks" when I'm out
He occasionally also has applaws and encore

I feed applaws, lily's kitchen, wellness core, nature's menu. I like picking out different varieties - lamb, duck and pheasant, chicken, beef. And the fish! Sardines, salmon, prawns, crab - she eats way better than we do. also bozita (sp?) and animonda carny from zooplus. The animonda is exotic sachets - kangaroo, ostrich and buffalo. The bozita is elk, rabbit or reindeer. I'm a bit obsessive about rotating.

I'm sure cats in the wild wouldn't be grappling with tuna and bringing down elk. The most natural food would probably be 'mouse and moth' or ' baby bluetit' but I can't find those...

I used to feed all the NM varieties but his lordship has decided that he now only likes chicken and goose so he has the same flavour every meal. I like him having the NM Country Hunter pouches as they as 96% meat.

Changey, Harry wouldn't bring down a mouse let alone an elk or kangaroo!

Thank you everyone! I'm currently feeding my two a pouch of Royal Canin each for breakfast plus half a breast of chicken each for dinner (the shelter advised the chicken as they've had runny tummies recently). They also get about 20 Dreamies each per day. The shelter said that sounds about the right amount, but they do seem to get very excitable around meal times and if I walk into the kitchen, they'll follow me in the hope of food. It makes me wonder if I'm feeding them enough? They're both young adults (one year olds) and are both on the small side - especially the girl.

Hmm, I've just read on an old thread that two pouches of wet food a day (which is what I'm hoping to move them on to once I've cooked all the chicken) isn't sufficient for an adult cat. Is that the case? I'm concerned about leaving dry food down all day for them to graze on because I've heard that it can cause health problems for male cats. I'm also worried they'd just guzzle the lot and become overweight. I know some cats self-moderate but these two absolutely adore their food!

Harry has two pouches a day and a small bowl of biscuits (weighed out as he’s a gannet) for lunch and during the night. If we’re not going to be there to put the biscuits down we use a automatic feeder

Whiskas is ‘McDonald’s for cats’ - very little nutritional value for cats. Try and avoid any of the ones you buy in a supermarket if you can.

Royal Canin is great, and Hill’s also very good. If they have sensitive stomached, do avoid chopping and changing foods.

High quality food should reduce vets’ bills and help them live longer

Thanks PinkSparkly - it sounds like I am giving them about the right amount then?

Thank you Altwoo - I didn't realise that about Whiskas!

Oh and Royal Canin tells you how much to feed them based on their weight on the back of their packets.

When I looked at the ingredients for Hills and Royal Canin it looked as though it was full of crap and I decided not to feed it to him. Country Hunter is 96% meat so I know he’s getting a decent meal

No whiskas is not good.
Have a look at the meat content on the back of pet food, it's shocking.
Applaws, royal canin, greenwoods, lilys kitchen, wild freedom is a nice new one.
Encore is one you can get in the supermarket that is applaws, only the supermarket version ( exactly the same, same company but cheaper).
A few supermarkets do actually do ok quality brand cat food, however they seem to be stopping them in favour of the shittier ones!

*That is the same as applaws

I also give mine tins of fish.

Oh definitely about the dry! When I say leave down, I mean it covers the bottom of the bowl, not a huge portion. I'm lucky as he does self regulate and tends to leave the dry for when I'm out for ages or has it overnight

Mine LOVES Lily's Kitchen, but she has a sensitive stomach and it's too rich for her so we had to stop it. She won't touch Royal Canin. Symple seems to be working and well-received, and is all meat, no grain.

Are they allowed 20 dreamies? I never knew that. Mine went off the consistency of Lilys too solid i think. Next time you are in Tescos or Sainsburys look at their finest range its the nearest you will get to plain chicken but with the addidtives they need, on an actual supermarket shelf. Then join Zooplus. Look at Puritzon dry. I think i asked on your other thread if you will be going out for hours at a time? If you do you might need to leave dry down.

I use. Lilly’s kitchen. They have a good website and 20% off this week. My rescue is on the recovery food at present as she also has tummy problems,

20 Dreamies sounds like a lot, I thought they were for occasional treats. Canagan and Thrive are also good quality wet complete foods (in tins not pouches, and they aren't cheap either! But mine has a dodgy kidney so the vet advised a good quality wet food). Canagan is also grain free and I think that's supposed to be good for runny tummies too. Not sure about Thrive. I also give him a small amount of James Wellbeloved dry food which seems ok too

I believe Lily's Kitchen does not contain palm oil if that is a consideration for you? Some others don't either but I don't remember which.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I just checked the Dreamies packet and it says you can give up to 20 pieces a day to adult cats. Maybe I should cut down though - are Dreamies bad for them?

I think I may also try leaving a small bowl of dry food down during the day for them to nibble on as well. Unfortunately I bought a load of Go-Cat before adopting them, as that’s what our cats always had when I was growing up. I wish I’d checked on here sooner and got them Applaws!

Thanks for the tip about Country Hunter PinkSparkly - I haven’t heard of that! Has anyone tried Science Plan?

Hi Ruby - I wasn’t aware about the palm oil thing, but have just given it a google. Thanks for the tip!

Mine really liked Science Plan although i always thought it was a strange name not very appetising. Sheba fine cuts isnt a bad one. I always give mine half a pouch each of whatever wet, theyve never eaten more than that. They do have Puritizon dry down. Encore dry is the same as Applepaws and readily available at Sainsburys. If uts good quality they dont need many. Like i said Taste the Difference cat food is very good until you decide.

My vet warned me about dreamies and diabetes. I just use them to get them inside or if im leaving thrm. Thrive do tubes of treats that i think are more pure.

Have we seen them yet?!!!

Mine have Royal Canin and one of them isn't allowed Dreamies as they give her terrible wind and poo like Mr Whippy ice cream.

If they have the runs try stopping the treats and stick to a good quality dry food.

mine really like supermarkets own canned food and Felix. They prefer the pouches but I buy them tins.
To top up I leave James wellbeloved dried food down for them