Kitchen Garden Forum

hi all, back in late spring our two mature cats were getting rather thin, wingeing all the time, reluctantly eating or leaving their tinned cat food and not too keen on the dried stuff. we tried most of the tinned cat foods availabe in the supermarkets , the cats didn't really want to eat any of them. in hindsight having read the ingredients its not really surprising, so we then looked at cheap meatballs, luncheon meat etc, their ingredients didn't seem a lot better. so we have for several months been been giving them mainly tinned tuna with the odd can of corned beef or sardines along with the dry food. both cats not only look a lot glossier, they are far more contented and have both got a lot heavier and look like happy cats. what other good cost effective cat diets are there?

You have to be careful about feeding cats food that is meant for human consumption as it tends to have very high levels of salt in it. Cats may seem to like this food, and seem better for a while, but their kidneys will really suffer. Kidney failure is a very common cause of death in cats. Waitrose do a tuna in spring water, which our cat seems to like (very rare treat in our house!)

If their last check up at the vets with their jabs was satisfactory, I'd let them take it or leave it. Decide on the food you're going to give them, put it down and then refuse to listen to their wingeing. We've had this over the years we've had our cat. We follow the above, remind her she's only a stray and only called Cat and leave her to eat or not eat. She generally eats in the end. Sometimes takes a day or so.It's unlikely they'd both be ill. Cats can take their owners for a ride over food and general comforts.

I am fairly tough on our cat and find that if he demands food and turns his nose up it is generally because he is supplementing what I give him - I usually shove a worm tablet down him and let him take it or leave it. He isn't going to starve himself to death but you do have to be careful with other diets, I know dog food isn't good if fed long term.
Just be tough - they can always go out and catch something if they don't like what you are offering them!

Don't forget, onions (and other related bulbs) are toxic to cats... something to do with breaking down the walls of their red blood cells.

I feed my cats Iams... I know it's on the pricey side but it keeps them in tip-top condition, and (as mine are indoor cats) makes their poos smell better!

Also, don't forget that you don't have to feed them loads of the Iams biscuits, so a packet does go quite a long way!

(p.s. I'm not condoning any brand particularly, Hills science plan is also quite good!)

If I could catch it, I'd feed the local tomcat to the rotweiller next door...

You need to be very careful feeding human food to cats, not only becasue of the salt, but also the general balance. Tuna on it's own will cause pancreatitis as well as beggaring up their kidneys, plus it doesn't have any/enough Taurine in it. They will suffer in the end. Find a catfood that they like and supplement it with other bits and pieces. Our cat is dying of renal failure and is very thin and weedy looking, though still (currently) happy, so not time for the V.E.T yet. There's nothing he likes better than roast chicken, especially if he can scrounge a bit off my husband's plate!

Love and compost
Linda

I've always used Iams for my cats - and they have all lived to at least 18-19 years. That's all they have plus clean water of course. They do catch the odd mouse and eat it but not often. Their teeth are perfect and fur is thick and glossy.

Isn't there a forum for cats, I thought we were talking about gardening. I give up.
Jo

Well....the title did say cats..you could have opted out of this one Jo.
We're not catist round here are we? I suppose we can talk about anything in General Chatter.

Well I thought it would be at least to do with gardens, like how to stop them digging up seed beds. Or even seedlings.
Jo

And now I'm a guest! I told it to log me in automatically too.
Jo

Hi Jo,
I keep telling it to log me on automatically too but it doesn't seem to take any notice,I have to keep ticking the box.
Oh,by the way how do you keep well fed cats off the garden?

So you are talkinG about cats, ha!

Feeding cats on a garden forum? I have one that feeds itself on local wildlife (mostly pigeons and pheasants)and therefor earns its place by the stove and seems to know instinctivly that it will loose a life or three if it even thinks about c***ing in a raised bed. It gets the odd treat, usually with a worming tablet hidden in it and its the biggest glossyest cat I've ever seen! Fussy eaters get no sympathy in our house and that includes the children.