So we're bringing a "fur baby" (rolls eyes) on the boat. I don't really do animals so all I know is they eat whiskas. The stuff I buy cause Mr man who owns the fur baby doesn't. My issue is cat food takes up an insane amount of space and after basic research it seems the kibbles not even good for them!?
This one does eat raw fish, which is great on a yacht, very cost effective. Won't touch cooked anything. At all. Ever.
What do you guys feed your cats? Any reason why you feed them what you do?
Now that's a cat I can get behind!
We only feed our cats minimal wet food, the vet told us that a lot of wet food increases teeth and gum decay.
We use royal canin biscuits.
Really. Good to know. How much wet and dry do you feed them?
At the moment they're kittens, they get quarter cup of dry food twice daily, maybe once or twice a week they will get a tablespoon of wet food with biscuits.
No wrong! Well, not wrong wrong but go to catinfo.org.
When we first got our kittens, I didn’t know much and religiously purchased all the premium brand (science diet, royal canon, etc.) wet and dry food from pet barns. But then I analyzed nutritions and realized that commercial cat food only benefited pet food manufacturers, I switched to raw meat.
Common myth: kibble is good for teeth. Only good thing for teeth is chunk of meat and “uncooked” chicken thigh bones.
Kibble is bad. They are bad for gum and teeth. Just visit catinfo.org. It’s super informative. They also give you an example where kibble is good for a certain condition but only for temporarily.
Depends. Raw food can carry a lot of bacteria which can lead to infections. I choose not to take that risk. As long as the vet says my cats are healthy on regular visits, I don't change their diet.
We fed our last girl on dry food, because of tummy issues, and it died of kidney problems at 12 years old. You probably need a good mixture of dry and wet food. We clean our kitties teeth and the vet is happy with the condition of their teeth.
How do you clean their teeth?
If your cat is not a kitten, you have to be really patient because most likely they will resist. There are YouTube videos on how to brush their teeth.
My vet suggested a mixture of both wet and dry food.
The problem with dry food is that cats evolved to eat wet prey, and as such cats have a really weak thirst response. You feed dry and your cat can get kidney problems.
Our vet (lectures at University of Sydney) told us tooth decay in cats is often genetic or from viruses such as calici. Dried food will knock a tiny bit of tarter off but by far the best thing is to brush them daily.
@tos
the best thing is to brush them daily
Seriously? They are freakin' cats. Cats. You know. Still not-quite-domesticated wild animals who would eat your face off given half a chance. Not precious delicate little homo sapiens flowers.
How has Feliformia survived for 40+ million years? Fred Flintstone didn't brush Baby Puss's teeth.
What next, lick their pencil sharpeners for them? Geez.
Royak canine is just overpriced crap no better than the supermarket biscuits lol
Royal Canin and some treats with oral care (not sure if it works)
For some reason my cat is hardcore into fruits (is it weird?).. his favourite is the Golden kiwi fruit.. expensive taste
Dry food WAY WAY better than wet…..
Really? Good god I suck at pet research. Thank god I technically don't own one! What would you recommend as a decent car diet?
Any of the brand names. Avoid ones that have lots of grains or rice. Not many cats are vegetarians.
What would you recommend as a decent car diet?
Petrol, would recommend a decent 98, 95 minimum.
Change fluids according to recommended intervals on user manual
Don't forget the fortnightly blinker fluid top-up.
Sugar rots their adorable fuel lines.
It is more convenient but cats tend to get their fluid intake from their food. I would be looking at a more balanced diet of both.
Yeah nah, doesn't reflect what they get in nature. The longest living cats always are on wet food. Teeth can taken care of differently.
We brush our kitties teeth. They aren’t happy with it but they tolerate it.
Our cat only eats dry food and being owned by an ozbargainer, that means it only gets Aldi food.
Mind you, the cat loves it, so I reckon the cat must be on ozbargain too
As one of my vets put it, if you lived just on junk food it would probably taste good too, but not so good for you.
Don't feed Aldi, Choice tested a bunch of brands in 2016, it was one of the brands along with Coles and Woolworths home brands that didn't have enough nutrients and can make your cat sick.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/one-in-four…
That review is only for wet cat food though.
I used to feed my former cat (sadly went missing about a month ago), wet food from Aldi- "Sylvester" brand.
He ate only wet food - was pathological in his refusal to try anything else.
He had gum issues, even before our adopting him - four years ago.
IMHO, there must be some truth in the claim that too much wet food is bad for feline oral health.
The vet had advised a full dental procedure- on general anaesthesia. Also, was advised to brush his teeth regularly afterwards - for maintenance, but this was impossible, would've surely lost a finger.
I now have a new kitten- seven MO, from a breeder.
He was brought up on Royal Canine Kitten dry food, supplemented with one pouch of RC wet food twice a day.
I'm yet to come across Royal Canine cat food in supermarkets; it's a pain.
So, I've switched to the brand called Felix, and he has adapted well.
He too is more enthusiastic about the wet food, but it remains rationed.
I too am of the opinion that cats need raw food for optimum health.
Tried feeding him raw chicken mince, but he was unimpressed.
I guess I'll persist in my efforts to make him appreciate the occasional beef/ kanga mince.
I'd be watching to ensure he drinks plenty of plain water too.
I'm yet to come across Royal Canine cat food in supermarkets; it's a pain.
That's because it's not a supermarket budget brand, rather a premium brand only from vets or pet shop.
That's actually not necessarily true, a lot of dry food is high in carbs which makes them put on weight. Also, some cats don't drink water, they can get it from wet food.
If you must get dry food have a look at this:
https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-cat-food/best-dry-cat-…
Dog food
Tried that once cause there was a cool looking bag of fresh stuff marked down to 50c. Didn't touch it
Bad idea, they need different protein and fat %ages.
Yeah I know that now that I've done a little research, not really spent much time or effort beforehand just made sure it was fed watered clean etc cause the actual owner, whom I love dearly, fricken forgets.. I think they didn't eat it because they knew it wasn't for them. This one doesn't seem dumb by any stretch
Cats are carnivores, so no grain or veggies.
We feed our two raw meat with a supplement mix. 80g of that each per day, and then they graze on royal canin kibble.
Do you think you could you replace meat with fish and have the same results? I've gathered the royal canin brand is what I should be buying to start with instead of whiskas
Fairly sure fish = meat = protein
Yeah but better to be safe than sorry so I clarify for sure. I'm the girl who thought wet food was good after all.
I think too much fish is a bad thing. Check out the Australian raw fed cats group on facebook.
Okay good to know. Might just be easier to keep frozen meat portions and use that. Shouldn't take up much space at 80gms when combined with offcuts of our dinners.
No fish is not good for them as a primary source of diet. However, you can add Norwegian wild fish oil (not salmon, definitely not fish cod oil) to meal. Big fish contains higher concentrations of mercury. Rabbit and chicken thighs are ideal food for our feline friends. They contain the optimal amount of protein, fat, etc.
How do you get your raw meats? I've always thought about feeding coles/woolies chicken wings but I don't know if they are safe, they are supposed to be cooked for human consumption.
From what my vet said if you freeze the meats then you should kill the bugs on them; provided you don't slow thaw on a bench. You are best to slow thaw in the fridge. You also can't leave them out all day waiting for the cat to eat them. Chicken, in particular, is susceptable to food poisoning. If you are taking it on the boat get the cat vet checked before hand and give it short journeys to see if it has sea legs. I crazy cat on a boat will not be good for you or the cat.
Cats’ digestive systems are less prone to food poisoning. Having said that you should get fresh chicken thighs from ideally butchers and freeze them. If you’re feeding raw meat, it’s very important that you add taurine, vitamin B complex & E, fish oil (omega 3) and egg white.
Also, I don’t remember exactly why but I thought wings were bad. You can feed necks and thigh bones instead.
The problem is often associated with worms that can be in human grade food as well. If you are feeding fresh raw you should worm the cat regularly.
Get them from Coles, prep and then freeze minimum of 3 days. 2 weeks for things like pork, roo etc.
May I ask what supplement you use and where you get it?
I use the raw meow mix.
I feed my cat a tin of Dine "morsels with ocean fish" each evening and supplement with Optimum dry, because most other cat foods seem to make her vom all the time. If my cat didn't have such a sensitive stomach, I'd be feeding my cat from this list
https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/dry-cat-food/best-dry-cat-…
Nutritional wise I firmly believe wet is better than dry food. Cats have no need for carbs, yet all dry food contains at least 30% carbs. Yes as mentioned above constantly feeding wet is bad for their teeth, that’s why I feed mine raw chicken wing tips/ necks to compensate that.
Also don’t just buy any known brands. Biggest players out there such as Royal canin or hills science diet are completely rubbish. Look at their ingredients lists, top 5 always contains maize, rice, wheat, yeast. That’s exactly what you want to avoid, why pay top dollar for fillers? Even their meat are of the lowest quality.
I can go on and on about this, but don’t want to write an essay here. Here’s what I recommend, if possible feed fresh meat, it’s actually cheaper from my local butcher. Otherwise feed a combination of wet and dry. For wet food, go for feline natural, ziwipeak (dog food as well cause they are the same for this brand), holistic select. Dry food go for mfm, wellness, ivory coat, costco grain free salmon (this is practically the same as taste of the wild except much cheaper), Blackhawk grain free.
Thanks. Your answer seems to be very well informed. At this point I think I might start ringing around vets and asking their input as well. Didn't even consider but you're rihht. Why would a cat need carbs? I'm glad the main consensus is to feed them real meat. That's doable freezer wise. Would you feed them fish at all?
My kitties are my family and I did very thorough research when I got them. I was feeding them Royal Canin until I switched to Wellness and even my friends noticed how his fur had gotten much softer. What you feed them definitely matters. My cats like to have their food changed often, otherwise they get sick of them. So I just rotate between the good brands depends on which one is on sale. Currently are on Costco and ivory coat. They absolutely love dry food, so as much as I’d like I can’t take it out of their diet.
Some vets do try and sell you their brand- often hills science diet. So take their advice with a grain of salt, they are there to make money after all.
I do feed mine fish occasionally, but definitely don’t do it everyday. Here’s a quote from RSPCA.
“Many cat’s love fish; however, it is not an acceptable food for daily feeding. Fish contains high levels of fatty acids, which can lead to a vitamin E deficiency in cats and painful conditions.1”
It’s kind of true when you think about it. Wild cats don’t go swimming and catch fish, so it’s not really part of their natural diet.
Send me a message if you need any advice. I have taken my cats on a pontoon boat for a day last year. It was actually quite fun :)
Yeah that's why I hadn't called vets before and asked on different forums I trust. I'm not sure how moral a vet can be when they all stock certain brands of this or that. J figure if I call enough and get varying answers i can disregard them all but if they all say the same thing(like you guys and raw meat) then it just be worth listening to.
Yeah that was my thinking about fish. They don't have access to it in the wild usually so it's probably not meant for them.
Thanks. Definitely will do
Wild cats don’t go swimming and catch fish, so it’s not really part of their natural diet.
My two cats don't like raw meat. I'm pretty sure their ancestors, nor them self if they were homeless, can cook.
You won't get the same answer from vets. They push whatever they have in stock which is usually science diet or royal canin for much more than the pet shops sell it for.
You need to supplement the meat you get from butchers to make sure they get all the nutrients they need. In the wild they would eat the entire animal including the bones, organs etc. There are recognised raw foods you can make and there are plenty of recipes covering this. You could then freeze serves and defrost for the kitties as required.
Finally someone who knows about cats! I totally agree with you on commercial cat(pet) food. Wet food contains no human-grade meat and it’s 90% water to maximize their profit margins. Same goes for dry: they contains too much fillers and carbs and no water. Cats are obligate carnivore cannot digest grains, etc.
We feed organic chicken thighs and occasionally rabbits and quails. Also give them a bit of salmon when we eat them if our kitties are hungry.
Manufacturers took rabbit meat off the market for cats because the rabbit calicivirus is so prevalent.
Thankyou. I did so much research when I got my kitties I practically read all the cat food scientific analysis there is on the net. Some idiot actually negged me haha.
other, smaller, cats.
Two cats enter only one leaves….
Now that's quality boattainment!
As others have said get no grain pet food with good quality protein. Do not give dog food, it isn't the right balance.
I agree. Some dog treats are irradiated even today and not safe for cats at all. Years ago a series of cat deaths was linked to irradiated cat food and it’s banned now but only cat food.
Cat food
Raised our eleven year old cat on Whiskas, wet and dry. This is supplemented with meat off cuts and grain free dry food occasionally. Plus treats here and there. Eventually she only wants Whiskas… not sure why. Sometimes meat gets rejected. I think it's better to feed mostly meat, eg you can get pet mince from butchers or cut up your own etc.
Nothing. She's dead now 😢
I remember you from your "Chef with no confidence" posts. I hope things have turned out better for you.
Anyway, to answer your question: We have an indoor cat. She grazes on Hills Science Diet dry food and gets a sachet of Royal Canin wet food once a day.
Absolutely have. I ended up working in a few fine dining places then a private political club and now I run a very renowned cocktail lounge the workplace is great the staff are great the owner and I butt heads but he knows I just have his best intentions in nind. We've won a few awards and hosted some exclusive events. It's in the CBD and give all the leftovers to the homeless on my seven minutes walk home. Come September I'm sailing away on a yacht forever hopefully because….futility of work and headedness there's a post about it too
Thanks for remembering me :)
Also thanks for the advice. Getting a few different answers and going to give a mix of wet dry meat and small amount of fish a go I think. Always build from there.
Glad to hear things have improved for you. Best for the future.
Felix, wet food.
Comes in a box of 12 x 1 meal sealed packets. A few flavours and comes in a jelly or in a sauce.
Often on special at Coles & Woolies, sometimes also at IGA.
Feed it real food. Not highly processed food. How would you like to live on cereal for life?
Fish, chicken, etc.
Wait, are we not supposed to do that?
I really struggle when trying to research this. Some say dry food is bad for them, some say wet food is bad for them, some say homemade food is bad because it doesn't have vitamins, good fatty/oils, some say raw packaged food is bad. Like literally every source out there contradicts another. Same in this thread, basically every type of food has been suggested.
I've been feeding mine lots of dry food with wet packaged foods but cats havent agreed with it. Gonna try some packaged raw food next (big Dog for Cats - turkey, rabbit and roo) and see how they go.
Visit catinfo.org
She tells you everything that you need to know about cats.
We add water to their dry food - winning!
It's utterly selfish of you to be taking a cat, where it will confined in a small space or otherwise at risk of slowly drowning in the open sea. Very clearly you don't know about and don't care about animals.
If this is your partner's cat, convince them to find a new home for it before you leave.
Yes, keep downvoting me; seriously, cat carers, you're fine with this shit, and will give advice on the food to enable this behaviour? OP has admitted they don't know anything about animals, in fact they've put it (grotesquely) that they don't 'do' animals.
Some people are terrible human beings and don't even know it.
I think it's a great idea to take a cat on a yacht. You can throw the cat in the ocean and teach it to catch its own food. Cats like fish and there's tonnes of fish in the ocean, thereby a yacht is the perfect environment for a cat.
I try and encourage self sufficiency by only providing a meal once a week. You'd be amazed at a cat's ability to find and kill food around their local environment. Our cat embellishes on a foraging diet of rats, mice, cockroaches, other cats and we're attempting to build her immunity to cane toads by feeding her small amounts of cane toad poison in her weekly home feed.
nice animal abuse. You shouldn't own a cat if you're actually doing this.
How is it animal abuse when you encourage an animal to adapt to its surroundings? I think it's animal abuse to promote a diet dependent on a human. Cats are very adaptive and are naturally predatory animals - this should be encouraged rather than suppressed. Stop abusing your cat by feeding it an unnatural diet and promoting dependency!
Obviously a troll post.
Why? Because I choose to promote self reliance, rather than human dependency?
I use a mix. Wet in the morning and dry food ("crunchies" :) at night.
In the wet I use the Dine varieties without grains (sometimes on special for half price, about 60 cents each) and about once or twice a week mix in a can of sardines (salt free, in spring water). They love those!
For the dry, I try and avoid grains. The costco cat food in the orange packet is pretty good, and uses sweet potato instead.
I also give them a chicken neck a few times a week (and give them a bit less wet food on those days).
I give mine kangaroo mince. It's great for them and it's relatively cheap.
As for kibble. As others have said, nothing with grains in them, its just filler to make the product cheaper. I give mine Royal Canin which while expensive to buy initially, lasts forever and there are always deals online yo get it cheaper.
Roo meat is meant to be lean but my kitty’s weight ballooned when I fed her roo. Probably way too tasty so
I gave her too much.
Applaws its all good is at supermarkets,
Check
https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/
Give lots of good info
Was going to suggest visiting this site too.
Read the tin with Applaws some of them are only complementary foods not complete foods.
The cans are to supplement the dry food only, though.
Royal Canin indoor.
Extensive, but by far the best.
Hi I feed my super fussy British blue shorthair cat royal canine wet food, hills scientific diet biscuits, royal canine kitten biscuits, a high quality human grade steak. Fish and some treats. She is so damn stubborn she barely even eats any biscuits.
I've tried all the cheap crap, it's super unhealthy with far to much salt. They are also full of grains, vegetables and other harmful unhealthy things. Whiskas purina etc are all cheap sit just like mc Donald's tasty cardboard. Lol I hear ziwi is super good but far to expensive and my Lucy won't even eat it.
Depending on type of cat some cats can do well and have a long life eating the mass produced cheaper varieties how ever my cat can't. She is 9 months old now. Good luck my friend!
Depends how much of a dick your cat is. Mine is fussy as all hell and old, so what she'll eat is limited.
She's fed a Kidney diet for dry food, as she's old and her kidneys suck.
I'd suggest a mixture of wet and dry, best of both worlds. Once again she's fussy and will only eat tinned tuna, on the odd occasion we try and get her a treat of other fish, she refuses it and yells at us all evening till we feed her tuna.
The problem is the kidney’s failing makes them nauseous so they are a pain to feed. Our old girl, point blank, refused the kidney food but Fancy Feast was like kitty crack.
@Aureliia
- Depends how much of a dick
- fussy as all hell and old
- old and her kidneys suck
- yells at us all evening till we feed her
Sounds like an in-law I once had.
If you give a cat a fish, you feed it for a day — if you teach it to fish, you can become their agent and out earn Grumpy Cat.