Tuesday 17 July 2012

Holiday camp for cats

Good morning, well it is morning as I start this post, it could well be afternoon when I finish it. I made a little film of the kitties and I'm waiting for it to upload onto yootoob before I can post it. It takes absolutely ages you know. While waiting for this I thought I would have one last go at cooking these damn dried black eyed beans. I know I said I was finished with beans and pulses that you have to soak forever, and boil half to death, but they are in the cupboard so I have to use them up. When they are gone, no more. I soaked them over night, boiled for 20 minutes, now they are in the slow cooker with a load of vegetables. We'll see what the result is at about 6pm tonight.

I was out and about yesterday, I needed to get some more Whiskas for the kitties, and found some in Morrisons. They had boxes of 48 pouches for £10, but only one sort I noticed. Maybe Whiskas have made too many of the fishy variety and need to get rid of them. Good for me, I won't pay more than £2.50 for a box of twelve. Because I spent more than £40 in the store they gave me a voucher for 6p off a litre of petrol. This will come in handy as I will be doing quite a lot of miles on my forthcoming trip down south, so I'm holding off buying any more petrol in the next week so I can get a full tank at the discounted price.

While I was at that end of town I popped into Pets at Home, mainly to check out prices, I don't buy anything from here unless they have a good offer on. I also took in a small poster for our Cat Rescue, to ask if they could display it. We really need to step up the search for new homes now. Anyway, they were happy to put it on their notice board. While out I also went to a couple of villages and put up more posters in shops and Post Offices, and a vet agreed to put one in their window.

At Pets at Home I spotted this display of cat treats. Felix have brought out a new range of Goody Bags, in a variety of different flavours, in small 60grm pouches in a similar size to the wet pouches. I found a couple of free samples in the boxes I buy, and my cats loved them, they don't look any different to any other biscuits available. But look at the price, £1.19 each, what a rip off, I am gobsmacked.


Tesco also sell these at the same price so I checked them out on their web site. They work out at £19.84 per kg. Shockingly expensive. This got me thinking about the price of other cat treats, and comparing them with ordinary dried food. I'm sure the cats don't know the difference between the posh ones and the bog standard. They go by taste, not cost of ingredients or nutritional value. Yes cats are fussy eaters but price doesn't come into it with them.

I checked further on the Tesco site, and found these prices.....
Dreamies salmon/chicken/cheese 30grm = 85p = £28.34 per kg
Nutricats Pockets 60grm = £1.49 = £24.84 per kg
Tesco 10 cat stick treats 50grm = £1.29 = £25.80 per kg
Whiskas 3 sticks 18grm = 78p = £43.84 per kg
Whiskas Temptations in a pot 60grm = £1.29 = £21.50 per kg
Combinos Pockets 65grm = 79p = £12.16 per kg

Now lets look at the complete dry cat food and compare.
Claude Cat Crunchies 1kg = 99p
Go Cat 2kg = £4 = £2 per kg
Tesco Premium Crunchies 1kg = £1.19
Whiskas Adult Complete 2kg = £4 = £2 per kg

Obviously the bigger the pack size the lower the kg price. It's those small figures which give the price kg that you have to look out for. There must be people who think nothing about shelling out copious amounts of cash for their pets, and the manufacturers know this. They invent new products and slap a ridiculous price on it, knowing that pet lovers will buy. Not a chance with me sunshine! My cats survive perfectly well without all the frills. Oh they have their little treats, a tin of tuna fish or sardines ocassionally, maybe some chicken if I find any reduced in the chiller cabinet. Mayze like a spoonfull of plain yogurt, or a taste of my scrambled eggs, they don't do too badly without me spending mega pounds on them.

Looks like the vid is ready, so here goes, press a few buttons and hey ho, kittens..



Tatty byes.

13 comments:

  1. Dreamies salmon/chicken/cheese 30grm = 85p = £28.34 per kg
    Nutricats Pockets 60grm = £1.49 = £24.84 per kg
    Tesco 10 cat stick treats 50grm = £1.29 = £25.80 per kg
    Whiskas 3 sticks 18grm = 78p = £43.84 per kg
    Whiskas Temptations in a pot 60grm = £1.29 = £21.5

    At these prices it would be cheaper to feed them on best steak.

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  2. Blackeyed peas are a staple here in the southern US. We cook them with smoked meat (pork turkey etc) then eat them with rice (Hoppin John) or cornbread. Collard greens are a good accompaniment! YUM!

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  3. My cats get the same food day in and out...dry and canned...so for a treat I buy a large bag of a different brand then dole it out as treats...much cheaper than those little bags...they are happy to come running when I call "snack toss"...we go in to the living room and I toss a handful on to the floor...they spends ages looking for every piece...

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  4. we don't buy "treats" for our dogs, as they are so expensive. I buy a bag of those moist balls, which I pour into a tin and give them 1 or 2 at bedtime. I agree a tiny bag of 10 treats for 1.99 is terrible.

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  5. Gosh, I was fascinated with the 'soundtrack' of various bird songs, I thought for a moment you lived in the depths of a woodland, what with the Chiffchaff, and the wren, robin and cuckoo! gorgeous kittens and a lovely play area for them.

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  6. I just love the one with the mustache, maybe his name should be Hercule Poirot! But only if it's a He.

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  7. THey are all absolutely adorable...I hope they find good homes soon..(I am in the US or would have one)..I could be a crazy cat lady! (We are down to 3...)

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  8. Not so little now - wow they've grown fast! They look very lively and full of energy. Lovely to see them. Thanks for updating us.

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  9. Hi Ilona, I loved watching that video of the cats playing, they are lovely and I had a good laugh at some of their games! I thought the birdsong was from your garden until you told us otherwise!
    Can I ask a question - I see you have set the cats up with a great play area - I take it they are 'indoor' cats only, but I don't know why this might be? My first guess is to keep the safe from road traffic, but I've never had cats so I thought I'd ask (I went from a father who is allergic to cats, to a boyfriend who is allergic to cats! not good for my cat-keeping prospects)

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  10. I see that hitler is probably the most timid. You had me fooled with the bird sounds.

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  11. Hi DUYH. Yes Kitler is timid, he is a follower not a leader, always the last one out, and generally eats after the others.

    Hi Maria. These are rescue cats waiting for a new home. I can't let them out into the garden, they might not come back, and I can't let them into the house because it might take me ages to catch them again. Also it's not fair to let them think they are staying here, then move them somewhere else. This is just temporary till new homes can be found, then they will have more freedom. Also it is best if kittens are not let out unsupervised untill they have been neutered/spayed. They can be done at 6 months, but if a boy and girl are living together it can be done at 5 months just to be on the safe side.

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  12. Black-eyed Beans with Mushrooms is a real favourite of mine. Madhur Jaffrey's recipe has a lot of ingredients and takes a while to prepare and cook. Goes quickly though.

    http://camel-csa.org.uk/2009/11/27/recipe-no-22-black-eyed-beans-with-mushrooms/

    It freezes well.

    Brian

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  13. What a great video to watch. Those kittens are just so gorgeous and of course Mum. I do so hope homes can be found soon. Great temporary digs Ilona:)

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