Grain free diet food for cats!

SillyMangoX

Has anyone any recommendations on a good grain free low fat cat food?
Peach has been on a diet the last while, maxi zoo version of the hills metabolic, and while it is knocking the weight off her, it's not suiting her that well. She's getting very bad hair balls from it.
Dude now needs to go on a diet too to help with his pee problems, and he had such a sensitive tum and skin that he needs the better quality foods!
I was looking at James well beloved light which seems good but not grain free. Also Arden Grange light or Meowing heads fat cat slim. My only problem with these are where to get them!!
Has anyone here used them before?

morgana

Our lot has been on a grain-free foods for the last 2 1/2 years - the cat-approved wet foods are Animonda vom Feinsten, Catessy pate, Schlessir, Bonzita chuncks in jelly, Animonda carny and Miamor pouches. We tried many more which apparently did not meet our feline's idea of tasty :P
Dry food we used was Orijen and Purizon (still going strong) all sourced from Zooplus Germany - still the cheapest even with 10 euro shipping).
However, not sure of the fat content, we free feed and they don't seem to be overweight (maybe on the edge, lol, depending on their activity level, i.e. weather dependent )

SillyMangoX

I've tried literally every grain free wet food on zoo plus, the only one they think about eating is taste of the wild but they're tiny tins and work out a bit dear! They love the Cosma which does contain a small bit of rice but I'm happy enough once they're eating!
I picked up a bag of Arden grange light today in the pet shop so hopefully they'll take to it! Besides the diet food they were previously on applaws so I'm hoping this will be as good quality!

Nody

SillyMangoX wrote: »

I've tried literally every grain free wet food on zoo plus, the only one they think about eating is taste of the wild but they're tiny tins and work out a bit dear! They love the Cosma which does contain a small bit of rice but I'm happy enough once they're eating!
I picked up a bag of Arden grange light today in the pet shop so hopefully they'll take to it! Besides the diet food they were previously on applaws so I'm hoping this will be as good quality!

Well I've probably tried 75% of Zooplus one time or another at this stage but the thing with Cosma is that it's not complete. Similar to Cosma would be the Porta21 cans (neither complete).

What I've found success with recently were O'Canis and MAC's (need to order from the German site for them) and esp. MAC's is very good price for a can.

SillyMangoX

I'm not too worried about it not being complete as it only makes up a small part of their diet, they get what the need from the dry. I just split a tin between the 3 of them when they come in for the evening as I don't think the older 2 drink enough and it's easier to disguise the salmon oil in compared to the dry food!

Themadhouse

Happy cat la cuisine or acana. Ours are on those two.
We shave had great success with happy cat,la c ente. One cat on acana pacifica and it works really well for him.

Themadhouse

Meowing heads is OK here in short term but after 2 months we get regurgitation and bad poo. Have no idea why.

Dandelion6

Applaws dry food is complete and grain-free (their wet food is not complete). Also much cheaper than Orijen and other types.

SillyMangoX

The problem is none of them are low fat!

Nody

SillyMangoX wrote: »

The problem is none of them are low fat!

Only seen low fat as kibble and across the board with corn as filler for the lower meat/fat content.

SillyMangoX

Nody wrote: »

Only seen low fat as kibble and across the board with corn as filler for the lower meat/fat content.

I picked this one up, seems pretty similar to applaws but has a nice difference in fat content!
http://www.ardengrange.com/pet-food/cat-food.asp?id=39

Themadhouse

SillyMangoX wrote: »

The problem is none of them are low fat!

No but you feed a lesser amount of it, they fill up quicker . We have had huge weight loss here when we changed to grain free, applaws first but after \2 yrs they got fed up with it and needed a change. :-)

Do you free fed?

aonb

Jeez, getting my cat to actually eat is my main problem. shes not so much fussy, as no interest much, will eat what she likes, but seems to eat so little!

Is home cooked food for a cat a possibility?? I home cook for the dogs, and 'light' is an easy option for them...

SillyMangoX

Themadhouse wrote: »

No but you feed a lesser amount of it, they fill up quicker . We have had huge weight loss here when we changed to grain free, applaws first but after \2 yrs they got fed up with it and needed a change. :-)

Do you free fed?

Not really free feeding, they get their morning portion and get that over maybe 2 sittings cause they like to graze a bit, whatever is left over goes back in the bag, then in the evening they have a third of a tin of wet each and then their rest of their dry is left out over night! Dude is in the crate so none of the rest can get to his and I put cream out to the utility about 15 minutes before Peach so he has his eaten before she goes out!
A lot of the problem is the portion sizes that my parents give but at least if I can get the weight off with diet food I might eventually be able to teach them about portion sizes!

Nody

aonb wrote: »

Is home cooked food for a cat a possibility?? I home cook for the dogs, and 'light' is an easy option for them...

Yes; easiest way is to get an appropriate supplement like this to ensure they get the relevant taurin etc.

Milly33

Is it Diet Food as recommended by the Vet as such or is this just an idea? Not saying anything but diet food can be worse than the reg food... So with you on pets and family feeding them more than they should. we are between houses at the moment and the pooch stays elesewhere and the amount of food and bits she gets poor thing has put on loads...

No sure about being grain free but there is Sensible 33 on Zoo Plus online €33 for a 4kg bag.

The two cats at home love it. My chap has a sensitive belly suffers from infections and what not. I put him on the Royal Canine but just could not afford to pay that much.. The other cat at home is a very fussy eater and they both love the sensible.. It even looks wetish when you pour it out... The prefer this more than wet food now.. For the wet food we just give them Cosma Nature, I will say I even tasted this one time as if you didnt know it was cat food you would think it is chicken for a salad.. They get maybe a teaspoon of this with their wet food once max twice and day and that is enough for them...

SillyMangoX

Yep low fat food was recommended by vet, she recommended hills but that wasn't happening. So far they're loving the Arden grange mixed in their old food so hopefully it'll work out! I looked at the Cosma and it's only something like 1-3% fat so it is light enough

Milly33

I see, sure if the Arden is working that is great i hope it solves the problem.. Yeah my chap loves the cosma i must say it seems to be very close to just chicken or tuna not many additivies.. The hills is very pricey indeed that Zoo Plus site has some good deals if your into online shopping..I think id be lost without it..

dubjay

AATU cat food all natural. they were giving 1.5kg sample free bags out in pet depot belgard road last week.

snowgal

my poor cat has been put on a (imo) severe diet!! :eek: She is hugely over weight and I knew that myself, I have just being feeding her whenever she wants. Ive had cats all my life and none were ever overweight so I feel so bad now for tiggs. Anyway the Vet said Im only allowed feed her 3 teaspoons of dry food a day and thats it..:( Its very tough to go from wet and dry food to this. Shes looking at me, sad and hungry!! He said it didn't really matter which food but Im looking at Royal Canin light or applaws as she was on that before. If shes going to only have that amount then I want it to be something nutritious that fills her.

alpha13

i am attaching a link here that might be of interest to you.
i use the dog version of this and the guy is a proper animal nutritionist and has dogs and cats..
i personally found the food extremely good for my dog and was having issues beforehand... it is expensive.. BUT. it actually isnt.. as it lasts a long time.. you dont need to feed too much of it.
i get the 15kg bag of food for my dog..(i know i know.. not the same) the point is i get 2 months out of it. AND she is far far better healt and shape and fitness SINCE going on it..
not pushing anything.. just passing my personal experience and info on if it is any help
http:// www. roi. titanpetfoods. com/85-15-0-Eden-Cat-Food_c5. htm

Nody

snowgal wrote: »

my poor cat has been put on a (imo) severe diet!! :eek: She is hugely over weight and I knew that myself, I have just being feeding her whenever she wants. Ive had cats all my life and none were ever overweight so I feel so bad now for tiggs. Anyway the Vet said Im only allowed feed her 3 teaspoons of dry food a day and thats it..:( Its very tough to go from wet and dry food to this. Shes looking at me, sad and hungry!! He said it didn't really matter which food but Im looking at Royal Canin light or applaws as she was on that before. If shes going to only have that amount then I want it to be something nutritious that fills her.

I'd go with Applaws simply because it contains no grains; also look at trying to make a game of it (i.e. kibble in a box, kong or similar) to make her work a bit for the food (to help her lose weight faster).

dubjay

you could try feed her tuna and rice no fattening foods. lean turkey, fish etc and mix it in with the dry food. i feed my retriever this along with her diet food hills metabolic and she lost all her weight and maintains her current weight and her coat is shiny and healthy never hungry also.

snowgal

thanks. The Vet said not one more bit of wet food is to touch her lips! Only dry food, 3 teaspoons a day.But Im slowly decreasing the amount of wet food, she gets a spoon in the morning and a spoon at night, I didn't want to suddenly stop all together as I read it can be harmful to cats and can cause hepatic lipadosis.

aonb

Poor you OP - any fatty pet looking up in your face begging for food is torture!
Of course you feel bad cos the cat is hungry, and it was "your fault" for overfeeding her ... going from feeding her lots to 3 TEASPOONS :eek: of food in one swoop seems excessively hard - on you and the cat! Can you just taper the food down gradually to a very small portion, giving her zero treats/snacks?

Regardless of what the vet said, my sanity is more important than going from lots to zero in one go

kathleen37

So, 3 teaspoons of dry food, and it doesn't matter what sort? Hmmm, so how many grams is that? How much protein should she be getting? What about how much fat?

I'm pretty shocked at that. Really.

Ours are fed twice a day (no grazers) and they would all go mental if I attempted to feed them 3 teaspoons instead. None of them are overweight.

It appears your kitty obviously needs to lose weight, but I think for her sake, reducing gradually would benefit her more (**unless of course there is a specific medical reason she has to lose weight exceptionally quickly - but even then - surely the best type of food needs to be looked into???**) Then a bit of research into the best low fat dry food - further up in this thread will be an excellent place to start.

Dandelion6

Three teaspoons per day is extreme. I would get a second opinion.