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

Original poster

Katkin food. Has anyone got any experiences or thoughts on it?

33 replies

Ineedasitdown · 05/11/2023 11:03

I was sucked into trying Katkin food for a trial period by the promising marketing.
Anyway 2 weeks worth of food has arrived and I’m not sure what to make of it. Dcat (10) has nose dived into it so she appears to approve, but then she has a post prandial coma after it for a few hours. Normally she sleeps or washes after food. This is more a crash. I actually wondered if it has catnip in it! (It hasn’t) Its 93% meat which is where I got persuaded into a trial.

most of the online reviews are very positive but there is the odd one which talks of cats being ill. I’m not entirely sure I trust online reviews either.
So I thought I’d ask the wise people and their cats here on thoughts.

Picture of dcat for tax.- that’s her normal. Not a Katkin coma!

Katkin food. Has anyone got any experiences or thoughts on it?
OP posts:
Lenax · 05/11/2023 11:07

Our cat nibbled at it for a few seconds, didn't touch it again but then had a bad stomach for a week after so we never used it again, that being said, our cat has a sensitive stomach. But my friend who has two cats who also have sensitive stomachs uses Katkin and would recommend it, so maybe it depends on the cat. Also keen to hear others' stories of how their cat has gotten on with Katkin.

Dfg15 · 05/11/2023 11:07

I bought it for the trial period. My cat wouldn’t touch it, sniffed it then walked away. Tried him with three different flavours, but he wouldn’t eat any of it. They say to leave it down, and not give the cat anything else, but I couldn’t bear to see him hungry. Ended up giving the rest of it to my neighbour. Don’t know what his cats thought as I keep forgetting to ask.

Original poster
Ineedasitdown · 05/11/2023 11:24

@Lenax in amongst the very positive reviews there are quite a few stories like yours. I think the fact it’s fresh makes me nervous too with the risk of bacteria. So far she’s a very healthy and robust cat so I don’t want to upset her.

im glad it’s not just me seduced by the marketing! When I look at the full price it’s £70 for a month. So I’m not sure the claims of it being cheaper stack up.

OP posts:
SingingSands · 05/11/2023 11:27

My cat wouldn't touch. Totally refused. Expensive mistake!

neverwakeasleepingbaby · 05/11/2023 11:31

It's a total pain keeping it in the freezer and defrosting it. My cats will eat an occasional sachet of it and then not touch it again for a week.
We've had more success with Untamed which is in tins so easier to store. They still don't want it for every meal but they'll eat a tin of it maybe once every day or two.
They're fussy bastards and just want variety (which is fair enough I guess)

Original poster
Ineedasitdown · 05/11/2023 11:42

@neverwakeasleepingbaby yes I think what I’m getting from this thread is that the subscription route for cats doesn’t work that well. I looked at untamed reviews- it seems like a good option as it’s tinned but then same issue of cat fussiness.

Dcat is a dustbin but she is partial to variety. I think I’ll go and have a look in pets at home rather than go subscription based. At least the fridge and freezer won’t be full of cat food.

OP posts:
neverwakeasleepingbaby · 05/11/2023 12:47

Sounds like a good plan!
It's frustrating because there aren't that many "unprocessed" cat foods out there. I've got a bit obsessed with ultra-processed food recently and I don't think the supermarket brands are that great.
I do really rate Untamed because it does look very natural and non-UPF, but I think they could do a bigger variety of flavours. It is a new-ish company though. My plan is to pause the subscription when I don't need any for a while
Have you tried Blink! ?

Lenax · 05/11/2023 12:56

@Ineedasitdown I got convinced with the clever marketing too, but in reality I found the food not right for us at all, I saw you mention that you may try looking in Pets at Home for other foods, definitely do this as there is a wider range of options there, which are not subscription. Our cat loves salmon Applws but we only give it as a treat in a treat bowl because it's not substantial as a main meal for our cat

Original poster
Ineedasitdown · 05/11/2023 13:36

Oh she loves the treat size food like gourmet.
it’s just not sustainable as a main meal 4-6times a day. I’ve been shopping out of Tesco for convenience - the selection isn’t that great for trying to get more meat content in her diet so pets at home it is. I’ll have a look at applws too She’d love that.

Talk about cats have staff not owners…

OP posts:
MehIsAsGoodAsItGets · 05/11/2023 14:28

DCat has always been a very vocal beast especially at night and always ravenous. Since starting Katkin a couple of months ago he is generally a much happier animal and a lot more settled at night. There are one or two flavours he’s not as keen on but he eats them usually. Overall I’m really happy and just wishing I’d tried it years ago. Oh and another plus point is that he’s always shed a ton of fur, he has a very thick coat but this has definitely reduced and you don’t come away with a handful of fur when you stroke him now.

pastaandpesto · 05/11/2023 14:44

I bloody love KatKin! DCat has eaten nothing else for 18 months and loves it. He enjoys both the chunkier pouches and the smoother trays, and most of the flavours, so it gives him lots of variety.

I'm convinced it must be good for him because his poo is tiny and basically odourless. Honestly. I was actually worried I'd gone noseblind, but every so often he'll sneak a bit of cheese or sausage from someone and the next day everyone knows from the smell from the litter tray.

Personally, if your cat enjoys it, I'd give it a longer trial. The coma may have been from feeling deeply satisfied!

Oh and it works out cheaper of you but the biggest portion sizes and then just spread it out. DCat is on 200 cals a day, so we get the 400 cal pouches and try to make them last two days (or a day and a half, at least). Then I just pause the next subscription for a couple of weeks, which they make really easy to to via text message.

I don't work for them, honest! Just very impressed with the food.

LucyAnnTrent · 05/11/2023 15:09

I did the two week trial for Katkin too. My cat loves it! Which took me by surprise, because usually she's super fussy, but she gobbles up every scrap. I've signed up for the subscription service now. It's too early to have noticed improvements in her health (although she was pretty healthy before), but she does seem happier with Katkin. It is a bit more expensive, but on the other hand at least she eats it all, whereas before with her cheaper food, she'd eat a bit, refuse the rest and then be asking to be fed again half an hour later.

JoeyRamonesHair · 05/11/2023 16:41

We feed a mix of Katkin and Untamed for variety. The Katkin pouches with the coarse ground meat are scoffed up, but mine hate the sloppy fine ground stuff in the trays - this was the stuff which upset a lot of previouly happy customers (happened when the company moved to a new site and tried to be clever with their packaging), hence the tales of sick cats etc.

Herecomesdehotstepper · 05/11/2023 16:46

My boy has been on Katkin since about March and the experiment has been a success. He loves it and more importantly it has stopped the constant hassling for food that we got when he was on a mixture of Whiskas and Applaws. The only issue is that we now need to watch his weight, but his coat is beautiful.

PinkyBlueMe · 05/11/2023 16:53

We're fans of Katkin. Ours have been on it 18 months and we've seen definite improvements in coats and overall health. Oddly our skinny impossible to fatten up cat has filled out, and our fat cat has slimmed down.
Kluck is the favourite here. Quack makes one of them sick.
They got a lot of bad reviews and upset customers when they changed the recipe and there was about 2 weeks when they didn't send food out so a lot of people got annoyed. They're past that now fortunately.
It did take a few days for the cats to fully accept the change in diet when they started Katkin but I'm glad we persevered.

AncientQuercus · 05/11/2023 17:02

I tried Katkin and we got the smooth trays. One cat ate it sometimes but the two that usually gobble up anything in sight wouldn't touch it.

Then we had untamed and found they'd sometimes eat it and sometimes not.

Ours refuse Blink as well.

Guiltypleasures001 · 07/11/2023 15:44

My cat want interested so a waste
But try getting off their mailing list it's impossible , I've complained they apologised and still get them everyday

Clarich007 · 07/11/2023 23:02

My cat is a dustbin and will eat anything.Hes a rescued feral street cat, so grateful for anything.He loves Untamed.
I tried the trial of Katkin.He ate it but wasn't enthusiastic which surprised me The cluck was ok, but the Moo looked and smelt so greasy, and made him sick and caused the runs for a couple of days.

Icanflyhigh · 07/11/2023 23:05

Hideous stuff. I run a boarding cattery and I dread anyone coming in on this stuff as its just horrible. Texture, smell, consistency. I'd rather cook fresh chicken breasts daily than feed this muck.

pastaandpesto · 08/11/2023 08:47

Icanflyhigh · 07/11/2023 23:05

Hideous stuff. I run a boarding cattery and I dread anyone coming in on this stuff as its just horrible. Texture, smell, consistency. I'd rather cook fresh chicken breasts daily than feed this muck.

Fresh chicken breasts would not be a complete diet for a cat, they would be missing essential nutrients.

You've clearly got a strong opinion, but as a cat owner with a cat who has been eating KatKin long term I couldn't disagree with you more.

Barnie13111986 · 24/01/2025 01:44

Please stay away from Katkin they nearly killed my cat with contaminated food

Barnie13111986 · 24/01/2025 01:45

Their food is contaminated it’s a risky game to play with your cats life

Alternativetolove · 24/01/2025 09:09

I know pet food recalls are relatively common, but this is the first I have heard about Katkin contamination. There is stuff in the news at the moment about avian flu cat food contamination, but that's all raw food as far as I can see? Can you provide more info?

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 24/01/2025 09:42

Our boy wouldn't look at it. He did, however, like the "topper" things on any other food so they were a hit. I ended up binning it.

Sunny102 · 16/02/2025 08:33

One of my cats loves it and is thriving on it. My other just loves his junk food 😁 The cat that loves it also goes into a satiated sleep after eating it !