# Gourmet cat food



## Pocahontas31 (Apr 30, 2012)

Hello. My cat is nearly 2 and extremely fussy with her food. I currently feed her encore but she seems to be going off both the chicken and fish variations. I wanted to know if gourmet cat food is any good?


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

not really.

Grain free from Supermarket:
Butchers for Cats cans
Sheba Fine Flakes
Sheba Terrines.
Not the other Sheba's though, they all have grains.

Better still, have a look on Zooplus. There are a lot of grain free foods on there. Mine love Miamor in Jelly (the gravy one isn't grain free), but there are lots to try.


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## maisiecat (Jul 27, 2011)

Encore is not a complete food so best to find something else. It is basically just chicken and rice or tuna and rice with some water in it and is the same as Applaws, both made by MPM products.

I would try HiLife if you are shopping in a supermarket, or even Butchers which is a reasonable budget food. Or alternate them.


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## oggers86 (Nov 14, 2011)

Gourmet was great for getting my two onto pate foods as I could mix it in and get them used to the texture. I still get it occasionally as a treat but not full time. It is also very expensive! I feed Butchers Classic mainly followed by Smilla as the second, then Bozita and Animonda Carny so they get a bit of everything in a month. Butchers is by far the cheapest at 45p a tin and Animonda comes in at around 53p. My two under 4kg cats eat half a tin of Animonda, Bozita and Smilla each and just under a tin of Butchers each. By feeding the rotation I spend an extra £10 a month on 3 cats (only an estimate as cat 3 isnt here yet) I based this on my two eating a tin of Butchers each and half of the others and the new cat eating double as a kitten and adult as he is a boy. I might not spend that much in the end but I prefer to forecast for an increased spending. When I buy all of the food in bulk it will cost £55 and I will have 3 tins of Butchers left over so after 2 months I have a pack and need to buy one less. 

If you are on a budget then Butchers will suit just fine, Smilla is the cheapest food from Zooplus so you could always try that as a rotation although to get free delivery you need to spend £25. 

I hope I have been useful and haven't just made a rambling post


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## kategod (Feb 13, 2014)

I had a similar question to Pocahontas - although my cats aren't fussy I have been trying to find a 'better' supermarket food which isn't too prohibitively expensive. For some reason I've been feeling guilty about giving them Butcher's Classic (which they love) just because it is so cheap and I know some people expend masses of time and effort (and money!) feeding high-end cat food or a raw diet. I'm sure the raw route is best, and I have great respect for those who are prepared to try it, but I'm sorry, I just can't face it... I have been trying several very expensive tinned foods, but these are mostly treated with disdain and go uneaten - which is crazy for something which costs at least twice as much as Butcher's. So many thanks to the forum members on this thread who have made me realise it is perfectly acceptable to feed Butcher's Classic, perhaps alternated with other brands for variety and balance. The important thing is that it is grain-free! After all, I don't feel guilty because my children don't get fillet steak and lobster every night...


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Jannor said:


> not really.
> 
> Grain free from Supermarket:
> Butchers for Cats cans
> ...


Also as far as I found, Whiskas "Oh So.." Meaty and Fishy range is grain and sugar free. But as I posted on the A-Z topic here I'm not sure how good that is to have in their diets in actuality, no one seems to know! hmy:


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

korrok said:


> Also as far as I found, Whiskas "Oh So.." Meaty and Fishy range is grain and sugar free. But as I posted on the A-Z topic here I'm not sure how good that is to have in their diets in actuality, no one seems to know! hmy:


Interesting. [email protected] website for whiskas oh-so range says 'derivatives of vegetable origin' (ie, cereals) for all flavours.


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## oggers86 (Nov 14, 2011)

kategod said:


> I had a similar question to Pocahontas - although my cats aren't fussy I have been trying to find a 'better' supermarket food which isn't too prohibitively expensive. For some reason I've been feeling guilty about giving them Butcher's Classic (which they love) just because it is so cheap and I know some people expend masses of time and effort (and money!) feeding high-end cat food or a raw diet. I'm sure the raw route is best, and I have great respect for those who are prepared to try it, but I'm sorry, I just can't face it... I have been trying several very expensive tinned foods, but these are mostly treated with disdain and go uneaten - which is crazy for something which costs at least twice as much as Butcher's. So many thanks to the forum members on this thread who have made me realise it is perfectly acceptable to feed Butcher's Classic, perhaps alternated with other brands for variety and balance. The important thing is that it is grain-free! After all, I don't feel guilty because my children don't get fillet steak and lobster every night...


Like you I couldnt afford to buy the top end food every month which is why we compromise. I re worked out my costings and the lowest I can get it down to whilst feeding a rotation is £50.36. This is feeding 12 days of Smilla, 6 days of Animonda Carny, 6 days of Bozita and 13 days of Butchers Classic. That will feed 3 cats for a month which works out at 1.62 or 54p per cat.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

kategod said:


> I had a similar question to Pocahontas - although my cats aren't fussy I have been trying to find a 'better' supermarket food which isn't too prohibitively expensive. For some reason I've been feeling guilty about giving them Butcher's Classic (which they love) just because it is so cheap and I know some people expend masses of time and effort (and money!) feeding high-end cat food or a raw diet. I'm sure the raw route is best, and I have great respect for those who are prepared to try it, but I'm sorry, I just can't face it... I have been trying several very expensive tinned foods, but these are mostly treated with disdain and go uneaten - which is crazy for something which costs at least twice as much as Butcher's. So many thanks to the forum members on this thread who have made me realise it is perfectly acceptable to feed Butcher's Classic, perhaps alternated with other brands for variety and balance. The important thing is that it is grain-free! After all, I don't feel guilty because my children don't get fillet steak and lobster every night...


I stand to be corrected but there's no evidence that the high-end foods are better, so long as you buy foods without cereals and other fillers.

Let's take two end of the spectrum. CFF pouches vs Sheba Fine Flake pouches. Both contain mushed up animal bits, water, vitamins and minerals. The only difference (aside possibly from cooking temperature) is the meat content. CFF has about 70% Sheba FF about 50%, the difference being added tap water. That means kitty will need to eat 40% more SFF than CFF (still very much cheaper). Bad idea for a kitten maybe but not a problem of most adult cats.

There's a convenience aspect perhaps. I reckon a typical CFF cat would be happy being fed three times a day and a SFF or Butchers cat might need four feeds to get the extra bulk in ??? (I feed fresh raw and my kitties are perfectly happy on two feeds for example).

As long as my cats were happy and had good body condition, I can't say I would be losing any sleep if a big proportion of their diet was stuff like butchers. Raw is a different story perhaps but ymmv.


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## catfan (Feb 1, 2014)

I would be over the moon if my cat 
a) liked butchers classic and
b) could tolerate something like that (she has a sensitive tum not just down to grain)

It's a complete meal and good value!

I'd probably add in something else for variety too if I were feeding it.


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Satori said:


> Interesting. [email protected] website for whiskas oh-so range says 'derivatives of vegetable origin' (ie, cereals) for all flavours.


That's interesting because I found multiple sources, e.g. Waitrose site, that state the ingredients as on my post here:

http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats-25.html#post1063549781

e.g. Chicken: Meat and Animal Derivatives (including 4% Chicken, 14% Whole Pieces of Meat), Minerals

And some posts on another site stating it was good to see Whiskas release a grain free food. So I'm very confused about this one!


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## EskimoJo (Jan 16, 2014)

oggers86 said:


> Like you I couldnt afford to buy the top end food every month which is why we compromise. I re worked out my costings and the lowest I can get it down to whilst feeding a rotation is £50.36. This is feeding _12 days_ of Smilla, _6 days_ of Animonda Carny, _6 days_ of Bozita and _13 days_ of Butchers Classic. That will feed 3 cats for a month which works out at 1.62 or 54p per cat.


That's a very long month! Is it Marchember??


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

korrok said:


> That's interesting because I found multiple sources, e.g. Waitrose site, that state the ingredients as on my post here:
> 
> http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats-25.html#post1063549781
> 
> ...


Aha! Waitrose site now says with cereals for the gravy versions and without for the jelly versions (a la miamor).


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Satori said:


> Aha! Waitrose site now says with cereals for the gravy versions and without for the jelly versions (a la miamor).


Ah sorry - I should have mentioned I have only fed the jelly version, so I'd never looked into the gravy one! The jelly one actually doesn't have a lot of jelly, in the normal sense we'd think like with Miamor. It's like a pate with bits of the flavour meat in it e.g. salmon pieces. Not as dense as Nature's Menu though so it's the pate that's filled out with jelly.

(I'm still not sure how worthwhile an option the jelly one is, but mine are still eating it )


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## kategod (Feb 13, 2014)

It really is a minefield, this cat-feeding business: I thought Sheba Fine Flakes contained no cereals, but on the Ocado website it states that the fish flavoured versions do, but the poultry versions don't. Which is right? I'll have to check the back of the packet in future!


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Satori said:


> Let's take two end of the spectrum. CFF pouches vs Sheba Fine Flake pouches. Both contain mushed up animal bits, water, vitamins and minerals. The only difference (aside possibly from cooking temperature) is the meat content. CFF has about 70% Sheba FF about 50%, the difference being added tap water. That means kitty will need to eat 40% more SFF than CFF (still very much cheaper).


It's actually quite eye opening when you look at the costs:

A 400g tin of CFF will cost about £1.80

For the sake of comparison purposes, lets also throw in Ropocat @ £1.27 / 400g and Granatapet @ £2.05 / 400g *

Each Sheba pouch is 85g so there's around 4.7 pouches in a 400g tin

The Sheba (Fine Flakes & Fusion) is now retailing for (depending on which supermarket) between £4.75 and £5.00 / box of 12 pouches 

I've used the price from Asda website this morning (£4.94) so, 4.7 pouches costs £1.94 

More expensive than both the CFF and Ropocat and just under what the Granatapet costs - and if you add in the extra of the Sheba that they'll eat ..... it's actually more expensive

*only used these ones as they're the only ones aside from Sheba that I've been able to get Mia to eat!


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

^ Very good point. I was thinking about CFF pouches (which cost more than gold). But you are absolutely right, the good tinned stuff ain't necessarily more expensive and, of course, Nutriment Raw is really quite cheap too when you take into account the small servings.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

korrok said:


> Ah sorry - I should have mentioned I have only fed the jelly version, so I'd never looked into the gravy one! The jelly one actually doesn't have a lot of jelly, in the normal sense we'd think like with Miamor. It's like a pate with bits of the flavour meat in it e.g. salmon pieces. Not as dense as Nature's Menu though so it's the pate that's filled out with jelly.
> 
> (I'm still not sure how worthwhile an option the jelly one is, but mine are still eating it )


That's a common theme with cat food isn't it: Jelly versions without cereal and gravy version with? Hmmm. I wonder what that is about? Flour to thicken the gravy perhaps.

There's money to be made for someone who can market a gravy based cat food with no cereals.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Presumably CFF means Catz Fine Foods. Their food is quite a bit cheaper in tins than pouches, especially if you buy the 'saver' items from Zooplus.


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## oggers86 (Nov 14, 2011)

EskimoJo said:


> That's a very long month! Is it Marchember??


Lol yes! I meant 6 days of Smilla, Bozita and Carny and 13 days of Butchers!


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Satori said:


> That's a common theme with cat food isn't it: Jelly versions without cereal and gravy version with? Hmmm. I wonder what that is about? Flour to thicken the gravy perhaps.
> 
> There's money to be made for someone who can market a gravy based cat food with no cereals.


Certainly with Miamor you can see the difference between the "chunks" in the gravy version vs the jelly one. The gravy chunks look more artificial, they are a more regular shape and smooth appearance, so there is absolutely a difference right there in the meat too. I have no idea why. I just know that I accidentally bought the gravy one once and the cats weren't keen on it at all, except Teemo licking all the gravy off it...


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Satori said:


> ^ Very good point. I was thinking about CFF pouches (which cost more than gold). But you are absolutely right, the good tinned stuff ain't necessarily more expensive and, of course, Nutriment Raw is really quite cheap too when you take into account the small servings.


Ahhhh CFF pouches (which I agree are hideously expensive) didn't occur to me as .... guess what, Mia won't touch them

Only recently tried the tins as someone posted a pic of the contents - which seemed different enough from the pouches to be worth a try and ..... success!

We're def making progress with her at long last 



korrok said:


> Certainly with Miamor you can see the difference between the "chunks" in the gravy version vs the jelly one.


I think this is the route of all my food problems with Archie - he's currently only eating Gourmet Perle - and only the meat in gravy ones 

He has never eaten any wet food unless it's been a meat chunk in gravy (it was Whiskas before the Sheba)

I accidentally bought a Gourmet one in Jelly the other week (the boxes are very similar ) and he wouldn't touch it either

His diet is appalling compared to Mia's :mad2:

Although he is at least eating the Porta 21 grain free dry rather than the RC now


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Sheba Fine flakes are 2 boxes for £7 in Tesco - or they were on Tuesday.

I think I tried Ben on the fish too and he didn't get dire rear - and he usually does if they have cereals 

Sorry, referring to Kategod's post in 2nd sentence.


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## MollyMilo (Feb 16, 2012)

I have gourmet perle addicts here  I order the chicken sachets 24 for £11 on amazon.


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

MollyMilo said:


> I have gourmet perle addicts here  I order the chicken sachets 24 for £11 on amazon.


Don't know if you have one near but was in £stretcher the other day & they had packs of 4 Perle pouches (same type in each pack of 4 but they I got all the flavours he has apart from the tuna one) for £1


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## MollyMilo (Feb 16, 2012)

Lilylass said:


> Don't know if you have one near but was in £stretcher the other day & they had packs of 4 Perle pouches (same type in each pack of 4 but they I got all the flavours he has apart from the tuna one) for £1


I have one!! I'll pop in

Thanks for that


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

I asked if they'd had them long & they said its new & depending on how sales go they will keep selling g them

Best I've ever managed before was 3 boxes for £10 

Asda now have it full price at £5.30  which I refuse to pay (currently rolled back to £4 prob as noones buying it!)


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

MollyMilo said:


> I have gourmet perle addicts here  I order the chicken sachets 24 for £11 on amazon.


Mine can't have that - Ben has cereals/grain allergy. They did used to have it occasionally before the allergies and loved it.


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Lilylass said:


> Don't know if you have one near but was in £stretcher the other day & they had packs of 4 Perle pouches (same type in each pack of 4 but they I got all the flavours he has apart from the tuna one) for £1





MollyMilo said:


> I have one!! I'll pop in
> 
> Thanks for that


Had to pop to town for a hospital appt this morning so stopped at various shops here & there on the way back (credit card is groaning )

Anyway, £stretcher did have still the Perle pouches 4 for £1 but unfortunately not Chicken today (still no Tuna either, which is Archie's favourite!)

BUT I also stopped at £world (think it's the 1st time I've ever come across one!) and they had Perle pouches 3 for £1

They def had Chicken in the one I was in (and a couple of other flavours - still sadly no Tuna) HTH


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## kategod (Feb 13, 2014)

Jannor said:


> Sheba Fine flakes are 2 boxes for £7 in Tesco - or they were on Tuesday.
> 
> I think I tried Ben on the fish too and he didn't get dire rear - and he usually does if they have cereals
> 
> Sorry, referring to Kategod's post in 2nd sentence.


Having researched it a bit further (though havent' yet checked the actual packet) I think the info on the Ocado website is wrong - other supermarkets clearly state that the fish variety doesn't contain any grains.

I noticed that some cat food varieties contain 'tapioca starch', I assume as a thickener in the same way that cereals are used - out of interest, do those of you with gluten-intolerant cats find they can eat tapioca? I think I'm right in saying that tapioca doesn't contain gluten - not that I think it should necessarily be part of a cat's diet but I just wondered.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

Two of my cats who don't get in so well with cereals seem to be fine with tapioca (which is a root vegetable).


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## Pocahontas31 (Apr 30, 2012)

Sorry for the late response! Thanks everyone for ur responses. I'm about worries that I've not been feeding Bella a proper diet. I've been feeding her encore wet food but have only just learnt about taurine. I'm really worried that she's not been hanging a proper diet.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

Pocahontas31 said:


> Sorry for the late response! Thanks everyone for ur responses. I'm about worries that I've not been feeding Bella a proper diet. I've been feeding her encore wet food but have only just learnt about taurine. I'm really worried that she's not been hanging a proper diet.


The Encore wet is likely to have an adequate Taurine level but is missing other nutrients. It would be dangerously low in calcium, for example, if fed as a complete food.


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## JohnLondon (Oct 19, 2013)

Which of the Sheba Terrines are grain free, Is the the trays or the Fussion Terrine Pouches?


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## Pocahontas31 (Apr 30, 2012)

Please ignore my spelling in the last post, stupid autocorrect! Ok I will look into feeding her other foods aswell as the encore. I want her to have a food balanced diet but there is so much info out there I get confused!


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

JohnLondon said:


> Which of the Sheba Terrines are grain free, Is the the trays or the Fussion Terrine Pouches?


I didn't know they did trays  (are they new?)

This is from a post on another forum that was a response to a query someone had made with Sheba

"If you are looking for a recipe that does not contain cereals for your cat we recommend that you try our Sheba Fine Flake Pouches in Jelly which are available in a poultry and Fish Selection or our Sheba Terrine Fusion pouches"

It was July 2013 so not sure if the trays are new since then?

If so, you'd need to ask the query with Sheba yourself 

I can link to the full response if required - but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to another forum

If someone can confirm if this is OK or not - happy do incl the link


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## maisiecat (Jul 27, 2011)

korrok said:


> That's interesting because I found multiple sources, e.g. Waitrose site, that state the ingredients as on my post here:
> 
> http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats-25.html#post1063549781
> 
> ...


Unfortunately I have a Whiskas addict, even worse, they have discontinued the one he likes and seem to be making only the shredded doner kebab style stuff which he doesn't like, it is in all the Whiskas varieties. As far as I know they all contained grain except the cans of supermeat but that might have changed now, they have been messing about with their products for a while.

I am trying to find something that is in chunks rather than shredded rubber, and in gravy or sauce. Ideally would like him to eat grain free but that excludes gravy.

I have just had a small success (both cats) with Catessy (foil packs) and a complete refusal (again both cats) of Catz Finefood which looks and smells like the good quality pate tins which neither of mine will eat.


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## maisiecat (Jul 27, 2011)

kategod said:


> Having researched it a bit further (though havent' yet checked the actual packet) I think the info on the Ocado website is wrong - other supermarkets clearly state that the fish variety doesn't contain any grains.
> 
> I noticed that some cat food varieties contain 'tapioca starch', I assume as a thickener in the same way that cereals are used - out of interest, do those of you with gluten-intolerant cats find they can eat tapioca? I think I'm right in saying that tapioca doesn't contain gluten - not that I think it should necessarily be part of a cat's diet but I just wondered.


I used to buy the little Sheba pots for Bob and noticed that they contain tapioca, he doesn't mind it (always added water to make a soup for him as he needs liquid) but Maisie won't touch anything with it in.

Tapioca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Pocahontas31 (Apr 30, 2012)

I fed Bella the Sheba terrine yesterday and she threw the lot up early this morning. She doesn't seem to be able to eat food with jelly and sometimes gravy in it. Her diet has mainly consisted of applaws and encore wet food and applaws dry food. I'm not sure what to feed her now. I don't want to make her sick


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

JohnLondon said:


> Which of the Sheba Terrines are grain free, Is the the trays or the Fussion Terrine Pouches?


Both I think. Not got any trays at the moment but I would've looked at the label for cereals before I fed it Ben. Plus if it had cereals in it he'd have had dire rear and he didn't.

Got the Fusion Pouches here and no cereal in that according to ingredients list although haven't fed it yet.

Lilylass - I got the trays from Home Bargains, read the label and no cereal. Maybe they're phasing them out for the pouches.
I got the pouches from Tesco but didn't notice the trays in there.


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Pocahontas31 said:


> I fed Bella the Sheba terrine yesterday and she threw the lot up early this morning. She doesn't seem to be able to eat food with jelly and sometimes gravy in it. Her diet has mainly consisted of applaws and encore wet food and applaws dry food. I'm not sure what to feed her now. I don't want to make her sick


 Mine always bring stuff up within 15 mins if it doesn't agree with them.

Wondering if its possible for you feed her what she currently has with some sort of supplement if other foods are making her ill.


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## elly87 (Mar 12, 2014)

It really is a minefield, this cat-feeding business: I thought Sheba Fine Flakes contained no cereals, but on the Ocado website it states that the fish flavoured versions do, but the poultry versions don't.


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

elly87 said:


> It really is a minefield, this cat-feeding business: I thought Sheba Fine Flakes contained no cereals, but on the Ocado website it states that the fish flavoured versions do, but the poultry versions don't.


It is a minefield! Someone else has seen this but outcome was Ocado website was wrong. I agree with that - Ben's had it and if it did contain cereals he'd have had dire rear and he didn't.


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