A good cheapish cat food?

Shoshannah

Since he came back into my possession twelve months ago my old cat has been on Applaws wet, which is one of the best IMO due to the high meat content and the fact it is grain free.

However, he has pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease so has been suffering with bloody diarrhoea most days. When he went for a spell in the cattery the other week they fed him Felix and reported that his diarrhoea resolved, so I'm having to ditch the Applaws.

I can't bring myself to feed him Felix (lowest meat content on the market, pretty much) so I've switched to Nature's Menu and he's getting on pretty well with that. Normal poos and no blood so far. :j

Pets At Home are currently selling a box of 12 Nature's Menu pouches for £6.59 (online), vs £4.95 for Felix. So it costs slightly more but has a much higher meat content.

Haffiana

Applaws wet is not a complete cat food. It is meant to be given in addition to other cat food as it does not contain the nutrients a cat needs. It is not designed to be a complete cat food. I'm afraid it won't have helped your cat's problems.

I really don't know why Applaws doesn't state this more prominently on their wet food labels. It is easy to miss the 'complimentary' cat food bit on the label. I noticed that Lily's kitchen who make a very high protein, low filler dry food that is also complimentary - that is, it is meant to be fed as a treat or in addition to other food - now has a very clear sticker on the tubs stating so. Well done them.

Shoshannah

Haffiana wrote: »

Applaws wet is not a complete cat food. It is meant to be given in addition to other cat food as it does not contain the nutrients a cat needs. It is not designed to be a complete cat food. I'm afraid it won't have helped your cat's problems.

I really don't know why Applaws doesn't state this more prominently on their wet food labels. It is easy to miss the 'complimentary' cat food bit on the label. I noticed that Lily's kitchen who make a very high protein, low filler dry food that is also complimentary - that is, it is meant to be fed as a treat or in addition to other food - now has a very clear sticker on the tubs stating so. Well done them.

Hi Haffiana,

I know Applaws wet is complimentary, though thanks for pointing this out for other readers as I neglected to mention this. Oops.
He is supposed to be on Hills z/d or the like really, but I made a decision to keep him on something with a higher meat content.

Applaws are in the process of bringing out (it might actually be out already) a complete wet food for senior cats, which will be useful for those wishing to feed their little beasts a wet diet.

ERICS_MUM

I feel such a bad mum now ! I've always fed my Eric with Whiskas, Felix, Kit e Kat etc or even Asda/Co Op own brands and at age 16 he's a fine figure of a cat with sufficient teeth to shred my hands to ribbons if I annoy him ! . Ho-Hum he's too old to change eating habits now.

Shoshannah

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

I feel such a bad mum now ! I've always fed my Eric with Whiskas, Felix, Kit e Kat etc or even Asda/Co Op own brands and at age 16 he's a fine figure of a cat with sufficient teeth to shred my hands to ribbons if I annoy him ! . Ho-Hum he's too old to change eating habits now.

Lol mine spent his younger years eating such things. I wouldn't worry about changing him now if he's okay with what he's on. But I do recommend to people who come to me with kittens and young cats to look at diets with more meat in as a starting point.

bouncydog1

hampshirebabe wrote: »

What do you change, which do you give more of if they're looking a bit chubby? My little princess is getting a fat tummy lately, although I'm wondering if she's being fed somewhere else too, my little prince always seems to scoff everything I put down and she's really picky, but I dont think she's catching food as she runs away when Princey brings in a mouse.

I give them the reduced calorie version and monitor the amounts. The skinny one will get higher calorie and I supervise whilst she eats otherwise the fat one will try to chase her off! They seem to love the reduced one and it has good reviews for being tasty!!

senileturtle

Sometimes in cheap shops like 99p store et al you can find some of the higher end brands like hi-life, sheba, gourmet gold. Plus buying online is sometimes cheaper for some brands too.

Also, when you see those non-labeled pouches or tins in some shops (99p store and B&M do the 5 pouches for 99-£1; Kennelgate do the tins) they can be the higher end stuff too.

senileturtle

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

I feel such a bad mum now ! I've always fed my Eric with Whiskas, Felix, Kit e Kat etc or even Asda/Co Op own brands and at age 16 he's a fine figure of a cat with sufficient teeth to shred my hands to ribbons if I annoy him ! . Ho-Hum he's too old to change eating habits now.

We do what we have to do within our means. There's 5 in this household at the moment so it's whatever is on offer, cheap shop, or reduced in the superstores (sometimes even get some high end brands cheap when reduced). They thrive on it though and we've not had any major problems - three are mogs so quite hardy. It's the pedigrees (both rescues) that are more prone to sensitivity in diet.

Yes - most of what we feed our pets is what unfortunately makes them ill with certain things like some cancers (we do it to ourselves too). It's a risk we have to take when taking on animals whilst on a low income. As it is though there are so many cats (and dogs, etc) needing homes and not enough homes we can't be choosy about where each animal goes in terms of food quality.

If we lived in a world where there were more homes than animals needing them then we can be fussy about their diets. But as it is, I doubt the animals are complaining about the TLC they receive even if their food may be considered by the humans to be of poor quality.

rita-rabbit

Shoshannah wrote: »

Since he came back into my possession twelve months ago my old cat has been on Applaws wet, which is one of the best IMO due to the high meat content and the fact it is grain free.

However, he has pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease so has been suffering with bloody diarrhoea most days. When he went for a spell in the cattery the other week they fed him Felix and reported that his diarrhoea resolved, so I'm having to ditch the Applaws.

I can't bring myself to feed him Felix (lowest meat content on the market, pretty much) so I've switched to Nature's Menu and he's getting on pretty well with that. Normal poos and no blood so far. :j

Pets At Home are currently selling a box of 12 Nature's Menu pouches for £6.59 (online), vs £4.95 for Felix. So it costs slightly more but has a much higher meat content.

comes in tins - I buy a shrink wrap pack of 6 for mine but also feed them Burns which is a quality dried food

penny_pincha

I feed my cats raw food. I buy it from Albion Meat products it cost me 63p / pound. The only disadvantage is I have to but 96 lbs at a time. This is 100% meat with no other additives. I get it delivered for around £3.50 regardless of how much I order.

I also feed raw heart (lamb and ox) which is 75p / pound which is a DEF product & I buy it from Davids Doggie Dinners in Sittingbourne (Kent) who also deliver to Kent, Sussex and possibly Surrey for £5.

I used to feed raw wild rabbit but it has got very expensive in my opinion at £1.50 / pound but two of my older cats won't eat the heart or lamb.

These may be cheap but they are not an inferior product. Lamb I know is manufactured to human quality.

I have been feeding raw food to my cats for 10 years and they do very well on it.