New cat

Moomum

Haha thanks guys, will try and get a pic up ASAP but am on an iPad so will need a mo to figure out how to do it. My mum lives on her own so would only be her there , I wouldn't dream of taking a cat to see the baby haha, my sister would go ballistic. Looks like we aren't leaving until late tonight so may leave him here as will be back afternoon ish tomorrow.

Happy for him to have run of house, living room has a large Victorian fire place which needs covering before he can go on there as he nipped straight in it yesterday (non working but don't want him climbing up the chimney). Also want to make it a bit more cat friendly too, wouldn't want him getting hurt.

The food the vet gave us for him is hill's science plan vetessentials, for under 1 year old cats. Does anyone have any experience with this? It says it's a full food so do we need the wet stuff too? He ate a whole bowl of it over night but not touched much so far today.

We will be getting him microchipped ASAP, he is not allowed it for at least three weeks so hoping we'll have it done way before then.

Thanks again guys, you are all so friendly on this forum!

Moo x

gettingready

Vets will always push HIlls onto anyone/everyone as they get commision on this.

LOts of threads about cat food on here but if you change his food do it slowly, start by mixing old and new so his little tummy can get used to the new food.

You do NOT want a kitty with runny poo believe me..LOL

Moomum

http://flic.kr/p/df61eA



I hope this works! Picture wouldn't show here for some reason so I've put the link

~Chameleon~

gettingready wrote: »

Vets will always push HIlls onto anyone/everyone as they get commision on this.

NO THEY DON'T!!! :mad:

gettingready

yes they do - every single one I ever been to tried to sell me hills....

~Chameleon~

gettingready wrote: »

yes they do - every single one I ever been to tried to sell me hills....

I'm not going to argue with you but I think I'm in a slightly better position than you to know. Veterinary diets used to be quite limited, only Hills and Waltham Foods (Pedigree) used to make a decent range, therefore they were the ones usually stocked by vets. You'll probably find more Royal Canin veterinary diets in surgeries these days.

However, your vet can supply any brand of food you want, including Whiskas, Felix and Go-Cat as all these are available from the Veterinary Supplies companies. You're unlikely to get them as cheap as a supermarket however, hence why vets don't routinely stock them as it's not cost effective.

ETA: Oh and there was a time when you could only buy Hills from a vet, until the advent of pet supermarkets in the 80s of course, so naturally many of the old school vets and clients still buy this way. Still doesn't mean they get commission though, they/we never have done!

Moomum

It was vet who found the cat that have us the food, it was what they had been feeding him and it is just three 500g bags that they were given as samples by the look of it. Seeing as there is a sticker with a £18 off a full bag I think we may be switching foods!

~Chameleon~

Moomum wrote: »

It was vet who found the cat that have us the food, it was what they had been feeding him and it is just three 500g bags that they were given as samples by the look of it. Seeing as there is a sticker with a £18 off a full bag I think we may be switching foods!

A 500g bag isn't a sample, it would have been from their own stock and I should imagine if you've got a sticker for £18 off a bag, it must mean a large 20kg bag which would probably last you the best part of a year lol

I'm not used Hills for many years so not familiar with current varieties but have found this for you... http://www.petplanet.co.uk/category.asp?dept_id=1429

Moomum

Oh that sounds ok then lol, might take a look. it says on the free/ gratis which is why I assumed they were sample bags :-)

~Chameleon~

Moomum wrote: »

Oh that sounds ok then lol, might take a look. it says on the free/ gratis which is why I assumed they were sample bags :-)

Maybe they've become more generous with their sample sizes then as they used to only contain around 1-200g and most dried food ranges start off with 400-500g as their smallest bag size.

If you do decide to switch to a different brand then gradually decrease this food whilst increasing the new one so as to lessen any risk of tummy upsets. I would say steer clear of popular supermarket brands as very few are what I'd class as a quality food. Most are the equivalent of junk food in our diets.