Cheap but good cat food?

pinkcandyflossprincess

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

I'm afraid I beg to differ Lozzy - the last time I took nutritional advice from my vet they recommended a food which was going to cost me £72 for 3 weeks supply.

For the average person this is well out of reach - they should be recommending good quality foods that are available for a reasonable price - my dog is fed good food (Wainwright's & Skinners) and these retail for around £34 & £23/bag which lasts around 6 weeks - a heck of a difference - not just those that they stock in their practice.

They were "suitably horrible" to me when I said that this was just a bit beyond my pocket (I have 2 cats & a dog to feed) and is more than I feed myself on each month!

I was made to feel that if I didn't spend a huge amount of money on food I shouldn't have my pets - that's not what they should be doing.

i think the problem lies within there- a lot of people think price equals quality which isnt the case as in most things in life!:o
cat therapists will recommend a dry diet suitable to a cats nutritional , health needs and because it is easier to incorporate into cat food hunting games. Im not saying that is the right way , personally i think a more natural diet would be brilliant and more beneficial. im sure by mixing chicken, rice, and carrots for example wouldnt work out that expensive if bought in bulk.
my cats are fortunate in the fact i have a large family so i do tend to cook more chicken, fish etc from scatch so they will get a meal out of what im cooking also along with a wet/dry mix. this costs me nothing extra as its just 2 extra portions that would have been on our plate otherwise. I found i can get a sunday dinner of chicken, brocolli roast potatoes etc for £5 at aldi- this feeds me the oh, 5 children, 2 cats, 8 lovebirds and a cockatiel!

Stillookinafterthepennies

Hi everyone,

Just thought i'd add my experiences/comments...

Our boy (male cat aged 14 years who adopted us 18mths ago) has a mixture of wet/dry, mainly wet. I buy Schmusy pouches from zooplus as he likes the gravy/sauce but he's not so fussed on meat in Jelly or pate varieties. I also feed goumet range although trying to get him off that as the meat content is not as high as I originally thought. He also has tesco luxury which is 49% meat and costs £3 for 12 pouches cheaper than other brands! Tesco finest is also 50% meat but is more expensive at about £6.95. They do a premium range but meat content is only 4%.

We feed mainly wet as he doesn't drink enough although we always put fresh water out for him. We also give him whiskers cat milk but I add a little water to that too. I have also added water (not too cold) to his meat in gravy esp during warm weather. I was once told by someone working in a pet store that some cats prefer the taste of rainwater or water that has been standing for a little while. I read in a cat health book that some cats prefer to drink out of a stainless steel bowl whilst others prefer rippling/moving water and also the bowl should be large enough to accomodate their whiskers!:p

Little changes like this may encourage cats who don't drink enough to enjoy a drink of water indoors.
That said I did buy a cat water fountain for our boy but it makes a slight humming noise which put him off but they may suit other pets, i think our furry friends are very individual and its a matter of try it and see, if you can, do so buying in sales especially online using vouchers and cashback sites etc :T

I feed orijen dry which he enjoys and sprinkle a very small amount of go-cat on them occasionally as he used to enjoy that after he no longer liked iams dry. When I first looked into improving his nutrition I did try james well beloved but a word of caution dry food should always be slowly introduced when changing from one to another as it can cause tummy upsets if you swap too quickly as i quickly found out :(. I also have some acana dry here but not finished the orijen yet it really does last ages! I have opted to feed higher meat content with no grains/fillers/suger.

I agree that although the higher meat content foods wet or dry can appear more costly they actually work out cheaper as you will see if you look at the link to pet nutrition in the earlier post. You can also buy in bulk ideal if you have a multi pet family or could split costs with a friend and delivery is usually free.

As a treat Iceland do small trays of ready cooked chopped chicken pieces for £1 which my boy loves and again with bonus card vouchers they are very cheap/free. Handy if you want to give a treat or disguise a tablet..;)

I feel that the 'expensive' foods usually turn out to be the cheapest, you can actually feed your pets a healthier diet for less!

snowleopard61

Does anyone else use this? I have always done so (the dry version, normally without supplementing it with wet food) as it's what my vet recommends. Two of my three cats are now on the C/D version for urinary problems in the past (although, touch wood, these haven't recurred for a long time); the other has recently started 'VetEssentials', which she loves, because she didn't seem to particularly like the standard Hill's adult food and didn't eat enough. I normally buy all the food from my vet because I don't drive (a big moneysaver in itself) and they have a free delivery service, but would be keen to find a discounted source if anyone knows a trustworthy online one that delivers. I have a feeling VetEssentials may not be available elsewhere though?

Incidentally I don't think I could possibly 'free-feed' as two of my cats eat everything that's put in front of them (in one case to the point of being sick once every ten days or so because he eats so fast - a lifelong problem which the vet is aware of and doesn't seem to cause health issues) and if they weren't separated by closed doors at mealtimes they would eat the third one's food as well ... I think it would lead to obesity for two and malnutrition for the third!

CheeseCat

and if they weren't separated by closed doors at mealtimes they would eat the third one's food as well ... I think it would lead to obesity for two and malnutrition for the third!

Are your cats relatives of my cats Snowleopard??? I have to seperate my dainty littlest cat from the other three hoovers or she'd have no chance! She's barely licked the gravy off her wet food and the other three are licking the plate clean!!

I'm another person against free feeding! That would only work for one out of my four - the other three would keep eating until they were sick (and then possibly resume eating... get sick... you get the idea)

I'm really struggling at the moment - its not that I have a big problem affording the more expensive food, its that they wont eat it!! They seem to get really bored easily - They used to love Purely now they wont eat any of the flavours, same for JWB, they're eating the PAH premium at the moment (the name escapes me.. essential nutrition or something?) but for how long. I'm afraid to try the more expensive brands in case they turn their noses up at those!

Oh but give them go cat/whiskas etc and they'd demolish it - I guess its the feline equivalent of offering a child the choice between a salad or a McDonalds

snowleopard61

Hi Cheesecat, they sound exactly like mine. The 'dainty littlest' one is tiny, only just 3kg (vets tell you the weight in metric so that's how I'm used to it), and the biggest is well over 5kg.

I haven't had the problem with their getting bored, in that I haven't really been able to vary their diet because of the specialist food needed for two of them - and they wolf everything anyway and am sure they would wolf GoCat too (I take the point about the kids and healthy food; that's been my experience too ... wonder if the - now pretty much adult - kids would eat GoCat? It's a thought ...). But I was told by a vet that varying their diet can rebound on you because they learn to expect change and be fussy.

(If I don't post again in the near future it's not because I'm being unfriendly, I just won't be near a computer!)

rising_from_the_ashes

CheeseCat wrote: »

I'm really struggling at the moment - its not that I have a big problem affording the more expensive food, its that they wont eat it!! They seem to get really bored easily - They used to love Purely now they wont eat any of the flavours, same for JWB, they're eating the PAH premium at the moment (the name escapes me.. essential nutrition or something?) but for how long. I'm afraid to try the more expensive brands in case they turn their noses up at those!

Mine used to love Purely but wouldn't touch the last box.

Is that PAH one the newish one they brought out? Got that & they wouldn't touch that either:( - however, managed to dig out my receipt & they did give me my money back:) (100% satisfaction guaranteed)!

Fingers crossed the Royal canin stays in favour for a while!

CheeseCat wrote: »

Oh but give them go cat/whiskas etc and they'd demolish it - I guess its the feline equivalent of offering a child the choice between a salad or a McDonalds

:rotfl:Never thought of it like that before - mine are the same.

mum26

Mine won't eat Purely since they changed it either

Bunny

Hi
If you have a Home Bargains near you, they sell boxes of 12 x pouches of Hi Life in there for £2.99, chicken and tuna varieties.
My 2 are currently on Purely dried food, but also on Hi-Life. Tesco also do a Luxury cat food, that is higher in meat, I think it is 40/50%.
Don't get it mixed up with the premium or supreme which are still only 4%

Princess_Jane

Cats are strange creatures.
The middle one of my three hates any fresh meat - chicken, ham etc.
However he will happily hoover up scraps of veg or corned beef hash dropped on the kitchen floor while I'm cooking.
And they all went NUTS t'other day for pasta in a tomato sauce.
Dropped one bit and there was a battle, so I ended up giving them all the leftovers.
Lots of contented paw licking and face washing.

purplepardalis

A combination that works well in my house from cat/quality/cost perspective is Classic for the wet food and Arden Grange for the Dry. The Arden Grange costs only £8 for 7.5kg and Classic is approx £3 for 6 tins