Cat Food Questions

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Hi Rachie,

You should get more help with this on the Pets and Pet Care board as there are a few threads on homemade cat food there. I'll move your thread across for you.

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RACHIE77

He wont touch drymix food, it drives me mad, i have left it in his bowl for days and it doesnt get touched!! Although I saw an ad on telly where you get a dry mix and add water to it, and it creates a gravy?

Didnt know you could give cats rice, potatoes, pasta and veg tho, mite have to give that a go!!

Sassamac

RACHIE77 wrote: »

Didnt know you could give cats rice, potatoes, pasta and veg tho, mite have to give that a go!!

nor did I til I forgot to put the kids leftovers in the bin one night and came down in the morning to find empty plates! They also tend to hover around the kids chairs at dinnertime and pick up anything that gets dropped which gives us an indication of what they will / wont eat.

never heard of dry mix tha you add water to. worth a try though!

wishiwasarichgirl

cats will eat anything if they are hungry enough, although they do tend to get spoilt and fussy :rolleyes:

I lived on a farm at home and at one stage we had approx 13 cats (some wild, some tame) so mum definitely couldn't afford to buy the gourmet stuff for them all!:D

after dinner (usually spuds, veg & meat) all the leftovers went in a big saucepan, mixed with a tin of cheap (lidl-style) dogfood, any other scraps/heels of bread etc, bit of milk/water, mix it all up (looked & smelt vile!!) and dished out - it all got eaten!

RACHIE77

Thanks for those ideas, I definately wont be going back to the expensive stuff again, mite get my thinking cap on and rustle up some homemade scrap food for the cat, there are not always left overs (which is a good thing!) of meat and stuff but definately bits of bread and veg from dinner, that I hadnt thought of using before!!

This is the dry/gravy pet food that I saw, it works out a whole load cheaper than puches as it is only £2.29 for a 1kg box (and its even on 3 for 2 it seems at the mo) and water is in the tap so not too bad - trouble is that it was for DOGS lol - should have paid more attention at the ad ey!

Wonder when they will bring out something like this for cats!!

ka7e

Dog food is unsuitable for cats as it doesn't contain taurine. It's a supplement added to commercial cat foods and a deficiency can cause blindness and heart problems.

SnowyOwl_2

That "famous" vet from Vets in Practice, Joe Ingils, has diversified into cat and dog nutrition. He has his own line of cat food, Joe and Jill (Jill being his kitty), however he also has a book of cat food recipes out. I haven't actually bought the book, but if you have a look in Waterstones or whatever bookshop's small animals section then you could have a leisurely flick through and get some ideas.

I would have to comment though that some of his recipes are, IMO, suitable for very occasional use only as they are quite salty - not good considering that cats' kidneys cause so many of their owners so much trouble. But he's a vet so what the hell does he know about it :rotfl::rotfl:(kidding!!!!).

Also you could perhaps look at v.good quality dry cat food. My three kitties get the Hill's range and are thriving on it. If you follow the instructions on the pack you'll see that meals are small and a packet will last a long time, and is actually good value in the long run. You'll also be safe in the knowledge that your cat is getting a good proper balanced diet - just make sure there is loads of water available at all times - and the food won't rot his/her teeth.

CGG

If interested, Tesco are selling Kitekat 400g Tuna & Salmon flavour currently at 20p/tin.

SiuLoong

Don't feed your cat homemade food unless you have the time to properly create a balanced diet, as mentioned before they need specific nutrients, taurine is the most well known but there are a variety of others and homemade diets that are not balanced can cause serious, even fatal health problems. These problems can take months on a diet before they become evident and by that time it can be too late. Commercial foods are almost always cheaper, easier and a decent food will be balanced nutritionally.

cupid_s

I have recently made some cat food. I thought I'd save money on the tins by making wet food, and spend the money I save on a much better quality dry food that she'd eat for 2 out of three meals so she'd still be getting the correct nutrients.

I made her ones with turkey, mince, kidney, liver, tuna and salmon. They contained a bit of potatoes or rice and veg as well.

By the way my kitty will eat purina 1, perfect fit, james wellbeloved and go cat and that's more or less it so maybe try a few different ones. At the moment you can get free samples of james wellbeloved and purina 1 from their website.