Is fresh cat food really better, or is Felix perfectly fine?

[LoisGriffinskitchen]

I have two rescue cats and have got them on KatKin fresh cat food. Tbh it’s wonderful, the cats are thriving on it, it’s simple to prepare and stores in the freezer.

However it’s £70 a box and money is tight at times.

I'm pretty certain if I speak to my lovely local vet Aggie she is likely to pull a face and say Felix As Good As it Looks is fine 😁.

Just wondering what other people’s opinions are on fresh food. Is it truly superior? Am I letting my girls down by buying a huge box of Felix and giving that at times.

Litter tray definitely smells better while on this food.

I tried frozen cat food - can’t remember the brand. Cats hated it. Then my neighbour across the street came over with a big if it - get cats hated it too. Purina it is - one cat lived to the ripe old age of 23 on it.

My senior is 16 this year and still healthy as a horse - she often eats Felix, and when I first got her I was a poor student so sometimes she had Go Kat or the supermkaret stuff. But she's very constitutionally robust and always has been (I affectionately call her my little tank). My young rescue has a more sensitive system and really did need to be on pure meat for a while (Catz Finefood mostly) to get her skin settled. But a vet once told me that the best tradeoff wet food for price/quality is Butchers - the cat version is sometimes sold under the label 'Classic'. I just gave my girls some yesterday and they enjoyed it. Its grain free and higher meat content than most, and the tins are reasonably priced. Harringtons dry also seems good.

But how are you all getting your cats to eat what you decide?! Marvin won't try anything he doesn't like the look of regardless of what I do.

@Puppylucky the little tank is extremely serious about food. Its probably her chief interest in life and I've not yet found anything she won't try. Any delay or perceived lack at mealtimes results in loud continuing complaints. When she was young she remained thin despite eating like a horse, she's a little bit fat now but at her age she's allowed. My junior girl is a bit more fussy (and unfortunately it seems the worse quality foods are tastier to her) but once she's worked up an appetite with her outdoor hyperactivity she'll try most meats. Just lucky I guess!

My two 15 year old cats guarding their Felix AGAIL mountain...
And despite buying it in industrial quantities they continue to happily eat it.

We feed Katkin but ours could never eat the volume Katkin suggests they need as they live dry food too so our Katkin box for one lasts ages with three cats.

Ours eat one Katkin sachet between three twice a day (rather than the one each they suggest - we tried that and they eat exactly one third and leave the rest). They eat Thrive and/or Purina GI diet dry food and we also have Thrive tins and give those twice a week approx. They live the variety and never get bored. We also get Sheba pouches as a now and again treat or if one of them isn’t 100% and needs tempting to eat.

The supermarket tins are full of fillers and just not good stuff and while I had a cat live to 18 on so it can’t be that bad, my bunch have shiny coats, very healthy, very happy, no litter box so so idea about smells.

I think exclusive Katkin would be too pricey but making it their main two meals works well for us with dry to pad it out.

My girl was previously on Whiskas but have swapped her onto Felix...loves it! She's just had a check up at the vet who stated shes the ideal weight with no issues. I have previously tried grain free but she fell out with that after a bit & more recently tried Marro (high meat content) but her Majesty was not impressed so that will be donated to local cat rescue place! She also always has a bowl of go cat dry to graze on.

This is interesting. Whiskas makes my cat throw up so we feed her katkin but she’s become addicted to it. She spends most of the day HOWLING and will only stop when fed. I’d like to stop spending quite so much.

I’m loving all the responses folks. My two had KatKin this morning, they also have gut friendly Scrumbles dried food.

Going to mix and match with some grain free tins.

Much as I admire the poster who prepares raw food for their cats I have ADHD. I can’t even get it together to batch cook for husband and son never mind the cats.

When mine were young I changed from standard cat food pouches to Katkin and the texture of their fur improved dramatically so knew it must be better for them. However, after a few years they went off Katkin so I swapped to Marro cats which they wolf down. So now they have Marro in the morning for a healthy breakfast, then Gourmet Perle sachets for the rest of the day. I see that as a good compromise, so they get 1 healthy meal to start the day, and it’s cheaper than feeding Marro for every meal.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/250384740220868

Cats affected by Felix after the change in ingredients

My cat, an abandoned shorthair black cat mainly likes the fish jelly Whiskas and dry food like IAMS or science plan. However she just eats the jelly. We offer her a bit of what we’re cooking, and she usually turns her nose up it. She went crazy for some steak recently though. She’s very glossy and doesn’t smell. I’ve tried her on ‘posher’ cat food but she didn’t like it. Might try again and alternate with cheaper food. She drinks a lot of water from a pint glass. She won’t drink it from a bowl.

This little old lady is 19. She likes a mix if wet and dry food but us fussy she likes perfect fit dry food and sheba or whikas pouches but only in gravy. She's been to the vets twice once for a uti and once when she got some fluff stuck in a chipped tooth! We tried the Republic of cats food but most of them she didn't like and she hated their dry stuff the kibble were very chunky and hard.

Not read all the replies so apologies if someone has already said it, but cats when left to their own devices would eat anything. Off the ground, out of the bins, eat wildlife, drink out of puddles, whatever. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it!

We feed ours about 50/50 Untamed or Felix. They tend to have untamed before we go to bed as they seem to wake us up less in the night after that. But sometimes they go off it so then just have Felix. They have Purina kibble too.

Cats allegedly affected by Felix after the change in ingredients.

I initally looked at KatKin but the details aren't easy to find..I couldn't see what the actual pack size was and 'KatKin Nutrient Mix' seemed to be listed on each pack I looked at. The positive seems to be more variety of flavours and it's cooked for those who don't like the idea of raw.

I don't think I would be happy to prepare my own raw food for a cat (Although I prepared raw food for dogs in the past).

Bella and Duke is highly recommended and has free 24/7 vet video calls with the subscription and it is sold at some pets at home stores now too. My cat blows very hot and cold with other foods I have tried ( I can't tell you how many packs/tins I have given away due to her either outright refusing or going off foods) but so far she loves the raw food although it took her a few weeks to get fully used to it initially. She has never looked so healthy. She does also like a bit of Harringtons dried food in her cat puzzle too

Well there is no allegedly about it.
Are you calling hundreds of cat owners liars.

I think that was more for a legal point of view rather than calling anyone a liar though.
My cat was definitely far more sick on Felix and it was more than likely caused by the change from the manufacturer as the timelines added up.
The vomiting has gone right down with Katkin and Marro although we do get the occasional furball as she is long haired.

I'm still not convinced Felix is good for them. Marvin has very stinky soft poos and was quite farty when he first arrived. I can't wean him off Felix entirely but am having some success sneaking a better quality single protein into him mixed into a Petit Gourmet sachet which has improved things a bit.

totally agree with this reply 👍
do the same myself & the cats only vet we visit would also prefer all felines to be fed this way. tho mine gets raw turkey (turkey feed has higher taurine content than chicken feed 😉).
Mine won’t drink our tap water either! luckily he’s happy with tesco still mineral water (even we humans can taste the difference too!)

They are though. They are complete foods which provide cats with all they need. Referring to them as ‘that shit’ is pure snobbery.

Some cats need/do better on different foods, some owners are victim to confirmation bias and think their extortionate food is why their cat lived to 20. Each to their own. But there is nothing inherently wrong with cheap cat food.

Nope, this is bollocks. McDonald’s is lacking in many nutrients and far too high in others. Complete cat food is highly regulated and contains everything a cat needs. Each ingredient serves a purpose - some may be CHEAP but they are not fillers this is a complete myth.

My cat only eats Sheeba and whatever is more expensive than that - would attempt eating Felix of Coshida but generally would leave it and beg for more food ((

He also only ever eats fish flavours, spoiled brat

Felix has a very low meat content.

Of course they are fillers because they aren’t made out of meat. Cats need meat / fish. They are carnivores.