cat food no idea

hedgehog2

Hi folks we have acquired some young cats recently,they were abandoned by the mum and we now have 3 cats.
Only one will come in the house the others are fearful of the dog(they dont know he is harmless).
I have been giving the outside cats lidl dry food and they love it.
The inside cat only likes the wet food felix which is costing me 7-8 euro a week where as the others only 3 a week.
Our dog is on redmills engage and that works out cheaper than felix and I am sure better than felix.
Can I switch cat to dry food and what would you recommend for the it.
One more question what shots do I get them and how frequently do they need them.
Getting the very tamed male neutered before the new yr and looking for ideas to trap the other 2 to getvthem neutered or we will have 20 cats by thecend of 2014

eager tortoise

I am in a similar situation with a couple of semi-feral cats outside that I started feeding 'cheap' tins to, except it turned out to be a total false economy as I was spending 8-10 eur a week on tins, plus rinsing and recycling the tins was a bit of a hassle. I've since been giving them the dry stuff that we feed our own pet (indoor) cat - it's Royal Canin, and about 18-20 eur for a 2kg bag, but they only need very little (amounts on back of bag) and it lasts a long time. Plus most of the pet shops seem to do deals on them, i.e. 3 for 2 etc and that helps with the cost.

zef

Redmills used to do cat food, made in co Kilkenny and half the price of royal canin. My pet shop stopped stocking it, so I'm not sure if its still on the market. I changed my 3 back to royal canin then and as the other poster says to look out for deals. They love it.
I have heard hills science plan is good, a tiny bit more expensive than RC though, and ordinary pet shops have it now, not just vets surgeries.

Pumpkinseeds

We buy Applaws chicken dry food. It's grain free, 80% protein and goes a long way. We get it from zooplus.uk. 13.90 for a 2 kg bag 34.90 for the 7.5 kg bag. Our cats go mad for it. We buy Felix pouches from Amazon.co.uk, costs about 12 pounds for 44 pouches. To buy in supermarket in Ireland would be over 6 euro for 12 pouches.

Nody

Use Zooplus.ie to stock up cheaper food, for example Animonda or Bozita are both relatively cheap and good soft foods. For kibble you can go with Porta21 grain free which is less then 4 EUR per kilo and is acceptable as well to feed once they grow up (their kitten version is 5 EUR per kilo). Oh and eager tortoise look at Applaws instead; at the price you're paying for RC you'll get a much better quality of food with Applaws for same/cheaper price.

By buying online you should save quite a bit of money and get better quality stuff at the same time . Oh and pictures please!

Zapperzy

If you don't think you'l be able to get the two shy cats into a carrier ask around vets and animal rescues for the lend of a cat trap. Best to get them done asap before any kittens start appearing.

If they've never been vaccinated before, which I'm presuming they haven't they'l need two shots each 2-3 weeks apart. They'l need to be brought to the vet for this. They'll also need worming every 3 months, the tablet can be gotten from the vets and given along with food. Avoid the worming and flea doses available from pet shops (bob martin etc.), you might think you'l save a euro or two but the cheap chemicals in them are ineffective at best and possibly harmful.

Pumpkinseeds

We got the Advocate spot on for our kitten from the vet, we use the bigger one for our adult cats. It covers fleas, ear mites and worms. It just makes life a lot easier. Enjoy the kittens, we have our 12 week old foster kitten at the moment and she's fantastic. She's having her 2nd vaccinations tomorrow.

Zapperzy

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

We got the Advocate spot on for our kitten from the vet, we use the bigger one for our adult cats. It covers fleas, ear mites and worms. It just makes life a lot easier. Enjoy the kittens, we have our 12 week old foster kitten at the moment and she's fantastic. She's having her 2nd vaccinations tomorrow.

That doesn't cover tapeworm, only roundworm. If they're hunters tapeworm is an important one to cover but if you can't get tablets into them advocate is the next best thing.
I envy owners of cats who can be given tablets mixed in with food. I gave up long ago with my maddam and just use advocate myself, too stressful on both of us to try and get tablets down her gob. :rolleyes:

eager tortoise

Nody wrote: »

Use Zooplus.ie to stock up cheaper food, for example Animonda or Bozita are both relatively cheap and good soft foods. For kibble you can go with Porta21 grain free which is less then 4 EUR per kilo and is acceptable as well to feed once they grow up (their kitten version is 5 EUR per kilo). Oh and eager tortoise look at Applaws instead; at the price you're paying for RC you'll get a much better quality of food with Applaws for same/cheaper price.

By buying online you should save quite a bit of money and get better quality stuff at the same time . Oh and pictures please!

I will give the Applaws a try, thanks for the tip!

hedgehog2

Thanks very much everyone for your contributions,placed an ordee for the applause today and it seems far superior to the stuff from the supermarket.