thank you both SO much, you have no idea how much better I feel for your comments! and thank you for the advice re the dried treats, will make sure I bear that in mind!

You know when you really feel strongly about something and somebody goes 'er ..no!' it kind of knocks you back a bit! so thank you very much both!

can I just check re the whole 'complete' and 'complementary' thing? from what ive read am assuming its right that the pouch and the dry should be complete to make sure they are getting things such a taurine in right amounts, but is fine to give them complementray such as Applaws and raw or cooked chicken etc in the evening too?

is minefield lol! I swear feeding my children was never so complicated! neither was the dogs or the horses! xxxxxx