Wet or Dry???

[Donna]

Originally Posted by EmmaG

I do buy highlife food, mainly the poultry and meat varieties as it contains 60% meat, I think Felix "looks as good as it taste" has only got 4% meat !!!

Is that all???????????? What else is in there then???????????

[EmmaG]

I know in America there are companies that provide raw food (frozen I think it is) not sure if there is anybody in the UK providing this service. I also believe with a raw diet that the pet should be fed nearly all of the raw source not just select bits, as there is a certain enzyme that cats need (not sure which bits are necessary I think it is in the offal somewhere)

Perhaps Fran can tell us a bit more??

[Donna]

I am not saying we should all raw feed, as that is not practical to most people, but wet food yes.

Didnt realise biscuits were so bad for them - Chloe was eating more and more of the biscuits and less and less of the meat.

Now I dont put biscuits down she is eating meat again. So am happy with that.

[EmmaG]

Donna actually it might have a bit more than that (that 4% was just the tuna), here is what the ingredients state

Meat and animal derivatives, vegetable protein extract, fish and fish derivatives (of which tuna 4%) various sugars (??????) minerals, contains EC permitted colourant.

[Donna]

So even feeding "normal" meat products isnt really doing them a great favour either????????????

[Fran]

Originally Posted by EmmaG

I know in America there are companies that provide raw food (frozen I think it is) not sure if there is anybody in the UK providing this service. I also believe with a raw diet that the pet should be fed nearly all of the raw source not just select bits, as there is a certain enzyme that cats need (not sure which bits are necessary I think it is in the offal somewhere)

Perhaps Fran can tell us a bit more??

I feed my dogs on a raw meaty bone diet...they have offal and veggies too. I think feeding raw to cats is somewhat more complicated. I think cats have to have meat in their diet where as dogs do not I only feed my cats raw as a treat and then only four of them will actually eat it. I don't think I would feel confident enough to feed the cats totally raw???

[dinahsmum]

Very interesting.

I've been thinking of feeding the new boys on barf or whatever you'd like to call it, and I've sen the recipe in that article before (Think it was Nat who pointed me to it.) Anyone know how much the grinders cost? (or will a top of the range Magimix chop rabbit and chicken bones - shouldn't think so, or rather it will chop and leave nasty sharp bits rather than grind.)

Our first cat (Sissons) a neutered male was fed on wet and dry but suffered several bad bouts of urine retention caused by stones, probably aggravated by dry food. But that was 30 years ago, when it was first developed. I think it has improved greatly since then.

My current two are hopeless on wet cat food and just puke it (not all the time, but often enough to really put me off). So, they have tinned tuna in springwater for breakfast and dry all the rest of the time. Occasionally pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce, which they love but it's hardly ideal cat food.

My girls are approaching 16 ad 18 and fit as fleas on the above. Dry food does not seem to have harmed them.

Wet food does not help with their teeth, which get worse and worse as they live longer than nature ever designed them for.

It's nice to think 'romantic' thoughts about our cats living 'naturally'.......but they don't. If they did they'd be out in the open not in front of our fires and they would be living on mice and birds. Being natural would mean not neutering, so toms would be prone to fight abcesses and females would be exhausted from raising litters. They would be fortunate to reach their teens, let alone approach twenty.Don't think we should beat ourselves up over the way we feed them.

Mmm - random ramblings - sorry! But I am attracted by raw feeding and may well do it. Brought my kids up on 'real' food not jars, tins or packets, so maybe I can do it for my new fur-kids?

[EmmaG]

I think if your cat is likely to have bladder problems or problems with crystals a wet diets is definitely better than dried. I tend to buy my cats highlife and normal felix food. Sometimes they might have whiskers, occasionally they will have some dried food and that is Sainsburys paws.

[dinahsmum]

You woudn't want to know what some 'animal derivatives' are

[Donna]

Originally Posted by dinahsmum

Very interesting.

I've been thinking of feeding the new boys on barf or whatever you'd like to call it, and I've sen the recipe in that article before (Think it was Nat who pointed me to it.) Anyone know how much the grinders cost? (or will a top of the range Magimix chop rabbit and chicken bones - shouldn't think so, or rather it will chop and leave nasty sharp bits rather than grind.)

Our first cat (Sissons) a neutered male was fed on wet and dry but suffered several bad bouts of urine retention caused by stones, probably aggravated by dry food. But that was 30 years ago, when it was first developed. I think it has improved greatly since then.

My current two are hopeless on wet cat food and just puke it (not all the time, but often enough to really put me off). So, they have tinned tuna in springwater for breakfast and dry all the rest of the time. Occasionally pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce, which they love but it's hardly ideal cat food.

My girls are approaching 16 ad 18 and fit as fleas on the above. Dry food does not seem to have harmed them.

Wet food does not help with their teeth, which get worse and worse as they live longer than nature ever designed them for.

It's nice to think 'romantic' thoughts about our cats living 'naturally'.......but they don't. If they did they'd be out in the open not in front of our fires and they would be living on mice and birds. Being natural would mean not neutering, so toms would be prone to fight abcesses and females would be exhausted from raising litters. They would be fortunate to reach their teens, let alone approach twenty.Don't think we should beat ourselves up over the way we feed them.

Mmm - random ramblings - sorry! But I am attracted by raw feeding and may well do it. Brought my kids up on 'real' food not jars, tins or packets, so maybe I can do it for my new fur-kids?

Interesting comments there DM. Yes the teeth would suffer without the odd biscuit to crunch on, and yes they have adapted to our world so their food should adapt too?? But again, each cat is different, each owner is different, each of our lives are different, so we all have different points of views on what is good and what is not.

I think I will cut the munchings during the day and just give them two meals a day with a small sprinkle of biscuits on top so their teeth stay healthy.