# ??? Best value for money DRY cat food in the UK ???



## fusselfighter (Aug 6, 2014)

Hi, first of all thank you for passing by and trying to help. I'm desperate.

I just got a kitten who is now 10 weeks old and after looking at several forums for multiple days, we (the flat) have decided to feed our baby both dry and wet food to give him a balanced diet.

We are currently starting to run out of the dry food that we got when we bought the kitten and I'm starting to become desperate because I can't seem to find a *good & affordable* cat dry food brand in the UK.

After some research I saw loads of people suggesting _Applaws, Orijen and Acana_ which all cost about £15-20/2kg. On the other end of the spectrum I found out about all the crap brands like Go Cat etc at £4/2kg and have decided that I'm definitely not willing to feed this to my cat any time soon.

So (after all my rambling) I guess my question is: Is there good quality food on the market at about 10£/2kg in the UK? All I can see are both extremes or brands like iams that are just overpriced crap.

Please help :crazy: and thank you in advance!


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## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

Hi, I would say there is NO good dry food. I use dry food very occasionally when it's hot and if I'm out all day. 

My recommendation is to get the little one used to wet food only. Dry food is not typically considered species appropriate food since often it has low meat content and instead lots of cereal and grains so basically carbs that fill you up. 
I'm biased as last year I lost an older kitty to a kidney failure. She was on dry/ wet food combo for many years and then I found out that dry food be linked to kidney problems in senior years as it puts extra strain on urinary system due to lack of sufficient moisture. Cat's liquid intake mostly comes from food, they rely less on water although fresh water must always be available.


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## Jellypi3 (Jan 3, 2014)

Hello Fusselfighter  Welcome to PF!

A lot of people will advocate a no dry diet to you, because it is much better for cats in terms of moisture. If you do have to feed dry, really you are looking at the top end brands like Orijen, Applaws etc.

Granata Pet from Happy Kitty Company is a good brand as far as I know, and it's not as pricy as the others. I feed my two wainwrights dry when I am out of the house, it's grain and sugar free, but they have 3 meals of wet a day and only a tiny handful of dry.


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## Satori (Apr 7, 2013)

Well cost isn't that much of an issue when it comes to dry because you feed so little of it but, fwiw, Applaws is currently £12.90 for 2kg if you buy on-line and considerably less if you order the bigger £7.5 kg bags.

As said above though, if budget allows, it'd be better to go all-wet.


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## ALR (Apr 16, 2014)

There's no cheap, good quality dry food that I know of. If you want good quality then generally the price is higher. I'd add Thrive premium plus cat food to your list of good dry food: Thrive PremiumPlus 90% Chicken Dry Cat Food (Pack of 2): Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

I feed my cat a little dry food and mostly wet so the dry lasts a long time.


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## Polski (Mar 16, 2014)

Not going to get into the whole wet v dry as i'm sure...

1, you have done your own research
2, already made your mind up and 
3, there are plenty of folk that will so...

Great deals on cat food at zooplus: Porta 21 Feline Finest Sensible - Grain Free

I know its not in the uk but its easy simple mail order with free delivery on orders over £30 (that is easy to spend that much on there)

My cats are fed predominantly wet food (except one who won't touch wet) They switched over to porta 21 sensitive from purina one very easily, no loose bottoms! The fatter cats have lost weight since the switch which i'm presuming is down to it being grain free and them eating less as its better quality.


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## Bluefluffybirmans (Jun 9, 2014)

I was going to suggest the same one polski did, just order it online  or the same with most of them, much cheaper online, even ones like Applaws.


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

I feed JW, don't know how much it costs cos I buy it whenever its on special offer and then I buy a lot of it.

What is wrong with the food your kitten is already on?


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

I mostly feed wet but they have the occasional dry as a small snack or treats and I go for Thrive Complete Dry or Lilys Kitchen Dry which are both good quality foods. I think if you want the better quality foods, you are going to have to pay for it as it doesn't come cheap.


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## fusselfighter (Aug 6, 2014)

Polski said:


> Great deals on cat food at zooplus: Porta 21 Feline Finest Sensible - Grain Free
> 
> I know its not in the uk but its easy simple mail order with free delivery on orders over £30 (that is easy to spend that much on there)


Thanks for that one! I just checked it out and it seems right like I was looking for! Is it a problem to feed my kitten with this 'adult' food? I heard in some forums that it's basically just marketing...


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Another vote for the Porta 21 here - excellent value for money, grain free & both my (extremely) fussy cats love it!


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

The porta21 doesnt say how much in it does it, at least i cant see it, they liked the sample you let me have ,but couldnt find how much meat it actually contains
This week my cat food supplier brought me a bag of Eukanuba for cats, he says people are not buying it as its very expensive, so he let me have it for £5 and its well in date,but would like to get the porta 21, although it smells very strong,
The cat who were in the room when it came mobbed me, and that was after taking only the outer Wrapping off


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## Polski (Mar 16, 2014)

Porta 21 sensitive ingredients list...its on the zooplus website


Ingredients:
Ground chicken meat (64%), chicken meat (9.15%), chicken fat, dried potatoes, dried brewer's yeast, beet pulp (sugar removed), cellulose, MOS (mannan-oligosaccharides), FOS (fructo-oligosaccharide), dried cranberries, green tea extract.


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

My three like the porta21 too. I think it's very good value for a decent food (2 of mine eat mainly wet but one eats only dry) 

Applaws is also good value as the amount you feed is less than a lower quality dry


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Polski said:


> Porta 21 sensitive ingredients list...its on the zooplus website
> 
> Ingredients:
> Ground chicken meat (64%), chicken meat (9.15%), chicken fat, dried potatoes, dried brewer's yeast, beet pulp (sugar removed), cellulose, MOS (mannan-oligosaccharides), FOS (fructo-oligosaccharide), dried cranberries, green tea extract.


Thank you, yes i do remember reading it now, must have been thinking of another one, is it ok for cats with sensitive tums,sorry just seen thats a sensitive one


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## Kyria (Oct 29, 2011)

Ive recently started feeding Nemo a little dry food Arden Grange which is grain free and is one of the better dry foods on the market. 

Nemo is very fussy and has sensitive tummy but he is getting on fine with this food only trouble is now im having trouble feeding him wet food as he loves this food so much.

Im sure they can become addicted to dry food.


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## Polski (Mar 16, 2014)

jaycee05 said:


> Thank you, yes i do remember reading it now, must have been thinking of another one, is it ok for cats with sensitive tums,sorry just seen thats a sensitive one


I've definitely had less puke since switching but to be fair Jaspers sensitive tum is more that he needs to graze. If he eats anything after going more than 2-3 hours without he'll likely see it again which the vet reckons was due to being hand reared although another PFer said it was probably acid related. There were no dodgy tums or bums on the switch over either


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## outsider (Jun 20, 2013)

Orijen. Expensive but you need less, quality is unbeatable, you can save on vet.


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## Blaise in Surrey (Jun 10, 2014)

Polski said:


> I've definitely had less puke since switching but to be fair Jaspers sensitive tum is more that he needs to graze. If he eats anything after going more than 2-3 hours without he'll likely see it again which the vet reckons was due to being hand reared although another PFer said it was probably acid related. There were no dodgy tums or bums on the switch over either


My dog (funnily enough also called Jasper ) is exactly the same as this. For reasons I needn't bore you with he can't be left with food overnight, so has to take metaclopromide to control his acid production.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

fusselfighter said:


> Hi, first of all thank you for passing by and trying to help. I'm desperate.
> 
> We are currently starting to run out of the dry food that we got when we bought the kitten and I'm starting to become desperate because I can't seem to find a *good & affordable* cat dry food brand in the UK.


Firstly there really isn't any expensive dry food. Thrive comes in a 800grm pack for £6.99. 800gms at 40gms per day is 20 days, that's about 35p per day.

Even your £15 for 2kg is only about 38p a day, if that's isn't affordable then people need to consider if they can afford pets.

Sounds harsh but it is a fact.


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## Jannor (Oct 26, 2013)

I'd have said Porta21 too if you really want dry. Ben had it whilst I was on hol and he was fine - and he has a very sensitive tum.


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