Which kitten food? (In the UK)

Hi there! Recently signed up and posted in the kitten care forum and was helpfully directed here to ask some questions I have on kitten food.

I am living in the UK and will be the owner of a kitten soon and this will be my first! I was just curious, there are so many brands of kitten food on the market, I was wondering if there were any particular brands that a more experienced cat owner would recommend? I would love recommendations for both meaty and dry food, since I am hoping to do a combo diet with both :3

EDIT:
I forgot to ask! What sort of fresh foods should I feed the cat? I know cow's milk can be troublesome for digestion, but is fresh fish and meats important to include in the diet as regularly as more than once a week. My main reason for this question is I suffer from a fish phobia, and even the smell can knock me sick for a full day, so I was wondering if kitty needs a good feeding of fresh meats, can there be other suppliments to fish, such as rabbit or chicken?

to TCS!
I'm not in the UK, but am familiar with some of the brands there. Have you heard of this site? http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats It's an online shop, and some of its brands are quite good. For dry food, I'd recommend the Orijen, a grain-free food for all ages. Almo nature kitten, Nutro kitten, and Royal Canin (two varieties for kittens) are recommendable, too.

Good wet brands available for kittens would be Almo nature, Porta 21, and Schesir.

thank you jcat! and yes, I have a order with zooplus for all the cat stuff I need for when the kitten arrives

I was thinking of using them for food supplies as well, thank you for the recommendation!

For dry food, both James Wellbeloved and Royal Canin do kitten varieties (and if the kitten is under 4 months old RC do a 'babycat' variety with tiny biscuits which makes it just right for a youngster's tiny mouth). JWB you can get in Pets@Home, online through zooplus, and in some vet surgeries and small local petstores. RC kitten and babycat varieties are only distributed via vet surgeries. They are both excellent quality dry foods.

For wet foods, look for Hi-Life kitten pouches/tins, and Nature's Menu kitten pouches, you can get these in Pets@Home and large Tesco superstores.

The foods I have recommended are those with a high meat content, many of the popular brands (Whiskas, Go-Cat etc) are mostly vegetable/cereal proteins and fillers, which make the product cheaper to produce, but are more difficult for a cat to digest and should be avoided.

A combination diet is great, I truly believe they need the moisture in wet foods, but dry food is convenient because you can leave it out for longer while you're at work etc. I feed 1 pouch each of wet in the morning, leave a measured amount of dry down during the day, and feed 1 pouch each of wet again just before bed, this seems to work well

ETA: Glad to see you have found zooplus, some of the good brands there for wet that I have used but that you will have trouble finding in the shops are Almo Nature, Cosma, Schesir, Animonda, and Bozita. I'm not sure which of these do kitten varieties but the relevant pages on the website should say! They also sell Orijen dry food which I've heard is excellent and grain-free, but it is expensive! I think they also sell all the other brands that I've mentioned.

Thankies Epona! Lots of brands to consider now and to try when I get the kitten I think, at least that means they won't be a picky eater

I found zooplus quite early in my kitten acquiring adventures! My boyfriend and his flat mates were keen on the cat but one of the major areas was overall costs! I spent a day wondering the internet for online pet supplies stores and did a price comparison on everything from carriers and baskets to toys and collars then compared this with local pet centres and stores as well as the supermarkets. The only place I lost out on was cat food, since there were so many brands I was stuck on who to look at and consider in the price charts. Zooplus came up on top though with my search between online and highstreet stores for both prices and variety

I feed similar to Epona. I rotate lots of different wet foods but the main ones I feed are hi life, natures menu, applaws, almo nature, feline fayre, bozita, cosma and animonda carny. For dry (I only feed a very small amount) I feed orijen and james wellbeloved.

Epona - Orijen is selling at £1.30 for 400g at the moment - that works out a lot cheaper than JWB which costs me £1.75 for a small bag (250g?). I've noticed it's on offer regularly (was recently selling for £1 a bag) so I stock up when it's on offer.

pai-thagoras - I would only feed fresh meat as an occasional treat. Meat and fish on their own don't provide all the nutrients a cat needs. A raw or homemade diet is great if properly researched, but you need to make sure you include the right proportions of meat, organs, bone etc. plus added supplements if necessary. Raw or cooked meat can be fed occasionally as a treat though.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

I feed similar to Epona. I rotate lots of different wet foods but the main ones I feed are hi life, natures menu, applaws, almo nature, feline fayre, bozita, cosma and animonda carny. For dry (I only feed a very small amount) I feed orijen and james wellbeloved.

Epona - Orijen is selling at £1.30 for 400g at the moment - that works out a lot cheaper than JWB which costs me £1.75 for a small bag (250g?). I've noticed it's on offer regularly (was recently selling for £1 a bag) so I stock up when it's on offer.

pai-thagoras - I would only feed fresh meat as an occasional treat. Meat and fish on their own don't provide all the nutrients a cat needs. A raw or homemade diet is great if properly researched, but you need to make sure you include the right proportions of meat, organs, bone etc. plus added supplements if necessary. Raw or cooked meat can be fed occasionally as a treat though.

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Thanks there urbantigers! I was wondering on the fresh meat, I read on one site they should be given freshly cooked meat sometimes as often as three times a week, but that worried me for two reasons, that their diet wouldn't be very healthy and the second that I would have to cook fish so often

Lots of brands to look into though I finding some good prices with the online suppliers, thank you guys