Hi everyone,

I have started to switch Tosca from Whiskas kitten pouches to Science Plan kitten pouches. I heard so many bad things about Whiskas. Is Science Plan any good? He is 6 months old now and I am giving him 1/2 pouch in the morning, 1/2 at 12noon, 1/2 at 5pm and 1/2 just before bed as well as 40g of James Wellbeloved dry food.. Is this enough or too much? He always seems to want to eat our food after he has eaten his dinner. I have given him bits of turkey which I am cooking for roast today. I am feeling sorry for him as he was castrated, micro-chipped and had a blood test last Friday.

Thanks
Jo

Personally I would not feed dry:
The Truth About Dry Cat Food from Blakkatz

Toxic Pet Food

I feed raw,but always fed wet to my past cats. This is a superior wet pouched food, and I see you're in the UK so you can get it:
Lily's Kitchen • Organic Pet Food, Holistic Pet Care - Certified Holistic Pet Food • Organic dog food recipes • Organic cat food recipes • Lily's Kitchen are ethical producers of organic, holistic, pet foods providing optimum nutr

It has minimum 60% meat, is organic, and grain-free. Cats are not made to process grain carbs, and it damages their health.

It seems like quite a lot of food you're feeding your Tosca, but part of this is that he is growing. The other part is that the food you're giving him is full of filler, and doing him little nutritional good. You will find that with Lily's, or another high meat content, grain-free food, he will feel more satisfied after his meal. If you continue to give him some dry, don't mix it with wet, as this creates a perfect environment for bacteria, even if stored in the fridge. If you switch him to a high quality organic food, you will see differences in his health, the softness of his coat and energy levels. If you thought about switching to a balanced raw diet, you would see even more benefits, including odourless poops, and less of them. His teeth would also get regular cleaning from the meat, and his jaws a great daily work-out.

Thanks very much for your reply. I have looked at the websites and Lilys looks really good. I want to give Tosca the best diet and not pay a fortune for rubbish food. I dont mind paying money for good food. The raw diet diet seems really good. I am going to read up on the net about it..

Thanks
Jo

Feline nutrition is one of those areas which has been complicated by the market explosion of pet-foods, really only in the past 20 years. I am so pleased to hear that you are going to do further research, and are interested in getting Lily's. I sent the ingredients and analysis to a person in the US who is studying feline nutrition, feeds all her own cats (26 of them) a raw diet, and she said Lily's was excellent in her opinion. It works out at less than £1 per pouch, and I think it's fantastic value for money, compared to the absolutely scandalous contents of some of the brands. Bear in mind that many of these big companies have only commercial success in mind, and for that reason many of them have sponsorship agreements with vet colleges and clinics, so the vets agree to plug them, and even sell their products. It is scurrilous practice, and I am certain it gives some caring vets sleepless nights, but they have to go along with it if they work for a bigger practice, or need the backing. And of course, bottom line is that it is not in vets' interest to promote good feline nutrition, as the fall-out of that is less vet visits for our cats!! Good luck to you and Tosca in your search for the best diet. He has many hours of good chewing ahead (we're beginning to broach the whole BONES issue in this house - it's only MY fear we have to get over - the girls are dying for it!)

This is what Hills and Science Plan get up to, by the way:
Uncaged Campaigns: Pet food and animal testing (read 'Brands to boycott')
Buyer's guide to pet food
(read 'Meaty issues' paragraph)
I wouldn't buy these mainstream dregs now if they paid ME. I used to though, before I started to do a bit of closer looking. And it's all in the name of pet welfare!

Lastly, if you are considering feeding raw at some stage, here is a convenient and safe way to start. I am alternating this with other recipes for my two, and the kitten loves the flavour of Instincts (you mix it with raw meat).
Feline Future Cat Food Company
Don't buy minced meat for your cat - it can be dodgy, bacteria/contamination wise. Plus they love the exercise chewing chunks gives their jaws and teeth. The raw meat needs to be supplemented with other necessary ingredients, which you will find online. I am also on a forum called Holisticat, which provides excellent info about the raw diet too.

If you want wet, Hilife pouches are 60% meat & good value for £4.99 per 12 100g pouches. They are available in Tesco's & Sainsburys. For dry, I recommend Applaws, which is 80% meat (they also do a complete wet kitten food, I believe). Hope you find something that suits you & your kitty

I feed a mixture of a good wet diet and raw - natures menu 70% meat, hi-life 60% meat, tesco's finest 50% meat, Pets@home Nature 50% meat, Bozita and Cosmo (available from zooplus.com) 70% meat and Applaws. For raw try this company Food4-Cats!, Just Food for Cats Nothing More! they do a great taster pack and the food is all sorted for vits, bone content etc so you don't have to worry - mine love it.

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Hi,

Thanks for all your replies. I really appreciate it. I will look into all these as I want the best diet for him.

Thanks again

Jo x

You're so welcome! Glad to help a kitty on the right road! I'm going to look into spid's Food4cats link myself!