Cat Chat Feline Forum

We've just adopted a 2yr old female from PAWS shelter in Todmorden (recommended!! - lovely people)

Little Minnie is still settling in and we're trying to find food that she's happy to eat. Felix AGAIL was not to her liking (except the chicken flavour), but we've found that the Gourmet Gold Pates and Terrines seem to go down better with her - without hesitation she laps them up.

In an ideal world, I'd also like to feed her some dry as well. We purchased a massive bag of okoplus from zooplus which came with a few free bags of Lilys Kitchen dry food. Day one she ate a little bit of it, but hasn't touched it since. It's been wet all the way since then, despite having the option of both (for the time being we have the dry constantly available).
So, if she doesn't fancy Lilys Kitchen, I'd like to try something else, but without buying a big expensive bag of it. I notice Purina offer a free sample of Purina One, so I've signed up for that. Do you guys know if other food manufacturers offer samples ?

it's far more difficult to find samples than it ought to be - vets have some sometimes, but watch the use by dates

the compromise is to buy a selection of small bags of different foods - 300 or 400 gms

I've found that hedgehogs like dry cat food so at this time of the year, when they're fattening up for hibernation, I don't feel I'm wasting any I put out because my two cats don't like it

don1976 wrote:We've just adopted a 2yr old female from PAWS shelter in Todmorden (recommended!! - lovely people)

Little Minnie is still settling in and we're trying to find food that she's happy to eat. Felix AGAIL was not to her liking (except the chicken flavour), but we've found that the Gourmet Gold Pates and Terrines seem to go down better with her - without hesitation she laps them up.

In an ideal world, I'd also like to feed her some dry as well. We purchased a massive bag of okoplus from zooplus which came with a few free bags of Lilys Kitchen dry food. Day one she ate a little bit of it, but hasn't touched it since. It's been wet all the way since then, despite having the option of both (for the time being we have the dry constantly available).
So, if she doesn't fancy Lilys Kitchen, I'd like to try something else, but without buying a big expensive bag of it. I notice Purina offer a free sample of Purina One, so I've signed up for that. Do you guys know if other food manufacturers offer samples ?

Congratulations ! My large overweight cat Oscar, has become fussy lately...turns his nose up at food he ate the previous day!! However I bought some Perfect Fit which he loves, too much really! I got a free sample in a box of Whiskers food, however I have seen a trial size in pets at home...may be worth buying to see if she likes it.

Good luck x

If you went with hirds, they have samples of the brand they sell (Lucy has the renal variety), alternatively Pets at Home have a very good money back guarantee, I've taken open bags back before. I'm sure Royal Canin offer money back rather than samples. As May says, lots of brands sell smaller bags

We're Purina One all the way with dried food, we have tried others but ended up throwing so much away i decide it wasn't worth the effort of trying to find anything else.

I do remember the Pet section at our local garden center had Royal Canin trial bags at one point. You still had to pay for them but they were only about 200g and were no more expensive per 100g than the big bags. I don't know if they are still around but it might be worth a try.

My Tilly also likes Gourmet Gold Pate (especially fish) and Terrine, she eats quite a lot of it. As far as dry food goes, I think Royal Canin can be bought in fairly small bags,1kg or possibly smaller (its a while since I bought one that small). Must admit that I have no problem with spare cat food, as next doors pair of greedy guts will eat anything that Tilly turns her regal nose up at.

booktigger wrote:If you went with hirds, they have samples of the brand they sell (Lucy has the renal variety), alternatively Pets at Home have a very good money back guarantee, I've taken open bags back before. I'm sure Royal Canin offer money back rather than samples. As May says, lots of brands sell smaller bags

I'm surprised to hear about the pets at home guarantee. I'll have to look into that.
We did go with Hirds - in fact we were there yesterday to have her claws clipped. Although I suspect food from the vet is likely to be sold at a premium isn't it?

Well, Lucy has their renal variety which costs me £16 a bag, the cheapest I can get Royal Canin renal online is £18, so i was pleasantly surprised. I had to get the RC Calm from the vets in Jan and paid £23

I took a punt on a bag of Perfect Fit dry food today on impulse whilst I was browsing in The Range. Minnie took one sniff of them this afternoon and started munching away happily, and cleared the plate.
Looks like we might have found something to her taste. Whether it's down to the brand or the fact this is salmon rather than than chicken, who knows.
Perhaps I'll try some other branded fishy flavoured food at some point to experiment.

Perfect Fit is going down well here too (along with the old staple of Purina One sensitive)

For a while now, Zooplus have been doing little 50g bags in their reward shop for one point. I have been putting 5 in the basket - the max they will allow - but I might trying doing it a few times over the next time.

PS - I bought a box of Whiskas yesterday and there was a sticker saying 'Dreamies money off voucher inside' - when I opened it, the voucher was for Dreamies delikatx, which mine won't touch BUT there was also a voucher for £1 off Perfect fit. It is on offer in Sainsbury's for £3.50 a bag, so £2.50 with a voucher - I might get a couple more boxes of Whiskas today and then get a few bags of Perfect Fit - love a bargain


They used to sell Perfect Fit wet and dry about 10 years ago, but discontinued it - now they say it is new!

PS- Kasper will only eat Purizon fish dry (from Zooplus) as his main food. 70% fish and grain-free. Quite expensive (£18 for 2.5g) but it lasts him a while as the others won't touch it.

I found that ironic too Mark - when I got Zia, it was all she would eat, and it was discontinued while I had her. I also got some of sample bags with my Zooplus points!

Yes it was the same with Willow. She was quite ill with CRF by then and although it wasn't ideal, she still loved the Perfect Fit wet and then I couldn't get it any more. Must have been 2009. I remember a stall in our local market that sells short-dated food had loads of it really cheap. I bought all they had.