Wet cat food?

robert_harper_2000

True, I think I get abit carried away with my spoilt Spud! I feel bad giving him anything that isn't the best lol ... - maybe I should get out more. But I have to say his coat is purrfect!

The Schesir is a complete wet but yes the others need their dry to go with it.

Fire_Fox

robert_harper_2000 wrote: »

True, I think I get abit carried away with my spoilt Spud! I feel bad giving him anything that isn't the best lol ... - maybe I should get out more. But I have to say his coat is purrfect!

The Schesir is a complete wet but yes the others need their dry to go with it.

I feel terrible as I made Noah eat a 50g sample of Royal Canin; he has been itchy for the first time since I have had him, washed his ears over and over and even scratching inside them earlier. I was warned about his scratching and his ears, now I am convinced they are diet related. He definitely doesn't have ear mites, just mucky as the vet has checked.

Spearmint

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Hi-Life does seem to be one of the best and it is a complete food. Arguably BARF - as long as it's well balanced - is the daddy especially if you are willing to feed baby chicks and rat pups. But many of us don't have the time or stomach for it! Tapioca, and indeed any carbohydrate, behaves the same in the body as sugar once it has been broken down.

From there on down there does seem to be a sliding scale of quality: I would not dispute Robert Harper's suggestion that Almo and Applaws are the best BUT they are both complementary not complete so you couldn't feed those alone. Secondly they work out to about £8 a kilo, whereas Hi Life is under £4 a kilo - which you choose therefore depends on your budget.

My experience in human nutrition would say the body is forgiving to a point, there is no difference in terms of health outcome between a good quality natural diet and an excellent natural diet. Unless you are a professional athlete you don't need to be obsessive, whereas a diet of junk and processed food causes damage visible or not. I can't imagine it's not the same for cats: you aren't feeding Go Cat or Whiskas biscuits (kitty corn flakes!) so don't beat yourself up.

Thanks for your reply FF :cool:

Oh yes i think RAW diet is best and it's something i might think about in the future, i'm quite squeamish and hate cooking with raw meat let alone chopping it, mixing it, adding the right supplements etc.

I agree that Almo and Applaws probably are the best but like you say expensive, we feed 50/50 wet/dry so i assume that would make complete if we did decide to go for something complementary?

Oh god no i would never buy whiskas or felix or go cat or the supermarket brands

What do you think was in the food that made his ears mucky?

Spearmint

just looking at the ingredients in applaws wet and it contains rice so was just wondering what makes it better than natures menu containing tapioca?

also 1 flavour contains cheese, can cats have cheese?

i read somewhere that a small amount of carbs is ok as they would get that from stomach contents of animals eaten in the wild anyway - what are your thoughts on this?

lostinrates

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I feel terrible as I made Noah eat a 50g sample of Royal Canin; he has been itchy for the first time since I have had him, washed his ears over and over and even scratching inside them earlier. I was warned about his scratching and his ears, now I am convinced they are diet related. He definitely doesn't have ear mites, just mucky as the vet has checked.

Very similar to one of mine with dried/low meat content food: ears and claw beds. Had her to a neurologist and a dermatoligist before looking at diet. i feel shoddy about that: its ridiculous the research that goes into our other animal diets and yet I was ust feeding the prescripion breed relevent RC because i thought it wuld be good. My background makes me feel very ashamed about that.:o:o:o

bethie

i too have been trying to figure out what to feed my cat as his 'wet' meal. (he has either jwb dry or burns dry throughout the day, and a wet dinner).


hi-life : there are several different versions of this, and only some of them are complete food. he seems really keen on the 'perfection' range which is either chicken/lamb or tuna/calamari. we've also tried the 60% poultry (not as keen), and the 60% fish (more keen). I havent tried the normal 'meat' range as they werent complete, and i dont really like to feed him beef as they can have some bad allergies too this.

natures menu: he used to get this, but goes off of it if feed constantly. seems to like the fish flavour and the chicken flavour, and not as keen on the beef.


appalaws : he seems to love this, but it is not complete and i feel that sometimes i would be better off just giving him a chunk of tuna for the night.

burns : recently found a salmon rice wet complementary cat food. and he absolutely HATES it. hates to eat it, and when he does, he just pukes it straight up. luckily the dog likes it, so she gets some 'treat' dinner nights. the box was also really expensive, although i suppose it is 3 portions per pouch.

There were a few others we have tried, but he doesnt really like those either. i think they were in the plastic containers with like a carboard surround, and then you microwave them?

for now, we are just rotating between hi-life perfection, hi-life fish, natures menu, and appalaws. and, whatever left over training treats from dog training (chicken or liver).

i think it is good to have a bit of variety, i wouldnt want to eat the same thing every day!

Fire_Fox

Spearmint wrote: »

Thanks for your reply FF :cool:

Oh yes i think RAW diet is best and it's something i might think about in the future, i'm quite squeamish and hate cooking with raw meat let alone chopping it, mixing it, adding the right supplements etc.

I agree that Almo and Applaws probably are the best but like you say expensive, we feed 50/50 wet/dry so i assume that would make complete if we did decide to go for something complementary?

Oh god no i would never buy whiskas or felix or go cat or the supermarket brands

What do you think was in the food that made his ears mucky?

I'm now just passing on information that I gleaned earlier today from Purrs!! This site does ready made raw, if you buy the £10 sample pack you get £10 off your first order. I am thinking about it ... I reckon I could desensitise, but will probably stick with raw chicken wings which look like real food.
http://www.food4-cats.co.uk/

I keep asking/ reading about the complete/ complementary thing and I can't get a definitive answer. On the one hand they wouldn't sell complementary if they were so deficient that it was unhealthy, on the other surely a complete needs a full 'dose'?? My guess is that if you feed one of the really high quality drys you will be ok, as the cat can digest this much better than a complete food that is mainly maize or wheat.

There is such a difference between simply not being medically ill and being in the peak of good health, you just feel so full of energy. :j It's the small stuff like smelly poos and dirty ears that can signify your pet is not 100%. I was warned Noah had smelly doings and especially if he had too much wet - not since he has stopped Felix!

My guess is that Noah is sensitive to grains and is just not digesting them properly, tho I can't of course say for sure without an exclusion diet. If the human body is struggling with an overload of a certain chemical or food stuff, this can be displayed in conditions such as eczema or diarrhoea (sorry) as the body tries to expel the irritant. I can't see this isn't the same for cats.

I found these sites very interesting and made me really think as there is just so much common sense in what is said. Just ignore the bits about BARF and take away the parts on what is and is not natural for a cat and what effect this might have. The testimonials are worth reading, tho you need a pinch of salt.
http://www.catnutrition.org/
http://www.catinfo.org/

Fire_Fox

I've just been pointed in the direction of Bozita tetrapacks from Zooplus, again by someone on Purrs, very reasonably priced at £6 for six packs of 370g, cheaper than the Feline Fayre or Purely I think. Free postage if you spend over £29, so I will buy litter and a couple of flavours of Bozita to trial.

Ingredients:
Haddock:
Chicken, haddock (> 4%), pork, beef, minerals, egg, carrots, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Perch:
Chicken, perch (> 4%), pork, beef, minerals, egg, paprika, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Crayfish:
Chicken, crayfish (> 4%), pork, beef, minerals, egg, dill, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Minced beef:
Chicken, beef (> 4%), pork, minerals, egg, paprika, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Beef liver:
Chicken, beef liver (> 4%), pork, minerals, egg, carrots, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Rich in Chicken:
Chicken (50%), pork, sodium chloride, carrots, yeast
Chicken liver:
Chicken (> 4% chicken liver), pork, beef, minerals, egg, carrots, ß-1.3/1.6 glucan
Rabbit:
Chicken, pork, rabbit (> 4%), sodium chloride, carrots, yeast
Supplemented with:
Vitamin A (1.800 IU/kg), vitamin D3 (230 IU/kg), vitamin E (11 mg/kg), copper [copper sulphate](1.4 mg/kg).

Spearmint

Morning FF, thanks for all the info

Yeah i've come across food4cats but i would struggle to find the freezer space for a bulk order i think.

1 of my children has a cows milk intolerance so i know what you are saying there!
Candy had really strong smelling poo and really foul wind when on purely food so i know that doesn't agree with her.

You have saved my from asking my next question :rotfl:
I came across Bozita last night but couldn't find a list of ingredients only that it is 93% meat which sounded good.
Will investigate prices later as got to dash now.

Kimberley

Raw food from Food4cats is what my two have for their main food. A single sausage a day is enough. You don't need to give them a whole one each per day because by feeding raw then they don't need as much as those cats on commercial wet food. They do also get a few handfuls of Orijen dry in the morning though for their teeth. They also get a raw Chicken wing on a saturday which also helps clean their teeth and the bones are good for them as well. Never give cooked bones to an animal though as these could splinter.

Natures Menu didn't suit my two because they were being sick after eating it so really you need to keep experimenting with different brands and companies until you find the right one to feed your moggy.