Bulk buying cat food?

Tabatha_Kitten

I dont know where you are in the country, but I use Gibsons Mill at Kingsley (Cheshire).
I have 3 cats and I buy their breeder cases of tins which are about £5.50 for 12 and I also buy their own brand Gourmet Complete nuts in a big 7.5kg bag. It lasts me for months.
They do have an online shop if you google but Ive never looked at the prices & delivery costs as the mill is local to me.

paddypaws101

Bozita is great...the tetra packs are in jelly which you say your gang prefer....but I really think the tins are far better so maybe worth a try. With the older cat I am presuming you have had him checked by the vet for thyroid issues etc, but he will be better off on a good quality meat protein diet than one filled with grains and vegetable protein which they cannot utilise as well.

Rev

paulwf wrote: »

If you can get them onto dried food you can usually get bags upto 7kg online. With dried foods as the bag size increases you pay proportionately less, e.g. a 1.5kg bag might be £10 and a 3kg bag £15. With dried food it's a lot more concentrated form of food, you're not paying for lots of jelly which doesn't contain much.

Our bill for 4 cats was around £400 a year (so just over £1 a day), although our new cat seems to be singlehandedly going through that on his own

I use Viovet as delivery is free over £60, and they are a proper UK based company so any questions or delivery issues you can just pick up the phone. There are plenty of others of course so look around.

It would be worth asking the vet about your 19 year old, at that age they might need a build up food as they do seem to have trouble keeping the weight on, he probably can't eat enough of the tinned food to get enough nutrients from it.

Changing a cat from a wet diet to dry isn't advisable for a number of reasons. Dry food isn't in actual fact more concentrated as the majority of them contain a pathetically low amount of meat, some 4% and that from questionable sources. Unless you're feeding something like Orijen there isn't enough meat for the cat to actually thrive, sure, it'll survive on that, but there's a huge difference between the two. And even if you are feeding a very high meat content dry, cats get the majority of their fluid from their food, how can they do that with dry food?

If you're reluctant to believe some random post on a forum, have a google and see the multitude of problems cats on dry food only face, and the multitude of reasons they shouldn't be on dry alone.

Cats need meat to survive, the more the better, a food like bozita is 90% actual meat. And as much as I absolutely hate to admit it, even a shockingly bad quality wet like whiskas or felix would be better than no wet at all.

Mine have a bowl of dry food down in case they feel like snacking between tins/pouches so I'm not saying no dry at all, but please don't feed your cat on dry alone.

paulwf

Rev wrote: »

Changing a cat from a wet diet to dry isn't advisable for a number of reasons. Dry food isn't in actual fact more concentrated as the majority of them contain a pathetically low amount of meat, some 4% and that from questionable sources. Unless you're feeding something like Orijen there isn't enough meat for the cat to actually thrive, sure, it'll survive on that, but there's a huge difference between the two. And even if you are feeding a very high meat content dry, cats get the majority of their fluid from their food, how can they do that with dry food?

If you're reluctant to believe some random post on a forum, have a google and see the multitude of problems cats on dry food only face, and the multitude of reasons they shouldn't be on dry alone.

Cats need meat to survive, the more the better, a food like bozita is 90% actual meat. And as much as I absolutely hate to admit it, even a shockingly bad quality wet like whiskas or felix would be better than no wet at all.

Mine have a bowl of dry food down in case they feel like snacking between tins/pouches so I'm not saying no dry at all, but please don't feed your cat on dry alone.

You can get dried food such as Meowing Heads which is nearly 80% meat.

The mogs always have fresh water available and drink a fair amount as well as chomping on half the lawn

We tend to have up to 4 cats at any time, the last 2 were both about 17 when they passed away (not bad IMHO as they are all ex strays so haven't had a wonderful life) and we currently have 2 over 10. They're all thriving on dried food and one of the old mogs did so much better when put on dried food as when on wet food he was just licking the jelly and not getting enough decent food in him.

Probably every cat owner on this forum has strong views about cat food and their own evidence to back it up, just look at how many people advocate raw meat diets. All I can say is contrary to horror stories on the web our cats have lived long and healthy lives on dried food and our vet also advocates using dried food over wet. Your own mileage may vary.

Bunny

I'm check the cat food labels more than i check labels for my own food, not that my 2 are spoilt at all :rotfl:
I feed my 2 on purely dry food from pets at home which is between £6-£7 i think for about 2kg and that's between 30%-70% meat depending which one you buy.
For wet food I now normally give them applaws/deli or hi life, but I'll give that Bozita a go since so many are recommending it and it is cheaper. So thank you
where's the cheapest place to get that from, zooplus?

paddypaws101

Zooplus has the widest range by far. I also just bought Animonda Carny ( large tins 24p per 100g ) and on the first trial it has been wolfed down by all 4. Next on my list to try is the Smilla fish in jelly which is similarly priced.

Rev

paulwf wrote: »

You can get dried food such as Meowing Heads which is nearly 80% meat.

The mogs always have fresh water available and drink a fair amount as well as chomping on half the lawn

We tend to have up to 4 cats at any time, the last 2 were both about 17 when they passed away (not bad IMHO as they are all ex strays so haven't had a wonderful life) and we currently have 2 over 10. They're all thriving on dried food and one of the old mogs did so much better when put on dried food as when on wet food he was just licking the jelly and not getting enough decent food in him.

Probably every cat owner on this forum has strong views about cat food and their own evidence to back it up, just look at how many people advocate raw meat diets. All I can say is contrary to horror stories on the web our cats have lived long and healthy lives on dried food and our vet also advocates using dried food over wet. Your own mileage may vary.

Agreed, my own opinion is if a cat is drinking a lot of water, it's because they're not getting it from their food, which is where they should be getting it.

Always take what the vet says about nutrition with a pinch of salt, unless they've specialised in canine or feline nutrition then all they'll know is the basics, much like a doctor who hasn't specialised in nutrition will know about us. They'll advocate dry because hill/royal canin pay them more money the more of their dry food they sell. A lot of vets will also tell you dry food helps clean cats teeth, which again is a pile of tosh.

I'm currently switching my dogs to raw, simply because they seem to enjoy it more, and I know 100% what they're eating, the cats however refuse to entertain it and every time I've tried them with it they look at me as though I'm an alien lol.

Rev

Bunny wrote: »

I'm check the cat food labels more than i check labels for my own food, not that my 2 are spoilt at all :rotfl:
I feed my 2 on purely dry food from pets at home which is between £6-£7 i think for about 2kg and that's between 30%-70% meat depending which one you buy.
For wet food I now normally give them applaws/deli or hi life, but I'll give that Bozita a go since so many are recommending it and it is cheaper. So thank you
where's the cheapest place to get that from, zooplus?

LOL Me too, the animals in this house are fed much better than the people.

Fire_Fox

paulwf wrote: »

You can get dried food such as Meowing Heads which is nearly 80% meat.

The mogs always have fresh water available and drink a fair amount as well as chomping on half the lawn

We tend to have up to 4 cats at any time, the last 2 were both about 17 when they passed away (not bad IMHO as they are all ex strays so haven't had a wonderful life) and we currently have 2 over 10. They're all thriving on dried food and one of the old mogs did so much better when put on dried food as when on wet food he was just licking the jelly and not getting enough decent food in him.

Probably every cat owner on this forum has strong views about cat food and their own evidence to back it up, just look at how many people advocate raw meat diets. All I can say is contrary to horror stories on the web our cats have lived long and healthy lives on dried food and our vet also advocates using dried food over wet. Your own mileage may vary.

The problem with high meat/ low grain kibble is the cost - £5+ per kilo - I feed some Orijen which is 70% meat but costs 70p to £1 a day for my large cat. Are there different types of Meowing Heads, the one I can find online is 50% meat? :huh: As Rev says, way too many dry foods contain barely any meat, totally wrong for an obligate carnivore.

Trying-my-hardest have you had your older boy checked for thyroid problems or diabetes? Pets at Home presently have Purely 156g tins on offer at five for £2; these are complete which Feline Fayre is not, so FF cannot be fed alone. All the flavours are fish in jelly.

I also agree raw is very economical, I reckon 50p per day for my large cat if I buy ready made or 35p per day if I make my own. Food4Cats does a £10 3kg sample pack of mince mixes (contain bone and offal not just meat) and the cost is refundable against your first order. :money: It's even cheaper to make up your own raw mixes, especially if you have a friendly butcher who will give you free offcuts.

If you are willing to make up your own mixes - or supplement tinned fish with some raw - you can do it all from the supermarkets. Value frozen chicken portions (£1.40 per kilo), Smartprice fresh chicken wings (£1.70 per kilo), pork kidney (£1.45 per kilo), pork liver (£1.40 a kilo), ox or pig heart (??price but cheap). :T Noah who weighs 6.5kg :eek: eats 200g a day and he is satisfied despite being as greedy as any dog! :rotfl:

rita-rabbit

Despite the recent problems my Tom had recently I do think dry feeding is better than alot of supermarket wet foods, however I have to admit 100% dry feeding (even of quality producers) is probably not a great idea & I recommend 50% wet/dry of good quality both!