Cat food in gravy

Hi all,

Has anybody noticed that it is increasingly difficult to buy tinned cat food in gravy, or is it just my local supermarkets?

Background - we have two boys, indoor cats aged 4 and 1.5. The eldest will not drink water so a totally dry diet isn't suitable for them as they don't tend to go out to drink from puddles etc. They're fed a tin of wet food in gravy between them in the morning, and the bowl is topped up with Go-cat Indoor biccies before bed if they have eaten it all. They are treated with fish/pate once a week.

Both the local Tesco and Sainsburys seem to have been gradually diminishing their stock of tinned food in gravy - our local Sains now only does their own brand, not even Whiskas/Kitekat anymore, and then only chicken flavour in packs of 6 rather than the mixed 24 can packs we used to be able to buy. Note that the display area hassn't got any smaller, in comparison there are approx 6 brands on sale for tinned in jelly, plus shelves upon sheves of pouches...

Pets at home is no good for us as they don't like the own brand stuff, and I don't like to buy the branded foods (if the supermarkets even stocked them!) as the nutritional content appears to be worse than the own brand stuff.

Comments

  • flea72
    flea72 Posts: 5,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    try Aldi, they seem to have lots of catfood in gravy, but very few tins in jelly

    ive never considered nutritional content on cat food, but a tin of game, poultry and carrots in gravy consists of:

    7.5% protein, 0.4% fibre, 4.5% fat, 2.5% ash, 80% moisture

    is that good or bad?

    F
  • flea72 wrote: »
    try Aldi, they seem to have lots of catfood in gravy, but very few tins in jelly

    ive never considered nutritional content on cat food, but a tin of game, poultry and carrots in gravy consists of:

    7.5% protein, 0.4% fibre, 4.5% fat, 2.5% ash, 80% moisture

    is that good or bad?

    F

    Thanks for that, will most definately grab a tin of Aldi food and give it a bash!

    For comparison, the Sainsburys Chicken and liver in gravy is

    8% protein, 0.5% fibre, 5% fat, 2.5% inorganic matter (am guessing this is ash?!) 82% moisture

    So it looks like it is much of a muchness.

    Lets hope they like it!
  • I think people prefer their pets to have jelly rather than gravy, as the smell doesn't carry quite so well.

    And some of the little darlings will lick the gravy off but not eat the food itself. So it doesn't sell quite so well.


    Mine adore gravy. Sometimes the stuff that's actually in cat food as well :)
    I could dream to wide extremes, I could do or die: I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch the world go by.
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    Yup you are officially Rock n Roll :D
  • spike7451
    spike7451 Posts: 6,944 Forumite
    Leandygandy,my Daisy Cat's the same!!! I have never seen her drink any fluids,she just licks the jelly off the meat & leaves half of it,except in her case she'll only eat the food in jelly.
    I know you can buy 'all jelly' & 'all gravy' in the multipack of tins from Tesco & P@Home. The Butchers brand of catfood is very good & they do jelly & gravy packs.
  • I cant really help with the gravy side of things because i personally despise commercial cat food and feel sorry for cats fed solely on that rubbish but have you tried different bowls for encouraging your cat to drink?
    Glass bowls tend to work well, water fountains are another good idea. We have one who drinks from a fountain (he also jumps around in it the horror) and one who will only drink from glass bowls filled to the brim .. he is the one that got us into 'try everything' mode because he suffered very badly with urinary track disease two years ago.
    We have had them on a mix of Purely for its high meat content (they are cats after all so why on earth do they need grain in there food!!) and raw food. Chicken wings/ carcasses from the butchers, beef heart, lambs liver/ heart , rabbit with bone in etc .. You name it, if its raw they get it. Im not confident going 100% RAW which is why i chose Purely as its the best of a bad bunch but going 80% raw is the best thing i ever did for my boys. They are in beautiful condition with perfect teeth, healthy strong lean muscle and are calm and confident. Perhaps the odd chicken wing once or twice a week and some different water bowls? ;)
    Ant. :cool:
  • spike7451
    spike7451 Posts: 6,944 Forumite
    antw23uk wrote: »
    I cant really help with the gravy side of things because i personally despise commercial cat food and feel sorry for cats fed solely on that rubbish but have you tried different bowls for encouraging your cat to drink?
    Glass bowls tend to work well, water fountains are another good idea. We have one who drinks from a fountain (he also jumps around in it the horror) and one who will only drink from glass bowls filled to the brim .. he is the one that got us into 'try everything' mode because he suffered very badly with urinary track disease two years ago.
    We have had them on a mix of Purely for its high meat content (they are cats after all so why on earth do they need grain in there food!!) and raw food. Chicken wings/ carcasses from the butchers, beef heart, lambs liver/ heart , rabbit with bone in etc .. You name it, if its raw they get it. Im not confident going 100% RAW which is why i chose Purely as its the best of a bad bunch but going 80% raw is the best thing i ever did for my boys. They are in beautiful condition with perfect teeth, healthy strong lean muscle and are calm and confident. Perhaps the odd chicken wing once or twice a week and some different water bowls? ;)
    I've tried everything believe me...Metal bowls..small bowls..big bowl..deep bowls..glass bowl...pre-boiled cold water...tap water...bottled water...
    She won't eat anything apart from her wet food,tinned tuna & RC Exigent,she'll eat the odd Dreamie but that's it.Tried raw meat,no go there either.
    Sometimes she'll eat the odd bit of cooked meat off my plate tho..
  • antw23uk wrote: »
    I cant really help with the gravy side of things because i personally despise commercial cat food and feel sorry for cats fed solely on that rubbish but have you tried different bowls for encouraging your cat to drink?
    Glass bowls tend to work well, water fountains are another good idea. We have one who drinks from a fountain (he also jumps around in it the horror) and one who will only drink from glass bowls filled to the brim .. he is the one that got us into 'try everything' mode because he suffered very badly with urinary track disease two years ago.
    We have had them on a mix of Purely for its high meat content (they are cats after all so why on earth do they need grain in there food!!) and raw food. Chicken wings/ carcasses from the butchers, beef heart, lambs liver/ heart , rabbit with bone in etc .. You name it, if its raw they get it. Im not confident going 100% RAW which is why i chose Purely as its the best of a bad bunch but going 80% raw is the best thing i ever did for my boys. They are in beautiful condition with perfect teeth, healthy strong lean muscle and are calm and confident. Perhaps the odd chicken wing once or twice a week and some different water bowls? ;)

    Ed won't touch human food - he will very occasionally eat a bit of wafer thin ham but we don't give them it often due to the salt content. We've offered him small bits of various meats when we have roast dinner but he isn't interested at all. Charlie however, is a one-cat-hoover and will devour literally any food you offer him!

    We've tried a few bowls and it doesnt seem to make any difference but thanks for the suggestion!
  • tizerbelle
    tizerbelle Posts: 1,921 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Well Demon Cat's favourite bowl for water is the toilet bowl! Visitors to the bathroom are often greeted with a view of his derriere (no, no loo chemicals / blocks used)

    Failing that second choice is the dogs water bowl.

    Dog prefers anything that holds rainwater in the back yard or puddles on the street!
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