Cat food questions - merged

squiggle37

Daisymac wrote: »

It is in a bag, dont want you looking for a box and thinking to yourself that mad cat woman on MSE gave me the wrong info

thanks, think i seen them at tesco they are black at top and blue, orange at bottom of BAGS. LOL

Daisymac_2

squiggle37 wrote: »

thanks, think i seen them at tesco they are black at top and blue, orange at bottom of BAGS. LOL

thats them !



or sometimes they look like this, think this is the old stock packet

squiggle37

Ah thought it was that you meant
thanks

Shoshannah

Just a tip, if you are feeding your cats an exclusively dry diet, make sure you keep an eye on their urination.

Occasionally they can get stones and then have difficulty urinating; this is something that can happen to all cats and I don't wish to scare you, but it is more common on a dry diet so is something to be aware of.

Try and make sure they drink plenty, difficult with cats I know but it will help prevent this problem.

squiggle37

thanks for tip my cats do drink lots of water they have bowl outside and in, they love it when i leave outside tap dripping. will keep an eye out tho.

Shoshannah

One of mine drinks from the toilet sometimes, must think he's a dog! :rotfl:

~Chameleon~

In the absence of any replies I've done some digging around on various websites and managed to find some analysis data for a few different brands.

The one that seems to come out quite favourably at the moment is Royal Canin which seems to have a wide selection of diets available.

One which would appear to suit the younger cat is Fit 32 and the elder cat would possibly benefit more from Mature 28. Does anyone use either of these diets and are they well-tolerated and do what they say on the tin (or bag in this case!)

Also, am I likely to find local stockists or would ordering online be better? I wonder if they do any samples to try out first :think:

The only issue I can see of having two separate diets will be ensuring that the younger cat eats sufficient quantities of the higher fibre Fit 32 diet to prevent any anal gland problems recurring, but other than that it shouldn't cause too many problems if they do pinch each other's food!

~Chameleon~

Well, I must say that I'm disappointed not to have received a single reply to my post, even if only for someone to have typed in the analysis data from their food bags to help me in the search for an appropriate diet as not every brand has this information available online.

I'm beginning to understand how the invisible man felt now

suki1964

Sorry but I know nothing about cats so didn't feel qualified to answer

wuno

I think you need a mature/senior food, so Royal Canin Fit 32 is not really the one for you. Indoor Mature 27 has the same calorific and fibre profile as Fit 32, but is a senior food, with all the other benefits that brings. It has 20% more calories per kg than the Hills Mature/Light you are currently using, and only 10% fewer than Outdoor Mature 28.

Personally, I use Royal Canin Vet Senior Neutered (10+) for my cats. It has the same amount of fibre as Indoor Mature 27, but about 5% more calories per kg, and it is a much better Senior food. About 10% more expensive though.

If you want to stay with Hills, you would be best moving to Senior/Mature Hairball Control. Another good compromise between increasing calorific intake by 20% whilst retaining fibre at the 8% you currently have.

You could use any of these for both cats and the skinny cat should improve due to the 20% increase in the calorific value of this relative to the Light/Mature Hills you are currently using.

If you do change food, make sure you do it gradually over a week or so.

However, most importantly, and as you know already, unexpected weight loss in an old cat needs to be investigated by a vet.

One benefit of feeding separately is that you can monitor the skinny cat's feed intake, which might be something worth telling the vet about.