where can I find the cheapest cat food - I want to stock up

Fire_Fox

JennieCharm wrote: »

I hope it's ok to ask, but if I got some "pet mince" from the butchers or some other reduced meats, do I have to cook them? If so, how? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm veggie!

It's not stupid at all, and it's nice you want to try your cat on real meat. I hope your cat(s) take to it, my darling Noah was across the room like a shot the first time I opened a pack of raw chicken wings, it was fascinating to see him eating as nature intended and expressing his natural instincts. He even loved the (disgusting) smell of raw kidney! If it's easier for you as a vegetarian to deal with pet mince go for it - feeding real food has to fit in with your lifestyle.

Felines can eat raw meat quite safely they are adapted with a very acidic stomach and short digestive tract to cope with more bacteria than we can, but obviously use common sense in kitchen hygiene - you might want to freeze in portions to keep it 'fresh' and don't leave any uneaten food in the bowl for hours on end. I used to freeze chucks of muscle meat and chunks of offal on a silicone topped baking sheet so I could bag up free flowing.

In fact cooking destroys certain nutrients they need (especially taurine in raw heart) so it's best not to cook the mince (taurine is added back to commercial pet food otherwise cats would get really sick). There are videos of cats and even tiny kittens eating raw meat on YouTube if you want to see.

Pet mince should contain the bonemeal, so will turkey necks, meaty carcasses, chicken wings and so on. If you are only feeding a small amount of pet meat alongside a commercial diet you don't have to worry too much, but if you intend it to be a larger part of the diet you need to ensure the cat is getting a balance of muscle meat, raw bone, fatty skin and offal especially raw heart. Muscle meat alone doesn't contain all the nutrients they need - in the wild a feline would obviously eat from the whole animal.

The nice thing about that from some ethical vegetarians' perspectives is that pet mince/ meat is using up parts of the animals that we, as humans, often turn our noses up at so every part of food animals are being used. Some raw feeders are given scraps that otherwise the butcher would have to pay to have taken away. Although I'm not veggie myself I think it's so important not to waste anything. :T

As already stated never feed cooked chunks of bone, they can splinter which may be dangerous. Felines can crunch up raw bone just fine, but I found Noah was happiest when I broke the chicken wings up into pieces to reveal the bonemeal (poultry shears from TK Maxx).

Lastly if you feed a commercial diet that contains quite a bit of cereal/ grains you may want to switch over to a high meat diet slowly - some cats can get a stomach upset otherwise as their digestive system is not prepared. I had no problems at all with Noah, in fact his poops stopped being stinky right away which is great in a flat! But some do find there is a little digestive disturbance initially.

Fire_Fox

aeb wrote: »

I give mine one tinned sardine each every Sunday morning. Just one seems to fill them up till tea time. I suppose because it isn't full of filler like a canned food. They have doubled in price in the last year like everything I suppose. I give them in oil mostly although the little tabby mum will fight the others, boys, for them if they are served in tomato sauce!

Do drain off the oil, cats are not evolved to eat plant oils. You can buy large 400g tins of pilchards or mackerel in tomato sauce for 90p to £1 and could freeze any spare or eat it yourself? The cheapest I have seen is Home Bargains.

aeb_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Do drain off the oil, cats are not evolved to eat plant oils. You can buy large 400g tins of pilchards or mackerel in tomato sauce for 90p to £1 and could freeze any spare or eat it yourself? The cheapest I have seen is Home Bargains.

Yes, I do drain them. I must find a Home Bargains, it is mentioned often. We all eat sardines, pilchards, etc on toast with some salad so no need to freeze but good idea anyway, thanks.

edit - I've found one in Newton Abbot. I must try to build in a visit when we go that way

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Fire Fox you going to hate me I want to pick you brains on this thread too:cool::p

can I feed raw pork to my cats? as I know it is not advisable to feed to dogs, and it has to be thoughly cooked for us.

If I feed my cats raw/cooked meat would their poo stop smelling as bad?

Going to ask my butcher, and the abbotoir we use to see if they got scrap pet food meat, and if they charge see how much it is.

good idea about freezing it on a tray, so it then it can be bagged for freeflow servings.

Fire_Fox

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Fire Fox you going to hate me I want to pick you brains on this thread too:cool::p

can I feed raw pork to my cats? as I know it is not advisable to feed to dogs, and it has to be thoughly cooked for us.

If I feed my cats raw/cooked meat would their poo stop smelling as bad?

Going to ask my butcher, and the abbotoir we use to see if they got scrap pet food meat, and if they charge see how much it is.

good idea about freezing it on a tray, so it then it can be bagged for freeflow servings.

I don't mind at all, my passion and job is (human) healthcare including nutrition so it's not much of a stretch to be equally geeky about pets! :rotfl:

Yes cats can eat raw pork, so can dogs AFAIK. There is a small risk of worms, I believe there is not actually a problem in the UK but I think the horsemeat drama has shown us we cannot completely trust that the meat comes from where it is supposed to ... I think you have trusted abbatoirs and butchers tho?

Anyone with outdoor cats will be worming regularly anyway, some veterinary spot on treatments for fleas also cover some worms. Being indoor only I worm my cats less often, but obviously owners have pretty close contact when scooping the litter tray. _pale_ If you prefer to supplement with some cooked meat you may need to consider the source of minerals (bone) and taurine (raw heart) as noted before.

Many of those who feed raw or high meat/ grain free commercial foods report smaller less smelly or not at all smelly poops with both cats and dogs. Some right away, some after the pet has adjusted to the new diet. It seems to vary somewhat from cat to cat, I guess much as food intolerances and allergies vary from human to human. Many breeders of Bengal pedigree cats raw feed as they particularly struggle with grain/ cereal rich foods, as do zoos for the 'big cats'.

It's really a case of experimenting - Noah was massively improved as soon as I eliminated grains/ cereals but Feline Fayre tuna made him stink out the entire flat. He was worst on grains and the tuna, much better on cooked high meat commercial foods, best of all on raw no stinks at all.

Lulu (cooked grain free foods no raw at present) still does very occasional stinkers but it's massively improved on when I adopted her. The last 'episode' was after a stay in the cattery ... I forgot to tell them she is not allowed their high cereal dry food and I know they also feed tuna. :doh:

What is 'recommended' varies from vet to vet, some are very against raw feeding and push commercial dry foods like Hills Science. There certainly are veterinary practices and rescues who actively advocate raw chicken wings for cleaning teeth and those who are very open minded to a balanced all raw diet.

For me if the cat has the instinct for it (some adore it, some need persuading, a few are totally resistant) and it works with the human slave's lifestyle (not everyone has a freezer or access to a trustworthy source of pet meat say) it's a no brainer. We know for humans heavily processed foods, high grain high sugar diets are unhealthy, we know for herbivorous farm animals that grass is healthier than feeding them the remains of other animals. A cat is an obligate carnivore, many will supplement themselves with raw meat (often including bone and offal) in the form of wild rodents and birds. I've even heard of some 'hunting' and stealing a neighbour's Sunday roast! :rotfl:

dandelionclock30

Mine get Asdas Tiger meat which is £10.48 for 24 tins. I also give them pet pieces from the butchers, which are basically scraps of meat.Also one of them has go cat biscuits.
Both cats are fit and well, and are not complaining about cheap food.

JennieCharm

Thank you so much for the information on the meat - I'm going to get a bit of chicken for Charlie and see how it goes, I'm going to keep with the regular food and if he likes real meat, have it a few times in the week. Even though I have no desire to eat meat myself, I do agree about using the waste meat - I just hope I can stomach the smell of meat!
Back to the cheap food, Tesco have 48 sachets of Whiskers (or maybe Felix?) for £10 - Not the cheapest, but not too bad?

georgiesmum

No point in stocking up with cheap cat food. Cats are so fussy that they go off food quite quickly and will leave you with a load of unused food. I stocked up with Felix Gail when it was on offer, they won't touch it now and i have always fed them that. :eek:They love Tescos own pouches at the moment.
I also find if i get a good dried cat food, Royal Cannin at the moment, i save a lot on wet food, although it is not good to feed them only dried.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Trying chicken wings as I speak..

they sniffed them, licked them, and are now munching/chewing. pulling the skin off them.

I put 5 chicken wings down for the 3 cats, but I think 1 each will be enough.

The only thing, they are over the chicken floor:rotfl:

I had to nip into mr T so bought a pack there for £2.41, also bought some frozen fish and a tin of pilchards in brine.

Then called in the co-op and their chicken wings were reduced to 75p a pack:mad: so I bought the 4 packs that were there:rotfl: which are now in the freezer, either for the cats or us:D

going to the butchers tomorrow morning to get some hearts..

I go through 3 large tins of cat food a day, which is approx £1.50 ish a day, so I dont think its going to be that much more to feed them fresh meat/fish

shoppaholic_returns

Just got some Sheba trays from mr t for 14p each, instead of 60p, keep an eye out for discontinued lines.