Hello,
I recently posted about my two 4 mth old kittens one of which had diarrhoea since I got them. I had great responses, thank you to everyone, it certainly gave me lots to think about

I tried the dried food recommended by the vet but stopped that almost straight off as he started drinking gallons.

I'm introducing raw beef mince(as kindly recommended by Hobbs2004) to see if it is a chicken intolerance. He was originally feed on pets at home chicken pouches for kittens.

He is having 3 meals of 80% raw mince mixed with 20% chicken pouch, plus all chicken pouch for lunch. (Lunch is fed on a timer whilst I'm at work & I don't want raw mince out all day). It is early days but I think his poo is looking slightly firmer.

Obviously I should replace the chicken pouch and mince with non chicken cat food, but it is really hard to find kitten food that is not chicken. I have had a look on Zooplus and the Grau kitten option contains turkey.

Also I have noticed in Zooplus they have a new brand called Terra Felis that has just beef (cooked).

My questions are

1) If a kitten has a chicken intolerance is this likely to also apply to turkey?
2) Do kittens have to be fed food that specifies kitten? Is it just a calorie thing?
3) I feel that I could not feed a tinned raw food on a timer (I'm out for the day) because of hygiene. Do you agree?
4) Has anyone tried the Terra Felis? (It is v pricey but I would give it a go to see if it is the chicken causing the problems.)

Sorry for the mammoth post, I really want to get the next step right. and although I have always loved cats this is my first time owning them

Most likely yes. Any feathered friend should be out of bounds

You don't need to worry about kitten food. So the variety you can get in normal grau that is none chicken is greater.

You mean put it in a timed feeder? If that one has cooling elements then I don't see why that is a problem. Alternatively, if you use frozen raw food, then you could just put some frozen food in a bowl when you go out and it will defrost naturally during the day and be there for your cat to eat.


The Terra Felis stuff is insanely expensive. Now I love my German food but that is a tad too much. I personally would stick to Grau or check out the German foods you can get for less money from German online shops.

So, your cat is eating the raw beef? Then I would perhaps check out the likes of Raw to Go for some properly balanced raw minces if you have the freezer space.

Thank you for your help, Hobbs. Yes it is a feeder timer I've got. It does have a ice pack but I was still a bit worried about the hygiene.

Leo is happily eating the raw beef, and I have given some to his brother and he likes it too. But unfortunately frozen delivery would be no good for me. I can't get delivery at my work. At the moment I test my husband's patience by sending huge boxes from Zooplus containing cat trees etc to his work! I don't think a bulk load of raw frozen meat turning up as well would go down too well, shame!

Adult food from Zooplus is the next step I think...

Whereabouts in the country are you?

The other thing you could do if you would like to continue feeding them raw while you sort something, is to get Felini Complete from zooplus. Essentially you just need to add that to meat. I wouldn't say that that is a long-term solution but that would give you time to see what else you can get.

my kittens have been on grau adult food for nearly 3 weeks now it dont make a difference between kitten and adult they are both "complete" and give your cat everything they need

mine love it!

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Hello, newbie here! I realise that this is an old thread, but I thought I'd add my related questions here rather than start a new one; hope that's okay.

Looking at the Grau Gourmet Kitten food at Zooplus, it seems that unlike the adult variety, it doesn't contain any grains, yet it's not called 'grain free' - why would that be? Is it a legal thing, the same way some chocolate has to say 'may contain nuts' even though they aren't in the ingredients list, just because they're made at the same facility/line as products that do have nuts in? Or is there some wheat/gluten or something similar in the kitten variety that Zooplus don't list on their product page?

What would be the benefit of one over the other of feeding either kitten or adult Grau to a young kitten? (8/9 weeks old.)

Are all the highly recommended foods, like Macs, also suitable for the healthy development of a kitten? I only ask so many questions about adult formulas because I asked Smilla (the manufacturer, not Zooplus) if their wet food was okay to give to a kitten, and they said you would need to supplement it with a dry kitten food as it doesn't have all the necessary nutrients.

Is there a problem with feeding cats a beef-heavy diet on a regular basis? It doesn't seem to be one of the preferred meats amongst the comments I've read regarding pet food, yet one of the brands I was most keen on, Animonda Carny, is beef-based. I'm on a limited income for the foreseeable future, but I don't want to feed my new kitten rubbish just for the sake of saving a few pennies. I'm looking for the best balance between quality and affordability. I'd love to try some Macs, but if the postage from Germany is the same as or more than the price of a few sample pouches or tins themselves, that would work out too expensive for me to be anything other than an occasional treat...

Well, that was a lot of rambling, I hope some of it made sense and that all these questions haven't been asked too many times before! Thanks for your patience.

Hey newbie, welcome to the PF. I shall try to answer your questions

Nope, the Grau kitten food contains vegetables instead of grains as sources of fibre. There are no regulations as far as I know that say that those foods that don't contain no grains need to be labelled to be "grain-free". That is left to the manufacturers discretion.

The adult (grain or grain-free) Grau gives you a greater access to flavours.

As an aside, the manufacturer who makes Smilla - Matina GMbH - are a subsidiary of zooplus. They make food specifically for zooplus and have the same board members.

Curious answer though. True, kitten food tends to be slightly higher in protein and fat, thus making it slightly more calorific, and tends to contain slightly more minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus, and higher vitamin levels. They also need slightly more taurine. There are no "magic" ingredients that I am aware of that need to be in kitten food that isn't in adult food. They just need to have more of certain things.

As long as you get good quality food that is complete and that contains a good protein and fat content, then you can feed that and just feed a little more of it.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about feeding a food that is beef-based. The reason I wouldn't worry is because I wouldn't just feed one brand but three or so brands to mix it all up a bit. So, you could feed Animonda as well as Grau as well as Bozita or Smilla for example. Or Leonardo once they confirm that their food is once again a complete food. Watch that space.

Depending on what you read, cats shouldn't eat lamb, pork or beef because they aren't part of their "natural" prey animals. A cat would also struggle with a chicken or duck and wouldn't eat that very often.

Now, I agree with that line of reasoning but it is darn hard finding cat food that actual contains their "natural" prey, such as mice, rats, insects, little birds, squirrel. Granted, you can find rabbit but that tends to be cut with other meats, such as chicken or lamb because it would be too expensive.

IMO, as animals differ in their nutrient profiles, the best you can do is to feed as many different protein sources as you can find. As different brands of cat food differ in their nutrient profiles, feed a few brands in rotation. That also gets rid of the food boredom problem and doesn't leave you up the creek should they change the recipe or stop trading.

Hope that helps a little

Hobbs, thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of my questions in such detail. You've given me a lot to think about, while at the same time putting my mind at rest!

I will definitely buy a selection of brands and flavours ahead of my new kitten arriving, and try to make sure I have enough of each to do a steady transition from one to the other.

I've had cats all my life, but it's only in recent years that I have come to realise that so much of the food that's easily available is not doing them any good. One of my cats suffered from a blocked bladder and another became diabetic, both quite likely due to the vet-advised low meat content dry diet I had them on at the time.

This same vet insisted that cats do not need variety, they need consistency, which I suppose on reflection doesn't make much sense when you consider that they're opportunistic predators in their natural environment. I doubt many wild cats would turn down a robin or a frog just because they've been eating voles all week! (I'd imagine the fact that cats have lived alongside humans for thousands of years would mean that they've applied that same opportunistic nature to us and have been sharing some of the same meats that we eat, like beef and pork, for centuries too...) But to be honest, when someone official in a white coat tells me something I have a tendency to believe it!

There are so many different opinions out there that it seems like the more you read, the more confused you get, but your breakdown of the facts makes a lot of sense, so thanks once again for pointing me and my kitten in the right direction.


P.S. I think I might give Macs a whirl too, even if I can't afford to feed it all the time; it sounds so good in your A-Z list. Anyone got any idea whether we could somehow collectively petition Zooplus to start stocking it?

Interesting question for you, Hobbs. What if you have an awkward blighter who'll only eat one brand? Cuz I got me one! And it's not even a good brand! Hills is the flavour of the month, Ok, of the year, around here, and no matter what I do to encourage the change, it doesn't go down well. I've tried Anamonda, Grau, Smilla, Bozita. Patae/chunks/jelly/gravy. Raw food, brewers yeast, crushed kibble, crushed treats, whole treats, whole kibble... The list goes on! I've tried minces and whole foods with bones still in, chunks and food put through my blender, but nothing hits the spot just like that Hills does! I suppose I can't complain though. At least she's eating a little wet, but I do agree that it's important to feed a few different brands. It just so happens that my cat doesn't agree!

I am looking at the Grau kitten foods and was just wondering whether I should feed my new kittens both the wet and dry foods?