Cat Food Questions

Tigsteroonie

This wet / dry cat food debate obviously varies from cat to cat, in the same way that humans have different food intolerances.

We've had cats for years feeding them on a mix of wet & dry food (tins twice a day, gocat biscuits & water available all the time), no problems.

Took in a stray 2yo cat, didn't know what he'd been fed, but we let him loose on the same food ... result was a nasty bout of feline cystitis (sp?), crystals in the urine, and an expensive operation. He now has to be fed tinned food and special safe biscuits (I think they're Royal Canin?).

My mum's pedi cats are only fed Iams and she's never had problems.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

As I said it's a risk and if your prepared to take it then ok. Fingers crossed your pet dosen't develop a problem that'll cost more than just cash in the long run.

Tortieshell

If thats true then why do so many breeders feed their cats on brand name dried foods such as James Wellbeloved and Royal Canine? Surely all these breeders cant be wrong.

My two eat a combination of wet and dry. You obviously had problems with dry food with your kitty but every cat is not the same and honestly I wouldnt put alot of trust into what one vet has said. It was obviously true in your case but to generalise like that is a bit daft.

suki1964

At the end of the day, before the big food companies decided that producing pet food was an ideal way of selling the waste products from human food processing, did our dogs and cats eat dried food? I don't think so, they ate whatever scraps were available. Dried food for animals is a new concept, rather like take away for humans - and we all know what eating take away twice a day every day of our lives will do to us.

Oh and Im a dog owner(previously a cat owner) and yes I do feed kibble (one that to my mind is top quality made with human grade organic chicken, no additives or colourings), but balanced with wet food -some meals kibble, some raw bones, raw meat, veggies, eggs, table scraps etc

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Tortieshell wrote: »

If thats true then why do so many breeders feed their cats on brand name dried foods such as James Wellbeloved and Royal Canine? Surely all these breeders cant be wrong.

My two eat a combination of wet and dry. You obviously had problems with dry food with your kitty but every cat is not the same and honestly I wouldnt put alot of trust into what one vet has said. It was obviously true in your case but to generalise like that is a bit daft.

I'm not generalizing, apologies if that's how it comes across. I'm just wanting to raise awareness. The thread asks about cheaper ways of feeding a cat. I'm just saying, that by feeding dried food to cats, it may not work out cheaper in the long term. It wasn't initially just the vet who advised me against dried food, I did a lot of research too. When I was told my cat was diabetic, I didn't just want to take the vets word for it, so I did my own reading. Which is only what I'm suggesting other folks do. That way you have a full educated idea of what's going on. Can't see what is so wrong in that.

robert_harper_2000

Iams use to be a good quality product but changed from rice to wheat when they went to Supermarkets. Anything Nestle Purina is more than likely crap! Full of colourful biscuits but mainly selling to the customer not to the pet. I agreed James Wellbeloved Hills and Royal Canin all much better quality! \
Cheap Go Cat is just full of fillers, bloats the pet not actually filling him up.
(Wasn't meant to sound aggressive, just what I thought )

robert_harper_2000

Iams use to be good quality rice but changed over to cheap fillers and wheat when it went over to the supermarkets - so to be able to compete on price.

duchy

Some cats like to drink others don't -one of mine never drinks for example whereas her brother drinks milk, water and even rainwater. I don 't feed mine exclusively on dried food because I'm not home to supervise that they do drink enough (as I said one never drinks) and I do see the logic in dried food may affect some cats with kidney difficulties if they aren't getting enough liquid. Of course no-one knows if their cat is likely to have those tendencies or not. So Tesco tinned food with Go-Cat top up for mine and all are huge (the ex-OH says they are as big as small dogs lol) but not fat at all. Like humans all cats need a sensible diet but some are more prone to certain medical issues than others regardless of diet,

Anetares

If you're interested in reading about the effects the compositions of some dry cat foods can have on some cats, I think this is worth reading:

http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

I don't have any cats with long term illnesses, neither am I crusading against dry cat food. I think it's just as well to be informed on all points of view before you decide what and how to feed any animal. The page above linked to is written by Michelle Bernard, author of 'Raising Cats Naturally', and uses information from the 'Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th edition' by Mark Morris Institute (who we might know better as the people behind Hills Science Diet)..

I, personally, wouldn't feed my cats Iams because they still employ a lot of animal research testing. Their website claims they are animal lovers and whatnot, but they are happy to use (for one example) the PER (protein efficiency ratio) chic testing method, whilst their competitors at Hills and Purina use food laboratories analytical testing for the same thing. Hills and Purina don't need to kill chics to obtain data on this, so neither do Iams.
I'm not an animal activist but I hate double standards. Iams declared a moratorium on animal experiments which used cruel/invasive methods or caused death to cats and dogs, however they don't apply that protocol to other animals. They are reported to frequently have violated that policy anyway. Iams claim to be leaders in animal welfare, it seems that is selectively applied too. You can read PETA's opinions on Iams here:

http://www.iamscruelty.com/

Whilst PETA's reporting is emotive and biased, fact is fact that Iams still conduct animal experiments when their competitors don't find it necessary. If that doesn't bother you, then fair enough.

Back to the original topic... I have 3 boys and 1 girl, the boys have wet food pouches and a couple of handfuls of dry food at night (which I invariably throw away because they don't like it much). The little girl likes Hi Life Petite Pate, but its good quality so I don't mind the bit extra cost. I don't like giving them tinned tuna regularly because of the salt content (even in spring water it's quite high).

The problem thing is treats, one refuses to eat unless he has his treats first, when I run out he loses weight (the little addict). Any recommendations for cheap treats?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Excellent website, what a good, informative find. many thanks.