Fancy cat foods worth it?

[Caerulea]

We've an 8mo male bengal mix with a bottomless appetite. He's about 5kg (vet happy with his build so not fat) & will happily eat 5 sachets of whiskers junior a day.

I keep being drawn to those bloody ads about the 'more meat no filler' foods you can get delivered but can't really find any evidence that would be better than standard shop-bought.

No concerns he would struggle to change brands, he eats everything! He tries to share the food we're eating whilst it's on its way to our mouths. Had no idea cats could be this food motivated.

So - anyone tried the 'fancy' food & know if there's any truth to them being more filling?

I switched my cat to KatKin six months ago and the change has been remarkable.

She's gone from being lethargic, with a dull coat and being unsteady on her feet to being full of life, with a thick, glossy coat.

If you can afford it, I'd make the switch. It's £50 a month and worth every penny to me. You need a big freezer to store it all though!

I forgot to add, there's no smell from the litterbox anymore and her 'waste' has reduced to a tiny amount, which proves its all getting usedby the body and not simply being eliminated.

No idea, but DCats get whatever they'll actually eat. Their poo stinks.

Work out how much the food is per Kg. Some of the regular ones in the supermarket are quite pricy.

Uneaten food is a complete waste of money.

I use Applaws dry food as it has a very high meat content and they say wet food is junk food to cats and she seems very healthy. I pay between £20-30 for a 7.5kg bag and it lasts months.

My cats get wild freedom tins from zooplus. It's not fancy but it's not full of crap. They do well on it. Their shit doesn't stink. And it's kidney friendly, which becomes more of a concern as they get older 🤷🏼‍♀️

Just a thought - has his thyroid function been checked? That seems like a LOT of food for him to not be gaining weight although it depends what the caloric content is. My 5.3 ish kilo cat has about 240g of wet food a day and she maintains on that.

I get animoda carny from zooplus, really high meat content and no fillers. It probably costs 40-50 a month but that is 2 cats 1 is a 5kg Maine coon.

Their coats are so glossy and soft. Highly recommend.

@JellyMops afaiu wet is better for boys due the risk of stones & blockages & he's already had that due to stress (his person went away for too long). Annoying cos dry is SO much cheaper!

@StoneTheCrone less poo definitely seems for logical for using up more of the food! Freezer not really an issue so I'll look into that one

@Nopenopenopenopenopenope the kidney & bladder thing I want to keep on top of now so definitely wet food (there's also a oat milk tax I have to pay him when I make my one coffee a day so that's extra hydration)

@DuchessOfSausage the cost is crazy, no matter which brand you buy for wet food so I don't think it will make much difference over the month tbh.

See I reckon we're spending about 65 a month atm so that's a huge difference!

He's only 8months so I assume it's cos he's still growing? I wonder if the junior food is also less filling. I'll look up thyroid stuff though. He's very healthy looking & active & sooo soft

I always think to go for the best you can within your budget

Like say I have £30pm, if it was a choice between higher meat content and lower for the same price, obvs I would go for the "better" one

Mine is on purr and miaow dry as he hates wet food, half a tin of thrive wet which he eats while moping he hates it, and whatever raw bits he gets while I'm cooking (chicken, turkey mince etc)

@JellyMops I've always heard the opposite as, like @Caerulea says, dry food can give boy cats UTIs, as well as the fact that cats get a high percentage of their water intake from their food. consciouscat.net/the-truth-about-dry-cat-food/ is just one search result.

I suppose it's like most things though, whatever works for your cat.

OP There are some good deals of Zoopla and I think they do tester packs, I'm sure they used to, so that you can double check your boy approves. I know you say he'll eat anything but he is still a cat and that means suddenly being fussy for no reason other than because you have bought a supply of something.

Zooplus is great for high meat content food. You can also get kitten specific. I would focus on wet food but give a small dish of dry each day (it helps keep their teeth clean).

Whiskas and Felix has added sugar so you are feeding a habit. It's the McDonalds of cat food.

Brands to look out for: Purizon, Applaws, Wild Country, Feringa. These have a high meat content (protein) which will fill him up for longer.

warning gross photo

Switched to katkin last year. My cat was previously on Gourmet. She was skinny and scruffy. She used to leave lost wasted.
She had a period of sores developing on her face and neck and after numerous vet trips and tests we couldn't find an answer. I switched and within a month she was clear and like a different cat. She's now bigger (not overweight), has a beautiful coat, no sore, happy, full of energy. It's a clear difference. It cost's about £50 per month which works out about the same as shop bought when you count the amount and waste. Mine likes the chunky version of katkin. Shop bought food is basically like a McDonald's every day.

We buy from zooplus. Cat mainly eats dry as he prefers, so he gets unlimited dry from purizon or applaws. But the dry food from these brands aren’t dry dry like whiskers hard biscuits, they are much softer. Grain free.
Then he just gets 1 small 70g tin of wet in evening (which he often only eats half of)
Hes around 5-5.5kg also

Mine won't touch any of the expensive stuff - we've tried them all!

Our adults are currently on Sheba and the kitten is on Whiskas.

Thank you for that list. He does get a bit of dry every day cos the dogs are too scared to stop him dipping into theirs 🙄

Thank you everso much, everybody! I've signed up to zoopla & will work thru it all in a bit. Even a quick glance tells me the better stuff will be cheaper than boxes & boxes of whiskers!

I know it seems unbelievable but this has been our experience with KatKin too - barely any poo at all, and what there is is odourless.

Bengals mature late and eat an enormous amount of food all their lives as they are an active breed who don’t have an off switch.

He will probably stay on this much food for life, mine was on 400-450g gourmet a day, 500g if dh put him to bed and he got conned for the extra half pouch in the fridge.

I tried him on amionda carney and lily’s but he hated both.