Good pet food!?!?

[torsie24]

A couple of you might have read my post about Bella (my cat) not being well lately, or mght have seen my angry FB status updates regarding her.

She had a suspected UTI which turned out to be worms we think, (as tapeworm can cause frequent weeing and she has been catching a few mice/shrews lately who are the main worm culprit!) the worm medicine seems to have cleared it up and she is back to only getting in the box a couple of times a day!

But when I thought it was a UTI I was talking about it to a lady in our pet shop and she asked what we feed Bella and I said Iams/James Wellbeloved/Royal Canin and she instantly was like - 'oh well they give cats lots of problems'. I have been buying her these foods, as they claim to be amongst the best ones, for 4 years. Why I've never thought to look at the ingrediants I don't know, but needless to say I was appauled! (7% ASH!!)

This has sent me on a huge cat nutrition search over the last few days, and I have discovered that all of these 'premium' foods, Iams, Eukanuba, Hills Science Plan, Royal Canin etc. Contain hardly any real meat or prodcuts that our epts need to eat, and we are being tricked by all the advertising into thinking we are doing the best by them.

I feel like such a bad mummy Poor Bella, she relies purely on me to make sure she has the healthiest life possible and I have let her down in the biggest way I can.

My research has led me to 2 foods however that look great! They contain no wheat, and the only carbohydrate in them are from vegetables which make up 20% of the food and the other 80% is meat, and real meal, that humans would find acceptable to eat! As most of the 'premium' foods count meat as hooves, trotters, snouts, feathers (?!?) etc.

They are called Applaws and Orijen, and I have ordered some to be delivered tomorrow. I can;t wait to see what bella thinks of them (although I will need to start by mixing it with her Royal Canin as the jump from 30% to 80% protein can make their tummies a bit funny apparently.

Just wanted to let all you DISers know.

 

[T16GEM]

Wow - I didn't have a clue about this, that is terrible.
I hope Bella likes her new food and that she is better soon!

 

[Claire L]

Be careful with that much protein as it can cause kidney problems, or make any existing problems worse. We find the Felix foods in pouches to be very good for our cats.

Claire

 

[torsie24]

Thank you.

She is miles better today, but I felt so guilty this morning watching her munch down on her evil Ash food.

Good news is our new food has shipped, so by the weekend she will be eating a lot healthier!

 

[torsie24]

Be careful with that much protein as it can cause kidney problems, or make any existing problems worse. We find the Felix foods in pouches to be very good for our cats.

Claire

Oh no!! See it's so confusing! Urgh, there is jsut no final answer on what's good and what isn't.

If I had the time and money I would jsut give her fresh meat every day. But then that'd be like 100% protein - which surely is what they should be eating anyway?

 

[Pinky166]

I know exactly what you mean about the ingredients labels on pet foods - it's disgusting!

Unfortunately I have one dog with a weak stomach that can not tolerate many foods, he has James Wellbeloved I don't think they are bad as some. My other dog is allergic to Barley, Rice & Soya (along with all types or weeds & grass ) It is such a pain trying to find food for her to eat as they do not list the ingredients so we have to call up & ask We are limited to a number of foods again with her, currently she is on Walfcol Potato & Salmon....but she should be on a special prescribed food to help with joints (she has hip dysplasia) but it contains rice & barley.

 

[Claire L]

Ash is not really what it appears -

Why is there ash in cat food?

Because meat that is prepared for cat food is cooked at a high temperature, it leaves a residue of ash. Within the ash, there is calcium, magnesium, calcium, potassium and other trace minerals. Therefore; food with a higher proportion of meat content will contain more ash. However, better quality meat will produce less ash. Cats require a certain amount of ash in their diets so it cannot be eliminated completely.

Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease

Over the years, cat owners were told to avoid buying cat food with high ash content because it was one of the major causes of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). Ash was responsible for the cultivation of crystals in cat urine, thus blocking the urinary tract.

Recent studies have proved that high amounts of ash do not necessarily cause FLUTD.

HTH

Claire

 

[torsie24]

Thanks Claire, I was hoping it was jsut Ash from the cooking process.

All I want is to find a website with a definitive answer of the best food I can get. But of course eveyone is being paid by different companies to call theirs the 'best'. even the vets! Urgh - what a pain!

 

[Claire L]

FLUTD info sheet from Cats Protection.

Claire

 

[Pegasus928]

When we were looking into buying our first dog DW spent hours on the internet doing the research so we knew what we were letting ourselves in for.
We learnt about all the bad things in foods such as Iams, butchers dog etc and decided to go down the raw meat route. (I think it's called the BARF diet)
All the food we give Mason for his main evening meal is 100% meat and bone, and 3 times a week we feed him raw chicken wings to help keep his teeth clean and sharp. For breakfast he has a kibble as it has all the vitamins and nutrients he also needs (he is still a puppy after all).
I must admit to not being totally up to speed with his diet and the names of the food we buy as DW takes care of that side of things (what with me being away so much and all that) but I am sure she will reply if anyone would like to know more.
The obvious benefits to Mason are in his digestive system and the fact that he looks healthy and with a soft and shiny coat. Peopl are always stopping him the street and saying how gorgeous he looks and how soft he feels, and we put that purely down to his diet.
I'm pretty sure the company that make this type of food also do cat versions.

One final thing that winds us up - as it does with most people on here I see - is how difficult it is to get the advice you need. Even the vets are in league with the manufacturers and will only advise on the ones who have put most money into their practise (a bit like a pub only sells the breweries own beer I suppose) but with the welfare of our pets at stake it shouldn't be like this

 

[torsie24]

One final thing that winds us up - as it does with most people on here I see - is how difficult it is to get the advice you need. Even the vets are in league with the manufacturers and will only advise on the ones who have put most money into their practise (a bit like a pub only sells the breweries own beer I suppose) but with the welfare of our pets at stake it shouldn't be like this

It's awful isn't it? Surely there has to be one person who's made a website somewhere that hasn't been bribed by someone adn will jsut give an honest and factually correct review for us!

I hit a lot of pet care forums yesterday, and that's where I got information about Applaws and Orijen from, along with a lot of great reviews from people who already feed their pets on them.

(I heard in the pet shop about Bakers - urgh - what an awful diet for anyone poor doggies!)

Applaws also do some great canned cat foods, all natural, so i might get Bella some of thsoe, but she currently snubs any sort of moist cat food. She loves tinned tuna, but I buy her tuna cat food, which to me loks exactly the same as canned tuna I buy for humans, and she wont eat it! I would like her to get some more moisture though.

 

[saratogagirl]

I have to be honest and say that my cats have come on in leaps and bounds since I have added Royal Canin biscuits to their diet. I use the indoor mature and they love it, they are greedy piggies and they also love felix pouches and tinned tuna, and of course the poncey little tin they get when I go shopping once a week !!

 

[Deedee]

My cats are eating Sheba at the moment because they are going through a "picky phase" They won't eat felix, whiskers or kit e cat any more they just turn their noses up at it. They did eat morrisons own at one point but they went off that too. Theyre worse than kids

 

[torsie24]

I wish Bella would eat more things!

She loves her cat biscuits, and tinned tuna, and has eaten beef once or twice.

But we offer her everything we eat, chicken, salmon, cheese, bacon, and she either just sniffs it and walks away, or if it's something like cream or yoghurt on our finger she'll think we want to stroke her and rub her face on our hands and cover her head in food!

She just doesn't get excited over food at all. Which is a pain as it means we can't use bribery!

 

[jns]

My cats are eating Sheba at the moment because they are going through a "picky phase" They won't eat felix, whiskers or kit e cat any more they just turn their noses up at it. They did eat morrisons own at one point but they went off that too. Theyre worse than kids

Ok are all cats like this as my cat is so picky too ,

 

[Pegasus928]

When we were looking into buying our first dog DW spent hours on the internet doing the research so we knew what we were letting ourselves in for.
We learnt about all the bad things in foods such as Iams, butchers dog etc and decided to go down the raw meat route. (I think it's called the BARF diet)
All the food we give Mason for his main evening meal is 100% meat and bone, and 3 times a week we feed him raw chicken wings to help keep his teeth clean and sharp. For breakfast he has a kibble as it has all the vitamins and nutrients he also needs (he is still a puppy after all).
I must admit to not being totally up to speed with his diet and the names of the food we buy as DW takes care of that side of things (what with me being away so much and all that) but I am sure she will reply if anyone would like to know more.
The obvious benefits to Mason are in his digestive system and the fact that he looks healthy and with a soft and shiny coat. Peopl are always stopping him the street and saying how gorgeous he looks and how soft he feels, and we put that purely down to his diet.
I'm pretty sure the company that make this type of food also do cat versions.

One final thing that winds us up - as it does with most people on here I see - is how difficult it is to get the advice you need. Even the vets are in league with the manufacturers and will only advise on the ones who have put most money into their practise (a bit like a pub only sells the breweries own beer I suppose) but with the welfare of our pets at stake it shouldn't be like this

Hi Mrs Peg here

Not sure if you have seen this site or whether it is of any use to you http://www.crpf.org.uk/index.php?section=528

Orijen is an excellent food It is quite a lot more expensive than most as it comes from Canada but I am sure Bella will love it. Mason is on Arden Grange http://www.ardengrange.com/ for his first meal of the day and then as Kenny says it is raw food and lots of fruit and veg for his tea (he eats better than I do )

Raw (must not be fed cooked to animals as they can splinter) chicken wings and carrots are his toothbrush

Don't worry too much about the ash percentage as 7-9% is normal for most good foods but be more wary of the fibre content. It ideally should be lower than 4% (the lower the better) as a high fibre content means the food travels too quickly through their systems and they don't absorb as many of the nutrients as they should.

Let us know if Bella like her new food

Mrs Pegasus (Elaine)

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Claire has this covered but all theses percentages change when you take the water content into consideration.

Ask the vet nurses what they feed there cats, they dont normally get a cut of the profits or bribes so they will usually be more down to earth than the vets.

Torsie , I dont understand, I think it is great your cat loves her cat biscuits, WHY? would you try to feed her all that other stuff that could upset her tummy and rot her teeth?
Maybe i misunderstand?

My cats got hills, or hills or water or hills(you get the idea!)
Or fresh food or hills. :~)

 

[torsie24]

Thank you Mrs Peg! That crpf link is great!!

Orlando the beagle - I don't want to feed her cheese and cream etc. But I just meant it'd be nice if she liked real meat, she won't even eat fresh chicken, salmon or pork (which would be good for her)! And I put in yoghurt and cheese as examples too as I've never met another cat who doesn't love them as little treats.

 

[Claire L]

Ok are all cats like this as my cat is so picky too ,

Yes all cats can be picky at times, our three are just the same!

Claire

 

[torsie24]

Yes all cats can be picky at times, our three are just the same!

Claire

It's part of their feline 'charm'

There's realyl funny magnet I sw somewhere that has a picture of a cat on, and it says "Just treat me as you would the Queen" - that is totally something Bella would say if she could talk!!