# Good quality wet cat food!



## jameswilcox

Hi all,

I have two Bengal cats, one 9 months old and the other 4 months, so one is firmly a kitten, the other a junior. I have been feeding them IAMS kitten pouches, and the older one will just not eat dry food. The issue is that being so young, they get through the pouches at an unbelievable rate!!! This is not surprising given that there is so much packaging and not much food. This was not a big issue with one cat, but with two, it now is.

My question is then are there good quality wet alternatives to pouches? Are there any good quality tinned foods?

I feel that pouches are really not very practical when yiou have two hungry mouths to feed!

Thanks for any help and advice!

James


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## Riverwish

I've recently switched to using high life tins, my bubba has a tuna tin in the morning and then pate for dinner, he loves it  I also tried the purina (sp?) ones which have chunks of fish in them, he didn't like these so much which i'm glad about because i'm petrified of fish and it took everything in me to get it from the tin to his bowl xD

All the high life food i've found has 50-70% meat in it and i've seen other people reccomend it  I'm not sure if they do a kitten version, maybe someone else will know??

Hope this helps x


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## Guest

highlife
encore
forthglade
natures menu
almo nature
natures harvest

and my newest find...
asda select is now 60% meat/fish and currently 4 for £1 - bargain! 

Just bought 54 sachets today lol. They are mainly on a mix of Raw and forthglade, but they love fish. The pilchard asda one is full of fish chunks


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## gemmaleigh66

i might have to have a wander into asda and sample these lol


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## gemmaleigh66

not personally i'll bring them home for ollie and millie lol


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## Riverwish

gemmaleigh66 said:


> not personally i'll bring them home for ollie and millie lol


My OH says the natures menu are tasty!


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## Number 1

Tesco do Just Nature, 60% meat, no wheat, preservatives, etc. It's in a tray. Was 52p, now just 22p.

Is available in Turkey and other flavour is Lamb

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesc...ust_Nature_Cat_Pate_Turkey_And_Rice_100g.html


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## lindsk

billyboysmammy said:


> highlife
> encore
> forthglade
> natures menu
> almo nature
> natures harvest
> 
> and my newest find...
> asda select is now 60% meat/fish and currently 4 for £1 - bargain!
> 
> Just bought 54 sachets today lol. They are mainly on a mix of Raw and forthglade, but they love fish. The pilchard asda one is full of fish chunks


I am really confused with the whole good quality thing. We have finally been able to put our Syd onto 'normal' food rather than prescription RC Urinary as he just wouldnt eat it and lost lots of weight. i took along this list of foods to the vets yesterday and she said she wouldnt recommend any of these - just to give him straight forward Whiskas! she said she trusted Whiskas, Iams and Hills more than any others as they come from large companies who do tests and studies.

Yet reading other threads, a lot of people say to stay away from these as they use bulking agents etc in

I don't want him to have a relapse - we did give him Whiskas pouch Oh So Meaty last night with a bit of his prescription food and we are putting lots of water in there

But what do people think of Whiskas?

Very confused!!


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## Guest

Personally i hate whiskas and the similar brands as a rule.

Whiskas has around 5% meat content. Cats by nature are total carnivores. They do not need cereals or any other bulking agents, they just need meat. The meat should contain bone, organ muscle (heart lung etc), small amount of other organ meat (kidney etc) and plenty of normal meat. A raw diet is the most natural thing for a cat, however i appreciate that its not as convenient for people, so the next best thing is the higher quality foods. These foods will contain as much meat as possible, which is why i wont buy anything that contains less than around 40% real meat.

Whiskas (and the other similar brands) is full of fillers and ingredients that the cats dont need and cant fully digest. However they are good at tempting a cat into eating, and i have used them for this reason. I have also used the jelly from a tin of whiskers to rub onto a weak cats gums to help perk them up - works a treat.

I also find that with certain foods whiskas can be expensive in comparison. I use alot of forthglade, which works out at £0.19p per 100g compared to whikas at £0.41p per 100g 


I am going to say here though.. many many many cats must live happy healthy lives on whiskers, it would go out of business if they didnt, i just dont feel its the best for my cats. Sometimes we look too much into things, if your cat is happy and healthy on whiskers and it suits your pocket then why change?

The oh so meaty range is slightly higher in meat content... they contain around 14% fish and animal derivatives. I hate that term and prefer to know what is going in to my pets food, rather than some mechanically reclaimed crap that they have put in.

I took my advice from a vet specialist in nutrition.


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## lindsk

billyboysmammy said:


> Personally i hate whiskas and the similar brands as a rule.
> 
> Whiskas has around 5% meat content. Cats by nature are total carnivores. They do not need cereals or any other bulking agents, they just need meat. The meat should contain bone, organ muscle (heart lung etc), small amount of other organ meat (kidney etc) and plenty of normal meat. A raw diet is the most natural thing for a cat, however i appreciate that its not as convenient for people, so the next best thing is the higher quality foods. These foods will contain as much meat as possible, which is why i wont buy anything that contains less than around 40% real meat.
> 
> Whiskas (and the other similar brands) is full of fillers and ingredients that the cats dont need and cant fully digest. However they are good at tempting a cat into eating, and i have used them for this reason. I have also used the jelly from a tin of whiskers to rub onto a weak cats gums to help perk them up - works a treat.
> 
> I also find that with certain foods whiskas can be expensive in comparison. I use alot of forthglade, which works out at £0.19p per 100g compared to whikas at £0.41p per 100g
> 
> I am going to say here though.. many many many cats must live happy healthy lives on whiskers, it would go out of business if they didnt, i just dont feel its the best for my cats. Sometimes we look too much into things, if your cat is happy and healthy on whiskers and it suits your pocket then why change?
> 
> The oh so meaty range is slightly higher in meat content... they contain around 14% fish and animal derivatives. I hate that term and prefer to know what is going in to my pets food, rather than some mechanically reclaimed crap that they have put in.
> 
> I took my advice from a vet specialist in nutrition.


Forthglade does look good - i would much rather go natural. I have had poor experiences with our vets - one said that Syd could never come off RC Urinary S/O - and the one i saw yesterday is just completing her qualifications in this condition - yet she said she hated these natural brands and would just give him Whiskas! warning bells rang but as Syd hadnt eaten for 3 days, i just wanted to give him something i knew he would eat - i went through all the brands at the supermarket but the oh so meaty looked the best of a bad bunch

I don't want to do my cat food shopping through a supermarket so i am currently looking at Zooplus and the like - but i think i am over-researching as my head is fit to explode


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## Guest

lindsk said:


> Forthglade does look good - i would much rather go natural. I have had poor experiences with our vets - one said that Syd could never come off RC Urinary S/O - and the one i saw yesterday is just completing her qualifications in this condition - yet she said she hated these natural brands and would just give him Whiskas! warning bells rang but as Syd hadnt eaten for 3 days, i just wanted to give him something i knew he would eat - i went through all the brands at the supermarket but the oh so meaty looked the best of a bad bunch
> 
> I don't want to do my cat food shopping through a supermarket so i am currently looking at Zooplus and the like - but i think i am over-researching as my head is fit to explode


exactly! sometimes we go into things too much! 

Whiskas is a great food for persuading a cat to eat, and i always keep some in for that reason. Not every cat likes forthglade, its more of a pate than chunks so it wont suit everyone. If you want to try a pack i could post you one. I buy mine from berriewood wholesale, along with my litter, dog food, and dry cat food . I find forthglade great for cats recouperating too, as it can be liquidised easily and syringe fed.

Ive used zooplus before too as they also do some of the harder to obtain wet cat foods.


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## lindsk

billyboysmammy said:


> exactly! sometimes we go into things too much!
> 
> Whiskas is a great food for persuading a cat to eat, and i always keep some in for that reason. Not every cat likes forthglade, its more of a pate than chunks so it wont suit everyone. If you want to try a pack i could post you one. I buy mine from berriewood wholesale, along with my litter, dog food, and dry cat food . I find forthglade great for cats recouperating too, as it can be liquidised easily and syringe fed.
> 
> Ive used zooplus before too as they also do some of the harder to obtain wet cat foods.


thanks for this - although Syd doesn't tend to like pastes so i may look for chunks in jelly (fussy so-and-so!). I am quite put out by the vet snubbing natural food - as long as there is no high carbs in there or unnecessary products, they should eat natural foods.


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## Kiskasiberians

To be honest the supermarket is the best place to start. All supermarkets now stock high meat content foods. If you have fussy cats it is pointless ordering a large amount from zooplus and having a cupboard full of things that the cats didn't like. 
As was listed before 

highlife (Asda, Pets at Home, some Tescos and Sainsbury's)
encore (Sainsbury's made by the same people as Applaws)
forthglade (Pets at Home and on-line)
natures menu (Pets at Home and on-line)
almo nature (on-line)
natures harvest (Pets at Home and on-line)
Asda Select - The black label small tins are the best.


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## Midnight

All my 7 have Nature's menu pouches and Arden Grange biscuits mixed expensive i know but they are all worth it  i also convinced a lady in [email protected] to change to naturals when she heard whiskers is 4% meat and Naturals is 71% :thumbup:


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## Malaguti

Riverwish said:


> My OH says the natures menu are tasty!


:laugh: Just seen this - did he actually eat it then??? Was his dinner late getting to the table :lol:


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## MadMatt

I'm encountering the same problem; my cat has just been diagnosed diabetic and I want to get her away from regular wet/dry food onto a totally wet diet with very high meat content. She has to have the pate/mousse kind as she struggles with chunks (although she likes them). I was leaning more towards Nature's Menu or Nature's Harvest until I saw the good deal on the Asda food, but I'd read that meats like chicken, turkey and rabbit were better for cats in general than fish (or beef/lamb)... I suppose if she mostly had one of the Nature diets as her main meal and then the Asda tuna food every now and then it would make the more expensive stuff go further!


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## Guest

forthglade (although not as high a meat content as some - but still 100's of times better than whiskers etc) is a pate and may be worth considering.


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## Pumpkin

Hi, i no pouches isn't what you want.... but i know that hi life do do kitten food in the pouches as thats what i buy for my 2, im not sure if they do it in the tins. My 2 love it tho, i use pouches coz my 2 dont eat food al through the day(wet food anyway). They just refuse to!!! They always have dry food down and they like science plan or JWB xx


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## Marcel

Hi,try mixing the dry and wet food together,my cat Flo was the same as a kitten,now she very rarely eats wet food but I wish she would,I know there is very little meat in it but cats drink very little and it helps with the urinary track later in life


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## Riverwish

Malaguti said:


> :laugh: Just seen this - did he actually eat it then??? Was his dinner late getting to the table :lol:


Yea he tried it :laugh: He also tried the high life tuna when I started buying that, I won't let him eat fish in the house because i'm scared of them so he decided to steal it from the cat! He said he was trying it to make sure it's ok for for our little man


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## Kiskasiberians

MadMatt said:


> I'm encountering the same problem; my cat has just been diagnosed diabetic and I want to get her away from regular wet/dry food onto a totally wet diet with very high meat content. She has to have the pate/mousse kind as she struggles with chunks (although she likes them). I was leaning more towards Nature's Menu or Nature's Harvest until I saw the good deal on the Asda food, but I'd read that meats like chicken, turkey and rabbit were better for cats in general than fish (or beef/lamb)... I suppose if she mostly had one of the Nature diets as her main meal and then the Asda tuna food every now and then it would make the more expensive stuff go further!


Sorry to hear about your cat. You should check out YourDiabeticCat.com - Helping and Preventing Feline Diabetes 
Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM, JD is an American vet who used to work for pet food manufacturers so she has a good insight into all things foods related


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## MadMatt

Just wanted to say a quick thank-you for the feedback! I'm reading up all I can on her condition, so the link was greatly appreciated. I'll obviously consult my vet before I try to change anything drastically in her diet. 

In the meantime, I'm moving my youngest cat over to wet food in an attempt to avoid the same thing happening to her. She's not keen... It took about six hours of putting bowls of wet food out and taking them away again whenever she gave me a "You must be joking!" kind of look instead of tucking in. Eventually she seemed to realise it was that or nothing, although the tough love approach doesn't come naturally to me!


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## Domoniques

Hi 
When I have looked for a better food in the supermarkets as they are only kittens yet there is very little choice , 
I want to give them a variety of foods so they don't get fussy ( not all at once and little bits ) 
so a lot of the food with higher meat content are for older cats .


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## Debi

have you tried phoning these companies and asking about their brands, they might send you some freebies to try out before buying in bulk? i know someone who rang Applaws to ask about their ingrediants etc and ended up with some free tins being sent.


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## OrsoLupo

I know exactly what you mean about the head exploding thing, I have two rescue cats and one is fine but the other guy is terrible with his food though this is a recent development. I have been feeding them on Applaws which is costing me an arm and a leg particularly when throwing half of it away. I've been reading today that Applaw is a complementary food and not giving theme everything they need. I've been offering James Wellbeloved dried food also in the morning which seems to be accepted OK.

Orso has decided he does not like the food anymore - though will eat it if no-one is looking, he backs away from it or just sits as far away as possible at feed times, he won't look at any of the junk food either so I am completely at a loss what to do with him. He's a big lad with boundless energy so needs a good feed. I am finding all this a bit stressful now! Any ideas??


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## Ragdollsfriend

Hi OrsoLupo, welcome to our forums! How old are your cats? There could be a few reasons why Orso is off his food. What are the food bowls made of? Some cats don't like the metal ones as apparently these make any food tastes funny. 

Have you looked in your local supermarket or a local pet shop? Perhaps try to buy single tins or trays of a few different brands - wet food is best - to see if Orso has any preference. How about Butcher's Classic, Lily's Kitchen etc.

Could it be Orso has a toothache? When was the last time Orso had a dental check?


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## Guest

Domoniques said:


> Hi
> When I have looked for a better food in the supermarkets as they are only kittens yet there is very little choice ,
> I want to give them a variety of foods so they don't get fussy ( not all at once and little bits )
> so a lot of the food with higher meat content are for older cats .


I can't find much for kittens in the supermarkets either that's why I've started ordering from Zooplus.

My kitten has Grau and Animonda Carny and at the moment mixing it with his Kitten Whiskas.

I did read though that someone said to just give them the adult versions but more of it. I haven't done this as not sure if that's suitable to do.


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## chillminx

Bengalmum, some of the German foods sold by ZP are suitable for all stages of development, e.g. Catz Fine Food, Feringa, Animonda Carny, in fact most of the ZP good quality foods would be Ok for a kitten.


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## Jellypi3

Good old search function resurrecting posts 5 years old!


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