? What food are you feeding in Europe?

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Lilian

Lilian

Member Since 2016
Hello,

I read UK wet food list. In Estonia they sell Whiskas senior, Miamor and Animonda. They also sell Sheba, but I am not sure they sell the same variety that was in the UK food list. I'm really suspicious about Whiskas senior as I have always thought Whiskas is junk food. I have given Miamor before and my diabetic cat has loved it, but I am worried that Miamor's carb content is 9. Isn't that too much? I am really confused. In stickies it is written that under 10% is fine, but most users use less than 4%. Has anyone used Animonda? There are many kitten foods that are really low carb. Is it okay to feed 8year-old cat kitten's food???

Thank you in advance
 
Hi Lilian,

If you're able to buy online from Zooplus then you have quite a lot of choice. (See the list in my signature).
Some of the Miamor foods are fine. The little pate tins and pouches should be OK, also a couple of the 'mild meal' foods (chicken & ham, chicken & salmon). I think there are other Miamor foods also on the list.
Some of the Animonda foods are fine also. But all of these are beef-based, and some cats are intolerant/allergic to beef. (I've not actually tried the Animonda foods on my cats, but am gradually working my way through the list!)

Lilian said:
I'm really suspicious about Whiskas senior as I have always thought Whiskas is junk food
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I share your suspicion about the Whiskas foods. Given the scale on which they're produced, and the lack of clear ingredients labeling, I do wonder what the quality is really like. However, there are other people who think the Whiskas foods are OK, and there is the advantage that they are usually easily available.

Lilian said:
I am really confused. In stickies it is written that under 10% is fine, but most users use less than 4%.
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The ''10% calories from carbs" advice is really just a general guideline. I'm not surprised that you're confused because the picture is really a bit more complex than that.
Some cats are more carb-sensitive than others. One cat might be fine with a food that has 9% calories from carbs. But for another cat that may be too high a carb level.

Many cats seem to do better with carb levels much lower than 10%. (And in fact I read an article recently somewhere saying that cats fed a diet that had between 4% - 6% calories from carbs had a better chance of achieving remission (ie becoming diet-controlled diabetics)).

But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's necessary to feed the lowest carb food available. Some cats don't actually do quite so well on really low carb foods. It really is a case of finding out what works for a particular cat.

Also, all carbs are not equal. And different carbs can have different effects. Some foods contain carbs in the form of a small amount of rice or tapioca, for example. But some foods contain actual sugar!!!. Simple sugars will (probably) get into the system much more quickly than complex carbohydrates. (I've found several foods that are 'techncially' low carb but which spike my cat's blood glucose tremendously.)

So, as well as looking at the carb content, it's also a good idea to look at the ingredients list. Sometimes the manufacturers very helpfully list the source of carbohydrate, but quite often they don't....

Fortunately, those of us who homestest can 'see' the result of the foods that we're feeding. So we have a tremendous advantage over those folks who don't hometest.

Eliz
 
Thank you. Miamor and Animonda don't have any bad ingredients. I bought some today. And I remembered that my diabetic cat didn't like Animonda. My other cat ate it though. Do you know the answer to the kitten question? Is it okay to feed kitten's food to senior cat, because the only wet foods in Estonia are:
Miamor Ragout Royale in Jelly - 9% carbs. Although when I calculated myself then I got 2% carbs.
Miamor Ragout Royale Kitten - 2.8% carbs. When I calculated - 0.7% carbs.
Animonda Vom Feinsten adult - 5.8% carbs.
Animonda Vom Feinsten neutered - 6.2% carbs.
Animonda Vom Feinsten kitten - 2.5% carbs. Calculated myself - 0,7% carbs.
Animonda Carny adult - 7.8% carbs.
Animonda Carny kitten - 6.5% carbs. Calculated myself - 1.7% carbs.
It's much more expensive to order online from Zooplus. What would you pick from the list? Although I predict I wouldn't be able to get my cat to eat Animonda and he'd stick with Miamor. But is Miamor for kittens safe?! My cat needs to gain some weight also.
 
Lilian said:
Is it okay to feed kitten's food to senior cat..
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I regularly feed kitten food to my oldies because I think it helps them to maintain their weight and body condition. :cat:
There is now an emerging view that senior cats actually have very similar dietary requirements to kittens. Not everyone agrees with this, but it makes sense to me, especially given that older cats can have a harder time getting the nutrients from their food.

Kitten foods tend to be a bit higher in fat, and also sometimes a bit higher in protein. (The extra fat might be an issue for for a cat with a history of pancreatitis who is known to do better on a low fat diet.)

Your carb calculations are much lower than mine, Lilian. How did you calculate those?

Eliz
 
Lilian said:
I added protein+ashes+fiber+fats and subtracted from 100. Was it incorrect?
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Hi Lilian, not not 'incorrect', just 'incomplete'.
The calculation you've done gives the amount of carbs in the food by weight. What we're looking for is the 'percentage of calories' that comes from carbohydrates. You can do that calculation manually if you like doing maths. I don't! So I have an Excel spreadsheet that does my calculations. But the following online calculator gives a pretty fair approximation also. :)
http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html

Eliz
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi Lilian, not not 'incorrect', just 'incomplete'.
The calculation you've done gives the amount of carbs in the food by weight. What we're looking for is the 'percentage of calories' that comes from carbohydrates. You can do that calculation manually if you like doing maths. I don't! So I have an Excel spreadsheet that does my calculations. But the following online calculator gives a pretty fair approximation also. :)
http://scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html

Eliz
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OOOOHHH--this is awesome!
 
I did it in percentages and your page got the same result as I did. I forgot to write moist. I added that, too.
 
Lilian said:
I did it in percentages and your page got the same result as I did. I forgot to write moist. I added that, too.
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The 'wet matter carbohydrate' figure at the bottom of the first column will/should be the same as you've calculated above.

But if you look over to the right of that, to the 'calories per 100g of nutrient' column you will see how many calories there are from protein, fat and (most importantly) carbs in 100g food. That is often (but not always) very similar to the 'percentage of calories from carbs' figure, so people often use that figure to give a rough guide of the carbs in cat food.
But....if you want to know more precisely what the 'percentage of calories from carbs' is you need to grab a calculator and do one more little calculation...
You divide the 'calories from carbs per 100g' by the 'total calories per 100g', and then multiply by 100. :)

Edited to add: The Scheyderweb calculation comes out a teesny bit different to the 'standard' calculations in that it uses a multiplier of 8.7 to get the calories from fat, rather than the standard multiplier of 8.5 for fat. But this makes only a tiny weeny difference. And given the accuracy/inaccuracy of food labelling anyway that difference doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. All our calculations are likely to be approximate....:rolleyes:
.
 
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Elizabeth's the expert but for any UKers reading this, I can add another UK website for food and other pet supplies - www.fetch.co.uk - it's part of Ocado and its prices including delivery charges are very reasonable.

Diana
 
Diana&Tom said:
Elizabeth's the expert
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Ha-ha! I'm very flattered, Diana, but I'm NO expert! I'm just someone who doesn't mind looking at cat food labels, and who posts about cat food from time to time. (Well, heck, 'everyone needs a hobby'....;) )
There are other UK'ers here with specific knowledge about UK foods that I simply don't have. It's a team effort.

But thanks for your vote of confidence! :bighug:

Eliz
 
Saoirse did quite well with Smilla wet Kitten Food with Chicken. It's very low carb, high protein, and OK on fat content (unless your cat is very fat-sensitive). Zooplus carry it.


Mogs
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