Advice on Australian wet food

[Georgina887]

Not sure how many Australians are on here but let’s give it a go...!

my cat has had digestive issues and been on Hills I/d chicken stew and has been doing really well on it. The problem is it’s so expensive and similar products are also around the same price.

I’m searching for a wet food that has decent ingredients (no bad fillers or thickeners or gelling agents) but that won’t break the bank.

the I/d is costing about $65 for 24 cans. I’m looking for something cheaper than that.

Everything is either so cheap it’s gross or just really expensive. I have two cats to feed and 4 cans a day means $65 of food only lasts 6 days.

Any help is appreciated!!

 

[Silver Crazy]

Aussie here....I make my own food which costs half of buying canned or package food so not really up to date on commercial foods that you can get at the moment.
If you can wait a day I can ask my niece who is a vet and see what she can come up with.

 

[Georgina887]

Aussie here....I make my own food which costs half of buying canned or package food so not really up to date on commercial foods that you can get at the moment.
If you can wait a day I can ask my niece who is a vet and see what she can come up with.

thanks for your reply. Can you share your recipe? I might consider the same if I can’t find anything suitable.
thanks for the offer to ask too

 

[Silver Crazy]

I constantly vary mixes depending on whats available at the time and my boy is a big robust boy that can eat anything without getting an upset stomach even the furniture if I let him..
In the Raw and Home cooked section of this forum there are some great recipes and chicken based recipes might be the best for your cat.
Best keep it simple.
Apart from that I am no expert, just found what works with my cat that keeps him healthy and full of life and energy.
Other people in TCS will be more expert than I and can give you some great advice on a cat with digestive issues.
Ask the question in the Raw and Cooked foods section and someone will be there to give you some advice.
Also I feed raw which might not be suitable for your cat.

 

[mani]

Prescription food can be so much more expensive. Do you need to have both of them on it, or is it just easier?

I guess you've also gone into the whole bulk buy and auto delivery thing to get costs down.

Were you feeding your cat chicken before, when the issue was there? My girl has a really sensitive stomach but does pretty well on chicken. I feed her Royal Canin Digest Sensitive mixed with some chicken Fancy Feast to keep costs down. They both do badly on fish, beef, lamb and kangaroo.

 

[Georgina887]

Prescription food can be so much more expensive. Do you need to have both of them on it, or is it just easier?

I guess you've also gone into the whole bulk buy and auto delivery thing to get costs down.

Were you feeding your cat chicken before, when the issue was there? My girl has a really sensitive stomach but does pretty well on chicken. I feed her Royal Canin Digest Sensitive mixed with some chicken Fancy Feast to keep costs down. They both do badly on fish, beef, lamb and kangaroo.

I was feeding them both chicken but it was a crappy brand with horrible thickeners that aggravated her stomach. She’s been doing better since changing the food. And yes it’s easier to have them both on the same food because 1) I don’t want the same issue to happen to my other cat and 2) they like to steal from each other’s bowls!
If I could find a cheap food that didn’t have the nasty thickeners or gelling agents I would do the same as you and mix the two but I’m struggling to find a cheap food that doesn’t have those.

 

[PuffandPercy]

I feed ZiwiPeak, it meets my standards on quality, and as a bonus, it's about as ethical as I can get.

No grains, no fillers, it smells like real meat. A bit pricey, but worth it, as one large can feeds my cat for 2 days (4 meals), and I give cookies as well.

I've fed wellness in the past, I liked the quality of that, but I find Ziwi more ethical.

 

[Kurisunium]

Not an Aussie but good luck I wish and hope you pick the right answer.

 

[Georgina887]

I feed ZiwiPeak, it meets my standards on quality, and as a bonus, it's about as ethical as I can get.

No grains, no fillers, it smells like real meat. A bit pricey, but worth it, as one large can feeds my cat for 2 days (4 meals), and I give cookies as well.

I've fed wellness in the past, I liked the quality of that, but I find Ziwi more ethical.

How big is the can? I have ordered some of this but struggling to see 4 meals in a can

 

[PuffandPercy]

There's 2 can sizes; 85g and 185g.

I haven't seen the smaller one, but the larger one is about half the size of human canned food. I spoon out a quarter at a time, and feed a bit of dry food too, twice a day. Very rarely I might feed another meal if he's hungry (the days he run laps around my house, I think ).

They recommend one large can per day for 4kg of cat; my cat isn't very big, and he gets cookies as well, so I find it goes pretty far! Especially because it's so meaty, I'm vegetarian, but it smells actually pretty good versus some of the other cat food I've smelt!