Recommended senior food?

[booktigger]

Lucy is on a diet, and is also 8, so thought I'd go for a senior wet food for her, but wanted something higher in meat, and it's years since I've been in a position to look for food like this, went to Zooplus but can't seem to find much senior. I'd rather pouches or trays, just because there is only her, so I think tins would be too much. Any suggestions?

[Kay]

Senior food seems to be a UK thing, which presumably is why the German and Scandinavian ranges of premium foods sold by Zooplus don't appear to have senior options - and nor did we once

We don't feed special foods to senior citizens, so it could well be there is little merit in giving them to our pets - though I do hunt out lower phospherus dried foods for my two over 8s

[meriad]

years back when I adopted Jamie and Abbie I asked the vet about diet because at that time Molly was 13 and the two youngsters only 5 months, so ideally one cat on senior food and two on kitten.

The vet just laughed and said to feed them all a good quality regular cat food as there wasn't all that much difference between the lot and it was more of a marketing ploy... As Kay says, depending on Lucy's health, go for the lower phosperus foods as that aids the kidneys. Depending on budget I'd probably look at things like Lily's Kitchen, Applaws or Thrive...

[booktigger]

I was thinking more that senior would help with her weight loss without going down the obesity diet route, just wanted suggestions for higher meat content

[meriad]

Butchers used to do pouches but I haven't seen them in ages which is a pity as I'm sure quite a few people would buy them

I think the three foods I mentioned are probably the easiest to get hold of... Zooplus have quite a big range of top quality foods, but you'd need to click on them all to read their ingredient lists (and they don't always point out if a food is complete or not which is a bit daft)

another thought - do you have an Asda nearby - whatabout the black Feline Fayre? It's complete and has about 50% meat content. As a matter of interest, if she's not a fussy eater, have you tried raw food for her? You can buy Natures Menu at Pets at Home and it comes in quite handy nugget pieces so you just take out however many you need. May be worth a try?

[MarkB]

I had a discussion with my vet about senior food yesterday. He said he is certain than Purina use fewer types of proteins in their senior foods, which makes them easier to digest. I know they also lower the phosphorus and add more vitamins to allow for a reduced appetite.

Here is the issue. The higher the meat content, the higher the phosphorus.

There might be something in my vet's comment about Purina. Kylie loves AGAIL doubly delicious, but it, along with Gourmet Perle, make her diarrhea worse. I started her on Senior doubly delicious 2 days ago and within 24hrs, she did a solid poo.

I tend to avoid very rich foods like Applaws and Lily's kitchen - in fact dry Applaws has the highest % of phosphorus in any food that I have seen - something like 1.4% (twice as much as JWB senior)

I think bog standard Felix senior is a good food I had seniors (and cats with kidney disease) on it for years. It is also a staple for Kylie.

[booktigger]

Thinking about it, Buster lost weight on Whiskas senior, so might try her on that. Dry food, I got her pro plan senior, might get jwb next

[MarkB]

No many places seem to sell Whiskas senior any more. I bought some recently but Kylie won't touch it. I could only find the fish version. The senior supermeat used to go down well. Shame they stopped making it.

[MarkB]

Have you tried the food I posted about on the thread in General? Lidl sell it as Coshida premium and Zooplus sell it as Catessy. The jelly version is cereal-free as well as no sugars, colours, preservatives etc. Excellent food (and cheap )

[booktigger]

No many places seem to sell Whiskas senior any more. I bought some recently but Kylie won't touch it. I could only find the fish version. The senior supermeat used to go down well. Shame they stopped making it.

I've seen the pouches in most supermarkets and pets at home. Shame they stopped the senior supermeat

[MarkB]

Another food that Kylie loves is one of the few cereal-free gravy foods. It is the one made in Ireland for most supermarket own brands. I know The Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury' and Asda own brand is all the same. Oddly though, Tesco seems to be the only one that does a senior version. although not sure how it differs to the adult one. It doesn't upset Kylie's system.

[booktigger]

She seems to prefer food in gravy if anyone has any suggestions for high meat content ones

[meriad]

James Wellbeloved is 35% meat content
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/pet_food/ ... omposition

or Almo Nature
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cann ... ure_labels


All of them somewhat pricey though

[booktigger]

I can buy JWB in individual pouches from the Range, so could try her with that quite cheaply.

[sunnyme_123]

I have a nine year old with a very sensitive stomach, so she can't seem to digest supermarket brand foods any more, although she's been eating them most of her life so far.
I am working my way through the selection on www.vetuk.co.uk to see what suits her, and I came across Natures Menu cat food, minimum 70% actual meat. It's expensive but may be what you're looking for?

[Crewella]

I stumbled across this the other day, which is American I think so many brands are unfamiliar, but it might give you some pointers on the dry food?

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp- ... y_Food.pdf

When I had Daz on a diet, I think the biggest difference came from cutting back on the dry food. He was on a urinary prescription diet at the time as well, so I got the reduced calorie version of the dry. I was also having to add water to his wet food, and that seemed to bulk it out a bit and make him feel satisfied with less actual food in his bowl!

[booktigger]

I stumbled across this the other day, which is American I think so many brands are unfamiliar, but it might give you some pointers on the dry food?

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp- ... y_Food.pdf

When I had Daz on a diet, I think the biggest difference came from cutting back on the dry food. He was on a urinary prescription diet at the time as well, so I got the reduced calorie version of the dry. I was also having to add water to his wet food, and that seemed to bulk it out a bit and make him feel satisfied with less actual food in his bowl!

as much as she prefers dry, I'm trying to get her to eat mainly wet. Whiskas in gravy has gone down the quickest so far. She had her vet visit yesterday, only 5.67kg so plump rather than fat.

[Crewella]

Good luck. It's not easy, but it was imperative that Daz lost the weight as the vet said it was partially behind his urinary issues, so I was absolutely determined, and I policed him at mealtimes to make sure he wasn't nicking anyone else's! He lost about 1kg in about 8 months, and thankfully we then moved and he became so much more active in the new garden that he's kept most of it off.

You do feel really mean, but it's worth it.

[PrincipessaP]

Hi booktigger
I have just started my Kimi on gourmet gold senior because of her kidney problems and she loves it. Not sure what the meat content is but she wolfs it down which is good as I have to put her tablets in it. You can buy it from Pets at Home xx