Falady's debt diary, How moneysaving can 3 cats be??

falady

Hi all,

Well, I had my lightbulb moment a couple of days ago, and have been formulating a (cunning) plan......

I'm not sure how I can moneysave feeding 3 cats (one of which is very greedy!) as they won't eat anything except whiskas or felix or leftover fish and chicken. Any ideas welcome!

My current situation is explained on my other thread ('new to the board') and a bit in my signature below.

I'm hoping for a DFD of 10/10/10. Wish me luck!

Will post details of my personal spending budget and how I get on later today....

Spend so far today £1.30 on toiletries (would previously have spent £4 on the same product), so quite pleased with myself. Well within the £5 toiletries budget for the month too. The only other thing I might need is disposable razors.....

I'm not planning on spending anything else today, so pretty good really.


Ali x

GirlieSurfer

Dont do disposable razors!!!!! That is one thing I still pay full wack for as my poor poor skin gets well and truly mangled if I use cheapo's!! A good razor is well worth the investment as decent blades last much longer than disposables. Anyho, re the cat. I have a cat that has suddenly developed a fussy appetite. I put down a bowl of wet food (whatever I can afford that isnt a detriment to his health!), a bowl of dry food and a bowl of water. He refuses it for a few hours but eventually he will eat one or the other. My theory is that they have 3 choices - eat, starve or catch mice - and trust me, a cat will NEVER starve itself and very rarely will my cat get off its lardy @rse to catch mice!!!!!

:rotfl:

In_Search_Of_Me

Tricky one the old cat food. I have 3 fussy madams who have a distinct preference for Iams! So far manage to fool them by mixing gocat and Iams in equl measure so cuts down a bit! Wet food is a real treat for them and I found it easier to keep them trim with dried - they also seem to find wet fod a bit rich now & are often sick when they have it - not the treat it used to be! Would be interested to know of peoples finds with fussy cats food as it is one area I want to cut down on cos Iams is more expensive than the food I eat!!
Just a word of caution with cats not eating...Macey cat stopped eating & I didnt think anything of it initially but it turned out that her liver stopped working (because she was literally starving) ad after a week of trauma (see diary!) I had to have her put down so sadly girlie I cant agree with the comment that a cat will never starve itself - if it has fatty liver it will...the treatment can take months to work and after a week of trauma, treatment, hospital stay and a £600 vet bill Macey had to be put down...not trying to make you feel bad but just pointing out that it's not god for them to starve!

lunar

congratulations on your LBM, if you are using this as your diary then pop your soa on it. i find it handy to have everything in one place. I love my diary, its been so helpful in keeping me motivated.

your date for beeing debt free is similar to mine, though i have loads of work to do to get it down to that.

good luck on your debt free journy!

danwms

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

Tricky one the old cat food. I have 3 fussy madams who have a distinct preference for Iams! So far manage to fool them by mixing gocat and Iams in equl measure so cuts down a bit! Wet food is a real treat for them and I found it easier to keep them trim with dried - they also seem to find wet fod a bit rich now & are often sick when they have it - not the treat it used to be! Would be interested to know of peoples finds with fussy cats food as it is one area I want to cut down on cos Iams is more expensive than the food I eat!!
Just a word of caution with cats not eating...Macey cat stopped eating & I didnt think anything of it initially but it turned out that her liver stopped working (because she was literally starving) ad after a week of trauma (see diary!) I had to have her put down so sadly girlie I cant agree with the comment that a cat will never starve itself - if it has fatty liver it will...the treatment can take months to work and after a week of trauma, treatment, hospital stay and a £600 vet bill Macey had to be put down...not trying to make you feel bad but just pointing out that it's not god for them to starve!

I used to give my cat tescos own cat food and it was fine. Whiskers was on offer one day so i got some and it refused to eat the tesco stuff ever since.

Sadly he got run over last weekend but i am going to get a new kitten after xmas and am not going to make the same mistake again.

GirlieSurfer

Obviously I meant a healthy cat will never starve itself! If a cat does starve itself then there is more wrong with it than being a fussy eater!

(Land_of)_Maz

danwms wrote: »

I used to give my cat tescos own cat food and it was fine. Whiskers was on offer one day so i got some and it refused to eat the tesco stuff ever since.

Sadly he got run over last weekend but i am going to get a new kitten after xmas and am not going to make the same mistake again.

Oh Dawn, sorry to hear about your cat. That must've been horrible!

Falady - I have 1 cat but feed 2, i know whole other issue! (cat from 2 doors away and it never goes home now, it's in ours or outside.... i would hate it if that happenned to me!)

My cats like anything in jelly, which usually means it's half decent quality.

I agree that you should give them what you can afford and they will get used to whatever in the long run. I think some really cheap cat foods look like they are the pits but i use asda/somerfield/whatever pouches for mine and they seem good quality, 5 for a £1 most, if not all of the time. Which i make them last 5 days supplemented by biscuits....

Re the poster who said they mix Iams with Go cat (in search of me?) go even more MSE by mixing IAMS with own brand, would they notice now?

Having said that my cat, Jenson, eats all the cat biscuits and leaves a little pile of the milky white ones by the side of the plate! So maybe that wouldn't work! lol! Funny she doesn't like milk or milk biscuits but will eat cheese? Wierd!

anniestar

Hi and welcome. We have 7 cats(I know I know!!) one of whom is on a perscription diet, and the other 6 are on James Wellbeloved(originaly suggested by vet as we have a cat with serious digestive problems-the rather handsome boy cat avatar) It was the best thing we ever did Livingstons condition improved within two weeks and all the rest have benifitted by being on it. We get our pet food delivered (free)and pay £54 for 20 kilos.(used to pay £19.99 for 5 kilos so very happy) I know that for a three cat household 20k is far too much re storage etc as it lasts us for 7 1/2 weeks it would probably last you forever!!!!! Another good dry food is Pets at home own brand(good in emergencies when I get the order dates out of sinc!) Wellbeloved IS pricy but no waste and no flies. Good luck and again welcome.
EDIT: By the way I would NEVER EVER EVER touch iams with a barge pole for A LOT of reasons.

In_Search_Of_Me

annie would be interested to know where you get your cat food from could you pm me?
sorry to hear about your cat dan...hugs for you!

In_Search_Of_Me

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=262477
Just found this - lots of useful info for us pet lovers! The lea & worm treatment seem cheaper than at the vets and some of them you can get via high street web I think but will need to investigate!

falady

Hi everyone - there's some great tips with the cat food there, thank you!

I have been looking to see where the usual stuff is on offer and giving them less wet food and more dry, as dry is cheaper.

Dawn, and insearchofme, I'm really sorry to hear about your cats - it must be awful for you. I know that mine are a bit like my babies (having never had children i can't really compare, but it feels like it might be something like that). Can't imgine what it would be like without them.

OH is away working in Sydney til feb 08, so they are great company when i'm home by myself.

Anniestar, Livingston looks beautiful in the photo! My cats are Charlie ( 2 years old, small, skinny, cute, purrs like and engine and very friendly, runs round like a mad thing), Tinker (5 years old, beautiful, soft and fluffy, bit of a nervous lady, definitely the boss, not afraid to swipe!), and Dec (2 years old, most recent addition, very greedy, bit nervous, cute rolly ball of ginger fur). I'll try to put some photos up.....


I've trying to do some food planning and have come up with some MS meals which are reasonably cheap, reasonably healthy, tasty and can be made in advance and frozen. This is my list so far....

1) Shepherds pie made with beef or lamb mince, veggies, gravy and mashed potato. Served with (frozen) veg.

2) lasagne made with beef or pork mince and veggies in the sauce, pasta sheets, white sauce and cheese. Served with salad and garlic bread.

3) spaghetti bolognese made with beef or pork mince and veggies in the sauce, served with spaghetti and salad.

4) mince or stew and dumplings, made with mince or cubes of beef or lamb, vegetables and gravy, served with frozen veg

5) potato, bacon and onion hotpot (self explanatory ingredients!) served with vegetables

6) Creamy chicken curry made with chicken / turkey breast / thigh, aubergine, mushrooms , milk and sauce sachet. Served with boiled rice.

7) Chicken supreme made with chicken / turkey breast / thigh, onion and mushrooms, milk and sauce sachet. Served with boiled rice and carrots.

8) sausage hotpot made with sausages, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and herbs, served with mashed potatoes

9) homemade soup, eg roasted pepper and sweet potato, leek and potato, tomato and pepper etc. serviced with bread / toast

I reckon most of the above are about £1 for mince based recipes to £2.00 a portion for chicken based recipes.

10) lamb shanks baked with potatoes, carrots and celery, lemon, herbs and garlic. (A bit more expensive this one (£3.50 per portion?), but we might be able to find the shanks cheaper at the butcher)

11) oven baked fish and chips with mushy peas / salad (buy fish whilst on offer)

12) Steak and baked potato with salad and homemade coleslaw.

13) Sausage and mash served with vegetables (and gravy for wierdos, ketchup for normal people!).

14) Chicken and vegetable stirfry, made with a sachet of stirfry sauce. Served with noodles mixed in, or boiled rice / egg fried rice on the side.

Just a start. I sent this list to OH - he is a big meat eater, so i'm trying to encourage him y making him see that we can still have the meals he enjoys, its just about plannng better and not wasting food.

i'm quite happy eating more veggie food and pasta and stuff which will be cheaper. Any other ideas welcome (I've also been looking on old style board).

|Ali xx

pS Have just checked my overdraft and it is -£1572.18. Will update my signature.