80 pouches in 8 days. Is there a better way?

[NinkasiNinjaPaws]

Prior to lockdown we started getting visits from a new boy. As cats do, he decided my youngest was his human and after months of his squirting antics he had the little operation and officially unpacked his luggage. This has brought the feline head count to 4. New boy is a long leggy muscular young cat with an appetite to match our very middle aged old boy who given half a chance behaves like a waste disposal unit. The other two are as and when with food. We've alway bought packs of 40 pouches from either Costco, bookers, or the supermarkets when they have them and we're going through two of these in 8 days. Is there honestly a more economical (short of getting rid of cats) way to do this? With cans half the glaring will turn their noses up if its been in the fridge and cans only seem to be in one flavour bulk buying wise. I'm wondering if it's going to be more economical (possibly nutritionally better?) to roast cheap chickens for them and pad out with rice or something? Ideas appreciated.

@SciFiScream

What's the best kibble? In terms of a match between good for cats but isn't too expensive?

James Wellbeloved. A 10kg sack is around £44 online. Never, never feed cheap dried food such as Go Cat or Whiskas - there is a direct link between cheap dried food and urinary crystals and blocked bladders in male cats.

Thanks @thecatneuterer they have been having go cat till now but also get wet food, water and cat milk. Will that stave off the damage and we'll now swap to the James Wellbeloved stuff?

Male and female cat turned 2 in May.

I think you once tried to help me rehome a cat (or two) when I was explaining the nightmare we were having with rescues.

Well we got our 2 perfect cats in November 2018 when they were about 7 months old and they are just so loving and so loved. They truly were worth the wait. Even DH (who wasn't really keen) loves them too. He's so soppy with them and posts pictures on his work Facebook!

Love, love, love them both so much. Lucky us.

If anyone can recommend a dry food for indoor/neutered cats that isn't GoCat I'd be grateful. Bonus points if it comes in paper or card... That's all we could find when the vet recommended a change (female neutered cat).

my cats absolutely love James wellbeloved turkey kibble. Its the only one they all seem to actually properly enjoy. Ive tried loads

drspouse I ran out of IAMS so bought Harringtons in a box from Sainsburys they seem to like it but I have no clue whether its any good or not. I think its a step up from Whiskas. IAMS is wheat free and cones in a bag its usually on offer for £11.

If they will eat ot, Sainsburys own brand is really cheap in the green bag and has no grains in it.

If you are on Zooplus Purizon is one of the really good ones and they do an indoor version. They dont need much and its full of meat. I tend to alternate depending on the time of month 😃😃😃

Right.
A) New cat was not collared, chipped or neutered.
B) Cats protection, lost and found sites etc were contacted.
C) New cat had a BIG spraying issue, nothing was out of bounds to his tail including us. I can assure you being sprayed is not pleasant. If he was doing it in our house he was doing it else where as well.
D) We live in area with a lot of allotments and a transient population of people. I've lost count of the number of cats who visit, none tend to hang around for longer than 6months-12months. Some want attention, some don't, some have been dumped, some are just visiting.
E) Period of time between his first visit and neutering was 3 months, we did not just "kidnapped" someone's cat and three months of dealing with squirt wasn't pleasant either. We didn't water pistol him as he wasn't aggressive or otherwise an issue.
F) Cats tend to have their own opinions on "ownership", hence one of "ours" far prefers next door regardless of who pays his vet bills, I call it a cat share scheme. We both love him, he just loves them more 😁 New boy wanted interaction with our cats and kids, we let him do it on his terms, as far as we were concerned at first he was just another visitor.
G) Neuter and chip your cats ffs. It's not hard or expensive, and visitors are then easily indentified. Or keep them in. The boys don't wander as much or spray and the girls are less harassed. We came to the conclusion if new boy buggered off after neutering, so be it, but he stayed.
H) Only on Mumsnet would a conversation started about cat food become a "you stole someone's cat" conversation.
I) Thanks to those who offered genuine suggestions, it was much appreciated.

James Wellbeloved. A 10kg sack is around £44 online. Never, never feed cheap dried food such as Go Cat or Whiskas - there is a direct link between cheap dried food and urinary crystals and blocked bladders in male cats.

It must be good stuff, their wet and dry food is the only thing Harry will consider eating!

I still wouldn't dare by 10KG though!

Bulk buying and tins is definitely the way to go. Like TCN I buy James Wellbeloved kibble and butchers classic tins. Feed sparingly on the dry food as dry food of any type isn’t good for their kidneys - it’s basically a food for owner convenience. Butchers classic isn’t a bad food compared to the likes of felix, whiskas etc.

They always have a communal biscuit bowl and water as well as the wet food. We have been using go cat for dry food unfortunately, we've been mooting the idea of upgrading biscuit quality. The meat tubs sound interesting as does the mince and bonemeal suggestion. Our eldest one can be a bit finicky about anything in gravy, it will be licked and the meat left. He'll then follow you around until something more acceptable is given. We've used pouches purely to give 'variety' and probably habit. Also the kids can open them, and the youngest likes the responsibility of feeding them first thing on a weekend. But, it's worth a try with tins and other suggestions, particularly as the eldest cat is around 10 and not getting any younger or more active.

@SciFiScream I'm afraid I can't really answer your questions as I am neither a vet nor a scientist. All I know is that the danger is somehow related to the higher magnesium content in the cheap dry food. I doubt that is ameliorated at all by extra liquid or wet food, but I have no idea if it accumulates in the body and so builds up over time, or if it requires regular doses to be dangerous. Anyway, regardless, just stop using it now and don't worry about it.

And OP - please ignore the idiots on this thread. And also do stop feeding the cheap dry food. The potential vet bills (and the awfulness of your cat dying from a blocked bladder) far outweigh the money you would save by feeding the cheap stuff as opposed to something like James Wellbeloved.

Dry food all the way
Pick a mid range decent quality one, it’s nutritionally better than pouches, better for their teeth and about a quarter of the price .
Maybe a few pouches a day between them as a treat or you can buy mixed trays of Felix and whiskas at pet food suppliers like farm shops and pets at home.
Be careful buying tins of meat from zooplus etc, I find cats tend to not be too fussy with the dry food, and they do some good quality dry cat foods on there, but can be very sniffy about wet food if it’s not what they are used to, even if it’s top quality . Buy a few sample tins first !

Have you tried not feeding other people’s cats? It’s really very cheap.

Please tell me you recycle the pouches with Terracycle scheme

I get the 96 packs from zooplus. And the pouches can be recycled. I save them for our local Cat's Protection branch who send them off.

@EachandEveryone don't think any of those come in indoor or neutered.

Check out the pet food on Approved Food.
Its past its BB date, but my cat has never noticed (and her reading skills are lacking).
You can get really good premium foods for pennies

@Tristatearea

Have you tried not feeding other people’s cats? It’s really very cheap.

Have you tried not jumping to conclusions and reading the full thread?

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

Please tell me you recycle the pouches with Terracycle scheme

Ours just go in the bin. I've looked on the Terracycle website and I can't get the address search to work but I don't think there's a local drop off point for us.

Pink. I did. My conclusion was still the same. Don’t steal other people’s animals.

[quote drspouse]@EachandEveryone don't think any of those come in indoor or neutered.[/quote]
IAMs does. Puritzon from Zooplus definitely does its worth getting an account with them. Harringtons does from PAH.

Great! We have Pets at Home nearby too.

I bought a jar of catnip (it says on the jar it is edible, not sure if all catnip is) and sprinkle it on my cats food - it tempts them to eat reasonably priced cat food that they'd turn their noses up at otherwise.