Cat food minefield

[don1976]

We hope to be giving a home to a shelter cat in the next week or so (once the home check has been carried out etc).
I’m now looking at the minefield that is food.

After speaking with the volunteer at the shelter, kitty has basically been eating whatever food has been donated to the shelter, so it seems she’s not too fussy, which I suppose is a good thing from my perspective.

I of course would like to feed her on the best diet possible, within reason – browsing the aisles of Jolleyes and Pets At Home, food seems to be a real minefield and there is so much choice.
I’ve read about the benefits of a raw food diet for the cat’s health, but I’ve discounted that as I’m terribly concerned about the potential (however small) of the risk of transfer of bacteria which may make my daughter sick. I’d be interested however in people’s experience of providing a diy cooked diet for their cat though.

I see that there are many dry foods in the shops marketed as ‘complete’ foods, where it seems the idea is to just feed the cat 100% on dry food. Would it be frowned upon to feed a combination of a complete dry food and a some wet food as well ?

As I say, I find the whole cat food choice a complete minefield – I was drawn towards a James Beloved complete balance dry food initially – simply because it seemed to be a ‘quality’ brand, which just happened to be on offer at the time I was looking. Subsequent research on the likes of zooplus suggests it’s not a bad choice, given the reviews.
As the cat is currently used to eating a combination of wet and dry – I was thinking of plumping for the likes of Felix AGAIL – as I see so many people on the forum praising this particular food.

[Ruth B]

Cat food is a minefield, partly because there are so many ways of phrasing what the cat food contains, it makes it really hard to choose which is best for your cat.

Cats require certain vitamins and minerals that aren't always present in quality lean meat. A wild or feral cat that catches its own food will eat everything, skin, bones, offal etc. and gain what it needs from that, processed cat food will oven have all the essential things added to it to make sure the levels are high enough so to keep the cat healthy, these are the ones that are labeled as 'complete' As long as you are mainly feeding 'complete' cat food it doesn't matter if it is wet, dry, or a mix of both. You will also find some cat foods labeled as complimentary or something similar, these don't always contain all the essential vitamins and minerals that a cat needs and feeding only these cat foods can be detrimental to the cat's health.

Some people prefer raw diets for their cats but even then you need to make sure that the cat is getting all the nutrients they need, so, personally I wouldn't recommend a novice cat owner trying to go down that route. A DIY cooked meat diet I would have thought would be even more lacking in nutrients than a raw one. It's no problem giving cooked meat as a treat but I wouldn't suggest it as the main food for any cat.

Dried food is an odd one. Some vets recommend it, other say that wet food is far better. It seems the jury is still out concerning it. It certainly is a lot easier and cleaner to use, but there are anecdotal reports that dried food only can lead to kidney issues in cats such as crystals in the urine.

Generally I think most agree that a mix of wet and dry food is the best option. The wet food can be served and set meal times and if need be can be taken up in between if you are concerned about flies, bacteria etc or your young daughter getting her hands in it (not unheard of but normally in younger children). Dried food is often left down for a cat to graze on as and when they want. Most cats won't over eat as long as they have plenty to keep them entertained, problems tend to develop in cats that are indoor only, don't get enough exercise and there life ends up revolving around meals and sleep. Some ex-strays will also have problems as they have it so ingrained that they must eat all that is available as they don't know where the next meal is coming from.

Personally mine are mainly on Felix AGAIL (like you say it seems to get mentioned an awful lot) most of the time and Gourmet Gold or Gourmet Pearl on occasion. They also have Purina One dried food constantly available. I haven't heard anything bad about James Wellbeloved, a lot of people seem to recommend it, I just always seem to end up coming back to Purina One as all of mine seem to prefer it.

If you are feeding dried food at all even if it is part of a mixed diet it is essential that plenty of water is available, normally somewhere away from where they would eat, and away from any litter tray. Cats have a natural instinct to know that water found near food (or any dead animal) has a chance to be contaminated so prefer to drink elsewhere. As you can guess the litter tray is also viewed as a possible contamination of water or food.

One thing I will add, if you are getting any information about cat food off the internet, make sure it is a UK site. The UK has fairly strict regulations about what can go in cat food (or any pet foods for that matter) that other countries don't have, particularly the States. I once read something concerning Purina One and how many considered it a cheap brand and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, I then learned that that was American Purina One and it was entirely different to what is sold over here, which is a good quality cat food.

[don1976]

Thanks – a very detailed reply.

I think I’ll go with a combination of wet & dry. In some respects, I’m a bit suspicious of dry food as it only seems natural that cats should be eating meat. I’m sure it’ll just a matter a buying some and seeing how she gets on with it – Whilst there may be some ‘wrong’ answers to the question of what’s the best food, there seems to be a whole host of different ‘right’ answers.

I see some foods are formulated for neutered cats – albeit seemingly more expensive. Are these special formulations really necessary for neutered cats ?

[Kay]

I feed mine on FelixAGAIL and Gourmet Gold, readily available in supermarkets, and dry - but go for better quality dry than can be found in shops - James Wellbeloved and Royal Canin for instance - both readily available on line

personally I feel that because feeding dry, even an expensive dry, works out cheaper than cheapish wet food, a mix makes sense economically, and I also think that because dry food, especially Royal Canin, offers far more alternatives if a special diet is needed down the line for a medical condition, it makes sense to get cats used to eating some dry before that day comes - but I think unless there is a medical condition, or you have an older cat, when the formulas are altered, there is nothing to be gained by all the different formulas (if indeed they are different)

for example, as my two are getting on in years, they have two varieties of Royal Canin 12+ dry food, which they eat very readily - sourcing a wet food equivalent would be difficult and pricey, and I doubt they would eat it anyway

a lot of us buy food and litter from http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats?gcli ... oC1LPw_wcB - works out cheaper, and a good place to look for things like bowls, cat trees, litter trays etc

food is just the start of it when it comes to spending money

[MarySkater]

[Cross-posted with Kay]

I think the 'neutered cat' foods are lower-calorie, based on the idea that neutered cats are more likely to put on weight. Possibly true in the case of males, as entire males will be out roaming and fighting a lot of the time, but I think neutering and having to watch his weight is the lesser of two evils! I have one male and one female, both neutered. The female is young and slim, the male is older and a bit chunky, but his weight is stable and I'm happy so long as he doesn't gain. I don't look for "neuter" food for them. Both get Felix AGAIL or Whiskas in jelly, combined with Wellbeloved dry. One of mine will also eat some flavours of Sheba wet, the other doesn't like it.

It has been said on here that the best food for your cat is the one he will eat! They can be fussy. But based around that, Ruth B's advice is very good.

[don1976]

I feed mine on FelixAGAIL and Gourmet Gold, readily available in supermarkets, and dry - but go for better quality dry than can be found in shops - James Wellbeloved and Royal Canin for instance - both readily available on line

personally I feel that because feeding dry, even an expensive dry, works out cheaper than cheapish wet food, a mix makes sense economically, and I also think that because dry food, especially Royal Canin, offers far more alternatives if a special diet is needed down the line for a medical condition, it makes sense to get cats used to eating some dry before that day comes - but I think unless there is a medical condition, or you have an older cat, when the formulas are altered, there is nothing to be gained by all the different formulas (if indeed they are different)

for example, as my two are getting on in years, they have two varieties of Royal Canin 12+ dry food, which they eat very readily - sourcing a wet food equivalent would be difficult and pricey, and I doubt they would eat it anyway

a lot of us buy food and litter from http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats?gcli ... oC1LPw_wcB - works out cheaper, and a good place to look for things like bowls, cat trees, litter trays etc

food is just the start of it when it comes to spending money

Thanks - Zooplus does tend to be my go to place online for pet supplies. I've just been trawling the local stores for food this week though because I find it easier to hold packages in my hand so I can interrogate what's in them, and it's easier to compare one to another. When it comes to buying, I'll see where's cheaper but there will certainly be a zooplus order going in for various bits and pieces. Before that though, I think I'll be posting a 'Cat Litter Minefield' thread

This may seem like a very silly question, but if you feed a mixture of wet & dry, do you tend to serve a bit of both at each meal time ? (If so, I assume they're in separate bowls?) or wet at mealtimes and dry to graze through the day ?

[Kay]

I would suggest feeding wet when you are around to cover any uneaten food, to keep flies at bay and stop it drying out - dry can be left down at any time, but cats that graze all day can put on weight, so best to measure out a daily portion

I have never put wet and dry in the same bowl, and the dry would soon lose the crunch that cats seem to like

[MarySkater]

Having 2 cats, I use Surefeed microchip covered feeders. A lid covers the food, and only opens when the cat it's programmed for comes close. The feeder comes with 2 bowls, one of which has a central divider, so I can put dry in one side and wet in the other. Does a good job of keeping the wet food fresh and keeping the flies off. Surefeed also do a cheaper covered feeder without the microchip reader. That still covers the food, but will open for any pet that comes near. That one only comes with a single bowl, but you can buy spare divided bowls which I'm pretty sure would fit - check with the makers.

I give my cats a bowl of wet food in the morning, a portion of dry mid-afternoon, and late evening I give them some of each, in the divided bowl.

[booktigger]

Good to see you doing plenty of research, will make the home visit quicker! If you decide to use AGAIL, B & M are very cheap for it. While I don't normally recommend pets at home for food, they do a similar food to James wellbeloved that is cheaper.

[Ruth B]

My three get 2 pouches / small tins of wet food between them, three times a day in the kitchen, but my young lad, Saturn, is very active and I keep tabs on the weight of all of them. Bowls of dried food are placed in various rooms throughout the house as well and kept fairly full constantly, There are also 2 water bowls and a water fountain in various rooms around the house. You can barely move without tripping over something cat related but it does help keep the peace in a multicat household.

Its worth learning to keep tabs on their weight as that is the best indication of overfeeding particularly to start with. Weigh yourself (instant horror attack) then weigh yourself holding the cat and do a bit of maths. If the cat's weight starts to increase you can catch it early and reduce the food slightly, a far better option than having to convince them that they are suddenly on a strict diet. Once you know what their ideal weight feels like to the touch it is often fairly easy to notice if they are getting fatter or thinner by feeling for their ribs and hips and just checking occasionally to make sure.

On a different note, and in an attempt to save furniture and carpets, two types of scratchers that I have found work really well, a large cardboard one that is large enough for an adult cat to lie down on, and a scratching board that is screwed to the wall. One of the problems with small scratching posts is that for an adult cat they are too short and not stable enough, so the cat can pull it over onto itself. They don't feel it is secure enough to maintain their claws properly so they look for something that is.

I'll leave any litter tray advice to another thread.

[alanc]

I agree with what has been said above. My cats have all seemed to prefer a mixture of wet and dry. Just to add a bit of dissent, though, back in the days when I had Misty and Honey, it was Misty, (neutered male), who was lean and active (and ate 2/3 of the food) and Honey (neutered female) who was somewhat portly. They both lived on Felix and Whiskas (don't think AGAIL was around then).

[Red wine lady]

Hi

My big boy (who my vet referred to as fat!) likes 2 x pouches of Whiskers in gravy and he loves Perfect Fit (which is fairly new) dry food. I have bought a 'slim ball' for his dry food to make him work for his dinner.

[don1976]

Hi

My big boy (who my vet referred to as fat!) likes 2 x pouches of Whiskers in gravy and he loves Perfect Fit (which is fairly new) dry food. I have bought a 'slim ball' for his dry food to make him work for his dinner.

Is that one of those things that they need to roll around the place in order for the pieces of food to fall through the holes?

[Red wine lady]

Hi

My big boy (who my vet referred to as fat!) likes 2 x pouches of Whiskers in gravy and he loves Perfect Fit (which is fairly new) dry food. I have bought a 'slim ball' for his dry food to make him work for his dinner.

Is that one of those things that they need to roll around the place in order for the pieces of food to fall through the holes?

Yes Don...Oscar is a house cat so it keeps him entertained too. X

[Ruth B]

We got a couple of those plastic food balls for our youngsters when we got them. Be warned, they are a great idea, except when certain kitties decide they want to chase them around the laminate floor at 2 in the morning.

[Red wine lady]

We got a couple of those plastic food balls for our youngsters when we got them. Be warned, they are a great idea, except when certain kitties decide they want to chase them around the laminate floor at 2 in the morning.

...or when they get it stuck under the furniture and YOU are summoned to help at 3am...oh the joy of being a cat owner

[Marshie]

Hi,

Pet food certainly is a minefield!

No all pet foods are complete. Many pet foods do not clearly state that they are complementary [do not contain all the nutrients that a pet needs]. A malnourished pet could have expensive vets bills or worse die younger due to a poor diet.

Additionally one manufacturer may produce the same named [with identical packaging] pet food but with different ingredients in different countries. Also when pet food companies are bought by another company the ingredients are likely to change. To the human nose the smell and appearance of the pet food are likely to be identical, but the quality of the ingredients will reduce. To increase profitability - “business is business”.

Veterinarians are not nutritionists, unless they have received additional training to their veterinary degree. However, veterinaries and veterinary surgeries are often sponsored to sell a brand of pet food.

https://petfoodexpert.co.uk/?life_stage ... pecies=cat

I found the above web site helpful. However, with so many brands in the market many have not yet been reviewed.