Cat Food

[alexgirl73]

I have been reading a lot of posts lately about different types of cat food and have a few thoughts on this.

Is it better to pay a fortune for your cat food than to go for a 'cheaper' type. Is it really necessary to give them breed only types of food and considering that not too long ago there weren't any of these fancy foods around and cats got fed whatever was left from the table and a bit of fish if they were lucky, are we not creating a problem for ourselves by creating cats with sensitive tummies, unable to tolerate anything but extremely bland foods!

I have always fed my mogs on store own names without any problems, until I got Teddy, who happens to be a breed , hmmm! Have the breeders (apologies to any of you reading this), helped to create this state of affairs or is it media marketing by the manufacturers?

[Moli]

I feed what suits my cats, I buy Burgess supra cat biscuits for them, which is a cheaper brand, and they usually get own brand pouches from Asda or Morrisions....They are all thriving on it, all have lovely glossey coats too...

[Donna]

One of my cats would eat anything you give her so could give her the cheapest food around. The other, on the other hand, is a bit of a fusspot who refuses to eat certain foods, so I usually buy better quality brands so that I know she is eating.

[yola]

Alex - I had an instance during summer when one of my persians developed a massive furball blockage in his intestine. It nearly killed him. I was feeding furball formula anyway (Royal Canin), but have now starting mixing that with intense furball formula. OK, I have furballs to clear up most mornings but if it means my pet survives (and I don't have to spend £800 on vet fees), then it's a small price to pay. This is, I think a case where breed-specific food has worked.

Broadening it out a bit, there are clear cases where a specific breed does suffer from health problems - congenital or otherwise, and these foods help address these particular issues. Some might have weaker kidneys, others might be prone to over-sensitive skin.

I do think there is a place for these foods. I do feel, however that some of the generic brands are 'jumping on the bandwagon' to purely create market segmentation and increase their revenue.

[Booktigger]

i personally prefer to feed mine high quality foods now, as they are oldies, so it if helps them to live a bit longer, then it is worth it. It is worth remembering that while the 'premium' and breed foods haven't been around that long, the lifespan has increased since cats were fed table scraps - although that isn't purely down to food, it is also down to vet care, and more knowledge on owners part, it might play a part.

[Kim]

I prefer to feed high quality feed with less cereal and higher meat content. I think Burns, Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved, Nutro, Hi-life and natures menu are all very good.

[CathyW]

mine have go-cat for indoor cats, and pouches 3 times a day. and u can see by the pics mine are a good weight and got nice shiney coats, oh reg also likes vegietarian spag bol LOL

[alexgirl73]

I do think that in some cases (like yolas) that specialised foods have a part to play in the health care of cats, but my thinking was that it is the selective breeding of cats that have contributed to this problem in the first place. Cats are only being fed these expensive foods and it seems to me (and its only my personal opinion folks) that by the time you have got to the 3rd or 4th generation of kittens, their stomachs cant handle anything other than the blander foods.

This was just something I've been thinking on of late as sometimes I feel guilty for only giving my cats whiskas or asdas own brand, and that I'm a bad 'mum' because of it. I honestly don't know if feeding RC or JW etc would be any more beneficial to my cats than the cheaper brands.

[Emm]

I only ever buy brand named food - I have no idea why I can't even eat supermarket brands myself so I don't give it to my pets - like I said I have no idea why I'm like this :roll: :lol:

[Mags]

Cassie has Whiskas only, she just turns her nose up at everything else........she has bright eyes and a lovely shiny coat, so it must be doing her some good.....

[dinahsmum]

Cassie has Whiskas only, she just turns her nose up at everything else........she has bright eyes and a lovely shiny coat, so it must be doing her some good.....
Think that's the secret Mags - find something that suits you and the cat and there you are - no problems. Doesn't matter if it the dearest or the cheapest - it just needs to suit

[Moli]

Think that's the secret Mags - find something that suits you and the cat and there you are - no problems. Doesn't matter if it the dearest or the cheapest - it just needs to suitYou are right there DM, Took me trying all kinds of biscuits, till I found one that didn't give Oliver the runs, now they all eat the same one...;)

[teenytiny]

My mogs are fed wet and dried food. They eat more dried than wet though.

Wet food is Felix only, they wont eat anything other than that. It has to be in jelly too, no supermeat/gravy etc

Dried food is any of a number of brands. They wont eat shops own brands (ive tried them all) and they wont eat whiskers dried. It can be any of : James Wellbeloved, Hills, Go-Cat, Proplan, Purina One, or Highlife.

They wont even entertain the thought of Iams, Whiskers, and quite a few of the expensive ones!

The moral of my cats is the expensive foods are horrid, the cheap foods are not nice, they settle for the mid priced foods so thats fine by me. At the mo they are on Highlife dried as it is on special offer!

[yola]

Teenytiny . . . sounds like you have the perfect cats there :D

[alexgirl73]

I want teenytinys cats, lol!

[Elmo]

My kitten (Norwegian Forest) has Royal Canin Kitten and will go onto RC Maine Coon food when he hits a year old.

When we got him from the breeder, he was on 2 meals of wet food and ad lib biscuits, but the size he was when we got him, we think his bigger brothers pushed him out. We kept him on the wet food for about 2 weeks I think, but he had awful diarrheoa so he came off that sharpish.

He was very very ill as a week-2week old kitten so I dont know whether its that or the fact that he's been fed 'premium' biscuits since yay-high that he has fairly poor digestion.

He was on Iams, but the RC has improved his coat SO much. I work in a pet shop and was fairly unconvinced as to the benefits of the so-called 'premium' foods, until we changed him from Iams to RC - his coat is so smooth and glossy now :)

[andrew021]

Jet is the same, she will only eat Felix in jelly. She will also eat Felix As Good As It Looks but thats it.

I feed her Tesco's biscuits (chicken or tuna) and prawns as a treat.

I have tried her on other foods but she dosnt want to know. She will occasionaly eat Tesco's food in jelly also.

[smithdouglaswood]

Mine eat a mixture - Smokey only eats wet food and doesn't really mind what kind. Fluffy likes a mixture wet for breakfast and dried food snacks later in the day and especially at supper! And Tom the feral well he is a fuss pot and has now decided that he really only likes dried food and doesn't mind what brand as long as there is plenty!!

[alexgirl73]

Aren't cats funny creatures (we're probably to blame for pandering to them, lol). My Broxi has now gone off his wet food and only eats his whiskas dried. Cooper will eat whatever is available and as for Teddie? Well, obviously she is on hills i.d at the moment but will attack it like theres no tomorrow.

[Snoof]

I always end up with dried food out all the time, two pouches of wet food a day. The wet food is Whiskas - one in the morning, one in the evening. The dry food is, currently, Perfect Fit Active. Sashimi is perfectly happy with this, so I don't see the issue. Her coat is thick and lovely and lush, and she's a ping-pong ball of activity.

[Tanya]

Oli has Whiskas kitten pouches with jelly (upto 3 pouches a day, depending on how he feels) and dried kitten biscuits, as of yesterday! Since i got Oli i have tried him on a wide selction of kittens biscuits including Whiskas, Co-Cat, Iams and a Pets at Home own brand variety. He turns his nose up to every one! Well, that was until last night when i gave him some Royal Canin Kitten. He loves it!

He also has tuna or sardines atleast twice a week & a small bowl of Whiskas milk before bed every night.

He seems to be thriving on his diet, so if he is happy, then i am too! :)

[ATD]

uma and suki (my dog) both turn the noses up at the more expensive foods asda's own is what they get and love it
i think supermarket food in general (not just pet food) is better the the bigger names so if its good enough for me :D lol
ATD xxx