Nayu's Craft Time #288 Let's Talk Cat Food!

Thought this was a more pleasant image to start with than an open tin of cat food

 The post I wanted to put up next was the watermelon post, but I only had time for a super quick one (I need to find a few photos both online and offline) so today I'm talking cat food. Regular readers will know how much I like to mention my cute kitty Belle. She is over 7 years old and thus classed as a senior by cat food companies. There are categories for kittens, as well as non-category food. I think these are important to some extent because at the early and later years of life cats need more specific nutrients. Mostly I don't think it would adversely affect a cat if you gave some food which wasn't in their supposed category: cats should get a variety of food to keep it interesting. 

This cat can be camera shy.

 I openly spoil Belle in trying as many cat food as I can especially when it's on offer. Naturally she prefers the expensive food! But she's worth it. She gets a mixture of 100g of wet food and some dry food too. Her wet food selection includes main UK brands Whiskers, Felix, Sheba and Gourmet. She used to have Sainsbury's own brand, but this year they changed both the packaging and the food itself (to have no grains) and somecat distinctly didn't like the change. 

Belle's trick is eating some of this Gourmet food straight from the tin!

Her biscuits are a mix of Go-Cat, Purina brand, and one I can't remember. She has recently had a more specialised biscuit added to help reduce her being sick (she can be a pukey cat. Using hairball medicine recommend by our vet every day means shes is rarely sick now). Biscuits are important for cat dental health - certain ones are aimed for that purpose, but she has a mixture of treats.

I mostly by fish varieties of food, or chicken/poultry. I avoid beef/duck/any other meat because you never know exactly what goes in cat food, and somehow fish and poultry seem a more acceptable type of meat than the others. This does minimise the amount of variety I have for Belle, but she still gets a wide selection. Ever since she started enjoying cat soup I've tried other types that aren't just in jelly which she has always liked: I try gravy and other similar textures.

A fair amount of the brands I've named are more expensive, but I think variety is important, and if she likes a brand I'll buy it as often as I can. I always get them on sale, and if I'm almost running out I get them normal price too: it is always handy to keep a few cat soups around in case she is unwell for a few days and needs tempting to eat anything. I always buy cat soups in a pack - they are sold singly but that's way too expensive. Cat soup is a good way of getting more liquid in a cat, as well as putting a tiny bit of water with every wet food, which is something our vet advised many months ago. 

 

An example of cat soup

I should have said this at the start but I'm not a cat professional, just a cat owner for over 2 decades who loves her cat and wants to give her the best I can. Speak to your vet first if you want to make any diet changes to your pet's routine. 

 

One day I'd love to have a Ragdoll cat! My favourite breed ^u^