Cat Food Questions

suki1964

Personally if i were to recomend a dry food for cat Id say Burns http://www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/cat_food.htm

Maybe a tad dearer then others but the small amounts fed balance the cost out

Spudnik_2

For a cat, I'd recommend a wet food over dry - which, contrary to popular belief, doesn't clean teeth - it's simply that lower quality wet foods such as those sold in supermarkets tend to contain excessive amounts of sugar. Most animals, if fed on commercial foods, will require appropriate dental care regardless of whether they eat wet or dry.

I am concerned, although not surprised, that your vet has recommended Purina. I'm assuming he recommended Purina One, as Purina make most of the foods sold in the supermarket. Indeed, it is at the higher end of the foods sold in most supermarkets, but I still wouldn't recommend it. I decided to take a look at the ingredients of Purina One Adult Chicken and Rice:

Chicken (min 16%), rice (14%), dehydrated poultry proteins, maize gluten meal, maize, wheat, animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), wheat gluten meal, liver digest, yeasts, fish oil, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, minerals, DL-methionine, L-lysine

At first glance, these don't look too bad. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, and chicken comes first. This, however, is deceiving. As the list states 'chicken' and not 'chicken meal', the 16% represents the proportion of chicken present when it was fresh. Now, consider that fresh meat is around 75% water, and that the ingredients would be dried before turned into kibble. Had they stated the real amount of dried chicken in the food, you would see that it would come much further down the list - about 4% of the food is chicken meat.

I worry about dehydrated poultry proteins because it does not specify the type of poultry. Always look for a specific ingredient - avoid 'meat meal', but look for 'lamb meal', for example. Similarly, you don't want poultry. You want chicken, turkey, or duck. Not specifying allows them to put whatever they find cheapest into the product. Similarly, it only states 'proteins', with no mention of the type of proteins. Whilst there is some legislation on what can and cannot be used in pet foods, there are plenty of loopholes and certainly I would not be comfortable with many of the ingredients in modern commercial pet foods. The minimum amount of meat that may be in a pet food is 4%, and by reading the back of many commercial pet food labels, particularly those found in supermarkets, you will realise that many brands will stick to the minimum as closely as possible.

So, when we realise how little real meat there actually is in the food, you can see that it largely consists of grains. Given that cats are carnivores, and that they have only limited capabilities in digesting grains, I wouldn't consider Purina One to be a well-balanced food for your pet. At the same time, I certainly wouldn't attempt to condemn your vet. Vets will spend 6 years studying veterinary medicine, and yet for most they will receive only 4 hours of nutrition tutoring (unless they choose to do an extra course in it) - all being taught by Hills. This tends to be why so many vets will recommend Hills Science Plan. The courses taught by Hills are certainly well respected, and as such vets trust the brand. Many will say that vets only recommend it because they receive 'kick-backs', but I feel that they simply believe that, as they possess such extensive knowledge of pet nutrition, Hills will produce the superior foods. Simply remember that Hills is a business, and sometimes sacrifices are made in order to retain profits - in this case, the quality of ingredients.

Similarly, pet food giant Purina is owned by [SIZE=-1]Nestlé. So many people trust their products because they see the huge advertising campaigns and assume that they must be a reputable pet food brand. The reason that they can afford such campaigns, however, is because they own half of the brands sold in the supermarket!

I disagree that, if well planned, raw meat cannot give domestic cats and dogs sufficient nutrients, but that debate is perhaps for another day

If you do wish to feed dry, I would also recommend Burns. For a wet food, take a look at Natures Menu, as recommended by another poster. It IS more expensive, but I feel that a good quality food is a worthwhile investment in your pet.
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Gytha_Ogg

I'm of the mixed food camp - my cat has dry biscuits out all the time for munching on, then up to 2 pouches a day (Felix). He also has a couple of dentabits for his teeth.

The pouches are quite pricey, but I agree with those who have said tins are a false economy as most cats won't eat food that's been opened and dried out.

boo81 wrote:

pouches seem to create a lot of waste from 7 meals which cant be recycled.

Ours had the same problem with a full pack, he left half of it which went dry so then had to go into the bin. What I usually do is feed ours half a pack at once - then wrap the pouch in a food bad/cling film until the next meal. Keeps it fresh and minimises waste.

Can't comment on the veterinary stuff really but ours hasnt had a problem yet with any of the things mentioned here, like cystitis.

corsagirl_2

Mine had a predominately dry diet, Iams or Purina, with one sachet a day as they wouldn't eat anymore.

Then my boy got cystitis, bless him - cause dry food. We started cooking fish for them each day (currently Sainsburys basic frozen White Fillets £1.12 per bag, lasts almost a week) to make sure had moisture and persisted with sachets. Now only have a small handfull of biscuits at night for their teeth. Would never suggest to anyone an all dry diet.

They currently prefer Aldi's box of 12 sachets - they do 4 different mixed boxes so plenty of variety, every now and then they have Tesco just in case they change their minds again, they don't like Asda and are definitly the cats that don't prefer Whiskas, won't touch!

Gytha_Ogg

lol, ours can't stand Whiskas either - they're funny little creatures, aren't they.

lindens

Our 2 cats are fed on complete biscuits with a treat of tuna daily. The older cat has always been "a big boy" and leeerves his tuna, the younger one is addicted to her biscuits (so much so she will break into the bag if it is left at cat height!!) but has to be in the mood for tuna. As a result she has gone from a half starved stray to a "well rounded" happy cat.
The vets said whilst they are not fat they could do with trimming down and suggested changing their biscuits to low calorie ones.
Im having trouble tracking them down, in the supermarket ( as they eat Morrisons own make at the mo)they sometimes have the teeny packets of low cal biscuits which are very poor value for money. Does anyone else use low cal ones and where do they get them from. Is Pets At home any good? I assumed they would be expensive. Homebase also do them but seem expensive ie £25:eek: :eek:
Hope someone can help:j

BizzyBek

If you are using tuna in brine I would try and limit it to a weekly treat because it is very salty and the older the cat gets the more susceptible they are to kidney/urinary complaints etc.

Pets at home do a wide range of biscuits, including their own label - if you pop in they often have sample packets, ask at the desk. Also ask to join their free newsletter magazine - when it gets sent out it includes money off coupons.

To be honest (shh don't tell my vet) I don't over worry if they carry a bit of extra weight - especially as they are getting older. My vet says not to worry unless they can't pass the bottom test - as long as they can clean their own bum its not too much to worry about hehe!

cat_saving_expert

Hi, we had a similar problem with one of our 5 cats, she just loved to eat dry biscuits and while the other 4 stayed nice and trim (they preferred wet food) she actually got quite overweight, she would also break into the biscuits like your cat!

We tried some of the low cal foods from supermarkets but she just ate twice as much food or didn't eat them at all, then one of our other cats developed a tricky stomach condition that means he struggles to digest his food and needs good quality sensitive stomach biscuits.

So now we buy from pets at home, either 'James wellbeloved, Royal Canin or Hills science diet complete dry food (for sensitive stomachs because of our cats needs but I'm sure each of these brands do a 'light' food too) it is quite expensive but our cats eat less of it than the supermarket brands making it cost effective and if you look at the ingredients the quality is so much better, and our overweight cat lost her excess weight within 6 months.

I guess its because there are less 'bulking' ingredients in these more expensive biscuits making it healthier for the cat and filling them up quicker.... You can get a free sample of James wellbeloved from there website here http://www.wellbeloved.co.uk/

I would recommend trying one or more of these foods (our local pets at home gives samples of royal canin away for free too), see if its cost effective for your cats and it could solve the weight issue too.

pollyanna24

I know Iams do "light" biscuits which I assume are diet biscuits. I know they are not the cheapest of biscuits for cats, but I always buy them when they are half price and just stock up loads at a time.

I should be giving my cat these, as her belly swings when she walks , but I'm not sure if she would like them. Plus I still have 4 big bags of Iams in the cupboard. I'm not quite sure what to do really. I feed her whenever her bowl is empty and she asks for food. I know, I know, probably not what you're supposed to do. But I thought cats just ate when they're hungry and it was dogs that just ate and ate. Having said that, the cat has her head in the dog's bowl before the poor dog these days. May I should put her on a strict diet, but the annoying thing with cats is that they will howl if they are not happy bout something.

Sorry, I haven't helped much, have I?

lindens

Thanks for replies so far.

I forgot to add, the older one is male (8) the younger female (1??)and both neutered.
And to complicate matters the male is long haired and gets fur balls. So i never know which biscuits to buy - which is more important - older male, younger female, hairball or slightly podgey!!!!:rolleyes:
He is very lazy and doesnt move much except to go out and sunbathe, whereas she being a tortie is more active and manic:rotfl:
I am yet to find a bisuit they didnt like so i dont think thats going to be a problem. I try and buy tuna in spring water if i can.
BTW the vet didnt mention his weight until i brought it up when he struggled to lift him onto his counter.:o

Might call into petsathome as its on the way home.