Help with Australian cat food choices

For dry food we personally use a combination of Royal canin types, and use advance as a "filler".

Our fur family ranges from 5 years old to 13, and have always shared food/bowls without fighting, so trying to give them separate diets are nigh on impossible. They get a mixture of fur ball, fit, exegent, and a little bit of seniors thrown in for good measure for Royal canin, and use adult regular biscuits from advance just to pad it out a bit.

*mixture of hills and Royal Canin with advance as a filler

I'm have a vague night

How is the Holistic Select dry going @Rose2015 ?   Which variety did you use? I'm thinking about trying a packet when my current Royal Canin Skin and Coat/Oral Care and Applaws Runs out.

Applaws seems to be really constipating to my MC

I did get a sample of Meals For Meows which he LOVES but then I read bad things about Alfalfa and it's pretty high up in the list of ingredients. I loved that it didn't have chicken in it though for a change. It'd be nice if we'd have a few foods here that didn't have fish or chicken in them (or both! Most of the high end one's have both). I'm thinking about keeping it in rotation though if I can get past the whole alfalfa thing.
 

Hello lovely @Tobilei  Thanks for asking

I've just opened the dry a few days ago, so she's still transitioning from old to new. The pieces are wider than the Wellness, but not as thick. I was hoping for them to be a little larger. My cat always seems to always gobble up her food, so not sure if that's her being a piggy or that she loves the flavour. To be honest, she only gets a tiny bit of dry (approx 10g) after her breakfast (also wet Holistic Select / Canidae) on working days only. So i'm not sure if i'll notice a difference or not. HOWEVER if your little one has digestive issues, apparently the Holistic Select dry and certain canned types have pre/probiotics to help with digestion. Why don't you contact them on Facebook and request a small dry sample, you only have to pay for postage. That way you can see if it suits your car or not prior to purchasing a bag. Make sure you contact the Holistic Select AUSTRALIA not the U.S. Facebook page, they are very quick to respond and very helpful!

P.S. The dry bag that i have is the Adult & Kitten as my cat is 10 months old (not a young kitten but not quite an adult).

Hmm I wonder if they've changed the shape. They used to be Y shaped (wellness in comparison was tiny round balls, I can't decide if I want to give wellness another try or not. In theory it shouldn't cause a problem.....then again, I'm always second guessing every decision I make, I hate to say it but both of mine are doing well on Royal Canin, Jaspers fur is soft and lovely, Tilly is very soft and very silky and they both like it, it's not their favourite but they like it at least).

Thanks for the tip! I have emailed them (more times than I will ever admit to ). They've always been very helpful

I have my fingers crossed the transition goes well! Do update me again I'm interested to hear how she's doing!

Awww thank you! I think if your little one is going well on Royal Canin - then why change it? It could be the right food for your cat, if it's suiting his/her sensitive tummy then that's fabulous!

We cat-parents worry so much don't we!

PS Would love to see a pic of your kitties   @Tobilei

Haha, always happy to oblige with photos! And thank you. I don't know why I want to change it. I think because I'm obsessed and neurotic about making the best decision for my babies and I've read so much about corn/fillers etc that I'm convinced I'm killing them with rubbish food (I sound insane don't I?? My husband often tells me I am when it comes to the cats lol!)

The other thing that bothers me is I'm not sure it's not chicken causing my boys itching so I thought maybe a food with less chicken rather than more might help with that.


Here's the babies. The orange and white floofer is my (underweight, cranky and itchy) Maine Coon Jasper (he's 2)  and the blue tortie hiding in the washing is my baby girl Tilly who just turned 1

I'd love to see your bubby too!
 

Tobilei said:

Haha, always happy to oblige with photos! And thank you. I don't know why I want to change it. I think because I'm obsessed and neurotic about making the best decision for my babies and I've read so much about corn/fillers etc that I'm convinced I'm killing them with rubbish food (I sound insane don't I?? My husband often tells me I am when it comes to the cats lol!)


The other thing that bothers me is I'm not sure it's not chicken causing my boys itching so I thought maybe a food with less chicken rather than more might help with that.



Here's the babies. The orange and white floofer is my (underweight, cranky and itchy) Maine Coon Jasper (he's 2)  and the blue tortie hiding in the washing is my baby girl Tilly who just turned 1

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• tobilei
• Jun 2, 2016

I'd love to see your bubby too!

 

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Oh my how gorgeous are those two little faces! My oh my too much cuteness in 1 photo haha. Oh yes, absolutely look for less fillers and junk, but try not to stress too much. You'll drive yourself nuts otherwise (trust me, have been there, done that and still doing it). At least for the moment he is doing well on Royal Canin, it's not terrible and IMO better than Hills Science, especially for little ones who have 'issues'. Actually, I vaguely remember they ha a specific food for Maine Coones, not sure if it's legit or a marketing gimmick - could be something to look into? Don't worry, In always worried and looking for the best food for my little one, but sometimes no matter how wonderful the food is, it may just not agree (even after transitioning etc). For example, my one gets constipated on grain free high quality canned. Seriously- just why! So I've had to do the non-grain free high quality which seems to suits her tummy (and keeps her pooping regularly). So it also comes down to the individual cat, some things may suit some may not (and I'm talking in context of good quality food, should anyone else come across this thread

Regarding the chicken for your little ones, have you tried an elimination diet? Long winded but may help. Keeping in mind it's not just the meat protein to experiment with but also the main veggie protein (if applicable?).

Oh and here's a pic of Zoe a few weeks ago - she's a bit bigger now

Zoe is beautiful <3 I love her little face and tiger stripes! (and her white mittens!) I haven't tried a full elimination diet, only because the z/d contains chicken liver (it's hydrolyzed but some kitties react to it, plus it tends to cause diarrhea for the first 6 weeks the rep told me by drawing water into the bowel, I didn't like that much, he's already underweight) and the Royal Canin is all soy with no wet food option that doesn't contain chicken I was tempted to put him on Wellness Simple for dogs, I wish they had limited ingredient diets here for cats! Royal Canin make some but they're not available here. The only other option was to home cook which I haven't ruled out yet but my many vets don't seem to think food is his problem.

I won a bag of Holistic Select on facebook today so I'm going to get to trial the Duck and Chicken anyway Lol.

Grain free seems to constipate my boy too! It seems to have the opposite effect with my little girl, maybe the peas in them? She gets terrible wind that clears the room and makes the eyes water (fish does the same but with the added bonus of diarrhea).

Royal Canin do do a Maine Coon food, but it has crustraceans in it and seemed to set my girls diarrhea off if she eats much of it (Ugh, how did I end up in this situation!). Thanks for the suggestions! I'm always open to new one's. He does my head in sometimes (when I'm not doing my own in!)

Oh congrats @tobilei on winning the bag- yay! Was that the competition they ran this week? That's awesome, at least you can try and see if it works for your two, without wasting $$ if it doesn't work out. I succumbed to becoming a 'stage cat mum' and they posted Zoe's pics on their Facebook page a week or so ago. Haha.

I'm happy to look across a few other brands to help you in the quest for your itchy & scratchy
So is it dry, no chicken, no seafood and non grain free that I should be looking for? Wet as well? Or is that one sorted?

I'm yet to try 'Cats in the Kitchen' as per your earlier suggestion, but I'm unsure of the tapioca in it. Is it a bad ingredient or just a normal safe ingredient?

It was! I was ridiculously excited. You'd think I'd just won something for myself (and I've totally just given away who I am :/ )  Lmao at stage cat Mum! My entire news feed is cats. And I fill all my friends news feeds with cats, cats and ummm cats! Oh wait! I remember that post! Came through my instagram feed too I think, she was eating it out of a dish with the can near by? The purple wet food I think? Aww I'm pretty sure I was busy liking her picture on instagram even before I knew!

lol that's quite a list of food isn't it? I think I've checked through most. If you don't include RC, Hills, Advance etc Canidae, Earthborn Holistic and most Holistic Select all have fish and chicken. All Black Hawk has fish meal, the Meals for Meows is great except the alfalfa thing bothers me, Artemis has fish, even most of the Holistic Select have fish and all have chicken except the new Rabbit and turkey one but it has both chickpeas and lentils which I suspect will set off my girl. Taste of the wild has fish, Ziwipeak has mussel but my boy wouldn't eat it anyway. Wellness has 1 single fish free chicken free variety but ........ it's wellness which as we know in theory should be amazing but that many reports of crystals is somewhat alarming. Ack! I think that's all the foods? I once begged Black Hawk to consider a fish free variety

Ivory Coat said they'll make a cat food maybe sometime next year but who knows what will be in it.

I think that's every food in Australia? If you happen to ever stumble across one though that would be awesome! I'd prefer wet but that expands the needs to chunks in gravy, no pate (argh!)Thank you though! I appreciate you taking the time

Tapioca is okay, I have read that the Cats in the Kitchen one's are a little heavy on it. The pouches contain it but the cans don't. I don't worry about it too much. We're so limited anyway and if it's not their sole source of food I'm sure it's fine (I've read it's fine just maybe not healthy in huge amounts much like if we eat white bread too much).

 

Haha that's awesome! I, sure your two will be very excited! Oh yes, let me know what you think of the kibble size and shape once you open it. Ok, mission accepted, fish free, chicken free, non grain free cat food to be found. Let's see what we can find in our limited selection. Aha, thank you for the tip on tapioca starch, I could,not find much on the internet about it so much appreciated. Also, what are your thoughts on carb percentages? What should it be for an average cat (canned) and do we determine it on as is or dry matter basis? Dr Lisa Pierson mentions no more than 10% but i couldn't see if she was calculating it on 'as is' or 'dry matter'. On top of that, non grain free may be a little higher. It's a choice between constipation or slightly higher carbs. Oh the dilemma of being cat mums right! @tobilei oh and don't start me on the endless supply of pate canned! Why!!!! The holistic select is patè, a little annoying but I've sent feedback through almost begging for chunks rather than pate. Sigh!

Ps aww thank you for liking her pic, she'd love the attention!

I haven't read much about the carb percentages of wet food, I'll have to look into it! Mine won't eat any of the grain free stuff (except Purr, my little man loves purr, except for the chicken only variety but he can't have it because all the rest have fish!), I'm lucky if I can get them to eat higher end stuff with grain in it, boo! I was having minimal success with the VIP grain free aluminium trays, I might try persisting with those. Even though the meat content is possibly a bit questionable it's readily available, grain free and not too pricey when I have to bin it (My boy has turned his nose up at his beloved fancy feast tonight! I think I might have a brain implosion!)

And yep, I'll let you know once it's arrived and we can compare

Tobilei said:

I haven't read much about the carb percentages of wet food, I'll have to look into it! Mine won't eat any of the grain free stuff (except Purr, my little man loves purr, except for the chicken only variety but he can't have it because all the rest have fish!), I'm lucky if I can get them to eat higher end stuff with grain in it, boo! I was having minimal success with the VIP grain free aluminium trays, I might try persisting with those. Even though the meat content is possibly a bit questionable it's readily available, grain free and not too pricey when I have to bin it (My boy has turned his nose up at his beloved fancy feast tonight! I think I might have a brain implosion!)


And yep, I'll let you know once it's arrived and we can compare

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Ok I've found something, it's a little weird and I can't find the guaranteed analysis for it, however reviews 'seem' to be good. It's called Vets all Natural, where a vet called Dr Bryce (insert marketing red flags here haha) has formed a raw diet. Apparently you need to combine his 'complete mix' with his raw meat options to create a balanced meal. It's seems natural, but odd and I'm cautious that the ingredients are not listed for muesli like mixture. I also feel it's developed more for dogs rather than cats. I guess it's something to investigate to if it appeals.
Here is the website http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au
Let me know your thoughts and if you end up trying it.
Oh such a rainy day!

Rose2015 said:

Ok I've found something, it's a little weird and I can't find the guaranteed analysis for it, however reviews 'seem' to be good. It's called Vets all Natural, where a vet called Dr Bryce (insert marketing red flags here haha) has formed a raw diet. Apparently you need to combine his 'complete mix' with his raw meat options to create a balanced meal. It's seems natural, but odd and I'm cautious that the ingredients are not listed for muesli like mixture. I also feel it's developed more for dogs rather than cats. I guess it's something to investigate to if it appeals.
Here is the website http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au
Let me know your thoughts and if you end up trying it.
Oh such a rainy day!

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Sorry! Have had a busy couple of days! I have seen it! The only couple of things that bothered me with it were the inclusion of garlic. I also did a fair bit of googling about it and a lot of raw feeders said that it's quite high in carbs because of the museli mix. I did buy a packet of the pre-mix (smelled disgusting but roo often does) and my boy would absolutely not go anywhere near it. Given when I feed him anything raw that he likes he eats about 2 or 3 small chunks and is done I doubt my ability to get him to eat raw on a regular basis Thank you so much though!

How'd you hold up in all the rain (I assume you're somewhere on the east coast given the rain comment). We copped a hammering where I am. Had some leaking in the loungeroom and the pilot light for the shower went out twice so we had a night of cold showers but otherwise our house held up okay (better than others in my area did sadly).

Tobilei said:

Sorry! Have had a busy couple of days! I have seen it! The only couple of things that bothered me with it were the inclusion of garlic. I also did a fair bit of googling about it and a lot of raw feeders said that it's quite high in carbs because of the museli mix. I did buy a packet of the pre-mix (smelled disgusting but roo often does) and my boy would absolutely not go anywhere near it. Given when I feed him anything raw that he likes he eats about 2 or 3 small chunks and is done I doubt my ability to get him to eat raw on a regular basis Thank you so much though!


How'd you hold up in all the rain (I assume you're somewhere on the east coast given the rain comment). We copped a hammering where I am. Had some leaking in the loungeroom and the pilot light for the shower went out twice so we had a night of cold showers but otherwise our house held up okay (better than others in my area did sadly).

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Oh no! Leak in the lounge room! That's terrible. Hoping it will e fixed soon for you. Haha, yes, im in Sydney but survived apart from going a little stir crazy indoors. its a weird concept isn't it, mixing the muesli with the raw, but I thought maybe, just maybe there could have been a possibility it would suit. Not to worry, shall keep an eye out for more options. Haha, he sounds like a little fussy cat. Too cute.

Have you tried felix? It is just meat in jelly/

Just been reading all the answers, wow, why is it so hard to find cat food that doesn't have fish, or that is good quality. I have given my boy felix in jelly and tryed the a new one called sensations. But I noticed they all have fish argghh. Am trying to stay away from the fish lol. Why can't the cat foods just have beef in it likes it says and not pork or lamb or whatever. Why can't they just say this has lamb etc etc on the front. Why do we have to read the fine print all the time. Rather frustrating.

I eat gluten free foods and lactose free for the most part and I know how difficult it can be to find things. I am not a celiac but have IBS and it's a pain. My boy I don't think has itolerances or allergies and would hate it if he did, it's a real pain for me, can only imagine how hard it would be to find gluten free, grain free, fish free, by products free, cereal fillers free etc etc for cat food, and all the other no nos. why can't they just make things straight forward? You would think in today's world the cat food industry would catch up with the rest of the world in regards to food. Today most places cater for vegetarians, vegans, gluten free, soy free, nut free, lactose free, sugar free, diabetes, etc etc.
I have tried fancy feast, felix purina, VIPs and know dine in trays. He has had hills science diet light when we bought him till I found out that was a bad one.
My parents have a dog with allergies and he doesn't eat dog food, he eats people food for the most part.
He kept gettin ear problems and vomiting etc from certain foods,. The pet food industry needs to take a closer look at what they putting in the pet foods. Why can't they have good quality foods.
I just liked on dines website and they said some is from Thailand. Another one I have tried indulgence another Thailand product. And so is app laws. Lol
So annoying
Rant over lol

Starting to think I need to have a rotation list of wet food.
Any suggestions ???
Can't seem to find ones am 100% happy with

Cuddlemum said:

Just been reading all the answers, wow, why is it so hard to find cat food that doesn't have fish, or that is good quality.they all have fish argghh.
Rant over lol

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You can buy the single packets they are usually on sale in Coles every couple of weeks. 

Cuddlemum said:

Starting to think I need to have a rotation list of wet food.
Any suggestions ???
Can't seem to find ones am 100% happy with

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Pet barn lets you return any food your cat doesn't like no questioned asked. On a sales weekend buy 2-3 of each type of food and try them. Mine might eat it the first time and leave it the second or never eat it. This is how i got her to eat other things as a kitten, it is a lot of waste but  I take back cans she won't eat. It was great when i was trying to find a dry food that didn't make her sick, i took several over 30 dollar bags back.

Mine loves felix and we have cat tantrum if she doesn't get a bowl. i still try to feed her something different so she doesnt get food shock if they change the formula. Most Pumia food is now made in Australia they built a factory in the last 2 years.