Mum has really lost her trust in the pet food industry and is panicking about what pet food is safe.
But what do you feed your cats?
She has always fed me top food but she has her doubts about that too. And she's been reading about raw food but her instinct tells her that that isn't safe either.
This is what I've been eating regularly for the past few years until Mum switched me to Applaws in April. She stopped feeding me that rubbish last Tuesday after she heard about the recall as you can see in the linked post above.
Here is my regular food and what I am continuing with:
Here is a great book for all cat lovers we'd love to tell you about. Cat Confidential: expert advice on how to understand your furry feline by renowned cat counsellor Vicky Halls
From Amazon:
"You love your cat – and you hope your cat loves you too – but cats and their owners can often misunderstand each other. The cat says one thing and the owner hears another. Mostly, it feels right but, sometimes, something can go very wrong. How do you really know if your pampered pet wants a stroke behind the ears, or whether that insistent miaow is trying to communicate something more complex? If you’ve ever wondered why your cat does the things it does – soils in the house, picks a fight with the cat next door, feels nervous around strangers or destroys your furniture – then this is the book you have to read. Renowned cat counsellor Vicky Halls has changed the lives of thousands of owners and their problem cats. Filled with intriguing case studies, amazing facts and practical advice, Cat Confidential answers all your questions so that you can understand your feline friend better. Fascinating, funny and heart-warming, it's your chance to explore the unique bond between you and your cat. Catisfaction guaranteed."
Mum says she found this book really interesting and informative and it's definitely a must-read for any cat lover/parent. Offering amazing insights into your cat's mind and lots of expert advice backed by real-life case studies, this is a book that deals with a wide range of common cat problems. Anyone who loves cats or has a cat or cats would be wise to own a copy.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO BUY
About the Author
Vicky Halls is a pet behaviour counsellor and has spent over twenty years specialising in cats. Vicky also works on welfare projects with cat charities, writes and tutors cat behaviour courses and lectures all over the world to veterinary audiences. She is a registered veterinary nurse and qualified person-centred counsellor. The author of a number of books for the general reader and co-author of veterinary textbooks and papers, her particular interests are the complexity of the modern cat/owner relationship and the welfare of unowned cats throughout the world. At home, she is a slave to the demands of Jean Patou, her Burmese.
Disclosure: We received a free copy of this book from the publisher to read and give a mention. We thought we'd share because we know our readers would love this book! The post includes Amazon affiliate links.
Life can be stressful for indoor kitties like me. So, as a wise kitty, I put it to Mum that maybe we could look into getting a cat stroller. She could take me out so I can feel the fresh breeze silently whispering its deepest secrets through my furs. OK, maybe not here in polluted London but hopefully at our new place (if we ever get there), she could take me out for some fresh air (it's fresher with more open space where we're going, and the streets are lined with trees). So, while Mum decides if she'll get me one or not, here are some of the top ones she's found on Amazon UK. She hasn't actually got much money to spend and she is saving up for a catio, so any manufacturer of pet strollers, perhaps you could send us one for a review?
Now, as most of you already know, Mum likes to give me only the best cat food. Quality food that will keep me healthy, happy and strong. So when Vet's Kitchen invited us to participate in their “Healthy Cat Food Challenge” she was happy to let me take part.
A few days later we received a free month's supply of 4 bags of complete cat food. Two with 80% fresh chicken, two with 80% fresh salmon.
Mmm... which one smells tastier?
I'll tell you which I preferred further down this post but first, let me tell you a bit about this food. Because the people at Vet’s Kitchen work very closely with veterinary expertsto develop some of the best high-quality natural pet foods in their own in-house practice, they believe in striving to produce the best pet foods they can, using only highest quality ingredients to create recipes that can only help to improve your pet's long-term health and well-being.
This is a new generation of nutritious dry cat food, using a new 'fresh meat extrusion technology' and probably the 'greatest dry pet food innovation in 50-years.' Available in calorie-controlled portions, the packs come in three different sizes: 2 days complete, 1 week's complete and 2 weeks complete. (We received four packs of 2 weeks' complete for our trial.)
Grain free low calorie dry cat food with high meat content
10 reasons why Vet's Kitchen is the future of dry pet food
It has a high percentage of animal protein - a must for carnivores
It's grain-free, so no cereals
It's hypoallergenic and contains no artificial evils
It contains prebiotics for digestive health
Includes herbs to aid urinary tract health
Made with ultra-high levels of fresh meat
It's amazingly tasty and full of natural goodness
It is a single source protein
Contains extra vitamin C & E
Only has moderated ash levels
All good reasons!
Now, I'm going to have to admit something here. You see, I am no stranger to Vet's Kitchen. I used to eat (and love) their Chicken with Brown Rice, which unfortunately made me put on weight so Mum stopped giving it to me and switched to another brand that had a much higher meat content (because she also felt the rice wasn't great for a carnivore like me.) The new brand of dry food she gave me was quite tasty too so I didn't mind the switch, and I loved the higher meat content and in fact, it did do me good!
So which flavour did I like best?
Though chicken is my favourite food, I didn't love the chicken version of this one that much. Yes, I enjoyed eating it (felt a bit hard to chew at times), but then when it came to tasting the 80% salmon pack I couldn't believe how good it tasted! This surprised Mum. And me even more. I mean, I am not a cat that goes mad for fish! In fact, I always find it too stinky.
This one was my favourite!
In the video below I am tasting the 80% chicken for the first time. Mum tried me on this one first. If you can't see the video here click this link to view it on YouTube.
So now it's been 30 days on this healthy cat food challenge and I can tell you that I really liked this food. Especially the salmon one. It was delicious and Mum and I agreed that the smell isn't overpowering, unlike most fishy foods. For some reason, I found the salmon crunchies easier to chew, as opposed to the chicken.
I seemed to digest it well, but my poo came out quite dark though. As for coat quality, I do have a nice, shiny, soft coat, but then again, I always have done. But Mum thinks it is now even shinier and softer since I've been on this diet so that must be an improvement. As for my temperament, I was very laid back (Mum says lazy) and I slept a lot. But July has been a very hot month and the heat tends to make me lethargic, so can't really tell if the food made me calmer. Mum noticed I looked slimmer too, so it must be down to the calorie controlled portions!
I really hope Mum gets me more of this food (especially the salmon). She's a bit concerned about me eating salmon though, as she's heard bad stuff about it. But this is good quality food, and salmon is a protein-rich source of healthy energy full of Omega 3, which promotes healthy skin and a shiny coat and I will make sure she buys it for me! This is a complete cat food, but she doesn't like to give me dry food all the time, so I know she will continue to give me some wet too, which I don't mind.
Disclosure: We received a month's supply of cat food from Vet's Kitchen in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Read full disclosure here.
As you can see, we are finally getting into the festive mood. However, as Mum always has the tendency to get overwhelmed by many things, Christmas being one, I have to tell you that the pic above is not our Christmas card. She is still working on it. All will be revealed on Caturday Art Day. But we can see that most of you have already created such lovely Christmas and Holiday cards and we are enjoying viewing them all. It's obvious a lot of humans love the holiday season, but it's very important to remember that this time of year can actually be quite a hazardous time for cats (and all pets).
Dangers to cats are:
Food
Raisins
Grapes
Chocolate
Nuts
Turkey bones
Garlic
Onions
Alcohol
Plants
Poinsettia
Holly
Ivy
Mistletoe
Yew
Presents and wrappings
Becareful when using the following to wrap your presents
Glitter
Ties and ribbons
Tape
Glue
Scissors
Christmas Tree and Decorations
Christmas trees can be mildly toxic to cats. Pine needles can cause vomiting or intestinal obstruction and punctures, and lights, baubles and other decorations can be harmful. Avoid decorations made of glass and other breakable or sharp materials. Christmas tree lights can give your cat an electric shock or burns. Tinsel is best avoided too.
Don't know what happened to my eyes in this photo but it's a great shot of my tongue, don't you think? And look at those fangs! Mum says my stripy chest is lovely and she always likes to kiss me there and rub her cheek on my soft fur. I love my mum. But I'm not happy with some of the food choices she's made for me of late. She says it's for my own good and she is spending a lot on money on trying to find me the right wet food to eat because all I do is eat dry. Well, I can't help it if I find wet food quite revolting. Even the more expensive brands just make me turn away and beg for more kibble. She's trying different brands of that too. More meaty ones that don't contain rice and other grains. She has spent hours on the Net researching. There is one food that I do rather like but I'm still trying not to show her this because I don't want her to think she's won. However, it is hard not to resist licking that jelly and then beg for more! During her research Mum went into lots of cat forums to see what other fussy cats were eating and what cat foods were of better quality than the usual supermarket rubbish that contain hardly any meat at all. Mum found that this food that I'm currently sort of liking is from Sweden (and Mum loves Sweden and has visited many times because her brother, my uncle, lives over there.) Anyway, she didn't actually have to go out there and get this food because it is available from Zooplus and Mum decided to order it. This is the food. Mum got the Indoor Cat one. It is also available from Amazon.16 x 190g Indoor & Sterilised Feline Tetra Pak Saver Pack Bozita Wet Cat Food So there you are. It has really tasty jelly and I like the way Mum mashes the food up for me to make it look like baby food. She says I'm her baby so she doesn't mind doing that. I hope she doesn't get me to taste other food any more. But I know she will, because with the box came another brand of cat food. It was German I think. I'll keep you posted!
