cat food help, so confused !

MakeAChange_2

Wow I did not realise I had so many replies, still getting used to the site lol !

I have a lot to go through

shall post some replies later, thanks guys you are all so welcoming i must say

Rachelishere

I'm also feeding my cats the raw food diet - though mine are 60% muscle (including heart), 30% bone (mostly chicken wings or rabbit) and 10% organs (kidney and liver mostly but occasional sweetbreads thrown in as a treat).

It took time and perseverance with the older one (a gradual shift from dry to wet and wet to raw (mixing in with his wet for a while) but the kitten took to it no problem!

Raw meats not for the disorganised! I give my cats chunks between 1cm and 1 inch large mostly (except for the bone) and I cut up and put in plastic little tubs a month or so of each meat - but they are incredibly healthy generally and their teeth are sparkling (which is why I moved them to the raw diet as one was getting gingevitus).

Doesn't cost much - probably averages about 50p each per day but it is a time commitment cutting up the meat. You can buy it ground but again I was buying it to clean their teeth which requires them to gnaw the meat and crunch up the bones.

If your going the commercial (and much easier!) route - I'd highly recommend something like applaws which is 80-90% meat - mine get it as an occasional treat and love it!

Haffiana

Amazing that a vet who spends their life healing sick animals will sell/recommend that rubbish that is Science Plan & Royal Canin. Why don't you ask the vat why they recommend ANY dry food when all the research shows that it is implicated in kidney problems in cats? I asked my vet and she immediately admitted it was not good at all but that the manufacturers give the practice serious rewards for displaying and selling it. She actually gave me the details of a raw supplier - that is what she fed her own cats.

Kim_kim

GwylimT wrote: »

Science plan is poor quality as is royal canin, another one vets push.

All of the wet food on the happykittycompany is good quality, on zooplus the best are bozita tinned, animonda carny, feringa, grau, catz finefood, granatapet and lilys kitchen.

But the best diet is a raw diet, you can buy ready made but it is always too high in bone. It is very easy and very cheap to make your own home made raw.

Haffiana wrote: »

Amazing that a vet who spends their life healing sick animals will sell/recommend that rubbish that is Science Plan & Royal Canin. Why don't you ask the vat why they recommend ANY dry food when all the research shows that it is implicated in kidney problems in cats? I asked my vet and she immediately admitted it was not good at all but that the manufacturers give the practice serious rewards for displaying and selling it. She actually gave me the details of a raw supplier - that is what she fed her own cats.

That is you opinion about royal canine, mine differs.
I however choose to inform about the what I feed without casting judgement on others choices.

MakeAChange_2

Thank you sooo much for all your replies, I am now having a good look around, I was under the impression that dry was better than wet, although iv have given them a bit of wet science plan in the mornings then dry later on, i dont think switching them will be too much of a problem because they dont seem to be too fussy, i shall soon find out lol.
when i had dogs over the years iv always fed them dry and them sometimes wet, but one of my dogs was very hyper active and i realised it was the food, one of the rescue dogs had a lot of health problems that was also affected by the food so its important to me that i get this right. At the moment they are house cats and this is a bit of a stuggle too because i find they seem bored so i am forever finding new inventions to keep them occupied or buying new toys. I do want to let them out but i cant at the moment as where we live is right next to the motorway and i also have some horrible neighbours who's dogs huge run wild outside, literally out the front of my house they just roam freely, so i am worried about that too. but we plan to move house in the next 6 months and then i will let them out

I had never even heard of zooplus but im on there now lol

no1catman

Back in the 60s & 70s my first cat (arrived at 6 weeks old), had a saucer of Kit-e-kat, then later quarter of shin, or liver, and some dried food, a great tabby - had a stroke at 14.


My last cat, (again from a kitten) mainly dried Go-Cat, did go through a phase of being addicted to Tuna flakes, and also loved liver - sadly PTS at twenty-and-a-half - CRF.


My current cat, (this time a eight year old rescue), has standard supermarket pouches, prefers Morrisons, and Sainsburys, as well as Go-Cat. She did go on hunger strike for awhile - stressed out an encounter with a couple of Toms, so helped her recovery with liver, and fish; still on the fish - a pound pack costs about £1.70 from the above with six to seven pieces. She has put back quite a lot of weight.


It's your cat, as long as its fit and healthy that's the main thing, IMHO there's no did to go with a Vet diet, unless it's part of a 'treatment'.


Good luck.

pinkteapot

MakeAChange wrote: »

At the moment they are house cats and this is a bit of a stuggle too because i find they seem bored so i am forever finding new inventions to keep them occupied or buying new toys.

Flying Frenzy. 2-3 times a day for 15 minutes.

Toy and refills available on Amazon or direct:
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/search&keyword=frenzy&category_id=0

Our indoor kitty hasn't got bored of it and we're a year in. Do spend a fortune on refills though. :rotfl:

Rachelishere

Don't worry too much about entertaining the kittens - you bought two so the good news is that they will entertain each other if they are bored.

I found the best toy was a large cardboard box which I taped shut, cut a large cat sized hole in one side, a cat sized flap in the front and on top and several smaller holes - my kitten and cat spent hours playing peekaboo with this box (and its successors!), darting in and out. I also found my one loved to pop out of the top to grab a toy you were dragging next to the top flap - like a jack in the box - very very funny!

It doesn't have to be expensive for the cats to have lots of fun!

MakeAChange_2

My two have this crazy habit at about 1am every night they go nutty and start playing hide and seek. They hide in the bath then when you go to the bathroom half asleep one will pop its head up and frighten the life out of you lol

I feel very guilty keeping them in but that is why i got two because we both work and i didnt want one to be lonely during the day.

Rachelishere

And thats the downside of getting two - they feed off each others energy.

I recommend the following to reduce night antics - play with them for about 15/20 minutes about 30 mins before bedtime, then give them their dinner. Cats are hardwired to hunt, catch, eat and then sleep - if they've burned off some energy and then eaten they should settle down to sleep. They will settle down more as they get older and you'll probably be able to reduce/stop the playtime.

I've a excitable Ocicat (linked to siamese and abysinians which are highly energetic) - as a kitten this did help her settle quickly at bedtime, even now two years on shes always excited about pre-bed games although she does lose interest now after about 5 minutes. Its the routine she loves.

And don't worry about keeping them in, you couldn't let them out before they were neutered anyway so don't feel guilty on that score - and as you said you bought 2 of them to keep them entertained and its safer for them not to go out at the moment. If you really want to you could take them out in your garden on a lead to get them used to the big world outside before you move, they will be very dramatic and fall all over the place pretending they can't walk (highly entertaining) but they adapt quickly if they like whats on offer out there.

You can also consider once you've moved getting a timed catflap. Mine got run over (happily survived) but to minimise her chance of getting hit again whilst also making her very happy (as shes used to the freedom) I bought a timed catflap which lets her out between 9pm and 6am. It lets them in later just doesn't let them out. I find that she tends to go out after bed playtime but when I wake in the morning she's cuddled up next to me. She then doesn't demand to go out in the day (although I do let her out at the weekend if I'm home again at low traffic times! Of course the roads aren't that busy around my way which helps considerably.