Keep Your Kitten Full Of Mischief (James Wellbeloved Duck & Rice Kitten Food)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	James Wellbeloved Duck & Rice Kitten Food
Date:	03/02/09 (400 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High quality, natural, hypoallergenic, good for teeth, omega 3 & 6, cranberry extract

Disadvantages: Feels greasy

*What is James Wellbeloved Kitten Food?*
This food specially designed for young cats, is produced by James Wellbeloved. A hugely popular manufacturer of healthy, natural dry food for cats, dogs, kittens and puppies, and a selection of wet food and treats for dogs.

*The product itself*
All those who have read my review on Whiskas kitten food will know I spent the last few months of last year hand raising two separate litters of abandoned kittens- 14 of the little gorgeous little things in total, and whilst 12 of them went off to their new wonderful new homes when they were old enough, two remained with me a little longer until I could find them a suitable home. I saw Magic off to his new home just after Christmas, but I really couldn't bear to see Meg, the kitten who was originally the weakest out of the lot, leave, so I decided she'd stay with me!

I'd weaned the kittens onto Whiskas kitten food purely because it was affordable, and although I know its hardly the best brand, with the amount of kittens I had to feed from my own pocket I really couldn't afford to use the expensive brands so Whiskas was a good choice for me at time, and gave the kittens a good start to life without costing too much.

But now I just have the one hungry kitten mouth to feed, who would be staying to be my pet, I decided to change her food to one of the better brands, and began to look for suitable options for her. My dogs are fed the canine version of James Wellbeloved so as soon as I saw they did a kitten variety, I was keen to try it out on Meg, and picked up a bag for her.

James Wellbeloved is well known and trusted in the pet care industry for providing extremely high quality pet food made from only natural ingredients such as human grade fresh meat, rice and being hypoallergenic, which means they contain no ingredients which are likely to cause skin irritations or stomach upsets such as beef, pork, dairy, egg or wheat. Reassuringly, they are also free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives which helps prevent hyperactivity. This food is a 'complete' diet which means you if you wish, you can feed your kitten only this food and it will provide them with all the nutrition they need to grow into a strong healthy adult cat. The food, which is designed for cats aged 6 weeks to 12 months, also has the added benefits of omega 3 and 6 which helps promote a soft shiny coat, cranberry extract to help keep your kittens urinary track healthy and the small crunchy kibbles, which are just the right size for a kittens tiny mouth, help to keep teeth and gums healthy.

*Packaging*
Like all James Wellbeloved products, the kitten food comes packaged in rather old fashioned looking striped plastic bags. On the front is the recognisable James Wellbeloved logo and we are told the product name, flavour and a small amount of information about the food. On the reverse is all the usual information you'd expect to find such as an ingredients list, feeding guide, nutritional information and a contact for James Wellbeloved. The bag, which is very easy to open and lined with foil for freshness, also has a handy resealable strip along the top which helps keep the food from going stale after opening.

*Price & Availability*
James Wellbeloved is a specialist brand which can only be purchased from pet shops or specialist suppliers, supermarkets don't stock it. I purchase Megs food from Pets At Home where the prices are as follows:
225g- £1.99
2kg- £12.49
5kg- £24.99

The food comes in four different flavours- duck, turkey, lamb and white fish, so there is plenty of variety within the range to prevent your kitten from getting bored.

*Ingredients & Nutritional Information*
White rice (min 26%), duck meat meal (min 26%), duck fat, maize gluten, potato protein (min 9%), poultry gravy, tomato pomace, omega-3 oil supplement, chicory extract, carrot, cranberry extract (min 0.05%), DL methionine, lysine hydrochloride, taurine, threonine, zinc methionate, yucca extract, rosemary oil.

From looking at the ingredients its clear to see how high quality the food is, and what makes it much more expensive than other brands. Whereas Whiskas and the like contain just 4% meat and the rest derivatives and cereal, the James Wellbeloved food contains over a quarter rice, a quarter meat and various other high quality ingredients.

Protein 32%, Oil 20%, Ash 7%, Fibre 1.8%.

The food is high in protein which is just what a kitten needs to develop strong muscles and grow into a healthy adult cat, and the high oil content will help give your cat a glossy, healthy coat and supple skin. The fibre content is fairly low so some wet food could be beneficial if you wish to feed it to your cat, and the ash content is reasonable for a complete food.

*My opinion*
My pets mean the absolute world to me, and I do my best to make sure they always get the best of everything which I can afford to keep them happy and healthy- their food isn't something I cut corners on and I like to know they are always getting goodness inside them, not brands full of junk, which is why James Wellbeloved was the first food I decided to try with Meg after taking her off the Whiskas that I weaned her and her littermates on.

I purchased the smallest bag size first, and in the duck variety for Meg initially to try, as not to waste too much money if she wasn't keen on it. I gradually started to introduce it to her by mixing it in with her old Whiskas kibble and she'd always eat the lot without really noticing a change in food, and there was no ill effects where her toilet habits were concerned so I continued gradually introducing it until I phased out the Whiskas entirely and she was eating James Wellbeloved entirely. Now unlike Jet, my adult cat, Meg thankfully isn't fussy at all, and is very good at eating dry food which is where she differs from Jet, who is a very finicky eater and not all that mad on dry food but Meg really does seem to enjoy it- she has dry food for some of her meals and wet food for the others, and whereas she certainly prefers the wet food (I think this is the case with most cats), she'll always eat every last mouthful of the kibble and she appears to enjoy it too.

I like the fact the crunchy kibbles are giving her teeth a good clean, and helping her adult teeth come through, but at the same time still being small and not too hard that she can't comfortably eat them. Her fur is lovely, very soft and shiny and she doesn't suffer from any skin allergies, which I'm thankful for as the lady who adopted one of her littermates has reported back to me that Meg's brother suffers from sometimes quite itchy skin. Another thing I like about this James Wellbeloved food is that it contains cranberry extract, to help keep her urinary tract healthy, because although she is still young, cats often suffer with urinary problems later in life.

The only real problem I can find with the food it that it feels quite greasy to the touch, which doesn't appear to be causing Meg any problems, it just made me wonder why it was this greasy because the dog kibble, and adult cat kibble is no where near this greasy.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality of the food and how much Meg enjoys it- she devours every mouthful and is clearly doing very well on it, helping her to grow up strong and healthy. I've recently purchased the larger 2kg bag which will do her for a good few months and I'll be keeping her on the James Wellbeloved range for as long as I'm happy with it, and as long as she's happy eating it. Jet has also tried the Adult cat variety and although he's not quite as keen on it as he is his usual Pets At Home own brand kibble, he clearly enjoyed it too. A food I throughly reccomend to all kitten owners wanting to give their bundle of fur the best possible start in life, at an affordable price.

Summary: One of the best kitten foods out there