Organic cat food - any recommendations ?

littleange

heymylastnameislewis wrote:

this board should be about feeding the cat for a good price not organic, unless organic is cheap! and as we all know organic is usually of a higher price than normal food then we can sure that it wont be money saving and so people will say that it does not make sense to feed a cat organic food on a MONEY SAVING website and yes people will also say the money could be spent better on other things as many people see animals and not as important as humans for example!

This forum isn't just about money saving, theres people asking advice on lots of things that don't involve money - relationships, techie questions etc. You don't go over the the relationships board and tell the woman who's posted "my husband didn't come home last night" - this isn't money saving do you!

Its not always about whats cheapest. If you go on the Internet board you'll find people recommending broadband packages that aren't the cheapest because the service is good for example.

The OP wants whats best for their cat and other animals in the world (such as those the big pet food suppliers may test on) there is nothing wrong with that, in fact theres everything right with that and I have the greatest amount of respect for the OP for doing so as most people don't seem to care.

After all we are the in green and ethical board, where you usually have to pay a bit more like you say for organic, green etc. Surely doing the right thing is more important than saving money or at least it should be.

Ken68

As a pensioner I am greatful that my cat has taken to Lidl sausage type dog food at 29pence a WEEK.All cats have other feeding stations, so if she don't want that she can go elswhere.
Same with the birds, my rich neighbour can feed 'em with fat balls and expensive wild bird food, and I shall feed 'em
free blackberries and cherries, and apples later on.
Damned if I'm gonna pay out too much for a cat.Lucky I don't charge rent. :-)

heymylastnameislewis

littleange_com wrote:

Surely doing the right thing is more important than saving money or at least it should be.

no its not, saving money is more important when it comes to our cat friends we are not talking about saving the world just feeding a cat which should be kept in mind!

littleange

Ken68 wrote:

As a pensioner I am greatful that my cat has taken to Lidl sausage type dog food at 29pence a WEEK.All cats have other feeding stations, so if she don't want that she can go elswhere.
Same with the birds, my rich neighbour can feed 'em with fat balls and expensive wild bird food, and I shall feed 'em
free blackberries and cherries, and apples later on.
Damned if I'm gonna pay out too much for a cat.Lucky I don't charge rent. :-)

As if the cats gonna know that the food your giving her is seriously lacking in the nutrition she needs and go elsewhere...Did you not read the link posted earlier, heres a snipit from it:

Cats have very explicit nutritional needs, including taurine, and dog food simply does not contain the sorts of ingredients needed by cats to meet those needs.

taurine - A nutritional substance which is essential to cats' health. Lack of taurine in the diet can lead to blindness or certain types of heart disease. All commercial cat foods now contain enough taurine to prevent these conditions.

There's nothing in dog food that will directly harm a cat within a short period of time, but the point is what is lacking. Simply put, dog food does not provide the nutrients required by cats. Eating a little bit of dog food won't kill a cat. But a cat fed exclusively on dog food can not only go blind, but can develop a heart condition, called feline dilated cardiomyopathy.

- could be looking at some vet bills instead and one unhappy cat
maybe you should give her to a family who are willing to pay to look after her if shes that much of a burden

littleange

heymylastnameislewis wrote:

no its not, saving money is more important when it comes to our cat friends we are not talking about saving the world just feeding a cat which should be kept in mind!

We are talking about saving the world, every little bit helps, just like when saving money every penny counts

heymylastnameislewis

how does using cat food which takes longer and uses more resources to produce save the world?

littleange

Cat72 wrote:

Here is the link to the BUAV and HERE is the report which is distressful.

Take it you didn't read this report then! Animals are important too!

Cat72

as this is a MONEY SAVING website then the feeding the cat for a good price should be the goal,

This is the GREEN & ETHICAL board. I asked a question how to feed my cat ethically, heathly and posssably organically.I did not ask what the cheapest way to feed them was neither did I ask people to post their personal vendetta board for those against cats.This is NOT a JUDGING board- if you want to rant and rave about you dislikes of cats and their owners then go to another board .
I thank the advice I have had from people responding to the original question and offering advice about cat sources nutrion etc.
I see myself as a responsable owner not just saving myself the huge vet bills ( heck even the cost of countless car trips to the vet with the waste of petrol and damage to the enviroment) but saving the animals I choose to have the suffering that comes from illnesses.This I hope to achieve by looking after them properly , feeding them nutricious food and food that is ethical to produce.
Just because a tin of food is 30p cheaper does not mean that it is ethically a good choice, ( with vivesection & damage to the enviroment to produce ).
All to often people on MSE try to ruin things by going on inappropiate boards and trying to rail road the discussion so they can vent their anger & disgust.
However I have the answer to my question I posed my cats are now going to be fed Burns which I have learned is nutricious and and ethically produce. All the requirements from my original question, great thanks to all that helped.
:T
Also I found a company who are beside me who is about to produce healthy cat food ( blackmount ) - meet them at a local farmers market at the weekend so I might soon be able to help support my local produce, plus they said they would give me a cheaper price if I buy it direct. I will keep you informed of prices etc when I know if others are intereasted in trying it out.

WeirdoMagnet

Lewis,

What is your problem?! :mad: Why do you criticise the way people want to live their lives just because they're different to you? Are you perfect?! :rolleyes2 Do you drive a car? Use electricity? Smoke? Buy any food from a supermarket? Water your plants? Eat meat? Drink alcohol? See - some of these things are unacceptable to some people!

There is no such thing as 'basic' nutritional requirements - they're either required or not, and are different according to species. OK, the cat/pet does not require organic food, but it's the owners choice!

Where do you draw the line? Do you think we shouldn't bother with vaccinating our pets, or even bother with veterinary care at all? Should we even feed them, or just let them all run free to scavenge for themselves? How about leaving a bowl of water down - or is that a waste of resources too? Or do you think pet owning should even be banned?

Wig

heymylastnameislewis wrote:

this board should be about feeding the cat for a good price not organic, unless organic is cheap! and as we all know organic is usually of a higher price than normal food then we can sure that it wont be money saving and so people will say that it does not make sense to feed a cat organic food on a MONEY SAVING website and yes people will also say the money could be spent better on other things as many people see animals and not as important as humans for example!

Hello moron,

The OP is not necessarily looking for organic, Burns is not organic, and OP has decided to try Burns. Burns would theoretically be better if it were organic but because Burns is ethical and Burns is a healthy diet for the cat OP has chosen to go along with Burns just like a lot of us have.

Buying cheap is not always a smart thing to do, I bought a cheap DVD for 3.99 over the UK edition which was maybe 9 pounds, the cheap version doesn't play very well and I can't watch the end of the film at all. I wanted a radiator key, the local shop had one for 89p, I thought that's cheap it'll do the job I'll buy it, Wrong! it broke on the first application wasted 89p! Buy a cheap feather duvet and you'll find the stitching isn't up to the job, all the feathers go to the edges of the duvet, result a useless duvet, buy a good one and it will last you for years. Buy cheap brake pads for your car, they'll wear out quicker, you have to work out if it is economically viable or not. Buy cheap spark plug leads they'll break when you pull them off the spark plug, and they'l deteriorate quicker than good ones (which will last 10 years or more) same with exhausts for cars.

This principle is pretty much universal sometimes you can get the same quality product for less and in that case it is can be best to go for the cheaper version, but you have to also factor in customer service.

In regards to diet it is a fact that diet affects health and longevity (for all species) too poor and there will be more suceptability to disease, too rich and there will be other related health problems. The idea behind buying Burns is that it claims to be nutritionally balanced. We have no reason to doubt their claims, the animals like it, the problems the animals had when fed previously with Iams or Go Cat can dissappear when fed Burns. There will be less trips to the vet - no heavy vet bills - saving money in the long term. In addition they do not do animal testing experiments, so it is also an ethical product.

About organic, you said there is no benefit to food being organic, that is your opinion, organic food has less (if not zero) unecessary added chemicals and genetically modified ingredients. It may just be the case that all the chemicals in our food are causing us health problems, by having organic we are minimising that risk. Some people will apply the same principle they apply to themselves to thier pets. There's nothing wrong with that, in the long term it could enable the animal to live longer and thus offer companionship to the owner for longer. Companionship is a very valuable resource which money just can't buy. My own theory I apply to myself and in turn to my animals is that if the organic alternative is available I will buy it as long as I can afford it. If I can't afford it I go for the "best of the rest". Burns animal feed is IMHO "the best of the rest" and may even be better (and cheaper) than some of the organic versions sold in the supermarkets.

Everyone has personal choice how to live their lives, you have a right to express your opinion on how you would do things in your life, if you dictate to others how they should live their lives then you will find you create a lot of negativity towards yourself. If you take part in threads you clearly have no interest in, only because you want to tell the people in the thread how stupid they are IYO, then you are likely not to create many friends. Now when you or Kenshaz come to ask a question about something you are interested in and I know a lot about that subject, I will ignore you.