Cheap cat food

KittyMcM

Am i a terrible person for giving my cat supermarket cat food i.e GoCat? He had diarrhea couple months ago, brought him to the vet and she couldn't see anything wrong with him but gave me a bag of food for e21.99 a bag (I really can't afford to pay for that everytime I'm out).Went back to supermarket food after and he has had diarrhea twice in a month. I can't figure out is this because of the food or the fact he is constantly whinging for food and will do anything to get it i.e. routing through the kitchen bin/licking dinner plates. The giving of milk seems to be a contentious issue on Boards so I'll just say I only give a couple tablespoons mixed with water. If ye feel this is a terrible thing, I will find the money to feed the loveable furball 'properly';).

sh1tstirrer

You could buy aldi super cat dry food and mix it with aldi wet food (6 can pack). Cats won't eat the dry food on its own but will eat it when mixed with wet food. Works out a lot cheaper than feeding all can food.

Shanao

Hey OP, the thing about cats is that they are obligate carnivores, meaning they should be taking in high levels of meat. Which the supermarket brands are quite low in. GoCat, whiskas, kitekat, etc, rely instead on using grains and cereals to bulk out their foods, which cats cant digest very well. The aldi/lidl stuff is pretty much the same. I have four cats and I'm currently feeding them on a mix of Royal Canin and Maxi Zoo's own brand select gold digestion and they're doing very well on it. Our oldest cat used to throw up every other food, the two youngests get diarrhea if they dont get the Select gold and the fourth cat has to have the big kibbles of the royal canin maine coon food for his teeth. If I could feed them an all raw diet I would, but its very difficult to do with cats because of their habit of dragging their food away; i used to find chicken wings under the beds etc, and that was when they only got them as treats. The Royal Canin/Select Gold foods are pretty high in meat compared to the supermarket brand, and I'm guessing it was Royal Canin your vet gave you. Though they cost that bit more, they really do make a huge difference to the cats.
And on the milk thing, best to just get him off of it completely and give him water on its own instead. One of my guys climbs into the sink and tries to turn on the tap for water; they wouldn't even drink the cat milk that the OH bought for them once.

ziggy23

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.

mymo

You're not an awful person, we all have a budget for ourselves and our pets.
Try to feed the best you can afford, look for named meat (chicken, beef, pork etc) and not meat and by products (which can be any part of any animal).
Foods like Burns cat food is about €25-30 for 7.5 kgs which should last you a few months, would be good, James wellbeloved is a good brand too, take a look online Zooplus is good, but there are other sites (google online pet shops Ireland).
I feed some wet and some dry as recommended by my vet, I also give raw mince meat when I have it, about 2 tea spoon fulls, chunks of stewing beef, chicken wings, stuff like that. All raw and good for their teeth.

The reason to avoid supermarket brands is they are often poor quality meats in them, lots of fillers and chemicals, and they are designed to make cats want more by adding flavours and stuff.
The better quality stuff you feed less of, the cat can digest it better and get more out of it. It also means less waste and if your cat smells a bit in the toilet department, it should improve with better food.

All you can do is your best, don't worry, enjoy your cat.

What shanao said^

maringo

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.

ziggy23

maringo wrote: »

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.

Yea I deffo think it depends on the cat I spend a fortune on royal canin dried food for my other cat (as recommended by my vet) and then he gets crystals in his urine which can be caused by dry food...you can't win!

MaryK666

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.

maringo

The secret with dry food is lots of water but some animals just don't like drinking much water so it could cause health problems for them.

comongethappy

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.

Justask

In tescos at the moment they have Whiskas pouches BOGOF thats good value if you buy them in bulk

planetX

Justask wrote: »

In tescos at the moment they have Whiskas pouches BOGOF thats good value if you buy them in bulk

I have a cupboard full from this offer - now my cats have decided that pouches in gravy are no longer acceptable.

OP, I free-feed Gocat dry with occasional whiskas pouches. Recently one of my cats was sick so I upgraded to Royal Canin sensitive - as a result of this he is now obese. Didn't realise I would have to control the quantity as it's much much higher fat. I have too many cats to be measuring out how much each one has, and feeding seperately. Back to Gocat...

Justask

planetX wrote: »

I have a cupboard full from this offer - now my cats have decided that pouches in gravy are no longer acceptable.

.

I was mortified I felt like one of those mad cat ladies with a trolley full of it. :cool: The girl at the till said 'god how many cats do you have????' Eh one