How much does cat food matter?

[Catt1sh]

I used to feed my cats Whiskas but then after hearing how bad is it and that there’s low meat content, I researched different food and tried my cats out on lots of different types of expensive high meat brands. I have finally found one that they like, which is Untamed. It’s expensive and they don’t enjoy it as much as the cheaper supermarket type stuff. I cat sit as a second job and most of the cats I visit are on Felix, Whiskas, Sheba etc and doing just fine! I was with one at the weekend who is 15 years old and his cost is so lovely and soft and shiny and he is in great health and eats Whiskas. How much of a difference do the likes of Untamed, Thrive, KatKin etc actually make?

I always wonder how much of this is marketing tbh. Our last cat ate Felix wet food and Lily’s Kitchen dry, but really she would have eaten anything.

Our boy is a fussy monkey, but absolutely loves Go Cat and would eat only that if he was allowed. (My DP says he’s literally on the packaging, so of course he likes it!) He has Sheba wet in the morning with Royal Canin dry, then at night a tin of Untamed with Go Cat dry. So a mix of high/low. He wouldn’t touch Katkin (but did like the “sprinkles” they sent as a topper). Our vet’s happy with him/his diet, and he does drink water which our girl would only do if it was in a filthy puddle or pooled on top of the wheelie bin. When we adopted him from Cats Protection he was on Whiskas but the smell of it made me want to heave so we transitioned him off it very quickly.

I think it may depend to an extent on the health/age of the cat. My cat is approaching 'mature' (8) and my vet recommended wet food with a high protein content for optimum kidney/urinary health. He is still allowed a little dry kibble, but also high protein (Royal Canin). The wet food is Katkin and it's the first food ever that he hasn't ultimately rejected after a while. It must be three years now. I think because it's just meat, basically. But I stick to the less fatty ones, such as the turkey, chicken and fish mostly.

P.S. he is mad for Lick-e-Lix but I treat it like junk food for kids - only an occasional treat!

Partly it depends on the sex of the cat. Basically all wet food is fine. Some is better than others but it's not going to make a huge difference whatever wet food you feed.

Dry food is another matter. Cheap dry food (Go Cat, Whiskas etc) is not good for male cats and is linked to urinary crystals and blocked bladders.

DCat only eats Katkin. He's still young so probably to early to judge if there are any health benefits (and how would we know anyway?) but what I can say is that it makes ALL the difference to the litter box. On Katkin his poo is actually completely odourless and there is barely any of it. If he ever eats anything else then his poo reeks and can be messy.

I get better quality dry food (purizon) and then I worry less about lower quality wet food that he will eat. Currently encore and Morrisons cat mouse food.

This is a great typo. Our cat does not eat the mouses he catches but I wish he would instead of leaving them at the back door.

Ours are on Untamed - they were rescues, and their fur wasn’t in the best condition when they arrived

They now have the silkiest, most luscious fur I’ve ever, ever felt

Bad Louie!

One of my cat ate Whiskas and lived to 23. The All my cats seemed to be fine on it. I did try that real meat stuff once that comes frozen (Katkin) but they hated it. My neighbour offered me a similar food as they said their cat wouldn’t touch it but I said try donating it as mine wouldn’t eat it.

Like many things, depends on the cat really. I used to feed a mix of Royal Canin dry & Felix AGAIL wet but they went right off the Felix when the recipe changed very slightly. Due to Tobias's stomach issues I've moved them on to grain free mid-range wet (Harringtons and HiLife) but kept them on the RC dry, so they still have a mix of good dry & decent wet. - vet said as long as one is high quality preferably the dry then you can go a bit cheaper on the other. Mine won't touch any of the more expensive brands of wet that I've tried them on over the years.

Both mine have gloriously glossy coats, with Tobias's improving every year.

I look on cat's health the way people should look at their own/their children's. Yes we know people can be fine on cheapish food, but it's usually better to eat healthier stuff.

When we got our cat from the breeder he was fed Royal Canin. She said he could just have dry food if we wanted but we’ve stuck with wet and dry. We’ve tried to switch from Royal Canin wet food to cheaper but it seems to give him runny poos and that’s awful. So RC wet and dry it is.

😂😂😂

Whoops!

My cats have a mixture of dry (Lily's Kitchen) and wet. They loved Untamed and they had it for a while but it's pretty expensive and I found opening so many tiny tins annoying. They now have Regale from B and M and it's extremely similar. They love it

My 13 yo cat is on katkin and high protein dried. I sometimes cook him lambs liver. He’s become more fussy and luckily I can afford his expensive tastes now. Not sure it was so important when he was a nipper. He’s doing well for his age.

Regale Fillets in Jelly Cat Food 6pk - Chicken Favourites | Cat Food | B&M https://share.google/yfvmOwMufXRdq5nP9

A not cat related post, but meat content, given all the posts above about what cat's like or not.

I personally don't think meat content is a measure of quality and tastiness. Cost yes. Eg, 100% meat sausages are not really all that good compared to a sausage with bran and other things.

I wonder if cats and other animals are the same. After all, the big cat nature programs say the first part of the prey they eat after a hunt is the stomach, So their diet is not 100% meat ?

My five month old rescue kitten won’t touch dry food and I’ve tried lots of different ones. She’s now being raw fed and is thriving on it. She turned her nose up at Katkin and most other tins/pouches of food. Very fussy for one found abandoned, cold and hungry in a barn!

They may eat a few other bits, like grass to help digestion, but as obligate carnivores they need meat to be the main part of their diet. Unlike dogs, who are happy eating plenty of other stuff as well, additions to meat are purely to give them a few additional vitamins & minerals like taurine which is usually added to "complete" cat foods.

Every cat I’ve known on supermarket food has been much healthier than any of mine! Although grain free food was much better for the late Cheddar. And Penelope loves Thrive, and her poo doesn’t smell as bad as we when she was on Sheba.

You know what else is annoying with those tiny tins? They are really bloody hard to open. I have to go in with the end of a fork to actually lift the lid when the seal is broken and it drives me bananas. No, I don’t have arthritis or any joint/mobility issues, yes, every other tin I can open fine, it is literally just those stupid tiny tins. I lift weights, I am strong, those tins are my actual nemesis.

My nearly 12 year old tortie has a purina based wet and dry (and treats galore!) diet, but despite variety stopped eating it.I saw this trial offer from untamed and decided to try it before katkin.The first tin she had was wild tuna topped with shrimp-I gave her the whole tin and meant to take half off the plate to introduce her to it gradually.Anyway by the time I turned round there was munch munching and chomping and slurping. When I returned there was a plate licked clean-she has never done that, ever. Just one tiny shrimp left in the centre !!! And the same every day since-with her other food she would never finish it, but untamed seems to be working. It also smells lovely, I have gone ahead and booked a month's worth, will be interesting to see if she continues to love it 😻
https://untamed.com/

Trial box is 7 tins for £12 offer! With a free tin of three bird roast, a christmas card and a booklet!

I honestly think a lot of it is luck. We have two cats who can eat literally anything and then one who is super sensitive.

Sorry, 12 tins for £7 😳😹