Is Whiskas really that bad??

[LavenderLxx]

Our 5 month old kitten has been eating Whiskas for the last few months as that what he had eaten initially and we didn’t want to change it. I’ve been reading how Whiskas is full of rubbish - meat derivatives, very little real meat, cereals and sugars; so have been looking at more of the ‘proper’ food brands. We could afford to pay more than we currently are with the Whiskas but not the super premium brands.

However my husband says there’s nothing wrong with Whiskas and his childhood cats lived till 18 eating it and that ‘proper’ food is an unnecessary expense.

Opinions please on how bad Whiskas really is and some affordable proper brands would be much appreciated. Thank you x

Our previous cat was on Royal Canin and Sheba (so high/low!) and when we adopted our new boy he was on both Whiskas wet and dry from CP. I transitioned him over to RC and Sheba - with occasional Untamed - after a few weeks. Whiskas, to me, really, really smells bad, and the cat's toilet matched when he was eating it.

Our cat loves Felix. We've tried introducing good quality cat food but she just loves her fishy junk food Felix. She would even prefer it to fresh chicken!

our kittens were on whiskers when we got them from the rescue and they stank! Since moving them on to untamed they no longer stink and you can’t tell when they’ve used the litter tray.

My main issue with Whiskas is that they’ve shrinkflationed their sachets from 100g to 80g. Own-brand sachets from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons still have 100g so that’s what my cat gets. Purveyors of ‘premium’ cat food have a vested interest in dissing the more affordable brands so I take their claims with a pinch of salt. Any product sold as pet food in the UK is subject to strict regulation.

The only wet food Penelope will eat is Sheba flakes in gravy. Despite my best efforts to get her on to something a bit better quality!

I feed my cat Whiskas but he won't eat any one brand for any length of time. I have to buy Felix one week, Whiskas the next and then maybe Lily's or one of those other fancy ones. He isn't overfed or spoilt, he will just suddenly turn his nose up at something he's hitherto loved.

I feed my cat Whiskas all the time never had any problems with it

I would be delighted to feed my cats Whiskas, however she is very elderly and can only tolerate Royal Canin and so we are stuck paying a fortune for food which she only licks the gravy off anyway 🙄

Inageee with the type of food, we've had cats all my life, 52 years and none have ever had high quality foods always a mix of Whiskas, Felix, Arthur, go cat etc and biscuits similar brands. They've always lived long lives with little issue ... saying that we tend to get hard core cats like farm cats, rescue feral cats etc so they have been born into catching and finding food ... it's amazing how quickly they turn into princesses and princes

The best food is one that's affordable, that your cat enjoys and that they're not allergic or intolerant to. For some, that may be Whiskas, for others, it could be Animonda Carny or Scrumbles.

Mine three are fed Sheba. Is it the best food in the world? No. Do they eat it and enjoy it? Yes. Is it affordable? Yes. Does it cause upset stomachs or vomiting? No. So it's a win for me

Mine three are fed Sheba. Is it the best food in the world? No. Do they eat it and enjoy it? Yes. Is it affordable? Yes. Does it cause upset stomachs or vomiting? No. So it's a win for me

Do they eat it
In my opinion that is the biggest win and honestly, probably the main factor of any cat slave. If you have an unfussy cat it's either broken or a fake 😂

The best food for ur cat is the one it will eat. I have tried every single expensive food out there. But he will only eat a certain type of wet food and a certain type of dried.

My 12 year old cat will only really eat whiskas, and only in jelly not gravy. He’s very happy and healthy!

So I am a snob!! I got a kitten and I got him Untamed. I loved it because it smells like real food. It gave my kitten the worst smelling poo. It was revolting. I went to Royal Canin but it was expensive and he didn’t really like it.

So I tried Whiskers…the food smells but his poos don’t. He likes it. And it has cut my food bill down from over £100 a month to less than £30.

We had lots of long lived happy cats on whiskas - and we had lots of long lived and happy cats on royal canin, and we were stuck feeing the overpriced kidney food for about 3 years.

I don't think it matters that much except too much wet food will do their teeth in.

When I got my late little love I tried him on all the expensive cat food selection from Waitrose, looking for highest meat/no cereal or veg, turned out that he only liked Purina One, just varied between salmon and chicken, usually went off whichever flavour I had just bought a big bag of.
He liked fresh cooked chicken, sometimes from Aldi, other times only M&S would do. And lik-e-lix.

Sainsbury's own brand for my two and Go Cat dry food

But their absolute favourite is the bone from a cooked chicken thigh - they know and eat the ends, I suppose to get to the marrow. Oh and mice!

My cat won’t eat any wet food. All she eats is Iams dry food. She won’t eat anything else!

My vet said even cheap wet food is better than just feeding premium dry, as cats need wet food for their kidneys. They don’t drink enough water to avoid chronic dehydration as they have quite a poor sense of thirst and are designed to get moisture from their food (eg a mouse is a lot of liquid). By the time they drink from a bowl, they’re quite dehydrated and over time they are prone to urinary or kidney issues. He advised to give a better quality dry food, but a daily pouch of whatever wet they will eat. I give mine Amazon’s own-brand wet which is grain free but not too expensive, and they happily eat it.

My girls are ex Street cats/rescues. When they came to me aged 7 months their coats were thin and rough. They had been fed Whiskas and a low quality dry food. They stayed on it for a week and the food and the litter stank.

They were switched to Hills dry and high quality wet - at least 50% meat/fish. They have a variety of brands and typically like ex street cats eat as though every meal may be their last. Their fur is now thick, soft and shiny.

Similar for our old boy.

I never fed the DC poor food, we don't eat poor food, my animals don't eat poor food.

Sometimes likes - any brand wet/dry food
Sometimes dislikes - any brand wet/dry food
Sometimes likes sardines, tuna, chicken, mincemeat, scraps
Sometimes dislikes anything, everything he ate the day before...oh no, not that again...!
Did eat whole baby squirrel though.
Oh and the salmon next door left out on their kitchen table.

That’s interesting. Our previous cat never really drank (unless it was from a filthy puddle), but the vet said her kidneys were in great shape as she loved her wet food. Our new boy is more of a dry food guy, and tends to lick the gravy off but leave a lot of the actual meat - he does drink water though so hopefully he is getting enough liquid.

My first cat, a lovely calico girl (of course a Calico was a girl), was very, very fussy about food, wouldn't touch dry and didn't eat much at all, used to drink from the toilet.

Our girl was nuts for cat milk but the vet said it was making her fat and to stop it. (I had thought it was better she drank something than nothing.) When she stopped getting cat milk I only ever saw her drink rainwater on top of the wheelie bin, never from the fresh water I replenished daily in dishes round the house.

I mix water into the wet cat food so that they get extra hydration. They seem to enjoy the wet food being wetter!