Kitty - change in diet = change in bowel habits?

takethatfan1978

Great news, sounds like he is doing really well on it he's a lovely boy

GwylimT

Biscuits wont clean his teeth, just like they don't clean ours. My main word of caution is thrive, the wet food claims to be complete but nutritionally it isn't so it shouldn't make up more than 20% of his diet, there are also far far better complete wet foods out there as well.

pinkteapot

GwylimT wrote: »

Biscuits wont clean his teeth, just like they don't clean ours. My main word of caution is thrive, the wet food claims to be complete but nutritionally it isn't so it shouldn't make up more than 20% of his diet, there are also far far better complete wet foods out there as well.

Why isn't it complete? This is what they say:

‘Complete’ is a phrase that guarantees our pet food has all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients required for a balanced diet, as per the European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) recommended guidelines. While most dry pet food is complete, the vast majority of wet foods are not, so will instead be labelled as ‘complementary’. All Thrive dry and wet foods are complete, so whether you feed them together or on their own, you can be sure that you are giving your pet a nutritionally balanced diet.

Which complete wet food would you recommend? He's doing well on a better grain-free food (I was worried the richness would bring back his previous tummy troubles) and happy to switch to a different one.

We want a complete food that's ready-to-eat (ie no making food ourselves) and comes in the smaller packaging - portion-sized pouches/tins as we can't be bothered storing half-opened tins.

I saw Lily's Kitchen as an alternative in Waitrose (available cheaper from Zooplus)...?

tesuhoha

pinkteapot wrote: »

Why isn't it complete? This is what they say:



Which complete wet food would you recommend? He's doing well on a better grain-free food (I was worried the richness would bring back his previous tummy troubles) and happy to switch to a different one.

We want a complete food that's ready-to-eat (ie no making food ourselves) and comes in the smaller packaging - portion-sized pouches/tins as we can't be bothered storing half-opened tins.

I saw Lily's Kitchen as an alternative in Waitrose (available cheaper from Zooplus)...?

I have been trying to give my cats the fish dinner Lily's Kitchen. I haven't tried the chicken but my tabby does not touch it and the bengal eats it very very reluctantly. I too am on the lookout for a high protein complete wet food that they actually like. Such fusspots they are. Incidentally, I have tried Thrive and they liked the chicken breast one but then I read somewhere it wasn't a complete food and it put me off. I also bought them some stuff from Tesco, can't remember the name, that was advertised as complete but when I got it it said on the packet that it was a supplementary food.

pinkteapot

I'm concerned about Thrive because they say clearly on their website and packaging that's complete. There's no small print to say "actually, it's supplementary" or anything. It is definitely marketed as being complete and therefore safe as a main diet.

Kitty likes the food so I'd rather keep him on it if it is complete. If it's not, how can they sell it as such?

I've googled and I can't find anything confirming that it's not complete. Someone was skeptical on the thread below, but someone else said the additives used cover the nutrition?

http://www.bengalcatforums.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15024

Anyone got sources for it not being complete?

GwylimT

Thrive doesn't contain enough taurine or fat for a cat.

There are loads of good wet foods
Hi life
Natures menu
Macs
Ropocat
Om nom nom
Animonda
Granatapet
Catz fine food
Grau
Smilla
Lilys is good, but very expensive for what it is

tesuhoha

GwylimT wrote: »

Thrive doesn't contain enough taurine or fat for a cat.

There are loads of good wet foods
Hi life
Natures menu
Macs
Ropocat
Om nom nom
Animonda
Granatapet
Catz fine food
Grau
Smilla
Lilys is good, but very expensive for what it is

Maybe I will work my way through that list and see if my fussy tabby will eat any of them. The bengal was brought up on Smilla kitten food until one day she refused to eat it any more. They have turned their little noses up at Granatapet.

Callie22

Thanks for the list GwylimT - I'm looking for a different wet food for my cat as she's slowly going off Thrive and she's so fussy. When we last took her to the vets they said that 'cats don't have tastes and preferences, they'll eat anything'. Obviously my cat was out the day they sent that memo round ...

I've tried her with Lily's but I think it's too rich for her as it made her vomit, and she's not fond of 'mushy' cat-food looking food - she did love the chicken Thrive but I think they've changed the recipe recently, as it doesn't smell nearly as nice and she's turning her nose up at it now. It's costing me a fortune to buy her different tins stuff that she doesn't like! I did get a sample of Millie's Lionheart dry food this week which she seemed to like, so I'll try her on that but I'm reluctant to feed dry food only, despite what the vet says (along with their sales pitch for IAMS and Royal Canin ...)

takethatfan1978

Callie22 wrote: »

Thanks for the list GwylimT - I'm looking for a different wet food for my cat as she's slowly going off Thrive and she's so fussy. When we last took her to the vets they said that 'cats don't have tastes and preferences, they'll eat anything'. Obviously my cat was out the day they sent that memo round ...

I've tried her with Lily's but I think it's too rich for her as it made her vomit, and she's not fond of 'mushy' cat-food looking food - she did love the chicken Thrive but I think they've changed the recipe recently, as it doesn't smell nearly as nice and she's turning her nose up at it now. It's costing me a fortune to buy her different tins stuff that she doesn't like! I did get a sample of Millie's Lionheart dry food this week which she seemed to like, so I'll try her on that but I'm reluctant to feed dry food only, despite what the vet says (along with their sales pitch for IAMS and Royal Canin ...)

My nearly 9 month old kitten has been on Millies Liknheart since she was 10 weeks old. She loves it and seems to be thriving. She also gets some chicken or fish regularly or occasionally a tin of Purely holistic food added in but the Lionheart is ample for her and good quality. Millies will be adding some wet food to their range though maybe not until next year.

We also use their dog food for our lab. very happy with both


I wouldn't take any advice from a vet about feeding, they wanted me to try Iams cat food when we got our kitten neutered and also encouraged Royal canin dog food, it's one of the worst out there!