At some point in your cat’s life, you may need to change the brand of her food to better suit her needs. The smoother the transition, the happier your cat will be.

Changing a food brand successfully

There are a host of reasons why you may need to change your cat’s food. For example, your pet may have a medical condition. Occasionally cats get fussy and just go off their usual brand.

A slow and smooth transition process will help your cat adjust to the new brand, by naturally adjusting the enzymes in the digestive tract.

Start by mixing the new food with your usual brand, gradually increasing the proportion over one week to 10 days until your cat is only eating the new food. Don't be surprised if your cat has an upset tummy to begin with. This is quite normal.

• Day 1: Add 1 part of the new food to 9 parts of your cat’s usual food.
• Day 2: Add 2 parts new to 8 parts of the old food.
• Day 3: Add 3 parts to 7 and so on until…
• Day 10: You are only feeding the new food.

Provide plenty of drinking water. There is naturally far less moisture in dry food.

Consider mixing in a few biscuits for texture. You may also notice your cat drinks less water.

• Transition kittens to an adult formula at approximately 12 months.
• Don’t be tempted to change too soon.

• Cats of seven years and older should be fed a specially formulated senior food, designed to provide the optimum balance of key nutrients.