Food ideas please!

[Shallysally]

My cat is 10 months old. Her diet is Whiskas complete dry food, the odd fresh portion of whitefish and, until the last week or two, a pouch in gravy.

She has now decided that she will only eat the little milky pouches in the dry food, she has really gone off the pouches so I’ve been giving her some fish and small amount of rice to fill her up.

She’s not keen on fresh chicken or ham. I’ve been looking at different pouches, they’re not kitten but given that she is 10 months is this ok? Pretty sure she would like some of the fishy ones.

Should add, if I don’t top the complete up she does eat the majority of it overnight sometimes. Just don’t like to think of her being hungry!

Dry food isn't great for cats, my vet recently actually told me to get rod of it completely. Cats can get chronically dehydrated and get most of their hydration from food.

If you do need to feel dry, I recommend Thrive.

Zooplus has some great grain-free, sugar-free foods. Unfortunately, my two boys refuse all the really healthy stuff but I have them on Sheba terrine and perfect portions. Both have a pretty good meat content. Better than whiskers or Felix.

Definitely stop feeding the rice and it's not recommended to feed too much fish because of mercury levels.
I rotate poultry flavours.

Sorry for all the typos!!!

And also it's fine to feed adult food at 10 months

Ah thank you! I tried her on Sheba chicken but she wasn’t keen.

I’ll have a look at some of the grain free. I’m a bit reluctant to stop the dried altogether as that’s all she is guaranteed to eat at the mo! She does drink quite a lot of water but I’ll definitely take on board what your vet advised, thank you

I’ll try the Sheba terrine, and I’ll have a google of salt free gravy is ok for cats and maybe cook some chicken in it if it’s deemed to be safe.

If you're feeding fresh food then you can get additives to make it a complete food. There is a popular pet forum (not sure if I am allowed to name it) where you might be able to get some good advice.

Just like babies, fed is best.
So if she is guaranteed to eat the dry, then you're right to keep her on it if you don't find an alternative.

They are such finicky little monkeys! Haha

Ah they really are! I’ve never had a cat like her before, they’ve been males who would be willing to eat just about anything!

As long as she's drinking plenty of water, don't worry too much about feeding mostly dry. Plus as a female, she's much less likely to get the urinary tract problems male cats can have. Just make sure the dry food is a good quality complete food.

ScottishNewbie is right saying to get rid of the rice. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means meat, meat and more meat (including poultry & fish of course), and not a lot else. And kitten food is just that bit more high energy, as kittens are growing machines.

I give my pair a total of a pouch & a half between them a day split over 2 meals, and a fair bit of that gets left. They much prefer to graze on the dry. They drink well, and have no litter tray problems.

Dry food is not good. It is usually sprayed with sodium phosphates to make it more palatable. However, research has shown that sodium phosphates likely increase the risk for renal failure in cats.

Unfortunately, it is also common in wet food. It does not have to be declared but manufacturers have to provide information if you ask them. I feed a wet food that contains bone meal (calcium phosphate) which appears to not harm kidneys.

Ah thanks all. I’ll continue with the dry and offer pouches then.
I’ll stop giving rice, just thought it would fill her tummy a bit more! She’s tiny, I don’t think she will grow much bigger. I’ll keep an eye on her though.