Pets at home purely food/dry only diet

calmspirit

Hi

am trying wean my cat Mickey off purina one !

Popped into pets at home with the intention of buying Hills or JWB or similar better quality food......had a look around and came home with.........Pets at Home Purely dry food apparently 70% chicken! It was only £6.39 for 1.5kg which should last for ages! Or if he wont eat it then it's not too much to have spent.

But I also picked up some trays of wet food...again Pets at home Purely range ....apparently 90% meat! 5 for £3 Unfortunately I have not had luck in the past with mickey and wet food....he loves wet food but throws it straight back up EVERY time, any type even raw! maybe the high meat content in this might suit him better?

So comments on quality of these foods would be appreciated....and also (presuming that mickey cannot eat the wet food) how do I make sure he is getting enough fluid? He refuses to drink water from a bowl in kitchen.....prefers to drink out of muddy puddles in the street!

thanks all

Rev

What has the vet said about him bringing up wet food?

Cat's get most of their liquid from wet food, which is why a dry only diet isn't ideal. I've no idea really how you could get him to drink more. Perhaps try a fountain to make it more interesting?

Purely is great food. Mine are super fussy with what wet food they'll eat and they love the chicken pouches.

ankspon

Our cat has it's own glass of water as he won't drink from a bowl

calmspirit

oh now I MUST try him with his own glass lolol !

thanks for comments so far.

Rev..I havent actually asked the vet about it as he does seem to prefer dry food ....I will ask vet next time!

paulwf

Why are you trying to get him off Purina One?

We find Meowing Heads to work as a dry food, it has a high meat content and less fillers.

calmspirit

paulwf wrote: »

Why are you trying to get him off Purina One?

mainly because it has almost as much rice as chicken in it ...14% rice 16% chicken ...I dont believe cats are at their best when fed with only 16% meat. Also it's quite expensive when you see how much recommended amount is.....plus it never seemed to fill him up (hence he is overweight now... I am a sucker for a sad face!)

Have weighed out daily portions of the Pets at home food (along with mixed portions for next 7 days to get him used to it!) Hopefully this will help me to be more disciplined!

paulwf

We've used Hills Science Plan light version as well as Purina One to stop the mogs getting too fat. It doesn't work out too pricey if you buy the 7.5kg or 5kg sacks from somewhere like Viovet. They do seem to prefer Meowing Heads though and as it is the same price roughly as the others we are slowly switching to that.

Fire_Fox

Purina One is very low in meat for the price, IMO there are far better value products out there. Also watch out with Hills Science, many variants have a high meat content (around 50%) but a few are high in cereal fillers which do not form an essential part of the feline diet, and have been shown to encourage weight gain in some cats and dogs. IMO the P@H Purely range are very high quality for the money.

As regards your cat regurgitating wet food, is he maybe bolting it? Have you tried really tiny portions? Are you feeding at room or mouse temperature rather than straight from the fridge? Apparently some cats do not like their whiskers to touch the bowl when they drink - maybe try a shallow soup plate. Also some cats prefer moving water to still, so you could try a pet water fountain.

missmontana

My Aussie bolts his food the throws it backup, not sure why as its out all day, but hey ho, he's male...

Hills is on offer 9.99 for 2kg at Pampurred Pets at the moment.

Mine have a bowl and a fountain, but still drink out of glasses, the tap, the sink and the bath...

calmspirit

thank you fire fox, some excellent ideas! Love the idea of 'mouse' temperature! I will try him on tiny amounts of the Pets at home Wet to see how he goes.

missmontana...glad I am not the only one, I think you were right firefox- he can tend to bolt it down especially when he had tigga to compete with (sadly tigga no longer with us). He also has not been out of the house much since tigga died just over a month ago, he used to be out all the time- bringing back his choice of food - so warm it was still moving!

I feel reassured that I have made a good choice considering my low budget. thanks all

Fire_Fox

calmspirit wrote: »

thank you fire fox, some excellent ideas! Love the idea of 'mouse' temperature!

I feel reassured that I have made a good choice considering my low budget. thanks all

Which is what Moneysavingexpert is all about!! :beer: