Grain free cat food

Fire_Fox

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

They get wet as well, however, it's Whiskas pouches or the wee Gourmet Gold tins:(. I've tried loads of the higher meat ones (Applaws, Purely, HiLife etc) but without success and really don't know what else to try to get them to eat it!

She will eat "human" food - chicken (cooked), fish (cooked), ham, liver (raw - but only a teeny bit) and he howls like mad for any of the above but just looks at it if I put it down and won't touch it (they will both eat tuna).

Thanks for the link:) - I haven't seen that site before (and wish I'd known about it when poor Smudge was going through his "battles") - will have an in depth read as it's something I'm still interested in knowing as much as I can about (and a bit paranoid it happens again):(

We bang on about meat content of kibble because the higher the meat the lower the grain fillers which is to reduce the risk of certain health problems and value for money (this is MSE! ). Meat meal is found in some dry food but you don't generally see animal derivatives for some reason. Wet doesn't need to be high meat - meal meal or animal derivatives are fine as they are still animal protein which is best for an obligate carnivore. So if you don't want to change the wet, don't!

Whiskas pouches and Gourmet Gold are very expensive and I know you are on a budget, have you tried Butchers Classic or Whiskas Supermeat in tins? Both are additive and grain free and not silly prices. Otherwise Bozita? Most cats seem to like it, it is a sensible price and there are three variants - pate, jelly and sauce (gravy). Noah and Lulu both did the lick-the-sauce-eat-the-jelly thing, but eventually tried a few lumps and found they were nice enough to lick the dish clean. Cats are more likely to try a new wet if they are not offered their favourite kibble as an alternative.

Just as with dry, mixing in a small amount of new wet food with the old, a little more each day can get resistant cats to change, as can tough love or patience. I have heard of Fortiflora working for others but not tried it myself, the water from canned tuna (spring water, not brine) or low salt meat stock may also work, or warming the cat food slightly in the microwave. Obviously don't try to change the wet and dry food simultaneously, you may end up with hunger strikers! :eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

Fire_Fox wrote: »

So if you don't want to change the wet, don't!

Phew!

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Whiskas pouches and Gourmet Gold are very expensive and I know you are on a budget, have you tried Butchers Classic or Whiskas Supermeat in tins? Both are additive and grain free and not silly prices. Otherwise Bozita? Most cats seem to like it, it is a sensible price and there are three variants - pate, jelly and sauce (gravy). Noah and Lulu both did the lick-the-sauce-eat-the-jelly thing, but eventually tried a few lumps and found they were nice enough to lick the dish clean.

I try to stock up when they're on offer (recently managed to get 3 x 12 pouch boxes of Whiskas for £6 so have quite a few boxes left:D. Same with the Gourmet ones, they one 6 for £2 at the minute which makes them a bit cheaper but they could get through at least 2 tins each/day given the opportunity!

I tried both the Classic & Whiskas supermeat a while ago (without success) - neither will eat anything in jelly and I don't think Classic do one in gravy?

However I may give the supermeat another go as she's been eating the pate gourmet tins quite happily:).

I've not heard of Bozita but have just found it on Zoo+ so I'll add some of that to my basket (it's sitting part filled - trying to get as much as poss on the 1st order for the 10% off;)).


Both mine are excellent "licking the gravy" monkeys too!:D

Thanks Fire Fox

rising_from_the_ashes

mmmm, why is it that it takes me HOURS to choose the cats' food when I literally run round the supermarket for mine!

Also going to give these a try http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/smilla/211434 - they come in packs of 24 x 400g ones but thought it best to try the "taster" pack to try each variety first!

I wish more manufacturers did packs like this to try them - it gets soooooo expensive buying 6 tins of this and 6 tins of that for them not to touch it!

Fridaycat

I know what you mean about the choosing the food thing! My husband often laughs at me about that If your cats like Whiskas, do they also like Felix? They do the tinned food in gravy as well as jelly, and it is currently 2 x 6 packs for £5.00 at Sainsbury's, usually £3.65 each, so quite a good saving

rising_from_the_ashes

Thanks Fridaycat - tried Felix without success but it's also been a while so may give it another bash - the manufacturers are known to change "recipes" every so often (goodness knows why, except to cause problems for people with fussy cats who'll only eat "their" brand - pre-change) so it's probably changed since I last tried them.:)

Fire_Fox

Fingers crossed for Bozita - 90% meat for under £3 a kilo! :money: IMO it's the best value wet food out there, as long as your mogsters eat it of course. It is now available from quite a few online retailers, many sell packs individually and cheaper than Zooplus unless you get Zooplus' bumper size pack offers or a 10% discount! The pate is the highest protein and fat so the lowest portion size, there is a small amount of really sloppy jelly which you can easily mash in. Gravy goes down well here but the Bozita chunks in jelly was eaten with the least enthusiasm.

rising_from_the_ashes

Well, popped up to the "big" supermarket as the wee one near me is pants for variety and also never has cat litter!

Got some Whiskas supermeat - it's been put out and has been sniffed, followed by lots of nose turning up and yeowling - don't think they're impressed with that! (the box for the rescue is off to a new start!)

Been hunting around for Bozita and have found it cheaper on Seapets and you can buy individual pouches and loads more choice so think I may order from there to see what (if any) they'll eat.

Delivery was a shock tho' (£4.95) so think I'll have to try to make the order up to £29:eek: to get it free. However, it doesn't need a signature which is a big plus for me:D

I see they stock Denes - my old cat used to love this, so will add a couple of these too.

OMG (sorry, trying to contain myself) - just found a catit circuit which I say for £14.99 at PAH the other day for £11.95 - may just need to add that too....

Ohhh, someone stop me before I get totally carried away!


Re the grain free - I think I'll leave them on the RC just now (they eat it, no waste, no fuss) and try to sort out the wet and get them eating a bit more of that. Once I conquer (and I will!) that, I'll look at the dry again.

As has been suggested, it's probably not a good idea to play around with both at once and risk upset tums!:eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

Ohhhh nooo, I've just seen that if you buy the massage centre, scratch pad & circuit you get another circuit free so you can make into this fantastic huge toy! http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/cat-supplies/cat-toys/cat-play/catit-design-senses-cat-toys/all-products.html

They better play with it, or they WILL be trouble!

Am I a sucker ........ (so much for trying to reduce my pet costs) :rotfl:

Fire_Fox

Bergan Turbo Track is soooooo much more fun than the Catit circuit .... if they like the Bergan starter pack, add on a flashing ball and extra straights.

rising_from_the_ashes

Think I've seen that in the Purrs shop (?) - she'd love that! (may need to leave that one till next month tho'!)

They've got one of these http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_toys/miscellaneous/cat_toys/226993 which they both spend hours playing with so hoping it'll be similarly appreciated!