Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hey,
So my cats are over weight (made a feeding mistake feel pretty bad) and they eat Kitecat, while trying to find the feeding guide i saw that it's only 4% meat! What food you all give your cats? We have 3 cats and no requirements, we spend £3 on 6 tins usually which is 6 days food but I can't afford much more of a cost but I do want what is best for my cats

As has been mentioned in other threads, the labeling on cat food is a misleading nightmare.

Most of the time if a food mentions it is 4% meat, it actually means that it consists of 4% of the named meat not total meat, so if your Chicken Flavour Kitekat, states that it is 4% then it probably means that it is 4% chicken, but could contain other meat ingredients as well.

You then get the high end cat foods that claim to be 70 - 90% meat, these mean total meat content regardless of type.

In both cases meat contains water and other things, so the third one that gets mentioned (and the one I normally go for) is protein content, which for wet cat food is normally between 8 & 15%, dried cat foods will always have a higher protein content as they don't have to take into account the water that is in wet cat food.

I mainly feed mine on Felix As Good as it Looks, mainly because if I try and give them a lot of other brands I end up throwing it away as they seem to prefer to starve than eat the cheaper options, and they know I will give in and give them what they want in the end.

Cats get most of their calories from proteins and fats, carbohydrates are mostly indigestible for them and some forms seem to be linked to bowel problems in cats (my own Saturn seems to have something of a wheat intolerance).

While Kitekat isn't brilliant at 6% protein, it does look like it is a complete cat food (has all the essential vitamins and minerals added) so if it is what you can afford and they eat it you might be as well sticking with it rather than trying a more expensive brand and making a rod for your own back. Just cut back on how much they have until they are down to the optimum weight. The other alternative is to look at Supermarket own brands, I know Asda#s Tiger brand is quite good and relatively cheap, other Supermarkets are probably just as good, you just need to start comparing labels.

Butcher's Classic is a good quality, well regarded cat food and is 48% meat and meat derivatives, 8.5% protein, and often available at good prices - currently 6x400g for £2.50, 12 for £4.90 at Asda, £2.47 and £5 at Morrisons, so perhaps worth trying to see how that goes down.

How big are your cats? (Or at least how big are they supposed to be!) And how active? As large tins of catfood contain about 400g, presumably you are feeding each cat about 135g per day. That is in the middle of the recommended range for an average 2-3kg cat. Recommended range is between 90 and 180g for a 2-3kg cat. As far as I know, KiteKat is a complete cat food (I don't have any to hand to check as our local shops don't sell it) and provides all the nutrients and minerals that your cat needs. So in theory all you need to do is reduce the quantity - make 1 tin do 4 servings, not 3. Easier said than done! As Ruth says, the 4% refers to the chicken content, the actual meat content will be higher. Actual requirements and ability to put on weight varies greatly between cats. I used to have two 3kg cats, Misty ate 3/4 of the food and was as thin as a rake, while Honey had 1/4 and was distinctly portly!

Butchers and Felix AGAIL go down well here (we have to watch the budget too). I always look around for offers. Pets at home is doing 3 for £10 on Felix right now. Lidl's Coshida in jelly is good too and a good price. Another place I sometimes use is B&M.

Timing for feeding is important too. I have to watch Gracie like a hawk or she finishes off whatever is left!

My lot get Kitekat from parcels of food donated to the charity sometimes, and actually they all seem to like it - there are worse foods out there and it is complete. As has been said, the 4% refers to the named meat and not the total meat content, and if you're only feeding the KiteKat and no additional dry food then your best bet is to just reduce the amount and make sure that they don't eat each other's food as well as their own.

I second the recommendation for Butcher's Classic - it's good value and good quality, especially for the price, as it has no cereals added to bulk it out.

I'm unsure of 2/3 cats weight as it's my youngest that was taken to the vets for a check up and she came in at 4.3k, 3 months prior she was 3.7kg I had been feeding all 3 on the same amount which is okay for my biggest who should be 4-4.5kg but has left the other two a tad larger. I'm not too worried about my oldest one who is a tad overweight as she kinda looses it as well, if that makes sense? They all had 1/2 a tin a day and I don't know why we decided on that tbh, and the recommended for a 4kg is 1/3 a tin a day with 30grams of biscuits. I've tried to work out what a 3.5kg needs but the 90-180g will help me so thankyou! I want to get the youngest perfect as she's just over one so it'll end up leading to issues if I don't. my oldest has been cut down a bit and the 4kg cat now has the recommended but she is more active than the others and goes outside so that may alter. For once in my life i'm finding my horse's feeds to be less confusing and that's a massive shock.
The vet said after a check up next month if the weights still on she can be put on this weight loss diet thing they have of a dry food so it'll be fine in the end no matter what i'd just rather do it myself for her my fault shes fat

Actually, if you are also feeding dry food it would be easier to cut down on that. Dry food is much more 'calorific' than the wet food, and it often is the dry food that causes the weight gain.

I sometimes have this 'food discussion' with our vet but her answer is always the same. There is nothing wrong with Felix AGAIL DD as long as the phosphate binder is added and she thinks my efforts to get Blackie to eat what looks like a higher grade food are a waste of time and money. The vet's opinion is that in the end the best food is what the cat will eat - even when his CKD worsens. From trials already, I don't hold out a lot of hope for getting him to eat renal food.

Based on what others have said, I'll open that tin of Butcher's Classic that's in the cupboard and see how that goes down (or not as the case may be ).

Jan, you probably know this but you can get a Senior version of Felix AGAIL, and the Senior foods are usually better for cats with renal issues. I found some renal foods recently that seemed a bit more palatable - I'll get the info and start a thread.

Ruth B is absolutely right. I work for an extremely good pet shop (the name of which I won't include here) and I've had training on pet foods.

When the standard cat foods, such as KiteKat, Whiskas, Felix, etc, say 4% minimum, it's vital to remember this is only 4% meat DERIVATIVES. That means as long as it comes from an animal, it can be any part of it at all, regardless of the nutritional value of that part. It could be beaks, hooves, eyes, anything at all and as long as it comes from the animal, they can put it on there. It also means it can be as heavily processed as they like.

As far as vet recommendations go, it's best to use them with care. Here in the UK, most vets receive less than two days' training on pet foods, which means they're often unaware of less common but better pet foods, and they are unaware of newer foods on the market. They will often resort to recommending Royal Canin, for example, but if you look at the ingredients it is highly processed and contains very little 'real' food. It's animal proteins (which means the animal has been broken down, proteins separated and then included in the food without any of the other goodness), and a lot of fillers. Same with James Wellbeloved.

In reality, if you want to give your cat a really good food, some of the better options are More, Canagan, Orijen, Applaws, etc. All have between 50%-70& (roughly) REAL meat in them from good parts of the animal, and I *think* all of them are also grain free and additive free. I know that's the case for More, Canagan and Orijen. I think it's the same for Applaws. If you look for the products online, and compare them to some of the cheaper brands, you'll see the difference in the quality of the ingredients. They ARE more expensive, but it's absolutely worth it.

Rufus will only eat Felix AGAIL DD at the moment (he was perfectly happy with Whiskas Salmon out of a big tin when he first moved in) and will starve himself if I offer anything else. It does seem to vary wildly in price. Recently my local Sainsbury's was charging £4.85 for a box of 12 pouches, which was £4.50 at the superstore. It's currently £3.30 at the superstore so I've stocked up. (What are the odds he'll go off it now?... )

Just a note - Applaws wet is only a complimentary food, not a complete food for cats, so it should not comprise your cats entire diet.

I've just stayed with kitecat as my dad bought another 12 cans for me (student life is good ) and my Gizmo has lost 200grams of weight in this week so the diet is going well, I think shes on 140g a day? i've worked it out through the 4kg recommendation, just hope my vets as proud of me as I am, I'll be checking on the other cats soon but Gizmo is my main priority at the moment but they're all dieting together, just wish mine would go as well