Organic cat food - any recommendations ?

littleange

Ken68 wrote:

That's America, they do different things over there.
I have done tests, 3 bowls, 1 dog sausage jelly type (29p a week), one cat food premium and a piece of fish with some chips.
He chose the cheapest. My cat is an MSE cat. Cutting costs without cutting back.No teeth either.All cats have other homes, he probably gets his special needs elsewhere.
The massive advertising ought to tell you that it's a racket.

The cat is not going to know what is good for it. If you put some vegetables and chocolate in front of most kids and ask them to pick one, I'm sure they would go for the unhealthy option in most cases.

Wig

My cat prefers prawns to anything else, but there's no way I will feed it exclusively on that.

quoia

Georgina wrote:

........... I get a 7.5kg bag for about £17, which lasts at least three months, if not more ..................

What else does your dog eat ?

WeirdoMagnet

quoia wrote:

What else does your dog eat ?

Having tinkered with the quantities when I first fed Burns, I feed her just over the guideline amount, so she gets about 75g per day (she's about 6kg), split into two feeds (morning and evening). She gets quite a bit of exercise, and runs constantly when out, so maybe that's why she needs a bit more.

She also has some of our leftovers included in her tea most days if appropriate (I home cook the majority of our food so I know what were getting), so she'll have maybe a small amount of meat, some veg, potato & gravy.

I can also use the Burns biscuits for training rewards, so take that out of her ration. If we're doing high-level training (about once a week) which requires high-value rewards, I use very small pieces of chicken/cheese etc.

quoia

Georgina wrote:

......... she gets about 75g per day (she's about 6kg), split into two feeds (morning and evening)..........

The appetite suppressant additive they use in feeds like this must obviously work then.
I know hamsters that can eat that amount each day.

freeloader

kenshaz wrote:

After all that long explanation,would you rather spend your money on cats or feeding children in Africa,do you donate to human charities or animal ones,just getting an idea about your priorities

can't believe you even bothered to visit (and reply to!) this thread :huh:

freeloader

Wig wrote:

I'm calling you a moron for the manner in which you expressed your views. For calling the OP "stupid". And because you continually fail to see the arguements put to you, like you did just now.

nice one :T

ailuro2

cat72- I'm sorry so many of the replies here have been negative- I do hope you find a cat food that is ethically better than the one you feed now.Making your own from a recipe sounds like a good idea, at least some of the time.



As to the people who feed their cats cheap dog food- fair enough they like the taste and it might seem cheap, but do think on this...

In this country, healthcare for humans who eat the wrong foostuffs is still free.
However if a cat were to eat an unhealthy diet continually then eventually they will start to incur VERY expensive vets bills.
Consider that many people regard their pets as one of the family they would not want them to suffer and will pay hundreds of pounds in medicine and scans etc.
Perhaps feeding them the wrong food is a false economy.

You either love cats or say you don't wish them harm....for the cat lovers out there, I say feed your cats as you would feed yourself. Good quality ingredients where it matters, cheaper ones where it doesn't.

WeirdoMagnet

quoia wrote:

The appetite suppressant additive they use in feeds like this must obviously work then.
I know hamsters that can eat that amount each day.

I typed and lost a reply earlier this morning, so I hope I can remember what I said! :mad:

Do you have the names of any specific chemicals/compounds that could be used as appetite suppressants? Do you know which feeds contain them? I'd be interested to research it a bit further, although I'm pretty sure that Burns does not use them. They claim not to use any additives, which is one of the main reasons that I choose to feed it.

Tilly has a great appetite - I'm sure she could eat at least double what I give her, but she doesn't require that quantity, she'd only put on weight if I fed her more. Surely if there were appetite suppressants in the food she would be underweight? She's fit and healthy, and has lots of energy.

I don't know anything about hamsters specifically, but animals that have less efficient digestive systems (for instance the horse) need to consume a greater quantity of food (as a % of their body weight) to meet their nutritional requirements. Combine that with poor quality food (in the horse we could use poor quality hay as an example) and they need to consume even more.

When Tilly first arrived, I was feeding her quite large quantities (the exact amount escapes me) of Pedigree Complete. I disliked the colours, the oily/fatty coating and the size and density of the pieces of kibble, without even researching it! I looked into dog feeds and for a number of reasons, I chose Burns. IMO, they are transparent, give lots of information about their company and their products either via their website and also by post, and are more than willing to give nutritional advice either over the phone or by telephone. They've even sent me a full nutritional breakdown of the specific feed I use when I asked them. They are highly-recommended by other knowledgable dog owners too.

I'm grateful that you bought these suppressants to my attention quoia - I will certainly be looking into it further. Do you have a pet? What do you feed them?

PS. Apologies for taking this way off topic - I just want what's best for my dog!

Wig

There are no appetite suppressants in Burns feed! People say the stupidest things when they have absolutely no knowledge of what they are talking about!