Best kitten food?

[becksW]

ali_kat said:

cyberface said:

Is there any *specific* kitten requirement that isn't fulfilled by 'adult' cat food?

IIRC kitten food is less rich than cat food, and I know that the ProPlan contains different nutrients n stuff.

You'll soon notice from the smell of the litter tray if the food you have given them is too rich! We renamed Pepi to Pepe le peu until we got his food right...

Different protein levels to help with growing and sl differences in calcium,phosphorous ratios for growing bones. Most kitten foods suggest feeding until 12 months but unless you have a large breed cat often can change to adult at 10 months.

Re: confusion with foods, it can become complicated if you listen to everyone. A mixture of dry with wet is ok but easy to cause overfeeding. Try and avoid dry food with high cereal content.

In a perfect world raw food with bones and supplements would be ideal but not always practicsl, many people would not get the supplement balance right and not always the most cost effective way to feed. Some roughage needed aswell (in the wild they would eat whole mouse not just meat and bones, they'd eat the fur etc and grass.

Edited by becksW on Saturday 6th March 15:59

[paddyhasneeds]

cyberface said:

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.

I was going off an admittedly quick, and minimum quantity glance at the barking heads website above.

I agree about not feeding them crap with lots of bulking/padding junk. I don't know, I'm not an animal nutritionalist nor do I own cats/dogs but I'm afraid I do think that a lot of these foods are marketed to "guilt trip" pet owners - it just seems a bit like giving a Lion a pouch of lightly cooked zebra strips with added gravy, sure they'll eat it but the raw dead carcass wouldn't go to waste if it was put in front of them either.

I guess I'm just a bit cynical/ignorant.

[Shannon Mac]

My breeder friend swears by DAF(Durham animal foods) minces for her adult cat and kittens.

The way I understand it is that these minces are basically a whole animal taken, all the nastiness taken out and the rest is minced. But don't imagine mince like you buy at the local shop. It look more roughly shredded than minced. It also contains bone, so brilliant for teeth cleaning along side the largish shreds of meat which they have to really chew and pull apart.

The only thing she has to add to the minces is taurine (which is essential in a cats diet), this can be added as powder dissolved in water (if you sprinkle the powder on the food it makes them go metal ) or you can add natural sources of taurine, like prawns. It cost her less than 60p a day to feed 5 cats, and not only that but they only poo once every few days as their bodies use everything it needs from the food, and there are very few left over bits to make poo. So she saves a fortune on cat litter as well. She gets 3 bags of oko plus clumping litter (not the huge bags)for about £21 every 6 weeks and it lasts the full 6 weeks ... not bad for 5 indoor only cats is it?

DAF minces distribute all over the country, and they delivery to your door. They have a great selection of minces too, not just for cats either . The only reason people don't use them as much I think is because it's not a simple as opening a tin or packet. You do have to weigh the minces, and you do have to feed them a couple/few times a day (obviously raw meat is a fly attractor, so less and often is the best way to ensure they eat it all in one go), plus you need to add the taurine. But looking at the kittens she raises, and the adults they are in fantastic condition. Their fur is sooooo soft and they are all lovely bulky (but not fat) British Short Hair cats and kittens.

I've talked to her at length about this recently, as I am on her waiting list for a kitten in the future. I think I'm definitely going to go down this route when it comes to food

EDIT: Ooops just seen the date of OP! Oh well still relevant to anyone who has a cat/kitten

Edited by Shannon Mac on Sunday 31st October 04:04