New cats, advice on cat litter and quality food please

MadDogWoman_2

I started the process of changing the diet of my 3 yesterday.


The 2 adults are being moved to Arden Grange weight management from GoCat, both are overweight.


The kitten is being moved from Whiskas wet & dry to James Well Beloved, both wet & dry. She was weaned onto Whiskas, I wanted to get her settled in and Christmas over before changing.


I have 2 litter trays, 1 up and 1 down, I use a clumping one, the kitten is the only one using them, as the adults go outside.

GwylimT

I don't want to sound negative maddogwoman but the Arden grange is 26% potato, for weight management they need as low carbohydrate content as possible. Hope your kittens change goes well, it isn't pleasant when a small change causes a runny bum!

CP26

Cat food is a minefield and I've driven myself crazy looking at all the different options.

In the end I decided I wanted a complete food and a reasonable quality meat content. I also wanted a brand that I could pick up in a supermarket rather than having to order online all the time so there'd be no risk of running out.

My cat is now on Hi Life Tempt Me (£4 for 8 pouches) and Thrive tins. The Thrive is expensive (seen it go for £1 a tin!) but it can be bought in supermarkets, or I can order it from Zooplus for a good price. He loves both of these. He also gets Applaws dry but he's more of a wet food fan anyway.

I still keep a bit of Whiskas around as a back up, although he's not been that keen now he's getting the other stuff.

As for litter I use Snowflake wood pellets from Home Bargains. It's dirt cheap and it smells alright even when it's been used.

I use a hooded tray but we don't have a door on it so I don't think filters would make any difference.

CP26

P.s I emailed Thrive as in their FAQs they offer the opportunity to get a free sample. They sent me 4 tins which I thought was very generous of them particularly as the postage was then a couple of pounds on top.

barefootmama

GwylimT wrote: »

When you change their diet just do it very slowly to avoid a runny bum, it really isn't pleasant having to cut off poo covered fur from a very fiesty ragdolls bum and tail.

In advance of bringing the cats home i bought some Whiskas (excited child wanted to choose something) and i didn't know it was poor quality at that point. Both cats wolf it down and really love it but it does make wetter poos and that was just a quarter of a pouch each. Maybe i need to start the better food with just a tablespoon a day and build it up, particularly with the kittten who got poo everywhere.

The ragdoll kitten often gets pooey fur and then sits on multiple surfaces before finally cleaning herself Is wet tissue the best thing to try and wipe it off with? i've seen pet wipes but didn't know if it was a waste of money and also if the scents and chemicals might not be so great anyway.

GwylimT

CP26 wrote: »

Cat food is a minefield and I've driven myself crazy looking at all the different options.

In the end I decided I wanted a complete food and a reasonable quality meat content. I also wanted a brand that I could pick up in a supermarket rather than having to order online all the time so there'd be no risk of running out.

My cat is now on Hi Life Tempt Me (£4 for 8 pouches) and Thrive tins. The Thrive is expensive (seen it go for £1 a tin!) but it can be bought in supermarkets, or I can order it from Zooplus for a good price. He loves both of these. He also gets Applaws dry but he's more of a wet food fan anyway.

I still keep a bit of Whiskas around as a back up, although he's not been that keen now he's getting the other stuff.

As for litter I use Snowflake wood pellets from Home Bargains. It's dirt cheap and it smells alright even when it's been used.

I use a hooded tray but we don't have a door on it so I don't think filters would make any difference.

Do you have a home bargains? Ours sell hilife pouches individually for 29p, we tried it for our cat but the tapioca caused her problems, she loved it though.

GwylimT

barefootmama wrote: »

In advance of bringing the cats home i bought some Whiskas (excited child wanted to choose something) and i didn't know it was poor quality at that point. Both cats wolf it down and really love it but it does make wetter poos and that was just a quarter of a pouch each. Maybe i need to start the better food with just a tablespoon a day and build it up, particularly with the kittten who got poo everywhere.

The ragdoll kitten often gets pooey fur and then sits on multiple surfaces before finally cleaning herself Is wet tissue the best thing to try and wipe it off with? i've seen pet wipes but didn't know if it was a waste of money and also if the scents and chemicals might not be so great anyway.

I find it easier to trim her bum and tail area on a regular basis, she has firm poo but it does occasionally get stuck. Pet wipes should be lick safe.

CP26

GwylimT - no Home Bargains near me. There's one near my parents so I've stocked up on the cat litter when I visited at Christmas but they didn't have any Hi Life in stock at that point. I think they do online orders no though so I'll check.

Pets at Home have been doing a 3 for 2 offer on the Hi Life so my cupboard is well stocked for a good month or so now.

gettingready

watch out now as cats tend to go off their fav food as soon as their human slave thinks "aw, they love it so let me stock up" LOL

Richtea78

I adopted a British Shorthair in April and he eats Applaws wet and dry. Mainly I give him wet but sometimes put some dry in a ball for him during the day.

He's a bit chubby about 7 kgs so I have to be careful what he eats

When I fed him whiskers all his fur went funny, it became greasy and matted, on natural food it's much better. I also give him a raw bone once or twice a week

I get all mine from Zooplus as its so cheap and very convenient. You can pay a one off fee to get. 5% saving over a year.