Best kitten food?

[cyberface]

itsnotarace said:

Tried our two on loads of different ones (Hills, Burns, Royal Canin, James Wellbeloved etc) but they really love this Purr-Nickety one from Barking Heads

http://www.barkingheads.co.uk/for-cats/

That looks good. Wonder whether it's OK for kittens or better for adult cats?

That's mail order only too by the looks of it, but looks pretty good.

So far there's Applaws and Barking Heads - looking like proper, quality food

The problem with just feeding them chicken or other 'human' meats is that we don't eat bones, we just eat the nice lean meat bits. Cats eat the whole thing and that's how they get calcium (from their prey's bones) and a bunch of other minerals too. Since creating a proper full-spectrum cat food from human meat involves either mincing entire animals up or mixing some mineral supplements into cooked / raw meat (neither of which I have time to do for *me* let alone the cats), I'm really looking for some ready-made meals that *aren't* full of rubbish.

Looking at the ingredients on the cheaper / mass-market cat foods, there's not a lot of real meat in there so I'm sure I can do better. Also, it makes sense that the higher concentration of real meat / protein in the food, the less the cat needs - things like Whiskas which are 4% meat and the rest god-knows-what are presumably mostly excreted by the cat. I.e. more poo, less nutrition - a more 'pure' food should produce less waste. Of course this has to be balanced against a kitten's sensitive stomach - something too rich may give them a stomach upset.

I'm going to pick up some Applaws pouches / tins at the weekend and see whether they'll eat it. I gave them some Hill's (a freebie from the vet...) and they really weren't impressed... mixed it in with the Felix plaice stuff they usually love, and they left it!!! Thumbs down for Hill's then

[itsnotarace]

Hmmm might be over 12 months for the Meowing Heads

http://www.jollyes.co.uk/products_cat.htm - these people are stockists and have a few stores littered about the country, we order ours online in bulk so it's free delivery and a bit cheaper.

[The Excession]

cyberface....

It's a fking cat... like a small child, it eats whatever the fk you give it otherwise it's welcome to just go hungry.

Then they cry a bit and finaly eat what you presented in the first place....

I really don't see the problem here.....

[fivesixseven8]

missdiane said:

We have a Maine coon too, great cats

The breeder put her on Royal canin Kitten, we duly followed, but had another think when we read the ingredients!
She is now on Applaws dry and mixture of applaws cans twice a week and tuna twice a week (in spring water)
She seems to be doing fine, apart from unrelated health stuff, she is 11lb at 9 months, so on target with weight
Got any pics?

What's the issue with the Royal Canin? We feed ours this along with felix wet food and they've always been ok. Curious to know if we need to rethink.

[parakitaMol.]

Tuna in cans has too much salt for regular use. Avoid!

Also I would agree with your aversion to soley dry diet. I feed mine a mix as the right kind of dry kibbles do certainly help with preventing tartar.

Regardless of the claims made on pack (I am not a vet or animal nutritionalist expert but I have worked in the pet food industry for several years). Some of the high protien (low volume) foods have been linked with urinary tract problems.

But really, you do not need to go down the expensive science diet route it does not make much difference - the thing I would be most mindful of (as in human food labelling) is to look for clues in the names of ingredients and understand what it means... The minimum meat content is important - understand the difference between with real beef, beef flavour and meat/animal by products.

http://www.pet-food-choice.co.uk/pet_food_labels.h...

Also - you will find that many of the own brands are made by the 2 or 3 larger manufacturers with only a marginally adapted recipie. Perfectly adequate if you are happy with the ingredients.

[cyberface]

The Excession said:

cyberface....

It's a fking cat... like a small child, it eats whatever the fk you give it otherwise it's welcome to just go hungry.

Then they cry a bit and finaly eat what you presented in the first place....

I really don't see the problem here.....

Vets fees are expensive if you feed your cat crap and it gets ill. Anyway, I eat the best stuff I can easily buy, why not my cats? It's not as if we're talking the difference between driving a 20yr old Fiesta or a new Aston Martin - it's only a little bit more expensive for the better food, so why give crap to my cats?

Hell, I'm the bd that's responsible for them being brought into this world to be stuck in my house rather than living a free life (and probably a much harder, more unpleasant life), so it's my duty to care for them.

So yeah, they'll end up being spoilt to buggery, but I guess a spoilt cat is a damn sight less destructive / expensive / hassle than a spoilt child...

(do you feed your kids Whiskas or Hill's Science Plan then? )

[parakitaMol.]

cyberface said:

The Excession said:

cyberface....

It's a fking cat... like a small child, it eats whatever the fk you give it otherwise it's welcome to just go hungry.

Then they cry a bit and finaly eat what you presented in the first place....

I really don't see the problem here.....

Vets fees are expensive if you feed your cat crap and it gets ill. Anyway, I eat the best stuff I can easily buy, why not my cats? It's not as if we're talking the difference between driving a 20yr old Fiesta or a new Aston Martin - it's only a little bit more expensive for the better food, so why give crap to my cats?

Hell, I'm the bd that's responsible for them being brought into this world to be stuck in my house rather than living a free life (and probably a much harder, more unpleasant life), so it's my duty to care for them.

So yeah, they'll end up being spoilt to buggery, but I guess a spoilt cat is a damn sight less destructive / expensive / hassle than a spoilt child...

(do you feed your kids Whiskas or Hill's Science Plan then? )

It's unlikely you'll find a UK product that will actually make your cat ill - regardless of how cheap it is.

It will simply have a greater cereal and lesser protien content.

On the contrary....

Some of the very expensive 'feed very little' products have a high protien content which is important you do not 'spoil' the animal as you can trigger or cause urinary tract/ kidney problems.

Do your homework with regards to the ingredients and follow the feeding quantity/age/lifestyle guidelines

[cyberface]

parakitaMol. said:

cyberface said:

The Excession said:

cyberface....

It's a fking cat... like a small child, it eats whatever the fk you give it otherwise it's welcome to just go hungry.

Then they cry a bit and finaly eat what you presented in the first place....

I really don't see the problem here.....

Vets fees are expensive if you feed your cat crap and it gets ill. Anyway, I eat the best stuff I can easily buy, why not my cats? It's not as if we're talking the difference between driving a 20yr old Fiesta or a new Aston Martin - it's only a little bit more expensive for the better food, so why give crap to my cats?

Hell, I'm the bd that's responsible for them being brought into this world to be stuck in my house rather than living a free life (and probably a much harder, more unpleasant life), so it's my duty to care for them.

So yeah, they'll end up being spoilt to buggery, but I guess a spoilt cat is a damn sight less destructive / expensive / hassle than a spoilt child...

(do you feed your kids Whiskas or Hill's Science Plan then? )

It's unlikely you'll find a UK product that will actually make your cat ill - regardless of how cheap it is.

It will simply have a greater cereal and lesser protien content.

On the contrary....

Some of the very expensive 'feed very little' products have a high protien content which is important you do not 'spoil' the animal as you can trigger or cause urinary tract/ kidney problems.

Do your homework with regards to the ingredients and follow the feeding quantity/age/lifestyle guidelines

Heya Anna. Cheeers, sound advice. Will be careful about moving onto 'richer' food...

[paddyhasneeds]

Fair play if you want the best for your pet and don't mind paying but there's something a little unnerving about a pouch of cat food costing £2.50.

[missdiane]

£2.50??? no cat is worth that much
that's more than I cost to feed

[cyberface]

paddyhasneeds said:

Fair play if you want the best for your pet and don't mind paying but there's something a little unnerving about a pouch of cat food costing £2.50.

Haven't seen stuff that expensive - the Applaws stuff looks top notch and isn't anywhere near that money.

Presumably you're talking about stuff sold to the owner as a status symbol? I'm happy to pay, but I'm not intending to get either taken for a fool or feeding my cats stuff just to brag about it... all I want is my cats to get good, nutritious food - not a load of ash, random carbohydrates they don't digest well or proven-carcinogenic preservatives etc.

[parapaul]

FWIW...

My old cat started life on a diet of wet food, and he loved it. At age 3 though, the vet was asking us to consider him having a scale & polish under anaesthetic because of the build up on his teeth. 6 months later, after switching him onto a dry food diet, sparkly pearly white fangs again. We tried giving him a mixture of wet and dry food, but the bugger completely ignored the bowl of biscuits, and would happily wait 24hrs between feeds before wolfing down the next pouch of wet food, so back to dry he went.

Current kittens - 2 tortie girls, have been on Iams kitten food since we had them 8 months ago. Higher proportion of meat (min 40% chicken according to packet), and they're both gaining weight perfectly. They don't overeat, and appreciate the occasional treat ven more as a result.

Edited by parapaul on Friday 5th March 22:17

[becksW]

Our Maine Coon was on Go cat when we got her! She is now on Royal Canin Maine coon food and looks fantastic on it. She is 6kg which is actually a good size for a female. She has occ treats of Applaws tinned etc.

Our moggies started on Iams but saw too many cats getting urine problems with this particular dry food. (My own boy got an attack of cystitis on it) Changed to Hills, did really well for several yrs until he started getting occ mild colitis. I changed to Pro plan vital age 3/4 yrs ago and they are great on it.

My moggies are 15 and 13 yrs old. My 15yr old has some unrelated medical probs so is starting to look his age a bit but yet still runs around and plays like a kitten. My 13yr old looks half her age.
They have never had regular supply of wet food but I've always measured the dry food out to avoid overfeeding and they've had the occ treats but rare.
If on mainly dry they must drink water.
Feed a diet of good quality protein, when they get older their phosphorus levels need to be reduced to try and stop damage to the kidneys, this is why you should change cats to a senior diet over the age of 7-8yrs.

Change diets to fit with age and lifestyle. Do not let cats get fat, cats are meant to be lean.
There is more of an argument to feed raw food, the recommendation if you are going to go down this route it is advised to feed raw chicken wings a couple of times a week to help keep teeth clean and help digestion.

If you decide to feed a mixture of wet and dry this is fine but keep dry food to a minimum, you are mixing to complete foods together so more risk of over feeding

[becksW]

cyberface said:

parakitaMol. said:

cyberface said:

The Excession said:

cyberface....

It's a fking cat... like a small child, it eats whatever the fk you give it otherwise it's welcome to just go hungry.

Then they cry a bit and finaly eat what you presented in the first place....

I really don't see the problem here.....

Vets fees are expensive if you feed your cat crap and it gets ill. Anyway, I eat the best stuff I can easily buy, why not my cats? It's not as if we're talking the difference between driving a 20yr old Fiesta or a new Aston Martin - it's only a little bit more expensive for the better food, so why give crap to my cats?

Hell, I'm the bd that's responsible for them being brought into this world to be stuck in my house rather than living a free life (and probably a much harder, more unpleasant life), so it's my duty to care for them.

So yeah, they'll end up being spoilt to buggery, but I guess a spoilt cat is a damn sight less destructive / expensive / hassle than a spoilt child...

(do you feed your kids Whiskas or Hill's Science Plan then? )

It's unlikely you'll find a UK product that will actually make your cat ill - regardless of how cheap it is.

It will simply have a greater cereal and lesser protien content.

On the contrary....

Some of the very expensive 'feed very little' products have a high protien content which is important you do not 'spoil' the animal as you can trigger or cause urinary tract/ kidney problems.

Do your homework with regards to the ingredients and follow the feeding quantity/age/lifestyle guidelines

Heya Anna. Cheeers, sound advice. Will be careful about moving onto 'richer' food...

Actually protein isn't now thought to be the main risk to kidneys. It is still important that cats eat a high quality protein re its biological value so the kidneys do not have to work so hard to remove excess protein, basically you want the cat to utilise all the protein it eats not have to excrete any.
The biggest threat to kidneys is phophorus levels, which is why in good diets this should be reduced in older cat diets.
High levels of magnesium used to a big contributor to flutd's. Most urinary probs we see now are idiopathic, stress related or due to a cat being overfed on dry food, getting fat and not drinking enough.

[paulhaveawhisky]

Having had many cats over the years, each cat has had their own preference to their choice of diet. We currently have three Tonkinese, two aged 10 and one aged 4. We would support a mixture of wet, dry and fresh meat/chicken/ fish.

With experimentation in the past, they will often eat something for a period and then appear to go right off it. I would imagine it’s the same if we were feed the same, day-in, day-out. Most people would get fed up. So we try and give a balance of wet tinned in the morning, with some fresh meat/ fish/ chicken in the evening (does not have be expensive, often buy the price reduced cuts in the supermarket for them) and a bowl of good quality dry biscuits (Iams at present) last thing before we bed them down for the night. As earlier stated by parapaul, biscuits help prevent tooth decay. In the wild they would crunch the bones of their pray and eat almost everything and that would aid good teeth and dental care.

Last but not least, if your cats hunt and eat birds/ mice it is important to regular worm & flea them.

Good luck with the kittens, I am sure they will bring much joy.

[becksW]

Couple of potential mis leading comments being made. Feeding biscuits does not ensure reduction of tooth decay by cleaning. If the biscuits contain a dental protection formula they may, but not all do. Biscuits shatter as they are bitten into, to help clean teeth they need the teeth to be pushed into the biscuit before it breaks only certain biscuits (usually prescription dental diets) are designed to do this.

However if you are feeding a wet food this will stick to the teeth and be even worse for them as this attracts the bacteria to cling to the tooth and cause a faster plaque build up whereas dry food doesn't stick on teeth so hopefully will take longer.

Animals eat for energy and survival not for flavour etc, they really shouldn't get bored of the same foods and keeping to the same diet is generally better for their digestion. We make then fussy by offering alternatives (though I realise there are some cats and dogs that would rather starve than eat whats offered!). They couldn't afford to be fussy in the wild.
My cats have eaten dry food all their lives, they have had the make changed 3 times in total yet they still rush to their bowls every morning and evening and eat with the same gusto. In fact if they did refuse to eat I would know there is a serious problem!

[tank slapper]

Dry food is generally a bad idea, despite what adverts say. Cats eat almost no carbohydrate in their natural diet, but most commercial foods consist mostly of cereals and carbohydrates. We had a cat die recently as a result of this, and by the time it was diagnosed properly he was too ill to recover fully. It caused damage and inflamation to his intestine resulting in him not being able to absorb nutrients properly.

The vet advised feeding a natural diet or raw meat, consisting of a mixture of things. Chicken, beef, lamb, liver and white fish are all good. There is also a range of food called Natures Menu, which is 70% meat. It is a bit more expensive than the normal food you get in the supermarket, but they tend to eat less of it because there is more too it than filler and jelly. You can get it from Pets at Home.

Obviously most cats don't react as severely, but it made a big difference when we did change over. It seems to me that feeding them more in line with what they would naturally eat is not a bad idea.

[paulhaveawhisky]

becksW said:

Couple of potential mis leading comments being made. Feeding biscuits does not ensure reduction of tooth decay by cleaning. If the biscuits contain a dental protection formula they may, but not all do. Biscuits shatter as they are bitten into, to help clean teeth they need the teeth to be pushed into the biscuit before it breaks only certain biscuits (usually prescription dental diets) are designed to do this.

However if you are feeding a wet food this will stick to the teeth and be even worse for them as this attracts the bacteria to cling to the tooth and cause a faster plaque build up whereas dry food doesn't stick on teeth so hopefully will take longer.

Animals eat for energy and survival not for flavour etc, they really shouldn't get bored of the same foods and keeping to the same diet is generally better for their digestion. We make then fussy by offering alternatives (though I realise there are some cats and dogs that would rather starve than eat whats offered!). They couldn't afford to be fussy in the wild.
My cats have eaten dry food all their lives, they have had the make changed 3 times in total yet they still rush to their bowls every morning and evening and eat with the same gusto. In fact if they did refuse to eat I would know there is a serious problem!

Becky- I agree that normal cats, can not taste the difference between flavours, but ours are aristocrats.

[GavinPearson]

Our vet told us to put our cat on a diet of raw turkey with some supplements and a dollop of plain yoghurt on it. He loved it.

We used minced turkey from the supermarket, bought in a 1lb pack, which we added the supplements to and then divided into roughly 2oz portions and then froze. Thawed it out and put on plate, added yoghurt and presto - happy cat.

[wiffmaster]

GavinPearson said:

Our vet told us to put our cat on a diet of raw turkey with some supplements and a dollop of plain yoghurt on it. He loved it.

We used minced turkey from the supermarket, bought in a 1lb pack, which we added the supplements to and then divided into roughly 2oz portions and then froze. Thawed it out and put on plate, added yoghurt and presto - happy cat.

As a student, I'd be happy with that. Cat must have been bloody delighted!

Whatever you decide to change them on to, do it very gradually so as to avoid upset stomachs. They don't like rapid changes of diet at that age.

Our old cat was fed Whiskers topped with Iams. The meat based Whiskers, that is - not the 'fish' or 'market produce' ones. I mean, when was the last time you saw a cat digging up a carrot? Exactly; stop anthropomorphizing our cats, Whiskers.

The Iams was there mainly to stop plaque build up and seemed to do the trick - cat still had nice teeth when she passed away aged twenty.

Current cat is now eight and on the same diet as old cat. He's luckily survived being run over twice, so it must be doing some good.

Bit of Whiskers, bit of Iams dry food for the teeth and the odd bit of turkey/chicken/duck leftover. Seems to have kept ours happy.

Good luck with them - Maine Coons are fantastic cats. Like giant Beanie Babies.