Dry Cat Food

kimbyanne

I am just wondering what the impressions are on dry cat food - is it worth spending more on getting say Science Plan / James Wellbeloved?

We are getting two new kittens on Friday and they are eating James Wellbeloved at the moment - however we have an older cat and she will only eat Whiskers Dried Food, we have tried her on the more expensive stuff and she won't eat it.

I know that if we change the kittens food, it has to be a gradual change but was wondering what the view was on say Whiskas Dried Food vs Science Plan or something like that - clearly the price is hugely different between them so is it worth the extra?

gettingready

Whiskas Dried Food vs Science Plan

Mc Donalds vs Gordon Ramsey

Fire_Fox

Yes it is worth spending the extra, preferably on a grain-free dry food such as Applaws or Orijen. Cats are obligate carnivores (must eat meat) and have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates (grains/ cereals). Carbs can cause or contribute to many health problems from dental decay to diabetes.

Whiskas and many supermarket brands are basically meat flavoured cornflakes, IIRC they contain 3% meat so are arguably lower quality than MacDonalds. :eek: James Wellbeloved is a little better at ~25% meat and *some* of the Hills variants are ~60% meat. You will find the higher the meat content the lower the amount you actually have to feed because they are not pooping out all the grains/ cereals, so your bag or box of food should last much longer.

Have you tried fooling your older cat by mixxing a tiny bit of the new food in, then a tiny bit more, then a tiny bit more, until a month on they are all on the new diet? It's actually often cheaper to feed a grain-free wet diet than a grain free dry diet, does your older cat like wet food? Cheap grain free supermarket foods include Butchers Classic, Whiskas Supermeat and Tesco Claude. These don't contain a lot of meat but rather 'meat derivatives', which are still animal protein and saturated fat so nutritious for a cat. :money:

kimbyanne

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Yes it is worth spending the extra, preferably on a grain-free dry food such as Applaws or Orijen. Cats are obligate carnivores (must eat meat) and have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates (grains/ cereals). Carbs can cause or contribute to many health problems from dental decay to diabetes.

Whiskas and many supermarket brands are basically meat flavoured cornflakes, IIRC they contain 3% meat so are arguably lower quality than MacDonalds. :eek: James Wellbeloved is a little better at ~25% meat and *some* of the Hills variants are ~60% meat. You will find the higher the meat content the lower the amount you actually have to feed because they are not pooping out all the grains/ cereals, so your bag or box of food should last much longer.

Have you tried fooling your older cat by mixxing a tiny bit of the new food in, then a tiny bit more, then a tiny bit more, until a month on they are all on the new diet? It's actually often cheaper to feed a grain-free wet diet than a grain free dry diet, does your older cat like wet food? Cheap grain free supermarket foods include Butchers Classic, Whiskas Supermeat and Tesco Claude. These don't contain a lot of meat but rather 'meat derivatives', which are still animal protein and saturated fat so nutritious for a cat. :money:

Yes, she knows if I put even the smallest amount of anything else in with her food - she refuses to eat it. Yes, she likes wet food so again, she gets Whiskas.

Fire_Fox

kimbyanne wrote: »

Yes, she knows if I put even the smallest amount of anything else in with her food - she refuses to eat it. Yes, she likes wet food so again, she gets Whiskas.

TBH I'd take her off the dry completely, Whiskas really is absolute rubbish. The manufacturers spray the biscuits with 'meat digest' (kitty crack!) to fool cats into eating a product that is 90%+ grains/ cereals which they would never normally touch. Some of the Whiskas wet foods are packed with vegetable derivatives which again don't represent high quality nutrition for an obligate carnivore IMO. But they are still more nutritious than most dry foods you can buy in the supermarket.

NewKittenHelp

Try Applaws or Orijen or Acana. They need much less so it doesn't work out anywhere near as expensive as people think it will.

georgiesmum

buy some small sizes first as not all cats like different brands. Lots of people swear by Orijen but my 3 cats won't touch it, but my daughters cats love it my cats love royal cannin and aldi

rising_from_the_ashes

gettingready wrote: »

Mc Donalds vs Gordon Ramsey

Yup ...... it's worth spending a bit more if you can to get a better quality food (brands as already suggested)

Although they may seem more expensive to buy - you often need to feed less with helps with the costs & if you buy in bulk when offers are on, it cuts the costs hugely.

Ohhhh and pics needed when they arrive!:D

faded_flowers

If you're looking at spending Science Plan prices I'd go with Applaws - essentially the same price but an even better food. Make sure you measure it out accurately every day so you don't waste any, and stock up when it's on offer

jenhug

I have just adopted a rescue kitten and I am really pleased this thread has popped up. I am confident when it comes to buying dog food, but am a newbie to cat nutrition, having fed our previous cats on supermarkets own. I have learned alot since those days and knew it wasn't the right way to go for my new bundle of mischief, but I am off to buy some applaws in the morning, so Thanks again!

bouncydog1

Definately buy a very small bag of Applaws - the shop may give you a couple of tester packs. None of my three will eat it - they only want Royal Canin exigent for fussy cats!

I occasionally get a different variety which they will grudgingly eat, but won't eat James Wellbeloved or Science Plan!

It will be a case of trial and error.