Best Cat Food

Milly33

Just wondering I have tried a few cat foods now but I was wondering what is the best value cat food wet and dry...

What is the highest meat content cat food you can get.. I would be more concerned with wet food rather than dry foods...

I thought it would be easier to find the information online but it all seems a bit scattered..

I tried the Bozita but he kinda went off that..
And also the cans, I found didn't last too long..
Id say if you had two cats maybe and you were feeding them from the one can they ok but I have one and the can normally goes for three days and it is stinking by the time we get to the end of it for him and he turns his nose up at it. And then one day one of the cans burst I didn't notice it ick all the maggots that nestled in after a while put me off buying them in bulk...

Purina I have tried and he does like it but if it hard to get the wet food.. I got him the Purina Gourmet and he likes it but jes lets say he is a little windy on it... And I notice there is a 14% meat content in....

So looking into options again of what to get any recommendations welcome..

RentDayBlues

We use almo nature, it's got a very high content of meat and is a firm favourite here! For dry we use royal canin

Milly33

Almo Nature can you get that in the shops then or order online..

Nody

Try Animonda Carny (and only Carny!); complete and quite cheap and come in 200g cans as well.

Milly33

Why only Carny... Is this in reg pet supplies stores too I think I remember the label. Just had a look at the Almo but jes tis quite pricey then again I do quite like the cat

Nody

Milly33 wrote: »

Why only Carny... Is this in reg pet supplies stores too I think I remember the label. Just had a look at the Almo but jes tis quite pricey then again I do quite like the cat

Because the other versions are not something I'd ever recommend

Dardania

We use the 370g tetra packs from Bozita: http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/bozita
approx 1 per day (half in morning, half in evening)
Our feline is quite happy with that - some days she leaves some food, other days she eats it all, and makes her hunger known. but generally fine
the foldable pack means we can store it easily in the fridge also...

Zapperzy

I feed smilla tins, just slightly cheaper than animonda carny. They come in both 400g and 200g. I get them from zooplus, once you know they'll be eaten they can be bought in bulk of 20 tins working out I think just under a euro per 400g tin. Have yet to source a decent quality affordable wet cat food in a bricks and mortar Irish shop.

mymo

I also feed the bozita tetra packs, buy the mixed 'austerity' pack from the German site, as it works out cheaper.
I have four cats, they get one full bozita carton between them at night, and applaws or taste of the wild dry during the day.

All of the above are grain free, high meat content.

boomerang

My guys annihilate Bozita - I guess I'm lucky!

aonb

Not a cat food as such, but Im going back to home cooking food for my furries - can you cat experts (I have my 1st ever cat) tell me what an ideal home cooked cat-meal would be - or rather what I should not feed her? Ideally it would be a meal that both cat & dog can share (not at same time - from the same pot I mean!)

Milly33

My fella goes mad for brown rice so he does.. I used to feed him chicken and brown rice, or change it up then sometimes for normal rice.. Great for their stomachs if they have issues.

Just I find it fine doing the food like that if I come across cheap chicken on sale but otherwise I find myself stuck then if I run out of the chicken... Only thing then I wouldn't be sure of what nutrients if they need anymore than that, but saying that we used to feed our animals as such what we ate and there was nought wrong with them

I didn't notice the tetra packs of bozita now might take another look or this carney stuff.

Dardania

a lot of the cat foods have sizing guides on them showing how many grams per day to give, based on weight of cat

Léan

We feed our 6year old tom Acana. He's a very active and large cat (not over weight, just very long). He's been thriving on it. He'd be a a fussy eater usually, but gobbles Acana back.

Cherry Blossom

aonb wrote: »

Not a cat food as such, but Im going back to home cooking food for my furries - can you cat experts (I have my 1st ever cat) tell me what an ideal home cooked cat-meal would be - or rather what I should not feed her? Ideally it would be a meal that both cat & dog can share (not at same time - from the same pot I mean!)

Cats and dogs have different nutritional needs. If home-cooking for a cat you would need to use a taurine supplement.

Pac2015

I have 7 cats and all love Felix as good as it looks wet food it comes in pouches very meaty and fills them up, I also give them meowing heads which is a complete dry cat food so they should have no need for wet food mine are really fussy and wont eat cheap food and again I would not want to give it to them as their litter trays stink and they are as you said above windy.

Red Mills is another good brand of dry food, I would think the dry pellets are the best with wet food as a treat a few times a week maybe twice.

Nody

Pac2015 wrote: »

I have 7 cats and all love Felix as good as it looks wet food it comes in pouches very meaty and fills them up, I also give them meowing heads which is a complete dry cat food so they should have no need for wet food mine are really fussy and wont eat cheap food and again I would not want to give it to them as their litter trays stink and they are as you said above windy.

Red Mills is another good brand of dry food, I would think the dry pellets are the best with wet food as a treat a few times a week maybe twice.

First of all wet food is a lot closer to what they would normally eat, not dry kibble which is 100% invented food to be longer lasting and "better". Second Felix is cheap food as is Whiskas or anything else you find in a supermarket store and they are all of poor quality.

To the poster who wanted to home cook; the answer is don't. Cats should preferably eat raw meat, not cooked and it should be as dark meat as possible. Try to source chicken necks and chicken hearts, freeze them for at least 48h, and then serve (keep the hearts down to about 5 per day maximum) twice a week or so instead of the normal meal. The chicken necks will help keep their teeth clean and the hearts has a lot of taurine. It offers you a starting point for feeding raw or even going frankendiet for your cat. In terms of serving you should aim for about 2% of ideal body weight per day for raw as starting point so about 1% if you serve two meals but don't be surprised if they need some time to figure out how to deal with those necks at the start (and enjoy the crunching sound when they do).

Pac2015

Nody wrote: »

First of all wet food is a lot closer to what they would normally eat, not dry kibble which is 100% invented food to be longer lasting and "better". Second Felix is cheap food as is Whiskas or anything else you find in a supermarket store and they are all of poor quality.

To the poster who wanted to home cook; the answer is don't. Cats should preferably eat raw meat, not cooked and it should be as dark meat as possible. Try to source chicken necks and chicken hearts, freeze them for at least 48h, and then serve (keep the hearts down to about 5 per day maximum) twice a week or so instead of the normal meal. The chicken necks will help keep their teeth clean and the hearts has a lot of taurine. It offers you a starting point for feeding raw or even going frankendiet for your cat. In terms of serving you should aim for about 2% of ideal body weight per day for raw as starting point so about 1% if you serve two meals but don't be surprised if they need some time to figure out how to deal with those necks at the start (and enjoy the crunching sound when they do).

Felix is not cheap for the box I buy its fairly pricey its alot better then most other brands I get the as good as it looks, my cats wont eat raw meat and for the average person what you suggest is very time consuming I know plenty of cats that are fed dry kibble only and are perfectly fine.
Mine will not eat dark meat they from time to time and only 4 of them will eat raw chicken but most of the time they wont.

Nody

Pac2015 wrote: »

Felix is not cheap for the box I buy its fairly pricey its alot better then most other brands I get the as good as it looks

When I speak of cheap brands I'm not talking about the euro price as much as the content; as a reference you can get it cheap on Zooplus.ie for example at 3.5 EUR per kg but the reason I'm calling it cheap is the content:

Meat Menus in Jelly: Meat & animal by-products (min. 4% of each listed variety), vegetable protein extracts, fish & fish by-products, minerals, sugar.

That is 4% meat and byproducts which is very very low with vegetable extract used as filler.

Compare this with Bozita which is even cheaper but has A LOT higher meat content and no vegetable extracts (or other filler stuff).

Ingredients:
Chicken
Chicken (22%), beef, pork, sodium chloride, calcium carbonate.
Salmon
Beef, chicken, pork, salmon (4%), sodium chloride, calcium carbonate.
Beef
Beef (21%), chicken, pork, sodium chloride, calcium carbonate.
Shrimp:
Beef, chicken, pork, shrimp (4%), sodium chloride, calcium carbonate.

This is why I'm calling out Felix as cheap on the content; not necessary the price.

my cats wont eat raw meat and for the average person what you suggest is very time consuming

Sorry but buying 1kg of necks, 200g of hearts from a local bucher shop and splitting it into 10 bags and throwing in the freezer is not very time consuming as you simply remove one bag and leave it out in the morning/evening depending on which meal you're aiming to serve (take it out 12h in advance). I do it every couple of weeks for our cats; now going fully raw that would have a bit more up front freezer space required but as a meal twice a week the above would last 5 weeks for one cat)

I know plenty of cats that are fed dry kibble only and are perfectly fine.

And people eat at Mac Donald all life and are perfectly fine as well; the simple fact however is cats are created to eat raw and wet food is closer to raw than kibble is. Having said that a good grain free kibble will always beat a poor wet food so it's not a case of black or white; it's simply that given the choice a good wet food would beat a good kibble.

Mine will not eat dark meat they from time to time and only 4 of them will eat raw chicken but most of the time they wont.

Same with my original cats who were raised on kibble only for the first 3 years; they rarely touch any wet food either but every kitten we have coming through who's wet fed with optional kibble will eat wet food 95% of the time and kibble only very rarely if ever. There are also guides on how to get cats to move from kibble to wet to raw for those who want to go down that route as well.

aonb

Nody wrote: »

First of all wet food is a lot closer to what they would normally eat, not dry kibble which is 100% invented food to be longer lasting and "better". Second Felix is cheap food as is Whiskas or anything else you find in a supermarket store and they are all of poor quality.

To the poster who wanted to home cook; the answer is don't. Cats should preferably eat raw meat, not cooked and it should be as dark meat as possible. Try to source chicken necks and chicken hearts, freeze them for at least 48h, and then serve (keep the hearts down to about 5 per day maximum) twice a week or so instead of the normal meal. The chicken necks will help keep their teeth clean and the hearts has a lot of taurine. It offers you a starting point for feeding raw or even going frankendiet for your cat. In terms of serving you should aim for about 2% of ideal body weight per day for raw as starting point so about 1% if you serve two meals but don't be surprised if they need some time to figure out how to deal with those necks at the start (and enjoy the crunching sound when they do).

Nody, thank you for that detailed post which I know all sounds like optimum food for a cat, but my cat, who is quite tiny, and had a very bad start in life (half dead when I found her, her siblings all dead) just wont eat a lot of what I give her. Im a vegetarian so cant handle (yuk) raw meat happily, and would def have a problem with hearts :P and necks...

I appreciate that pretty much all commercial supermarket dog and cat foods are pretty poor quality, and have always fed my dogs home cooked. I am totally new to cats so Im kinda stumped on this one. She turns her nose up at most commercial foods (I give her rejects to our foster homes - very expensive experiments!) she turns her nose up at raw, and has even started to reject cooked chicken, she also wont eat kibble. So your opinion/advive seems to be not to feed home cooked to a cat? What to do... buying bulk online of the better brands I dont want to do for 1 small cat ... bit of a dilema. So, putting it to you: what is my best option given that I want to give her the best for her health. Regardless of what the general opinion is, I KNOW that what you put in to an animal definately makes THE difference - same as humans, our diet is a deal breaker for our health.

So to summarise: This little cat will eat some of the yukky old supermarket brands which goes against the grain giving her such poor quality, wont eat kibble, wont eat raw, turns her nose up at cooked meat regularly, but I want to ensure that her diet like all my other animals, and family members is the best I can give her. Taking all that into consideration, I have 2 options: give her the crappy old brands she will eat, but find an alternative to raw or good quality that is only available by post/online.... sorry for being so specific and asking for personal/tailored advise!

Nody

aonb wrote: »

So your opinion/advive seems to be not to feed home cooked to a cat? What to do... buying bulk online of the better brands I dont want to do for 1 small cat ... bit of a dilema. So, putting it to you: what is my best option given that I want to give her the best for her health. Regardless of what the general opinion is, I KNOW that what you put in to an animal definately makes THE difference - same as humans, our diet is a deal breaker for our health.

Well in terms of brands you need something which is complete so try to get single canz or sample packs of Animonda Carny, Catz, Feringa, Ferings duo, bozita, Lily's kitchen or Schumzy nature (several of those can be bought on Zooplus in a "one of each type" can package with six cans to try out relatively cheap).

If you still go with raw/home cook you need to add compliments to make sure she gets all that's needed in terms of minerals etc.

Milly33

Just looking there online at Zooplus, has anyone tried the Cosma Nature.. I thought that was the one someone mentioned but I see twas Almo..

Almo is 55% meat
Nature Cosma 75% meat

Which to go for? Woke up this morning to lets say an odour of cat bottom which I just cant be dealing with.... Just to note for anyone looking also, this seems to be the result of the purina gourmet perle. Very bad altogether...

Nody

Milly33 wrote: »

Just looking there online at Zooplus, has anyone tried the Cosma Nature.. I thought that was the one someone mentioned but I see twas Almo..

Almo is 55% meat
Nature Cosma 75% meat

Which to go for? Woke up this morning to lets say an odour of cat bottom which I just cant be dealing with.... Just to note for anyone looking also, this seems to be the result of the purina gourmet perle. Very bad altogether...

Neither food is complete and you can also look at Porta 21 (shredded chicken in aloe) as an alternative that's basically the same as well (and our cats love all three). If you go down that route you need to serve kibble to complement or get complimentary nutrition to sprinkle on top of it as listed above for raw feeding.

Milly33

thank you Nody you seem to know what you are talking about... Me thinks I am going to try this Nature Cosma and see how he gets on..

I hate the think his getting a dodgey belly because of the stuff but suppose tis just like humans really if tis rubbish you get a dodgey belly... I never noticed as such with cats we had when we were younger as they were outdoor, no litter trays nature was their tray..

Going to order now and fingers crossed it will suit him....

Nody

Milly33 wrote: »

thank you Nody you seem to know what you are talking about... Me thinks I am going to try this Nature Cosma and see how he gets on..

I simply have a cat that very picky and made me order ~50% of the brands on Zooplus (the other 50% I'd not consider due to content) as she'll eat a can in the morning and reject it in the evening

Milly33

They are fun aren't they... My fella was grand at the start but then I had him on chicken and rice as I noticed straight away (as an indoor cat) he was stinky on the cheaper foods... When I could not keep up with the chicken I put him back on purina, he got an infection so it was the really pricey stuff he was on, went to bozita then but twas the cans I was getting.. All is good until it came to the end of the can the food was very smelly and then one can burst unknownst to me and there were maggots all over it..It just turned my stomach..

So back now to it hopefully he will be ok.. Really does bring me to notice that any cat I have had growing up was an outdoor cat, and while we feed them it was mostly what we were eating and if they didn't like it sure they went out and got food elsewhere in nature.. My chap is indoor outdoor cat but mostly indoors.. Wish I had a bigger area for him to wonder about.

sunbeam

My cats are Felix lovers and although I tried many of the better quality pate style foods from Zooplus, they simply don't like them.

They do however like Catessy and Miamor(the chunks in jelly/gravy varieties). These have a similar texture to the regular Felix (not AGAIL), but without the added sugar, artificial flavourings, colourants or preservatives. The jelly versions are grain free.

BTW the meat content listed on most supermarket brands usually specifies the minimum percentage of the named meat only e.g. 4 percent chicken etc. The actual meat and/or animal by-product content is usually much higher, but can come from many different sources.

Their favourite dry food is Purizon, which is grain free.

Dandelion6

aonb wrote: »

Im a vegetarian so cant handle (yuk) raw meat happily

I'm a vegetarian too but don't think it would bother me to give my cats raw meat. It couldn't be any more disgusting than their canned food! But since I've been vegetarian since before I left home I don't know anything about shopping for meat or preparing meat or storing meat or anything like that and I'm afraid I'd poison both my cats and myself if I tried.

I feed my boys a high-quality dry food (Orijen or Canagan) in the morning and the Bozita tetra packs in the evening, I find this the best compromise between budget and nutrition.

Milly33

Have to say I am loving this Cosma Nature stuff. Mr B is on it now for around 3 weeks and well lets say there is no stench and he loves the stuff..

Was surprised when I saw the size of the can but then when I opened it and saw how fresh it was, jes id nearly eat it. And well I get about 21/2 days out of one can...

Poochie05

Thanks to this thread my cat is enjoying Bozita, loves it

Milly33

All over helpfull then great stuff.. the differance is amazing with the foods i find.. I got some of those cosma snacks for my chap too they were on offer and he loves hem they look a bit dry but he gobbles them up

acequion

Where can this better quality stuff be bought?

Milly33

Zooplus is your best bet... I know tis like support local and all this but in fairness they have good deals and they delivery... And you can get all toys,litter,collars everything...

My only thoughts after testing is Bozita is great now and very fresh but if you only have one cat it gets a bit stinky by the end of the can, himself used to not eat the end of it..

Tis handy with the Cosma one that they have mini cans and I swear if you put it into a salad youd eat it yourself

Dandelion6

Milly33 wrote: »

My only thoughts after testing is Bozita is great now and very fresh but if you only have one cat it gets a bit stinky by the end of the can, himself used to not eat the end of it.

I find the Bozita cans disgustingly stinky from the first opening, the Tetra paks are a lot less so IMHO.

Milly33

I never spotted the tetra packs of them until someone said it.. Much better I would think.

Oh I still get visions of the maggots that appeared on the can after one burst and I had not noticed it for a while. Doesn't bother me that the maggots appeared as such on the can as at least you know tis fresh but just the site of them

Poochie05

I got the Tetra packs for my cat and they are fine, aftr opening, serve half, fold up and in to fridge. No smell and as they are small they are not stored for long.

Poochie05

Poochie05 wrote: »

Thanks to this thread my cat is enjoying Bozita, loves it

Animonda Carny going down a treat too!

Springwell

Taste of the Wild or Purizon dry and Smilla grainfree (cheapest grain free wet option I could find) for ours

OldNotWIse

Milly33 wrote: »

Zooplus is your best bet... I know tis like support local and all this but in fairness they have good deals and they delivery... And you can get all toys,litter,collars everything...

My only thoughts after testing is Bozita is great now and very fresh but if you only have one cat it gets a bit stinky by the end of the can, himself used to not eat the end of it..

Tis handy with the Cosma one that they have mini cans and I swear if you put it into a salad youd eat it yourself

I left the "support local" behind when we went into double figures with our cats I find Zooplus great for dried cat food. The Royal Canin comes in at 58euro including delivery, for a 10kilo bag, but usually there are 2 kilos free. So that's less than five euro per kilo. It lasts us a month now so 2 euro a day to feed 8 cats a good quality food. Closes I found in a petshop was 71 euro for 10 kilos. Not even close. We do try to give them treats twice a week, so cans of sardines in oil (60c in Lidl) or lambs liver which is fairly cheap. They love it.

Milly33

Sardines they are spoilt!! Yeah it is most defiantly worth going the extra bit with the food for their own sake, was even saying the last day again himself is much better since we got the good food again coat is lovely, and thank god his stopped being windy! It is a shame it is priced so highly in the shops but I suppose if thats how it is...

Nody

Milly33 wrote: »

Sardines they are spoilt!! Yeah it is most defiantly worth going the extra bit with the food for their own sake, was even saying the last day again himself is much better since we got the good food again coat is lovely, and thank god his stopped being windy! It is a shame it is priced so highly in the shops but I suppose if thats how it is...

Zooplus is 3 EUR a kilo (3.50 at worst); that's not exactly pricey by any definition for pet food honestly. Our cats will not eat only Bozita and is on a 8 or so rotation of brands which most are double that cost (yes they are spoiled brats but we're good slaves :P )

OldNotWIse

Nody wrote: »

Zooplus is 3 EUR a kilo (3.50 at worst); that's not exactly pricey by any definition for pet food honestly. Our cats will not eat only Bozita and is on a 8 or so rotation of brands which most are double that cost (yes they are spoiled brats but we're good slaves :P )

We pay 58 euro for 12 kilo, or do you mean the wet food?

Nody

OldNotWIse wrote: »

We pay 58 euro for 12 kilo, or do you mean the wet food?

Yes specifically Bozita which is what the poster switched to at the time

Milly33

Oh yeah I suppose I would mean pricey in the general shops more... Good slaves haha I get it..