Suddenly Go Cat not agreeing with cat?

[Bonbonchance]

I've fed my cat a handful of Go Cat & equivalent to a pouch of good since I got her (not very active, mostly indoor, tendency to gain weight) for the last few years Bozita wet food along with Go Cats. She loves most good & especially Go Cat, always been in great health (she's now nearly 8) vets always comment how well she is & looks.

Recently she's been being sick every couple of days or so - undigested food. I wasn't too worried as she tends to eat food too fast (especially in the morning) get wind & bing it up. But this seems to be more frequent & after dry food a lot. I know Go Cat isn't amazing nutrition, could it be that? After 6 years? What's a good alternative that doesn't cost loads?!

[IHeartKingThistle]

Thar's weird, my cat is doing similar and it's the Go-Cat she's bringing back up.

[isseywithcats]

one of mine lobs up go cat so i try to avoid it, i feed my lot feline fayre from asda not much dearer than go cat and better quality

[Beautifullymixed]

Go cat is choca full of cereal/rubbish (as I'm sure you already know). My cat's poo Is utterly horrendous if they eat food with cereal in,it just upsets their insides terribly. Maybe the company have sneakily changed the recipe.
Maybe you could try a cereal free biscuit and see if that helps.
Mine adore applaws, and thankfully along with wet food it keeps everything firm,sweet smelling and thankfully no vomit. Phew!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Just about anything is better than Go-Cat. Whilst something like James well beloved or Arden Grange is more expensive per bag if you feed it correctly measuring amounts the bag will last much longer so it often works out cheaper.

[Bonbonchance]

Yeah I knew Go Cat wasn't great but she loves it & only eats a small amount, weird that she's just started bringing it up, maybe they have changed the recipe...she's also been eating a plant (non toxic but she vomits it up....) so that might contribute...I'll try one of the other brands, wish I could remember which expensive one she didn't like...!

[chocolatespiders]

Wonder if I could try the apple one with my 20 year old cat who seems to forget she had eaten and pesters me until I give in with cat milk. I want something she can pick at

[HenI5]

You can buy small sample packs of some pricey dried food and if you ring Burns they'll send you some.

[Bonbonchance]

Oh that's good I'll try & get some samples. Got a box of a pretty good one in Asda today that she likes so that's something. I notice she was hungrier yesterday without any dry food & tried to get me up constantly from about 1am -5am last night, dry food is a must then!

Chocolate spiders, would your cat eat vegetables like broccoli, beansprouts or something? Mine went through a phase of loving them, I asked the vet, he says they don't really get much nutrition from veg, but it doesn't do them any harm to have. Not sure if it's a good idea but if she's not actually hungry it might be a low calorie snack?!

[HenI5]

I was brief before as on my phone which I don't find particularly easy to type on. We have a very elderly cat who's extremely fussy about his diet, he'll go mad for something and then completely reject it.
He's suffered from stress cystitis and the vet said he should have a special wet food, but he absolutely hates it, so we try and manage as best as we can.

We keep him mainly on wet food but do give him some dry food to help his teeth. He likes Go Cat Senior but last week he was sick, so this has made me think. Burns Food was recommended to me as being developed by a Vet, but since the cystitis we only want dried food as a small supplement not as a diet. The pet food store said if we wanted a more affordable alternative to Burns, to try Burgess Supacat (turkey with cranberry for the older cat prone to cystitis)

I've tried to look up the nutrition guide to compare
From the box Go Cat Senior includes cereals (4% rice) 10% meat and animal derivatives and 4% chicken. It's 30% protein, 9% fat, 7% crude ash and 2.5% crude fibres (doesn't say about the other ½+)

Burgess Supacat says THIS which still shows maize, wheat, rice etc.

The other thing he's liked, again just as a supplement for his teeth really, is Pets' Kitchen little hearts

As he gets older we're finding a good balanced diet harder to achieve with his fads and refusals, but I have to admit that DH is a total pushover and he projects and caves at the slightest gruff look.

[Bonbonchance]

Harringtons was the one I got in Asda, only £1 so worth a try I thought. Asda do seem to now have a small selection of better food, I had a good look at all the labels, this has 40% chicken meat. My cat has been eating Go Cat Senior for the last few months rather than indoor cat or normal, she's the most un-fussy eater normally & never been ill, had the runs etc, so maybe it's something in the senior mix?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Hen Go-Cat is just about the worst food for urinary problems you could possibly choose.
If you are looking for grain free Arden Grange could be worth a look.

[Beautifullymixed]

Good grain free high meat quality dry food for cats are
Acana,
Appaws,
Taste of the wild,
Arden Grange and
Orijen.

All available in small bags for around £2/3 from zooplus.

Imo well worth giving your cat a high protein quality food. Cats are obligate carnivores and cereals are not needed, can cause allergies and are just pooped out (smelly).

The change in my girls when I introduced raw,cut all cereals out and used high protein wet food was amazing.

Their coats softened and gleamed. Their bodies firmed especially beautifullymixed blackandwhitecat who is pure muscle and sleeek. But best of all was the litter box. What a change!
One poo a day-if that. Small,firm and dry with hardly any smell at all. No smell upon entering the flat-twas marvellous. All the food is utilised by them with hardly any waste. I keep dry to a treat/afternoon snack and especially would limit the dry with cystitis.
The dry food, as well as treats are grain free as well eg thrive or cosma.

Really does make a difference. The cats even smell better, less catty including their breath.

And of course the fancy pants modkat litter box stays shiny and fragrant with less usage

[Beautifullymixed]

Oops! Applaws.

And cross posted with lonecat. Agree. Totally.

[GloryHunter]

Go-cat has always made my cat sick.

[HenI5]

Thanks for the advice, I've clicked on watch thread so I can read properly tomorrow

[IHeartKingThistle]

OP mine is on the senior one as well - she's 14. Sick again this morning. I think I'm going to throw away the Go-Cat!

[Beautifullymixed]

Throwing away that go-cat and giving your cat better quality food in her advanced years might just give her a new quality of life. After all, we are what we eat-and that includes our beloved pets.

Very important as well to give wet/raw food as well as dry for the moisture levels. Especially for the senior kits who might not be so keen to drink.
Go-cat is made up mostly of animal derivatives (what animal?????) This is all the sludge/crap hosed of the carcass and scraped of the abattoir floor. Who knows what bits are in it-cos they certainly ain't saying. Add to that all the grains to bulk it out and other cheap fillers,you may be wondering where the actual nutrition is.

You also don't have to spend a fortune on feeding your cats. It's better to give more wet and less dry ,I use butchers classic (along with other brands) which I know is a favourite on here. That alongside a quality dry food mentioned earlier in the thread would be more than okay.

Reading the ingredients listed on the packets of cat food can sometimes surprise you. And not always for the better.

[Beautifullymixed]

Purizon is another grain free high quality dry food. Not to be confused with the much less inferior purina.

These foods are high protein, so you should find that your cat eats less compared to inferior brands. They will feel more satisfied as not having to eat so much to get the nutrition needed.

Bit like eating McDonalds,great at the time but not truly satisfying. You want more food later or is that only greedy me

Hopefully there should be less upset tummies too with the removal of grain, leading to more pleasant litter trays and less vomiting.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Mine ate Go Cat for ages then became intolerant. Previously she'd done the same with Iams! She's now thriving on Whiskas dried.

[Bonbonchance]

I already do feed her high quality wet food for the majority of her meals - Bozita and actual meat, chicken etc. She only has a bit of dry food during the day when I'm at work & to fill her up (always hungry but in excellent health) She expects 4 meals a day (not spoiled at all...)I got her when she was 3 and fed her Felix etc for a whole till I found out about better quality.

So far no being sick for a few days, putting a few Go Cats in with the better food as she was sniffing & leaving it, but positively wolfed down the Go Cats....weaning her off the junk food addiction!

[Beautifullymixed]

Ahh great you're weaning her off go-cat. It's horrible when they sniff their food and walk away isn't it. Not to mention wasteful.

I have been known to keep checking the bowls every five minutes to see if they eat it, but cats are stubborn as hell. As we know.

Hope you find a good dry food that kitty enjoys. Sounds good with the wet food meals and bozita. My cats enjoyed that,but it made their 'offerings' stink to high heaven. A pity because the price is very economical.

Good to hear the vomiting has ceased too. Let's hope for good.

[taxi4ballet]

Bonbonchance - you mention that your cat is nearly 8. Perhaps now would be a good time to switch to 'senior' cat food, it is much better for their kidneys.

Cats can't digest cereals or vegetables, so it is sometimes quite misleading when you read the label on the side of the packets, as many of the nutrients in the food will not be available to them! Pet food isn't subject to the exact same laws as human food labelling either.

[Bonbonchance]

She's 8 today I was feeding her senior Go Cat which seems to be the problem, not sure Bozita etc comes in Senior? Maybe it does, I'll check next time I order. She's got a massive lot of ordinary to get through first though. She's not massively keen on the Harringtons it seems but is beginning to realise that's what's on offer so is eating it. Probably good for vomiting also that she's not gobbling it down like Go Cats though.

I've never had a problem with smelly litter trays thank goodness, can't say I've noticed any difference to that no matter what I feed her, she's pretty good at keeping it all covered up & tells me when's she been too