Which brand is best for our kittie ?

[mc55]

so we went to Sainsburys tonight to look at food for when our kittie comes home and it is totally bewildering. There are so many different brands and the prices really vary - should we just try a few and see which the kittie likes best, or is it a case of the more you pay, the better the quality

 

It also presented us with a bit of a dilemma. My partner and I are both vegetarian and we wondered whether there were any 'organic' type cat food providers in the market ? I'd feel much better knowing where the meat has come from and how it has been reared / slaughtered.

 

Also (when he is old enough) can he eat tinned tuna / salmon intended for humans ?

 

mc

 

(please note, we would never consider feeding the kittie a vegetarian diet)

[Noodle]

I had the same dilemma with mine as I'm vegi too. You'll struggle to find anything super ethical in the supermarket and will need to go to an independent pet store. After careful research, I decided on Burns as they are not part of a big group (no animal testing etc). However, changing pet food is not as easy as you think and although I did everything by the book, my kitties got upset tummies and I ended up going back to big brand unethical shameful food! However, they're happy and healthy so I am thankful for that. I give them dry food with the occasional sachet/tim of something special - they love Whiskas oh so meaty and the posh sheba style chicken breast. I feel better knowing I tried to do something good for them!

[medusa]

I'm really glad to hear that you aren't planning on feeding your cat a vegetarian diet, because in my opinion that would be a form of cruelty- cats simply can't live healthily as veggies.

 

In my opinion you do get what you pay for on a nutritional level with cat foods. In cost terms, although they do cost the most as an initial outlay, dried foods are less expensive on daily cost as well as giving as good nutrition and being better for the cat's teeth, easier to store and leaving much less rubbish to recycle than cans or pouches.

 

There are a number of companies which don't use chicken from caged birds, don't harm any animals in their testing and similar, including Burns and others (and I think that Arden Grange are similar, but don't quote me on it). Most of them are more readily available by mail order than in a supermarket, but some can be bought at some pet shops.

 

Tinned tuna and salmon is OK as a treat, but it must be in spring water or oil rather than brine and it must be used occasionally rather than as a main meal as it's not nutritionally complete for cats. Pilchards in tomato sauce appear to be irresistible to cats

 

Cooked meat that is human standard food is rarely nutritionally complete for cats. Not only does the cooking process change some nutrients (cats have never been that effective at barbecuing their meals before eating) but in the wild cats would be eating everything, including the offal and small bones from their kills. Important nutrients like taurine (without which the cats get sight problems amongst other things) are only in very low levels in cooked lean muscle tissue so food which is labelled as 'complete cat food' has this and other nutrients added.

[fyy123]

I feed mine on raw mince 4 or 5 times a week. I tend to try and avoid Tuna altogether since we I had so much trouble with a female cat we were fostering which would eat nothing but Tuna, No word of a lie she went without eating for 4 days, turned her nose up at everything I offered her, Took her to the vets and he said that Cats become addicted to tuna.

[katkin]

You really can't go wrong with Burns, Royal Canin, Jame Wellbeloved or Arden Grange dried complete food. Tuna always goes down well but we prefer to use it as a treat rather than an everyday meal. Our lot also have Nature's Menu (Pets at Home, Jollyes, most good pet stores) and if we can get it, Almo Nature tinned food (the petshop on West Street sells it or you can buy online), plus Hi Life, or Gourmet and if we must have other foil pouches we go for Whiskas and Felix but the nature's menu is much better- a higher meat concentration and no additives or sweeteners, which many of the popular brands use.

[Moonbird]

What ever you decide to feed your kitten on don't forget that he/she needs the same food as she eats now at first so get plenty of that in, always introduce new food slowly over a couple of weeks then you will avoid the kitten getting ill with the runs which can make a kitten very ill.

[xxhunniixx]

they wil be on whiska's kitten food and gocat kitten biscuits and lactol milk when they leave chicken x