Kitten food

hampshirebabe

If my kittens eat a fair amount of complete dry kitten food, is it so important they get a high quality wet food too?
I've been giving them tin/tetra Bozita wet food, but was thinking of alternating between that and sainsburys own brand tins every other day, or even the basics cat food. It does say on the tin for adult cats, but if its eaten with a complete kitten food as well will that balance it out? Trying to cut costs but keep them healthy too.
Whats your thinking on cat water fountains too? I've added a couple more water bowls around and they seem to drink a bit more, but do any of you use a fountain for them?
Ps. between the 2 kittens, (ones 4 months, the other's 10 months) they eat 3/4 a tin of bozita, or 1 tetra pack, or a whole tin and a bit of sainsburys cat food, which I tried before realising it was for adult cats, and although they seem to eat a bit more, its still cheaper.

rising_from_the_ashes

Please don't feed them basics wet food as it's full of horrible stuff & not good quality at all - Bozita is much better than sm own brands too, although at least you can get these specifically for kittens.

The older kitten is certainly fine to eat adult food now but I'd personally want the younger one to be on kitten food for another couple of months or so.

Water fountains are hit / miss - some cats love them, others won't go near them. Mine is currently in a box somewhere! IMHO you'd be better putting the money you'd spend on a fountain to buying better quality wet food.

Fire_Fox

A complete food does not balance out a complementary food for growing kittens, complementary foods should be used as treats not part of the staple diet. IMO it is more important your kittens get a high quality dry food if you wish to feed biscuits - which for an obligate carnivore (must eat meat) means low grain. Even the cheaper complete wet foods often represent better quality nutrition than many higher end dry foods because they contain far less cheap fillers as a percentage of the solids. You should find with higher meat dry foods the feed rate is much lower than with the higher grain ones so the change in price is not as much as you think but you may still find it is cheaper to switch to all wet. Cheaper wet foods which are based on animal protein (meat derivatives) not padded out with plant matter (vegetable derivatives) include Butchers Classic, Whiskas Supermeat and Tesco Claude. Not sure what is in the Sainsbury own brand, check the labels.

Not really sure that helps you save money in the short term, but reducing grain intake should help with moneysaving in the medium to long term. Inappropriate carbohydrate intakes are associated with many conditions from dental decay to diabetes. :eek:

hampshirebabe

I got a bit mixed up with your reply Fire Fox, both the wet food and dry food are complete foods, neither is marked as complimentary. I've been feeding them hills science plan complete kitten food, they eat quite a lot of that, I leave it out for them all the time and just fill it up when its almost gone, I've been told thats the best way for kittens. I'd also read, on this forum, that a cheaper wet food was ok as they get a lot of thier moisture from wet food, so as long as its a good quality dry food, then a cheaper complete wet food would be ok. I'm sure when I looked at the ingredients of the basics cat food it said 40% meat, the same as the other sainsbury's cat food, and it wasn't that much cheaper, leading me to think it's the same stuff inside just with a no frill label.
Bozita is marked as a complete food for kittens, pregnant or nursing cats too.

rising_from_the_ashes

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I'm sure when I looked at the ingredients of the basics cat food it said 40% meat, the same as the other sainsbury's cat food, and it wasn't that much cheaper, leading me to think it's the same stuff inside just with a no frill label.

There are no ingredients of the basics one listed online, but the own brand does state "Meat and Animal Derivatives (Min. 40% including min. 4% Chicken, min. 4% Liver), Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Vitamins and Minerals, Various Sugars " (from http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1341767268518)

The things that would worry me about this are a) it's not a kitten food and certainly the younger one should still be on that b) what are all the "various sugars" c) the protein is only 2% which for young cats isn't enough & "proper" kitten wet foods tend to be about 10%

HappyMJ

Agreed look at the protein figure Basics cat food is 2% and looking at the rest of the sainsburys shelf the Encore is 14%. Felix is 7.5%. Gourmet is 14%. KiteKat is 7%. Purina One is 10%.

You don't need to feed as much of the higher protein foods and if you feed less food then you clean up after the cat less.

hampshirebabe

Please dont think I'm being awkward, but on a money saving forum, I'm trying to work out why the more expensive cat foods are so often recommended, often on the grounds that a high protein food will need less to fill up a cat than a low protein one.
If you look at Encore for eg, its 14% protein, but its at its cheapest is £10.70/kg, whereas, the sainsburys fish in jelly, for eg, is 8% protien but only £1.25/kg. Thats over 10 times more expensive!
Plus none of those ones you've mentioned are 'kitten food', I'd like to know whats the difference and if kitten food really is better for kittens?

HappyMJ

hampshirebabe wrote: »

Please dont think I'm being awkward, but on a money saving forum, I'm trying to work out why the more expensive cat foods are so often recommended, often on the grounds that a high protein food will need less to fill up a cat than a low protein one.
If you look at Encore for eg, its 14% protein, but its at its cheapest is £10.70/kg, whereas, the sainsburys fish in jelly, for eg, is 8% protien but only £1.25/kg. Thats over 10 times more expensive!
Plus none of those ones you've mentioned are 'kitten food', I'd like to know whats the difference and if kitten food really is better for kittens?

Kitten food is higher in protein and has more vitamins and minerals appropriate to a kitten. I'm not recommending Encore just look at the other cheaper ones and you pick one that has a good balance of protein, vitamins and minerals and price.

rising_from_the_ashes

Yes - kitten food is better for kittens & should be fed certainly up to a minimum of 6 months. It has all the essential nutrients / vitamins / extra protein etc that they need when they're growing / their bones are developing etc.

More expensive foods generally have better quality ingredients and less "fillers" that cheaper foods use to bulk them out - although more expensive initially - you usually need to feed a lot less than cheap foods, so they work out cheaper overall.

hampshirebabe

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

More expensive foods generally have better quality ingredients and less "fillers" that cheaper foods use to bulk them out - although more expensive initially - you usually need to feed a lot less than cheap foods, so they work out cheaper overall.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but as someone said on another thread earlier, 'kitten' food is a relatively new marketing thing. Most of the tins of adult cat food have feeding guidelines for kittens too, and some of the kitten food has a lot less protein than lots of the cat food. I cant believe they would really eat that much more cheaper food than the more expensive, in relation to the price difference, they wouldn't eat 10 times more sainsburys than Encore, and a few extra poo's in the litter tray wouldn't cost that much more either.
I know lots of people spend huge amounts more on their own food when they can buy the same thing without a label for much less, and cats can be incredibly fussy, but when it just comes down to value for money, a high protein content is important. After researching lots of cat/kitten foods, I cant see the need to spend that much more, and as is so often the case, spending more, esp. on packets labeled 'kitten food', by no means means you will get a better product.

rising_from_the_ashes

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I cant believe they would really eat that much more cheaper food than the more expensive, in relation to the price difference, they wouldn't eat 10 times more sainsburys than Encore, and a few extra poo's in the litter tray wouldn't cost that much more either.

It's not just a question of how much they eat of it - it's how good it is for them.

Yes, cats will often eat Go*cat, Whi*skas, SM own brand, SM Basics etc etc etc and often over higher quality foods but that's because they're full of junk (additives, sugars etc etc) to make them taste good ie like going to a fast food restaurant - most of us like them, but they're not good for us if eaten all the time.

If you want 10 x more waste then that's up to you (but you'll obviously spend a lot more on cat litter) - however, the more waste that comes out means that more of the food nutritionally carp and has therefore passed through the body unused .... what a waste of money!

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I know lots of people spend huge amounts more on their own food when they can buy the same thing without a label for much less

More fool to them then! Absolutely no need as you say:)

hampshirebabe wrote: »

cats can be incredibly fussy, but when it just comes down to value for money, a high protein content is important. After researching lots of cat/kitten foods, I cant see the need to spend that much more, and as is so often the case, spending more, esp. on packets labeled 'kitten food', by no means means you will get a better product.

I feed my cats good quality dry food - it costs less than the SM own brand / ranges sold in the sm as I buy in bulk & when on offer etc - so you don't necessarily need to spend a fortune if you do it with a bit of :money:

You're agreeing a high protein is important for kittens - yet the SM own brand version is only 2% protein (and the basics range you're proposing feeding doesn't even state the ingredients or protein) which is not high enough for kittens still growing and considerably less than kitten foods.

If you don't want to feed them kitten food - don't!

However, at least get them a decent quality adult food that will meet the requirements of a growing animal - high protein, good quality ingredients etc.