Cheap cat food

Is it taurine that cats need? Read somewhere that the best 'cheap' food that has this is the lidls one. One of my cats is 17 and a fussy b1tch and she loves their little foils they do.

My siamese cat lived for 21 years on a diet of go-cat and water and a small amount of meat scraps. He was always very healthy and fit on it. My daughter gets IAMS when its buy1get1free and stocks up as its expensive - her cats love it and their coats are fabulous.

Please, please, do not give your cat milk.

Cats are lactose intolerant and it can cause all sorts of stomach problems.

Just because a cat likes something doesn't make it good for them. Cats like the taste of anti-freeze-apparently-but it is poison to them so you can't trust them to make decisions on whats best for their health.

If your cat likes the taste of milk, there's a new brand of lactose-free milk available to buy in bigger supermarkets. It's only available by the litre and it's very expensive in comparison to normal milk. But if you're going to feed him that, the best way is to freeze the milk in an ice cube tray and store the cubes in a plastic bag in the freezer. That way you can defrost as few or as many as you want without it going off and costing you a fortune.

A lot of cats live happy, healthy, lives on supermarket brand cat foods. Others have problems and little health niggles and special dietary requirements.
My best advice regarding food is to feed the best you can afford.
And by best I mean the one with the highest meat content.

We have four cats with different health problems and have found that a combination of Applaws, Orijen and Royal Canin kibble along with some raw fish and occasional treats usually keep them in tip-top health but it's not a cheap option.
I usually buy my dry food from zooplus online, wait for special offers and then buy in bulk. Zooplus have different sites for different countries and if you can work your way through the languages, there are often better offers to be had on some of the European sites and you still get free delivery when you spend a certain amount.
I've heard that some of the Maxi Zoo own brand foods are pretty good too and they regularly have special offers instore so it's worth keeping an eye out if there's one near where you live.
And don't be afraid to ask for a discount from Maxi Zoo if you're buying in bulk.
The first time I asked, my OH ran away in embarrassment but he's actually quite proud of my haggling skills by now as it saves us quite a bit over the course of a year. We get our cat litter from them and because we buy 5 or 6 large bags at a time, I ask for, and usually get, a discount for the bulk buy.
And in this day and age, every penny counts.

Allowing your cat to snack from plates or the bin is really not the best idea for him either although they can be a nightmare to keep an eye on when it comes to sneaking food. We have a cat who loves stilton, lime, curry, vanilla pate, chips and coffee (yeah - go figure) but most of them give her terrible squits.
She's a semi long-haired cat so that's never pleasant.
We have to rinse dishes or stack the dishwasher as we go or she'll be up at the sink looking to see what she can scavage before legging it to the litter tray and exploding.

Hopefully you'll find something that your little monster likes and that agrees with his digestive system and will end up saving you money in the long run as there'll be fewer trips to the vets.

Hey OP,

I agree with other posters here. The most expensive isn't always the best, sometimes cats do well on the supermarket brands. However, as your cat is sick, I would try another brand of food. It could be down to the lack of quality of the brand, or it could be due to allergies.

I've a cat that has allergies (to exactly what I'm not sure, I think she's grain sensitive, but I also think she's allergic to a protein as well, maybe pork), and a cat that is prone to UTI's, so it is difficult to find a food they are all healthy and happy on, as one always wants what the other is having. I currently use Porta 21 wet food, and Husse light dry food. The Porta I order from www.zooplus.ie , and the Husse I order off www.husse.ie.

Just looking at an Irish site (petbliss.ie), 2kg of Go Cat Adult is €11.20. I had a look at the gocat.co.uk website for feeding guidelines, and for an average 5 kg cat, they require 90 g a day. On zooplus, 2 kg of Porta 21 Feline Finest Sensible - Grain Free dry is €9.99, and an average 5 kg cat requires 60 grams a day. If you have a look around, you will be able to find a better quality food for less. As your cat is currently experiencing runs, try to find a food for sensitive cats, preferably free of cereals. From personal experience, I would also recommend trying to mix with wet as many cats do not drink enough water on their own and some can develop UTI's. My male gets UTI's, so he is on a 90% wet diet. He just gets a few nibbles of dry mixed in for texture and a few at bedtime. The girls I have on half dry, half wet.

If you switch food and the cat is still experiencing diahorea(sp?), I would try an exclusion diet. I had my female on boiled chicken mixed with vegetable baby food (she loved heinz sweet potato and carrot or Hipp organic mixed veg). She breaks out in scabs / bilsters, and I find it took up to 3 weeks before they really started to clear up. I mention chicken as it's generally the mildest. However, my friend's boxer is allergic to chicken and lamb, and only really does well on beef, so it can be case of trial and error.