Cat food confusion! Maine Coon (year old)

[NumptyMum]

I'm trying to figure out a good brand of cat food to get. We've got a maine coon, about a year old so still growing – he's bigger than the cat next door already. From what I understand, as he's growing until until he's 1.5–2 years, I should still be feeding him kitten food.
He luuuuurves his James Wellbeloved dry kibble but I always think of it as being cat crisps – nice to eat but not much good for you. I got him some proper Maine Coon kitten food from Zooplus (Concept for Life Maine Coon Kitten). I got him a trial pack, he liked it; I bought more and he now spurns it...
So what I'm trying to work out is what a good brand of dry food IS. I'm not considering Royal Canin Maine Coon, unless someone says it IS OK for him, as they seem to be very vague about ingredients... I think it's perhaps like the James Wellbeloved, OK but not particularly good.
Cat also eats wet food – I get him tins of Grau from Zooplus – which of course he loved, until I stocked up and got loads... So he has to be a good boy and eat the wet food before getting his dry stuff.
Anyway, would really like to hear from other MC owners or those who know about pet food, to see what recommendations there are. I'm looking at Wild Freedom (ouch price) and Feringa just now, but they aren't MC-specific, just for normal-size kittens.

Has he been neutered? I always read that once neutered they didn't need as much food so it was ok to move to adult food. My 2 like encore dry food which is 80% meat (not specific to MC cats though). They've also had thrive dry (90% meat) but had to get it from Amazon. Purizon from zooplus is about 70% meat.

Thanks demented – and yes, he's been neutered. And he is already a big cat... perhaps I could give him adult dry food, given I've still got loads of the kitten wet food tins to get through. Might look at Thrive; just spotted that mentioned on another thread. I'll also go and have a look at the adult dry food on Zooplus...

Doh, and just realised it's Animonda I've got heaps of for wet food, not Grau. I think I tried both and at the time he preferred the Carny.

Zooplus - wild freedom. My cat says "like dreamies but BETTER"
Seriously he tries to get in the cupboard to eat it and it's all decent ingredients

One of mine has intolerances to pretty much anything apart from chicken so we feed all 4 of ours John Burns Chicken & Rice Dry Adult (there is literally no other food available which doesn't contain beef or fish extract believe it or not)

They then have 2 cooked chicken breasts between them every day (poached and served with some of the chicken water)

Whatever you stock up on he's going to take a dislike to. That's the rule. I think it even applies if you order it when they are in a different room, it arrives when they are out and you keep it stored in the garage they never go in i.e they have never seen the 10 kg bag.

So whatever you do just keep saying you're just trying it out!

Garth you are so right... lol.

Our's get Royal Canin Maine Coon dry food, plus plenty of water (which they prefer to paddle in - muddy puddles outside taste soooo much better!). I seem to remember that we switched from kitten to adult at about one year old. They've never had a problem with it.

Purizon has the same meat content as wild freedom but is cheaper. They have a trial pack of 3 flavours on zooplus for £9.99 (3×400g)
I get Encore from Asda and it's 80% meat.

I had Royal Canin Persian for my Persians. They did really well on it. I had to swap to Iams vitality as it made my new cat sick. My long haired Persian's coat was definitely better on the RC Persian. Abs she never had dandruff. But since Cheddar is sick with every other food I've tried a d separate feeding isn't possible. I'm going to have to stick with the Iams.

OK, maybe I'll give the Wild Freedom a go. Will also check out John Burns, though cat's not allergic to anything so far as we know. I'm just trying to keep his food good, as our lovely 16-year old cat died last year after getting feline diabetes

My point is, that the RC breed specific isn't that bad!

Royal canin doesnt have a lot of meat though and it contains grains/cereals. You are paying for the name rather than the ingredients

Will add the Purizon to the order, is this the one you mean, demented? [[www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/dry_cat_food/purizon/trial_packs_bundle_packs/407675 Purizon Adult Dry Cat Food Mixed Pack
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I'm just rather wary of dried foods overall after diabetes in our old boy. Hence giving this spoilt toddler meat he won't eat but also a bit of dried food for variety.

Yes it is. My 2 did eat it but it's just easier to pick up encore when I'm in Asda rather than waiting for deliveries

My cats are fussy with wet food and turn their noses up at 'good stuff'. They end up with gourmet solitaire and gourmet perle with the odd sheba fine flakes thrown in.

My cat came to me on whiskers. Two years ago. I have spent the last few years trying to get him off of it. Spent far to much money and wasted food.

I finally tried him on Lily’s kitchen dried food. He loves it. May not be one of the best but better than what he was on. He won’t eat wet food in the packets either. So now I give him either tuna, chicken or some cooked fish everyday.

He now eats way more food than he did before.

We are getting two Maine coon kittens and will be feeding them Royal Canin Maine Coon Kitten dried food until they reach the age of 15 months and then switch over the adult version. The kitten kibble is smaller in size to make it easier for their small jaw to handle. It's also higher in protein, fat and calories for growing. Packaging states to change over at 15 months.

We also feed Applaws kitten wet food as Maine coons get most of their hydration from wet food rather than water. They are poor drinkers in general.

I did a lot of research on the subject before we reserved our kittens and started a site dedicated to Maine coon care. Here's the owner's guide for Maine coon diet: What Do Maine Coons Eat? Do They Need a Special Diet?

I have two adult Maine Coons. Both on Royal Canine Maine Coon. Also, after recent check up the vet strongly recommended to give them Hill's Prescription Diet Dental Care dry food as 'they will thank me in older years':-) They cats took well to mixing both brands.

Would like to add that Maine Coons have larger jaws comparing to other breeds and RC Maine Coon caters for that, giving them bigger pieces to chew on.

In general, a high-quality wet cat food should be the standard to which you can add some night-time dry for browsing. The fact that your cat is a Maine Coon is irrelevant to the food you buy. MCs are like any other domestic cat in all respects except they are bigger and eat more than average! How about trying raw cat food? A lot of advocates recommend it. It is more natural. I think good quality cat food costs more than human food. Just have to get used to that.

P.S. If you make raw cat food you have to know what you are doing as the food can be spoiled with pathogens such as Salmonella. Vets advise against it for this reason and because they'll sell less cat food 😊😎. I built a page around your reasonable request for advice: maine-coon.pictures-of-cats.org/2022/10/do-maine-coons-need-special-diet.html

I have my cat on Katkin, which my vet recommended. Everything is in a pouch size designed for your size/weight of cat. You just feed that, no dry food apart from an occasional treat. I highly recommend it. It's basically all meat with nothing bulking it out.

Just come back from vet check
Doing really well at 10 months
Fed on royal canin and purina from breeder
Vet said dried food only is he best