# Which wet cat food is better than Whiskas for my cat, is changing necessary?



## legoleaves (Oct 30, 2017)

Hey everyone!

I have had my cat Humphrey since he was a kitten, and I started off giving him the Whiskas kitten food because it was the only kitten food which was readily available near me. Since he moved on from the kitten food I just started giving him the adult version instead, he really likes the creamy soups and the casseroles, but he will eat anything Whiskas. He gets a bit bored of it sometimes and leaves leftovers, so to shake things up a bit I sometimes give him Gourmet Perle which he gobbles up so quickly, and I tried giving him Felix As Good As It Looks but that gave him the squirts..  Also he sometimes gets Sheba pâté but it makes his farts quite stinky, even though he loves it! As for human food, for an occasional treat I'll get him ham or turkey slices (from the butcher, nothing processed)

However i've recently found out that Whiskas does not have a very good composition compare to other cat foods out there. I've also heard it's quite high in sugar, which makes sense because Humphrey always licks off the jelly first before eating the chunks, lol! Would it be worth switching brands of cat food? He doesn't have any problems with the food he's on at the moment, every now and again he'll get an upset tummy but I think that's from eating stuff from the garden. His litter box always looks pretty consistent so it doesn't seem to be wreaking havoc with his digestive system. But I do worry about him not getting enough "proper" ingredients, I mean that's why I buy proper turkey slices for him so that I know it's real meat. And I was very disappointed to realise how little meat is in Whiskas. 

As he seems happy and healthy on his current food do you think it's worth switching to a different brand? If yes which brands are the best for purer ingredients? My budget is relatively limited but I don't mind splashing a little extra for my Humph. 

Thank you!


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## TwoStrings (Jul 19, 2017)

I give my boy Kubo 'Miamor Ragout Royale' which you can get from Zooplus. It's very reasonable at £9.99 for 22 pouches and it has a better composition than Felix or Whiskas, both of which gave poor Kubo diarrhoea. The 'chunks in jelly' are also grain free and are a similar consistency to Felix and Whiskas jelly versions. I don't think it's as good as the top quality brands like Mac's but it's the only thing we've found that gives him normal poo!


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## Babyshoes (Jul 1, 2016)

It does very much depend on what brands you can access easily. If they're all full of carbs and/or sugars, you may as well stick with the one you know he likes! Even some of the more expensive brands are just as full of junk, so you do need to read labels.

A cheap supermarket brand I use as part of the rotation is the butchers classic in the orange tins. It's similar to the whiskas / Felix etc in texture and has plenty of jelly but does not have the sugars & carbs in it. I like to feed a range of brands (including limited amounts of one of the rubbish brands) to reduce boredom, plus it's good to have other options if a brand changes or becomes unavailable in the future.

Be a bit careful with cooked deli meats, especially ham as it's cured with salt, so should be a treat rather than a regular meal. Rather buy cheap meat or fish (check the frozen section) & cook it gently at home by poaching it in a little water, then feed it along with the cooking water. You can also try him on a bit of raw meat if you like - I sometimes cut a bit off our supper meat before I cook it. If you want go to *all* home cooked or raw, you'll need to do some reading to ensure he's getting all the right nutrients. There are lots of threads on these forums. I ensure that more than half my boy's meals are "complete" so I know he's getting enough of the right nutrients, and can then give him several meals each week of raw meat, home cooked, or non-complete foods like applaws or encore, which he loves. 

To begin with, why not buy some frozen chicken thighs and cook one for him as described? Remove all the bone & tear or cut up the meat for him, add the juices, then see if he'll eat it. If he does, that's a good way to treat future upset tummies!


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

My guy likes Dukes Farm Duck with Blueberry, it is in a pâté. He doesn't care for the Dukes Farm lamb, there is also a chicken I have not tried.

If you can get on Zooplus or near you, Schesir an Italian brand has some nice shredded chicken and fish packets or tins, some of which come in water. It is soupy like a gravy but with water.

Berkeley a French brand is a fave with my cat, they do nice gravys. I don't see sugar or grains on the ingredients.

Some cat food as said has ingredients like ham or pasta as well, I avoid those.

Edit: mixing up a few brands in wet food, I think is fine.


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## TwoStrings (Jul 19, 2017)

Summercat said:


> Some cat food as said has ingredients like ham or pasta as well, I avoid those.


Ah, I've been wondering about pasta! I bought some Miamor Sensitive because Kubo does get a dicky tummy every so often but it has pasta in it, so I've never used it! I assumed that wasn't great - I was surprised to see it in a 'sensitive' meal but I think maybe by sensitive they just mean single protein.


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

@TwoStrings 
Yes! And a lot of nice brands seem to have varieties with pasta, tomatoes or other things you would not think cats would eat. I have resigned myself to the occasional blueberry or herb in cat food but avoid the ones with rice and pasta. 
I think those are marketed to what humans think is good and may also be fillers.

Also to add to the thread, some of the Animonda Vom Feinsten wet food packs are good.


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## Jackie C (Feb 16, 2016)

My cat only likes the cheap brands. No matter what I try her with, she only likes the Felix AGAIL and Gourmet in jelly. I have tried her with numerous more expensive brands, sugar/grain-free, high in quality protein, but she flat refuses. I have even tried her with ones that are a _similar style_ to the Felix/Gourmet: ie: fine chunks/slices in jelly, but she refuses them. At best, she might lick the jelly off. 
Due to the relative poor quality of the brands, I also give her raw and cooked meat. She loves raw beef & chicken, as well as a cooked chicken broth I make her. I then add "Felini", which is a powdered supplement to give her the nutrients, taurine, etc she needs. 
It makes me feel a bit better, as I know she's getting good quality alongside the manufactured stuff.

At the end of the day, Humphrey will only eat what he wants to eat, and even the cheapest wet food is far better for them than the best dry food. I am slowly learning not to get too wound up about what she will and won't eat, I accept she's a finicky madam, and just happy she eats the raw meat as well.


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## Talig (Nov 1, 2015)

The hi-life brand has no sugar or grain and is 50% meat and could be worth a try. I think they are a good mid-range brand price wise, better than whiskers and felix. Also the pouches are available in some supermarkets.


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

Initially I'd try the Butchers for Cats cans and the Hi-life Tempt Me which are sold in boxes of 8 pouches and are on offer fairly regularly (make sure you get the Tempt Me - there is a cheaper Hi-Life which is sold in packs of 4 pouches that they don't tend to like). Both these are easy to get hold of in the supermarkets and not expensive in case he refuses to eat them and they're both grain free too so might prevent wind problems !

If he eats them and doesn't seem to mind change, then maybe try a Zooplus order - I used to have a cat who could only have grain free and he loved Miamor Ragout Royale, as already mentioned. I know it used to be just the jelly that was grain free but not sure if that's still the case.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Talig said:


> The hi-life brand has no sugar or grain and is 50% meat and could be worth a try. I think they are a good mid-range brand price wise, better than whiskers and felix. Also the pouches are available in some supermarkets.


Hilife 'Original One' contains no grains or added sugars as you say. It contains 83% moisture and 9.5% protein (on a dry matter basis). 50% of the protein it contains is chicken or tuna. Another ingredient is tapioca (cassava), which contains starch and vegetable protein. Some cats with sensitive digestive systems can't tolerate tapioca. Worth mentioning I think,


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@legoleaves - as you say the Whiskas Casseroles contain vegetable protein as well as meat protein. 50% of the protein in Whiskas is meat. Other cheap cat foods, e.g. Felix As Good As It Looks, also contain a mix of meat and vegetable protein.

Whiskas (and Felix) also contain added sugars. The sugars are added to provide energy, instead of adding more fat for energy, because sugar is cheaper to use than fats. Cats have no ability to taste sweet foods, so the sugars are not the reason your cat likes the Whiskas. It will probably be the flavourings used, e.g. Animal Digest.


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

@chillminx
Interesting, I did not know that about not tasting sweet. I assumed getting a taste for the sugar was why some cats prefer cheaper brands. So the additive that they crave, is as you say the 'animal digest'. What is in that?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Wikipedia's definition of animal digest is:

"Animal digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, digest is produced by the chemical or *enzymatic* hydrolysis of clean animal tissue that has not undergone decomposition."


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## Summercat (Oct 8, 2017)

@chillminx 
Ok, thanks!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Summercat said:


> @chillminx
> Ok, thanks!


As I understand it hydrolysis is a process (using water + chemicals or enzymes) to extract flavour from the animal carcass after the meat has been mechanically rendered. There may be a tiny amount of nutrients in the end product, (the animal digest) but it is really used to give flavour and a strong meaty odour to pet food.


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