# what to feed british shorthair



## paul lumsden

hello everyone.
just wanting abit advice.i have decided to get a british shorthair kitten but I work all day so I was going to get two kittens so they have company when im at work.having found breeders in the northeast were im from they all seem to use royal cainn dry and wet food.ive done some research and buying the kitten wet pouches and dry food aswell as cat litter it would be over 80 pound a month if im working it out right and I couldn't afford that.so I was just wondering if people with british shorthair cats could tell me what they are using and if there is cheaper options.sorry for the long question lol but any advice would be apprieciated.regards paul


----------



## Guest

I feed mine Natural Instinct and Applaws dried food. However if you cannot afford the cost of food (I do think £80 is too much per month). My food bill is around £50. You also have to pay for vets bills, worming, flea treatment, vaccinations and toys. I would certainly take out insurance which would be around £10-15 per month per cat.


----------



## spid

The best food for any cat would be a complete raw food and it works out quite cheap.

Each kitten will eat 'about' 120-150g a day. That's 'about 50p' each - so £1 a day to feed them. £30 a month = cat litter. Look at Natural Instinct - Frozen raw human-grade meat dog food, the dog breeders' choice. and see if they have a local stockist near you. I have a freezer dedicated only to cat and dog raw and so order in bulk straight from the company and save on postage.


----------



## gskinner123

Hi Paul,

As a long time breeder and owner of British Shorthairs, just my thoughts... Royal Canin is widely used by breeders. Some may think it a good quality food (for the money) but it really isn't. Cats DO seem very keen on it and this, coupled with the fact that breeders, as members of the RC Breeder Club, get quite a hefty discount on the food, I think accounts for its widespread use. I do feed my own a small amount of Royal Canin British Shorthair 34 biscuit just on the basis that there's very little else they will eat (biscuit wise). I personally wouldn't ever bother with RC sachets of wet food - terribly overpriced for what it is and growing BSH kittens will plough through an awful lot of food.

I would personally recommend you continue with whatever the breeder(s) have been feeding the kittens to avoid any digestive upsets and then, if you wish, gradually move the kittens onto something else of your choice that's better quality. I can't really advise too much on alternatives as my own cats are fed mainly a raw meat diet but there are plenty of other people here who will be able to suggest some good alternatives to Royal Canin.

Only other thing I would say is that, in my opinion, kitten food isn't really necessary; they do perfectly well on food for adult cats which tends to be less expensive. And whatever you (or the kittens!) settle upon, go easy on the dry... cats do a whole better on a 'wet' diet.


----------



## Treaclesmum

Fiji444 said:


> I feed mine Natural Instinct and Applaws dried food. However if you cannot afford the cost of food (I do think £80 is too much per month). My food bill is around £50. You also have to pay for vets bills, worming, flea treatment, vaccinations and toys. I would certainly take out insurance which would be around £10-15 per month per cat.


Petplan is around 8 pounds per month per cat and you get a 1 pound discount for adding extra pets!


----------



## paul lumsden

thanks for the advice 80pound is a lot I will use the raw diet and not royal cainn.regards


----------



## Cookieandme

When I got my new kitten there was a voucher in from RC for either a small bag of biscuits or a box of kitten pouches, I opted for the pouches as [email protected] didn't have small bags of food. I couldn't believe how expensive the box was something like £8+ for a box of 12. I opened one and she didn't touch it.

I am trying with varying degrees of success to get her on to something other than biscuits. 

I don't wish to be blunt but animals are not cheap and 2 kittens will cost money. You need to be prepared for extras like vet bills, I have spent £120 in the last week on one of mine.


----------



## paul lumsden

I don't mind you being blunt lol.im just getting as much info as possible before I buy 1 or 2 kittens.i can afford pet insurance and vet bill are not a problem.i like you looked at the rc 85g pouches at £8.39 for 12 and someone said they feed there kitten two a day so if you have two cats that's four a day 112 a month that works out at about £80.00 then you have dry food and litter on top of that and I thought that was expensive.but people on here have put my mind at rest as the raw meat diet with abit dry food seems quiet cheap and the way to go


----------



## OrientalSlave

Treaclesmum said:


> Petplan is around 8 pounds per month per cat and you get a 1 pound discount for adding extra pets!


Depends where you live and if the cat's a moggie or a pedigree...


----------



## OrientalSlave

Some cats refuse to eat raw...


----------



## paul lumsden

ive heard that aswell I guess its just trial and error to find something they like at a reasonable price


----------



## Treaclesmum

Butchers Classic is a good food at a very good price 

It doesn't have any grains or fillers in, although most of us like to feed something else as well, in rotation, but my 3 love it, including my British Shorthair


----------



## gskinner123

Treaclesmum said:


> Butchers Classic is a good food at a very good price
> 
> It doesn't have any grains or fillers in, although most of us like to feed something else as well, in rotation, but my 3 love it, including my British Shorthair


I'd second that  I think some people look down their nose at it because it's 'cheap'.. but in all the years I've used it it's never once caused a digestive upset in any of my cats (or very young kittens come to that) and all, without fail, like it.


----------



## broccoli

there are high meat wet foods that are loads cheaper than RC

check out your local pet shop - the staff at mine are very well versed in food & you can buy individual pouches to see if the beasts will eat them 

common in uk natures menu, hi life and feline fayre

asda & morrisons stock feline fayre - the black tins/pouches are complete (have all the minerals needed) often on 3 for £1 

zooplus website for large orders of even better food (mine are so fussy, i havent dared)


----------



## Cookieandme

I don't feed it but I did try April on it. I guessed if Dr Addie recommended Butchers for Cookie and her gingivitis then it's fine which is why I now favour it for my rescue purchases.


----------



## paul lumsden

Thats great thanks for all the help


----------



## cappagardi

I have just got a silver spotted BSH and he's been very fussy over the last few days. the food suggested by the breeder hasn't even been touched and he has instead been loving hi-life kitten food that we had left over from feeding our bengal kitten. its a bit more expensive than normal kitten food but it has a high meat content.


----------



## kr00t0n

Our 1 year, 5 month BSH has been thriving on Natural Instinct.

We also give raw meat off-cuts when cooking, Smilla Toothies as treats, and Applaws Dry if he is really hungry and we haven't got any NI thawed.

Tempted to try out the non-salmon versions of Nutriment for some variety.

Raw FTW!


----------

