The Bad Situation
I have 4 cats (7 to 14 years old) who seem to be eating less and less. I am throwing away so much wet food that I decided to try alternative products. My basic supply is a good quality product (according to test reports a few years ago) from our regional Aldi, plus the German equivalent to Fancy Feast, and Purina One Adult pouches (for Mogi who needs gravy).
So, I bought a new more expensive product, Bozita (which advertised that it was more than 93% meat or poultry) and slowly added it to their normal food. They seemed to like it so, of course, I ordered quite a lot! Their initial interest in the new product started to wear off at the same time as I purchased a recent product report, which classified this product as “unsatisfactory”, too much sodium and phosphorus and too little iodine. As 2 of my cats are possibly showing early signs of CKD, this did not make good reading.
Summary: I now have a good supply of cat food which they don’t eat willingly, plus a load of “unsatisfactory” Fancy Feast (according to the test report: too much sodium, calcium and phosphorus), Bozita, just as unsatisfactory, and Purina One Adult pouches which are at least “satisfactory” even though there is also too much phosphorus.
My consolation: my cats were at least eating considerably less of these products per day than the test assumed.
And now.....
I made a list of the better-quality products which I could possibly buy locally and bought a selection to try. Yesterday I introduced a small tin of pate and a pouch with gravy for Mogi. I’m still mixing it with their basic good-quality Aldi food. Today, the same procedure. Most of it has already been eaten.
By the way, I also always leave a cupful of dry food out. It usually needs replacing every 2 or 3 days.
Am I wrong to hope that I will be able to make a satisfactory transition to better quality food and even be able to have a selection of different tins and pouches in case one of my cats becomes picky? If I only have best-quality food in the house, I will not have to feel guilty about giving poor quality food to the ferals and strays which I also feed.
I was most surprised that the most nutritious cat foods were by no means the most expensive. It is a shame that the report only covered 30 products available in Germany.
I have 4 cats (7 to 14 years old) who seem to be eating less and less. I am throwing away so much wet food that I decided to try alternative products. My basic supply is a good quality product (according to test reports a few years ago) from our regional Aldi, plus the German equivalent to Fancy Feast, and Purina One Adult pouches (for Mogi who needs gravy).
So, I bought a new more expensive product, Bozita (which advertised that it was more than 93% meat or poultry) and slowly added it to their normal food. They seemed to like it so, of course, I ordered quite a lot! Their initial interest in the new product started to wear off at the same time as I purchased a recent product report, which classified this product as “unsatisfactory”, too much sodium and phosphorus and too little iodine. As 2 of my cats are possibly showing early signs of CKD, this did not make good reading.
Summary: I now have a good supply of cat food which they don’t eat willingly, plus a load of “unsatisfactory” Fancy Feast (according to the test report: too much sodium, calcium and phosphorus), Bozita, just as unsatisfactory, and Purina One Adult pouches which are at least “satisfactory” even though there is also too much phosphorus.
My consolation: my cats were at least eating considerably less of these products per day than the test assumed.
And now.....
I made a list of the better-quality products which I could possibly buy locally and bought a selection to try. Yesterday I introduced a small tin of pate and a pouch with gravy for Mogi. I’m still mixing it with their basic good-quality Aldi food. Today, the same procedure. Most of it has already been eaten.
By the way, I also always leave a cupful of dry food out. It usually needs replacing every 2 or 3 days.
Am I wrong to hope that I will be able to make a satisfactory transition to better quality food and even be able to have a selection of different tins and pouches in case one of my cats becomes picky? If I only have best-quality food in the house, I will not have to feel guilty about giving poor quality food to the ferals and strays which I also feed.
I was most surprised that the most nutritious cat foods were by no means the most expensive. It is a shame that the report only covered 30 products available in Germany.
