Cat Food Questions

greenmoneysaver_2

Hi all,

Interesting debate.

The quality of food, regardless of dry or wet is what really counts!

Cats require higher protein levels than dogs, and less carbs, and this makes the food more costly. Vet only brands like Purina and Hills are better quality than supermarket stuff!!!

Regarding the original point about feeding more cost effectively

• dry food is only 5-10% moisture compared with about 80% in tins, so tins are an exoensive way to but water!
• cats DO NOT drink where they eat, so if you buy dry food have another bowl away from the feeding area and they will drink more
• good quality dry food can cost less per day than a tin or 2 of branded food, and is better for their health
• vet only brands are also available in tins and sachets

regarding IAMS

• the animal cruelty pics are from a compnay they bought over about 15 years ago - they are not current
• ALL food and drug companies use animals in testing - under current regs they live in normal, but controlled circumstances and are fed diets and euthansed humanely at a certain age for PM findings
• however IAMS does appear to be linked by many vets to urinary problems in cats - no official research, but it is the commonest brand seen by many vets with urinary issue cats
• as a company they have made a choice not to compete with Hills - as they were losing - and move into being the premium supermarket brand, this may be why they are seen more often in the point above, as proportionally more cats are on it??

Advice from a veterinary person - go for what you can afford and what your cat likes, and try and vary it for wet and dry as if they ever require a change of diet for health reasons they will be more accepting! (my cat hated dry food, as she associated wet food with the shelter she came from - we have overcome this!)

Be aware that obesity is likely to cause SERIOUS health problems - as the devil made me do it has found. I would suggest that the small amount of dried food did not make her cat diabetic, but the obesity did!

Keep them slim and they will be happy - research into diets affecting disease is ongoing, and often inconclusive - it shows that too fat or too thin is bad and better quality food is better.

Badger_Lady

greenmoneysaver wrote: »

Hi all,
ALL food and drug companies use animals in testing

I rolled with laughter recently when I bought a bottle of cat milk that said "not tested on animals" on the side. If it's not tested on animals, surely I shouldn't feed it to my cat! :rotfl:

liz545

My cat has the Pets @ Home brand complete cat food, and he seems really happy with it. It's a better quality of dry food than the supermarket kind, with a higher proportion of protein, and the ingredients are virtually identical to the James Wellbeloved kibble. He does drink plenty of water, but if your cats don't, dry food might not suit them. He also gets the odd bit of gristle or meat when we have chicken or fish, and sometimes a bit of tuna or cheese. I think the thing to bear in mind when feeding your cat is what's the best quality I can buy for my budget? rather than just thinking about the cheapest. If you buy the cheapest food you may well end up paying out more in vets' bills over the years, so I'd suggest a good quality dry food (Burns/JWB) with some supplemental wet food or fresh meat/fish occasionally as a treat rather than supermarket value ranges, but ymmv.

d900

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Please don't give cats dried foods.

My cat developed Diabetes mainly due to finding small amounts of dried cat biscuits. My vet totally advised against giving her anymore. They are full of starch and cats can't cope with it. They ain't good at all for cats. A lady i spoke to in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago, said her daughter's cat had to have a serious operation on it's intestines due to the dried food not being digested properly and causing severe blockage.

Cats don't drink much as it is. They get alot of moisture from "wet" cat food; but feeding them dried food (even with water) can/does cause them problems; their urine gets very strong and can burn their insides.

Dried food maybe cheaper, but your pocket may suffer in the long run.

im fairly certain that cats are all different
having looked after them for 20 or so years ive seen it all. My current 2 only eat dry and each drink 1.5 big bowl of water a day as well as half a bowl each of milk for dinner (yes yes i gave a cat milk!)
cat advice (like anything) is mainly all rubbish every week we are told what isnt good for us (lightbulbs this week) and next week we will discover that something else we all eat gives us cancer.

Everyone i know without fail treats the cats they own different and every single one has lived to be over 15 years of age and many still going at 17+

im sure vets do know a lot as its thier job but u cant go round beliving everything, we used to think lemon juice would destroy fish bones

badmumof1

i dont mean to sound rude but woud you compromise on food for yourself?

i mean would you buy the crappiest tasting food just to save a pew pennies if not them dont do it for your pet.

if you are worried about the cost of food what are you going to be like if heaven forbid you had to take the cat to the vet.
If you are going to give a cat tuna or any other fish in a tin then choose the one thats in springwater.
Its something to do with too much salt in the brine and this can cause kidney problems

Anetares

I think its best just to look at the PETA site for the actual information in it, not the heart wrenching pictures. Whilst a lot more than just pet food companies use animal research testing, it's annoying that Iams tried to set themselves up as such a wholesome company, which really does only care about your pet and helping you look after them.. and then they wash live kittens down drains at 3rd party testing labs. Yes, other people probably do it too.. but they don't pretend to give a crap in the first place.

Anyway, I suppose its asking too much for a cat treat which is cheap and healthy at the same time. Mine have Matures Menu mini treats, they're 75% meat/fish/whatever, so the packet says.. anyone have any thoughts on these? I mean, if they're healthy-ish compared to other brands?

Incidentally, I was thinking about trying Burns pet food for my cats. Does anyone know an outlet which sells it cheap(er)? Or where, in fact, I can get it from other than online? I don't think I've seen it at the pet shop or vets.
One reason I wanted to try Burns was it's artificial preservative and colour free, which is a major consideration for me at the moment, but their site says their food is based on brown rice, free range birds, and ocean fish... I'm not really keen on the starchy-carbohydrate-ness of rice, anyone know of a cat food that is free of all these things? Carbohydrate, artificial preservatives and colours. Other than, say, boiling chicken and fish because mine won't eat it like that..

WeirdoMagnet

greenmoneysaver wrote: »

• ALL food and drug companies use animals in testing - under current regs they live in normal, but controlled circumstances and are fed diets and euthansed humanely at a certain age for PM findings.

For people who are interested in feeding 'ethically' tested feed, have a look at the list on Uncaged. To be included on the list

they have to prove that neither they nor their suppliers are engaged in animal testing that harms animals: that means no invasive laboratory experiments or keeping animals in captive laboratory or kennel conditions for lengthy periods of time - conditions that cannot fulfil their physical and psychological needs.

Tortieshell

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

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.

I wasnt meant to sound rude sorry if it came across that way. I can imagine having a diabetic cat you have to be extra cautious about what to feed them.

Many people have cats who are out at work all day so the best solution is to leave dried food out as wet can go bad after a while. I think many of us leave dry when we are not there or for them to nibble on during the day but feed them meat or wet in the mornings / evenings when we can supervise. Obviously not everyone does but it seemed the most logical feeding plan for me.

floyd

Not sure if its already mentioned here but Home and Bargain currently have 1.4kg bags of Perfect Fit complete dry food for £1.99. It is a good food made by Waltham that usually retails at £7 for a bag that size.
The store I went in has the Active chicken or fish for normal adults, the in-home for house cats and the senior 8+ for the pensioners
The only thing to look out for is the date, the ones I got have a date of 1-08-08 so I couldn't stock up too far ahead

surfsister

Why don't ypu cook a little extra when you cook your meals and give some to the cat/s? my cat loves some of our mince/chicken/liver/turkey etc and especially gravy and the all time favourite is gammon!!
Ham is a fave too.

I just feed whatever is best value at the shop and give one brewers yeast tablet every day which she loves! (Very good for the coat)

Of course in the summer she only eats rabbits she catches!!!!! The cheapest and free range!!