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Whats the best kitten/cat food
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17-06-2011 10:17am#1
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Hi all,
Im thinking about getting a kitten, never had cats before always dogs so its all new to me.
So what would you advise in regards to food, treats and if you have any other advice for a first time cat onwer id be grateful.
OK, first things first - the cat owns YOU!
Congrats on the new arrival.
We currently feed our guy Royal Canin, as recommended by the vet, who told us the cat would never leave if it got this every day. It's true - he loves it so much we call it Royal Cocaine. They do a huge range of types, and one is kitten-specific.
Cats can get fussy and will get used to eating only one type of food sometimes. Having said that, our family has always had cats when we were growing up and they got plain old Go-Cat or whatever and were quite satisfied, with no ill-health effects.
We give our fella a treat about once a week. He devours those peperami style treats from Aldi! He'd nearly knock me over to get his paws on it. :P
Other than that, loads of playtime and cuddles, so he gets used to being handled. Kittens are so much fun, so enjoy every minute of him being small and thinking that EVERYthing is a game.
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I recommend you feed your cat a mix if wet and dry food to help prevent struvite crystals building up in their kidneys and bladder (very dangerous and painful for the cat). A complete diet is best also (ie. feeding a food that is stand alone with nutrition for you pet). You could feed a meat and mixer based diet too (ie. a wet tin of "meat" and a dry mixer) but this can be hard to get the balance right with.
Brand wise - some good brands include Burns, Royal Canin, Hills, James Wellbeloved and Almo (these brands tend to be both wet and dry foods). Try to steer clear of the foods you find in the supermarket as they tend to be very low quality.
Good luck with the new addition 0 -
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If you have a look on zooplus.co.uk (or the .ie site) they have a huge selection of both wet and dry foods. I personally think it's best to stick with wet food and also buy a little toothbrush and get them used to it early, wet food is much better for their urinary health as there is more liquids going through so urine isin't sitting in the bladder for so long, also I don't buy into the whole dry food is better for dental health idea (unless it's a specific dental food such as the hills presciption food), if you watch most cats eating dry food they usually swallow most of it whole.
Some wet food brands to look for on zooplus is bozita, smilla, animonda carny, cosma and porta 21. I would stay away from supermarket brands like whiskas and kitekat because if you look at the ingredients the first ingredient is always meat & animal derivitives (min. 4% beef/fish/chicken/rabbit) which if you do a bit of googling you'l find out what that can contain. :eek:
It's getting easier to find good quality dry foods in petshops without going online but it's still hard to find decent wet foods. Some good dry foods include james wellbeloved, burns and orijen. Again stay away from dry foods that list cereals as there first ingredients and meat & animal derivitives as there second.
Also if you go with one of the high quality wet foods I mentioned above you can just feed the adult version if there is no kitten version, just mash it up slightly.
As for litter there's a few different types, there's clumping and non-clumping, clumping litter is easier to clean out as the pee all clumps together so you can scoop it out with minimal wastage. I use a brand called pura clumping litter and a big bag lasts forever (at least 3-4 months anyways) with 1 indoor cat and is only €15 I think, I find it cuts down on smells too. You have other brands like Thomas but I find while they are cheaper per bag you go through a massive amount of litter because it doesn't clump, I used it for years because I didn't know there were alternatives and it cost a fortune compared to pura, I think I was going through about 2 €4 bags a week compared to less than a fiver a month on pura. You also have wood pellet litter but I find with kittens they end up pulling loads of pellets out and chasing around the house after them!
Don't waste loads of money on fancy toys, for kittens scrunched up pieces of paper, cardboard boxes, old tights cut up in small pieces filled with toilet paper and sewed back together again and any sort of pieces of ribbon or string make fantastic toys. Also don't buy an expensive bed, if you can tempt them to use a cat bed then a blanket in a cardboard box will suffice because once they find your couch/bed they will never again sleep in a cat bed!
Seriously consider getting pet insurance, for your average moggy it's very cheap and will save you an arm and a leg should something happen him/her and they end up needing expensive vets fees. It doesn't cover routine vaccinations or neutering but put a little money away each week until you get the cat to cover those.
Neutering for males is usually €30-€40 and for females €50-€60 and can be done from about 6 months onwards (they do not need to have 1 heat cycle before neutering). For males it cuts down on them wandering, fighting and spraying urine everywhere (although they can still do this it cuts down on the hormones urging them to do this) and generally makes them a nicer pet. For females they will no longer go into heat which is very stressful for both cat and owner and of course the obvious no kittens for neither males nor females once neutered!
Oh yes and nearly forgot, don't give them cow's milk, cats are lactose intolerant and will projectile vomit if fed cow's milk, some cats become used to milk and will no longer vomit but cow's milk is very fattening for them so best to stick to plain water. You can get special cat milk that has no lactose in it but it is quite expensive and can make them fussy so they won't drink water.0 -
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Iv no experience with cats and birds but I do have lots of experience of a certain cat and hamsters! I always allowed my cat around my hamsters, I have no problem leaving her alone with hamsters once they are in their cage and have been known to leave a hamster in the bath and the cat in the bathroom watching said hamster while I ran into another room to get something. But I have a very weird cat thats more interested in the hay thats in the cage rather than the small furry animal.
In the beginning I was more cautious, I never left them alone and only allowed the cat into the hamster room while I was in there, I always corrected her with a loud shhh or ahhh if she went into that frame of mind where her pupils enlarged, ears went forward and she became too fixed on the hamster, so she was always taught that hamsters are not for stalking! She usually just has her little hay snack and curls up asleep beside the cage, and if a hamster stands up to look out at her she purrs immensely!
Sadly Iv only one old syrian girl left who I do not trust with myself nevermind with the cat, but when I had my 2 dwarf boys who were much calmer and didn't bite I used to let them run around on top of the cat routing around in her fur!
Anyways play it by ear, at first keep the bird well out of reach of the kitten and only allow supervised viewing time! You'l know yourself if she goes into that playful ears forward, pupils enlarged about to pounce on bird mode then just correct her with an ahhh/shhh and remove her from the situation until she calms down. With time she'l probably learn that attacking or stalking the bird in front of you is not allowed but still never leave the bird out of the cage where the cat has access without you supervising them.
Has the bird it's wings clipped?0 -
Hey Zapperzy,
No he hasn't got them clipped, i wouldn't do that to him, living in a cage is bad enough!
But yeah your right just play it by year and see how it goes, I know what to look out for so hopefully bluey won't end up on the menu.
That's so cute that your cat allowed your hamsters so close, i'll be sure to take your advice as you done something right anyway. 0 -
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