Whiskers Cat Food

WibblyGirly

We have a cat who is approx 2 years old, male, neutered, (was a rescue cat) and at the moment he has Whiskers wet food and Go Cat biscuits. I wanr to try get him onto something a bit better for him, I did buy him a Lily's kitchen tin from Tesco and he wasn't too fussed about it.

Ideally I want him on a higher meat content food as I'm aware whiskers is like eating McDonalds everyday for him. Can anyone recommend a few brands to get him eating more meaty tins. Should I mix his Whiskers in with the meatier ones to start with then gradually use less Whiskers?

geminilady

Butchers is quite a high meat content and cheap but I am sure others will post with better brands

GwylimT

I was going to say butchers as well, the orange tins, try to avoid the fish. Our nearest pound stretcher also sells it in trays. My main advice is to get rid of the dry food immediately.

Other brands are
Natures menu
Applaws/encore pate
Hilife pouches
Purely from pets at home.

Things that need buying online
Smilla
Bozita tins
Grau
Animonda range
Granatapet
Feringua
Catz fine food
Macs
Ropocat

Raw foods
Natures menu
Nutriment
Natural instinct
West fife raw feeds


Now, whiskers isn't 4% meat, thats just the declared flavour, however whiskas an co isn't muscle meat etc, so while it does have a meat content of around 50% it is very low grade.

GwylimT

Yes I would gradually mix, it avoids upset tums. A lot of the brands I posted above come in 200-800g tins so they're very flexible depending on your cats appetite.

WibblyGirly

I'll have a look out for Butchers! I'll have search for those brands and hope he likes what I choose.
How come he shouldn't have the biscuits? He doesn't have unlimited access to them, once he's eaten them he has to wait until his next meal and while he would happily eat for England he doesn't actually beg for food (unless its chicken on our plates!).

Bobcrowther

There's no such thing as "whiskers" cat food (at least, not available to purchase in the UK).
You're either importing it or feeding the cat something else.

Mupette

can someone explain why cats shouldn't have dry food along with wet?

WibblyGirly

Bobcrowther, you just posted here to be pedantic about how I've spelt a brand of cat food?? I think everyone knows which brand I meant.

GwylimT

Dry food, for a start cats are designed to get their liquids from their food, so dehydration is common in cats that eat dry food, this can lead to kidney disease in the future. A cat drinking water is a dehydrated cat, cats don't normally drink water. If you look at the incidence of kidney disease, UTI and urine crystals in cats they are far more common in those eating dry, compared to those who only eat wet food. However neutered males in this group seem more vulnerable than neutered females as neutered males have the narrowesr urethra, so smaller crystals can cause a blockage, blockages are fatal without hasty medical care.

Most dry food is very poor nutritionally, have a look on tesco online etc and look at the ingredients of dry foods, then ask yourself, is this food suitable for a carnivore? As virtually all dry foods are carb heavy (bar thrive) cats are also more likely to suffer obesity. Cats on high carb diets are also more likely to suffer feline diabetes. Now, our cat is one of the unlucky ones, no dry food or carbs but a diabetes sufferer, would any of you like to be using a needle on a feisty cat twice a day at least?

Thirdly, no it doesn't clean their teeth, just like eating biscuits doesn't clean ours. Just like with us, decent dental care keeps teeth clean, although raw chicken wings help quite a bit with kitty teeth.

WibblyGirly

Ours doesn't drink out his bowl but I have caught him licking little puddles from the bathtub!

Thank you for the information about the dry food. Hopefully he'll be fine with just wet food with a higher meat content soon. He is a bit of a chubby cat!

ERICS_MUM

I think we deserve a photo of him !