Cat Food Questions

Hi

I can see what you're saying about tins being cheaper than pouches, but bear in mind that if she's eating pouches, she's only getting 80-100g of food, whereas a tin is about 400g, so should really last her 4 days or so.

I've just had a look at a tin here and they say to use within 24 hours of opening, so you'd probably end up throwing half away, AND it needs refrigerating then preferably bringing back to room temperature for feeding.

As you can probably tell, I'm an advocate of pouches, I have 4 cats, who are free-fed on biscuits and have a pouch each most nights.

As for the mixed diet, I think that the biscuit/meat mix is a good one. The biscuits are good for thier teeth, and the meat makes sure they get a bit of moisture down them, as they can sometimes be funny about drinking water and end up with cystitis.

I noticed that you give them supermarket biscuits but which pouches are you feeding them? My cats happily eat whatever's on promotion at the time, but one of their favorites is Asda's Tiger pouches which they gobble up as fast as any 'posh' brand, and they're only £6 for 40 pouches, so would last you ages! (and they'll give you a full refund if she doesn't like it!):T

Switch to a good quality dried food and you will never regret it. We fed our 7 on James Wellbeloved(initially for health reasons on Vet advice) no waste, healthy vcats with great coats. Buying it may seem more expensive(I vividly remember feeling like crying the first time we spent such a lot all in one go) but we would NEVER go back to wet food. I have had one of mine on wet food recently(from vet-Royal Cannin puches) and I dont miss the wet stuff at all. Ours get a tin of tuna as a treat every night(they are spoilt!) Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I'm with anniestar on this this. I feed only dry food. I would have suggested a pet shop one, I feed Royal Canin Persian & I'm also a fan of Hills. James Well beloved is also good stuff.

I said Iams as its the only decent one they sell in the supermarket, at a fairly cheap price.

I think Iams is the minimum quality acceptable, anything better is a bonus & your cat will love you for it.

Also It won't go dry & crusy like wet, it doesn't smell, it won't attract flies, it doesn't go "off", you are only paying for food, with wet food you are paying for & carrying home 70% water. Also a good chance you will escape any dental bills.

My boy is 6 now & the last time he was at the vets (after a bad fight) the vet said he had a better chance of his eye making a full recovery as he was in "superb condition" all over & pure muscle. His eye is fine now, but we were worried about it. They also say "great teeth" every time they see him.

You will actually find Iam far cheaper than what you are feeding now, as a bag will last so long & the preimum ones about the same as feeding wet supermarket brands food.

kimevans said:
I'm with anniestar on this this. I feed only wet food.

uhmm...don't you mean dry

Just a note about Iams, and other dry pet foods.

I fed my cat on nothing but Iams for three years - thinking that I was giving him a really good quality healthy diet.

Around two years ago I had to rush him to the vets, screaming in pain. It turned out that the the Iams had left some sort of mineral deposit in his waterworks, and had basically blocked him up so he was unable to pass water.

He was just hours away from dying from a burst bladder.

The vet told me it was partly because some cats are bad at drinking enough water while on a diet of dry food, and they are not getting 'flushed out' the way they should be, thus there is a build up of minerals in the tubes. He ended up with a weeks's stay (£££££) and a cathater inserted. It happened twice before everything had been sorted (hopefully for good!).

The dry food is ideal for most cats, but there is a risk that some may end up like mine if they are not good at drinking.

My advice would be to keep an eye on your cat if they are on a dry diet, and make sure that they are drinking and passing water normally. If they go to the tiolet outside and you can't check, then look for warning signs - grainy damp patches on the floor, squatting and excessive genital licking.

Hope this is useful!