ethical cat food help

[Suzynick]

I think I am over complicating matters…..my cats were on Whiskas for quite a few years, until I discovered how unethical some brands were, and also how low the meat content was. Ie 4% in most supermarket foods! So after someone kindly sent me a tin of yarrah organic, my cats have been having the tinned chicken chunks for the last few years along with Arden Grange biscuits. However, both cats seem to suffer with smelly and loose stools, and Yarrah tins contain grains so I did wonder if this was a problem. So I have been looking at changing them to a food that is grain free. So far we have been using Yarrah trays which are grain free, however these work out more expensive than the tins. Also Lily’s Kitchen which are grain free, but the tins are not organic, just the trays are. And these are almost twice the price of Yarrah. Yarrah also contain animal deriatives, although they are a very ethical company.

I have seen the following foods recommended, miamor, pet natur, macs and catz fine foods, but none of them appear to be organic.

My other issue is that both my cats are not given huge amounts of food as one in particular is over weight and the other one is an indoor cat. So they have between 120-140g of wet each day plus around 20-25g of dried biscuits. So trays are not ideal for me given that they come in 100 grams.

[Kay]

have you considered finding a good quality grain free dry food, and adding home cooked meat and fish - that doesn't break the bank, and gives you more control over their diet - even better raw meat if acceptable

I have 6 different varieties of biscuit on the go here, and add in cooked chicken breast, lamb's kidneys, and white fish, with tuna and liver as a weekly treat (mine won't touch raw)

I do buy Miamor in jelly too, for a first thing in the morning meal, but use only one sachet a day between 3 cats

[Suzynick]

have you considered finding a good quality grain free dry food, and adding home cooked meat and fish - that doesn't break the bank, and gives you more control over their diet - even better raw meat if acceptable

I have 6 different varieties of biscuit on the go here, and add in cooked chicken breast, lamb's kidneys, and white fish, with tuna and liver as a weekly treat (mine won't touch raw)

I do buy Miamor in jelly too, for a first thing in the morning meal, but use only one sachet a day between 3 cats

Hi Kay

No I haven't....I think Storm would be very happy with that though, as he does like his biscuits and loves eating fresh chicken and tuna. Alfie on the other hand isn't a huge fan of biscuits, nor does he like eating much fresh chicken (strange I know!) though open a tin of tuna and within seconds he is by my feet! The other thing that would concern me is the lack of wetness in their diets, especially as Storm has bouts of cystitis in the past.

The yarrah trays seem to be going down very well with both cats, Alfie is super keen on them, though Storm is doing what he usually does with his usual yarrah food, licking the sauce off leaving some dried bits which he will only eat with some biscuits sprinkled on top!

[Purrsngrrs]

Its really not that easy to feed cats. Some of my cats are ready to eat anything or everything. But some are so finicky that they don't even smell anything else except their dry food. I have now started preparing food for my kittens because I find it really not suitable for my cats, which are religiously eating dry food only, to have such dry stomach. They are always constipated and they often vomit their food out due to improper digestion.

Here are some useful recipes for cat food if someone is interested:
http://purrsngrrs.com/homemade-cat-food-cats/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;