Cat Food

anniestar

We have 7 cats and feed them all on James Wellbeloved with hte exception of one who is on a perscription diet. Prior to switching we used to feed them wet food, what caused us to change was vet advice. We had hand reared a abandoned litter of 5 kittens from 8days(and got them all through) on a mixture of simicat and boiled chicken, we kept 2 of the litter and despite knowing EXACTLY what they had eaten and the quantity there was huge differences in the condition of the two boys. (they were so often at the vets as kittens even now there is no problem getting either boy into a cat carrier) Fergal was healthy with good muscle tone and healthy motions, Livingstone was hovever a very different case. He was thinner than his brother, had runny and very smelly motions, moulted all the time and was always hungry. Our vet diagnosed a digestive problem and felt that Livvy wasn't absorbing his food. Within TWO WEEKS of making the switch he was a different boy. Now some 6 years on you would never know that he had ever had any health problems, his coat gleams he is the correct weight,he eats well but is not hungry all the time,his motions are normal and he is very happy. All in all the best thing we ever did. I will try to post a piccy of Livvy(not very good at that sort of thing will ask DH) so you can see our handsome fellow. We buy pouches to enable us to treat our Norwegian Forest boy who is handicapped, but irronicaly Livvy wont touich wet food. Addotionally we give them a tin of tuna(asda or tesco value) every night as their treat. Another bonus of dried food is the lack of flies during the summer-WONDERFUL. Best of luck with cats they are SO fantastic every home should have one at least!!!!!!!!!!

Whistling_Gypsy

My boy (Thomas, aged 5) has only eaten dry food (Iams - but only chicken or fish) for the last 4 and 1/2 years and is in tip-top condition. I freshen his water once a day, like MATH, but he always seems to be drinking out of plant pots/puddles in the garden.
He occasionally gets a bit of chopped chicken or ham, or a tin of tuna (but only likes the expensive stuff in spring water, and then tends to leave the fish and lap up the juice!) He gets very jealous when I have a treat, so has had a teeny amount of things like cheese, low-fat ice cream lollies, yoghurt and ready-salted crisps - and he loves them all. Only problem is he won't actually eat them if I break him a piece off - so I have to sit there and hold whatever it is for him to lick!!!

He's not spoilt, though.

Much!!!

BarmyCow

On the subject of spoilt cats - having tried lots of different dried foods, I now stick with Whiskers Senior dried food. This might be a stupid question but is this really effective for senior cats or am I just throwing my money away ? I don't begrudge the cost, as it is @ £2 a bag and my little madams have turned their noses up at ownbrand dried food in the past (dogs ate it though !) but I want to give them food that is actually going to benefit them without having to take out a second mortgage to do it.

Back to my favourite subject of cod liver oil - I have found the no change in my cats digestive habits (no nasty poos) although I only give them a little teaspoon a day and they can certainly jump up on the bed well enough:j , so I can't see it doing them any harm.

charlies_mum

I have a very fussy 14 year old cat, and she loves the Aldi Vitacat dried crunchies, and the Shah pouches

Prudent

I have this on going struggle with my cats. They are currently being served Iams as I got large 3kg bags reduced to £2 in Focus

My female cat is disgusted. She stalks off with her tail in the air with a general air of deep offense. Eventually she will eat it.

Wickedkitten

Crazychik wrote:

Does the extra oil in the food play havoc with their digestive system - I mean - what are their motions like when going to the toilet. ?

I ask this as I have an 11yr old blue persian, who in the last 10months has been going "off" his back legs, (very wobbly) he's had numerous of blood tests, x-rays etc, and he actually has a problem with the last 3 vertabrate's in his spine. Human version of Spondilosis (sorry not good at spelling this time of the morning). He eats a combined diet of Iams dried & wet food for senior's. Small amounts but on average 4 times through out the day. He is underweight also, not cause I dont feed him properly - this is something which has never been diagnosed. He has a healthy appetite - but can never gain the weight he should be at.

I was wandering if the extra oil, might help his legs/back, but wont cause diahorrea. He's long haired, and can be totally messy if he has an upset stomache

I have 2 other cats, they get fed twice daily, there not fussy eaters, (nor is the persian really) they have a bowl of dried and bowl of wet each Water is always down. Their weight & health are fine. 1 is also 11 and the other is 9.

The extra oil should actually help him out quite a bit, not only with his joints but with hairballs as well.

lady_noluck

My cat will only eat Go cat crunch, any other crunch makes him sick. As does felix, whiskas, tesco and katkins wet food :rolleyes2 He has the occasional tin of sheba and gets titbits like tuna, ham and chicken. He also loves pasta and always tries to steal some off my plate. Haven't given him any cheese yet, may try that. I do give him some lactose free milk occasionally too. Apparently it's the lactose in normal milk that makes it unsuitable for cats so instead of buying "cat milk" I just give him some of mine. (Damn lactose intolerance -£1.26 a litre for lactose free milk :eek: But cheaper than felix!)

larmy16

I have just acquired a beautiful 4 year old cat and a soon to be bill of between a £150-£300 bill for dental work! The vet recommended Hills prescription diet to help clean his teeth and assured me all cats love it. This one does not!!! He tucks into wet food only which is probably why his teeth are bad at the back.

Having had a cat which suffered with crystals in the urethra (?) I am trying to avoid this, so like him having the moisture but am at a loss how to get him to eat the crunchie things. Maybe I should just put them down and give the wet once a day. What do you think? This cat seems to want to eat about 5 times a day!!!

whatamess_2

My four year old will only eat chicken iams!!! He will not touch any other flavour or eat wet food. Yet eats dog biscuit
He is supposed to be on a prescription diet too for urinary problems but he will not eat it.
You do have to be careful with portion sizes of the iams though as they gain weight vary quickly on it.

Pink.

larmy16 wrote:

I have just acquired a beautiful 4 year old cat and a soon to be bill of between a £150-£300 bill for dental work! The vet recommended Hills prescription diet to help clean his teeth and assured me all cats love it. This one does not!!! He tucks into wet food only which is probably why his teeth are bad at the back.

Having had a cat which suffered with crystals in the urethra (?) I am trying to avoid this, so like him having the moisture but am at a loss how to get him to eat the crunchie things. Maybe I should just put them down and give the wet once a day. What do you think? This cat seems to want to eat about 5 times a day!!!

Hi larmy,

Thankfully my kittie does like Hills, probably because that's what she was fed at the sanctary before we got her. I have a constant supply of that available and just feed a small amount of wet food (40g) twice a day and she seems happy.

Mine would eat wet food five times a day too, but she settles for the Hills in between wet meals....try just leaving the dry food out during the day, you never know if it's all there is she might get to like it.

Pink