This is some general advice about feeding your new pet and helping them make an easy transition into their new home. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about diet. If you’d like a hard copy of this advice you can download it here.
Cats | Dogs
Keep your cat healthy and shiny with a good diet.
Cats
While they are with us our cats are fed a variety of foods. This is both for their nutritional health (because variety is good for everyone) and to ensure that when they go to their new homes they aren’t fixated on a particular variety of food. No fussy eaters for us! We also use and recommend foods made in Australia. There have been a number of recalls for foods made in the US, so choosing a made-in-Australia food seems a safer choice.
Food
We feed a combination of:
- high quality kibble (dry cat food) appropriate for age and size (we use and recommend Black Hawk). Other quality foods made in Australia are Advance and ProPlan.
- wet (tinned) food
- raw food (raw chicken necks/wings, raw meat (roo/beef/lamb/chicken/turkey, etc).
We strongly recommend that you feed a good quality kibble to your cat, even though it might seem a more expensive option. The less-expensive supermarket brands tend to have a much lower nutritional profile and a higher proportion of fillers (grains and starches) than the more expensive brands. This means that your cat will need to eat more of the cheaper brand, and will be able to use less of it. For cats this is a bit like you living on white bread and chips, you can survive, but you probably won’t be at your shiniest and most energetic. Feeding the cheaper brands also means more production at the litter box end. Look for a kibble which has meat as the first item in the ingredients list. We use Black Hawk which is a premium brand made in Australia.
We also strongly recommend that you feed a good proportion of raw food – soft bones like chicken necks or wings, or meat in chunks. This is both for nutrition and because chewing on the soft bones or chunks of meat help maintain good tooth and gum health in your cat. Many cats suffer gum disease from lack of food to chew, and this can have a huge impact on their health as they age and may lead to kidney disease.
Raw diet
If you are interested in feeding your cat an entirely raw diet there is some more information here. We like to feed our cats a lot of raw food because we believe, that like humans, a diet high in unprocessed food is good for you.
How often?
Our cats are usually fed twice a day (kittens three or four times a day) and, of course, there is always fresh water available.If your cat is a grazer rather than a bolter, you could leave a bowl of kibble available all the time – just keep an eye on your cat’s weight!
Treats
You can experiment with treats for your cat; a little bit of milk or cream, some yoghurt, tinned sardines or a bit of bacon rind. A little bit of what you fancy is good for you, so find out what your cat enjoys and have fun treating them occasionally. There are some foods which are toxic for cats, so just be aware of them.
Keep your new dog healthy and shiny with a good diet.
Dogs
While they are with us our dogs are fed a variety of foods. This is both for their nutritional health (because variety is good for everyone) and to ensure that when they go to their new homes they aren’t fixated on a particular variety off food. We also use and recommend foods made in Australia. There have been a number of recalls for foods made in the US, so choosing a made-in-Australia food seems a safer choice.
Food
We feed a combination of:
- good quality kibble (dry dog food) appropriate for age and size (we use and recommend Black Hawk). Other quality foods made in Australia are Advance and ProPlan.
- some wet (tinned) food, (we use Nature’s Gift) or loaves (such as Vets All Natural or Ecopet)
- a high proportion of raw food. Depending on the size of dog, this might mean chicken necks/wings or whole chicken frames and other soft bones such as lamb necks/flaps, etc. In general we fed raw, meaty bones rather than just raw meat. You might like to prepare your own food – a Google search will bring up lots of recipes.
Our preference is for a mostly raw diet, supplemented by good quality kibble and a proportion of other foods. If you want to share your human food with your dog adjust the portions accordingly. There are some human foods are toxic for dogs, so avoid them. Also avoid feeding cooked bones – unlike raw bones they tend to splinter and can cause perforations of the stomach or bowel. The large bones such as beef marrow bones are great for keeping dogs occupied, but they are very hard bones, for smaller dogs softer bones are a better choice.
If you are going to feed mostly kibble, we strongly recommend you buy a really good quality one. Look for a kibble which has meat as the first item in the ingredients list. We use Black Hawk which is a premium brand made in Australia. For you the advantage of a good quality kibble is that there will be much less cleaning up of what comes out the other end of your dog – cheaper foods have a lot of fillers, which make large, sloppy faeces. A diet of good quality food with a proportion of raw, meaty bones produces smaller, firmer faeces which disintegrate quicky.
How often?
Our dogs are generally fed twice a day (puppies three or four times).
Dogs enjoy routine, so you can use feed times as way of organising your dog’s day. A nice walk in the morning and a meaty bone for entertainment will help your dog settle into a routine during the day.
Raw diet
We like to feed a mostly raw diet because we believe, that like humans, a diet of mostly unprocessed food is better for you. If you’d like more information about raw feeding for dogs, there is information here.
Treats
Experiment with treats your dog enjoys. You can use these treats as training incentives – your dog doesn’t have to eat his or her meals out of a bowl, you might feed all of their daily portion over the course of the day for training!