Whats the cheapest way to feed my cat?

emlou2009 · 31 December 2009 at 2:20PM

Am I mean? When my kittens decide they dont like a food, I leave it down until its gone, they do eventually eat it when they're hungry enough, after a while of performing the "throat cut" routine

I bought lots of reduced diced casserole meat today and couldnt fit it in my freezer cos of the packaging, so took it out and put it in food bags to freeze. Gave them a chunk each, Scruffy (the big fluffy one) took one sniff and looked at me like I'd given him poison, but Scrappy (the slightly smaller tabby) went MAD for it, tore his way through his chunk growling at me and a rather bemused looking Scruffy, then stole Scruffy's chunk and carried it into my living room to toss around in the air and sit with between his paws protectively, growling whenever we went near him

he did eventually eat his "kill" while purring very loudly

Fire_Fox · 31 December 2009 at 2:37PM

MrsE wrote: »

I have a big bag of that ready for when the RC kitten food runs out.
I tried the Ojen (sp?) but Charlie (the fussy one) didn't like it - he only likes RC so he might have to stay on that rather than applaws.

Try mixing in a little, perhaps 10%, of the new food then every few days increasing the amount until you are no longer adding any RC. Some cats don't like change rather than they don't like the new food.

Buttonmoons · 31 December 2009 at 3:14PM

Sounds like my cats Em without the growling. One of them doesn't really care for raw food unless it's mince/prawns and I think that's because there is a lack of chewing and biting involved, the other one stretches up to the counter (he's long!) and trys to paw bits and bobs off the top of the kitchen units, he can't see what he's grabbing for he can just smell there is something up there he wants. Starts crying if you don't give him any either!

I found that he will eat wet food if it's gourmet gold stuff.....probably because it's small chunks and he is lazy!

shelly · 1 January 2010 at 12:55PM

emlou2009 wrote: »

Am I mean? When my kittens decide they dont like a food, I leave it down until its gone, they do eventually eat it when they're hungry enough, after a while of performing the "throat cut" routine

My hubby is the same with Lily....or tries to be

If there is food left on her plate in the morning from the night before he will just leave it there.....when I notice though I change the plate and give her fresh food. Lily is much more fussier than Coco ever was and she absolutely will not eat food that's been down for more than a few hours......either that or she has me well trained :rotfl:

rita-rabbit · 6 January 2010 at 11:42PM

Changing food can mean fussiness appears:

I got some raw sheeps kidneys cheap in Asda & but them up into chunks; one cat was v keen & the other ate some of it. I had separated it into freezer bags & fed on separate ocassions - on subsequent ocassions the fussier one preferred dried food & once the raw food was finished both my cats refused to eat manufactured wet cat food!

Sequeena · 7 January 2010 at 3:36AM

Hi there

Honestly you'll be better off avoiding name brands such as felix, whiskas, gocat etc. Has anyone read the backs of the labels? 4% animal and meat derivatives.

Basically the crap they've scraped up off the floor.

If you have a B&M they do a range of food called Feline Fayre. 4 tins for 99p and they are at least 50% fresh meat.

Another good brand is Hi Life. I've seen 375g bags of the dry food in Wilkinsons for £1.49 but Home Bargains does them for 89p!!! Home Bargains also do the pate cans at 25p a can and they are a minimum of 55% fresh meat. :beer:

I hope I've helped! I have a 7 month old kitten and to feed her costs me around £10.50 a month yet to feed my dogs costs me up to and over £80!

Just to add I would never feed IAMS. For their price I expect them to have a very high meat content - but it's just full of cheap fillers!

rita-rabbit · 7 January 2010 at 5:27AM

Sequeena wrote: »

Hi there Honestly you'll be better off avoiding name brands such as felix, whiskas, gocat etc. Has anyone read the backs of the labels? 4% animal and meat derivatives. Basically the crap they've scraped up off the floor.

If you have a B&M they do a range of food called Feline Fayre. 4 tins for 99p and they are at least 50% fresh meat.

Another good brand is Hi Life. I've seen 375g bags of the dry food in Wilkinsons for £1.49 but Home Bargains does them for 89p!!! Home Bargains also do the pate cans at 25p a can and they are a minimum of 55% fresh meat. :beer:

I hope I've helped! I have a 7 month old kitten and to feed her costs me around £10.50 a month yet to feed my dogs costs me up to and over £80!

Just to add I would never feed IAMS. For their price I expect them to have a very high meat content - but it's just full of cheap fillers!

What is B&M please? The manufactured food was Joe Inglis's :eek:by the way - much better than `ordinary' wet cat food! Anyways I have learned my lesson now & am working my way up to clearing a shelf in my freezer to store raw meat in the future - other than that it will be dried mostly Burns & when there are special offers on Royal Canine or James Wellbeloved.

spirit · 7 January 2010 at 9:50AM

Hi everyone,

I have found this thread very useful. I've just ordered some RC from petsupermarket. At the mo, my cats are fed on wet Felix or Whiskas. The stink when they've used the litter tray is unbelivable! since the house is for sale, I have to hope they've not used it when I'm out and the agents bring people round :eek:

I've read on here about feeding the cats raw food. Is that safe? I've got some chicken in the freezer but would normally cook it for them - wouldn't they also get upset tummies from the salmonella if not cooked?

Apricot · 7 January 2010 at 10:41AM

spirit wrote: »

Hi everyone,
I've read on here about feeding the cats raw food. Is that safe? I've got some chicken in the freezer but would normally cook it for them - wouldn't they also get upset tummies from the salmonella if not cooked?

Feeding them raw is completely safe, there are lots of websites that give more info on this but for the past 6 months I have been feeding my two cats more and more raw food. One particular favourite is chicken wings, where the eat the whole thing including the bone. If I give a drumstick, the strip the meat from the bone & usually leave the bone.

Feeding this way can work out much cheaper & my two absolutely love it. I always make sure the food is room temperature rather than straight out of the fridge. I leave it in the microwave (not switched on) to warm up a little. However, if you want to feed completely raw, you need to look up some info as they need percentages of meat, bone & offal in order that they get a completely balanced diet.

LittleMissAspie · 7 January 2010 at 11:44AM

spirit wrote: »

I've read on here about feeding the cats raw food. Is that safe? I've got some chicken in the freezer but would normally cook it for them - wouldn't they also get upset tummies from the salmonella if not cooked?

No, they eat raw food in the wild. My cat actually ate two birds (I tried a cheaper food for her, she didn't like it and that's the only time she has come back with a bird in her mouth, oops) and she ate the entire thing. Legs, head, feathers, there was no trace of the poor thing left.

My cat likes Orijen. A £40 bag lasts her about 6 months. I guess it's not the cheapest food but I hope it will save money in vet bills. And I would rather pay more to give her healthy food, even if it meant being cold or hungry myself.

I would like to try her on some raw food but she is a grazer. She eats a couple of mouthfuls every so often. When I've tried wet food, she eats a little then when she comes back later it's dried out and she won't eat the rest. So I gave up because I was throwing most of it away.

Whats the cheapest way to feed my cat?

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