Shopping

[Butterflyaway]

I have deliberately kept the title very short, so it is highly unlikely that it could be taken “off topic”

My comment is about prices of things we buy either in the North, South or the UK (Amazon, eBay, or in person).

If Brexit occurs, (topic not directly about Brexit, but it might be indirectly connected), and the possibility of where we do our shopping.

As I have three hungry mouths to feed, three, four, five or even six times a day, I buy most of my cat food from the South side.

One item my cats are fond of is Whiskas. Last week I paid €1.40 Euros per tin, £1.17 GBP equivalent. The same tin was 14.50 TRY, £1.89 GBP equivalent, locally. That’s £0.72 GBP difference. On only one tin, no problem. But every month, it pays for the insurance!

I could probably buy fresh chicken, cook it and chop it up and we would all be better off.

I appreciate getting items from the UK or the EU, costs a lot more to get in the North and maybe, if we cannot buy in the South, we will all still get by. Friends who CAN travel across, will help, so will taxi drivers on their way back after dropping off those that can use Larnaca.

Maybe, some of us with animals could import a container of Whiskas and share the cost?

How will you deal with the possible situation if you cannot shop in the South? (If you don’t shop on the South, or you are going to be negative, feel free to ignore this topic).

[Mollie the cat]

We are in a similar situation, we have 11 cats and feed strays in our village. We have found a store on the south which is great for cheap cat food, its the super home store, we can only get felix from there which they like.

[waddo]

This maybe a silly idea - why not, it’s one of mine - but do Superhome or even Lidl have a delivery service and if so could they simply deliver to Metahan? May mean paying import duties but still may work out cheaper!

After all, the “deliverer” could also fill up with cheap fuel at the same time!

[Butterflyaway]

Great idea.

I also have one. There might be some friendly, well maybe just one or two, Greek Cypriots that would bring items over, for a fee of course.

I can’t imagine them being stopped by TRNC customs, presumably they, like us going South, would be crossing empty.

If they did pay duty, so be it.

[alphamike]

I can just imagine that there would be hissy fits, at the very least, for companies delivering from south to north. Duty would definitely have to be paid, and I suspect it would be too much hassle. I would absolutely love to be wrong in this.

Butterflyaway, have you worked out how much it would cost to make cat food, buying the produce here, as to buying ready made in the south, taking in the cost of car insurance?
I have no experience of making cat food, but do dog food. Make enough for around 3 -4 weeks, freeze in portions to last 3 days, and mix with dried food, seeing as my fussy dog from the street, won't eat just dried food. Am sure there will be plenty of recipes online for cat food. It's just a case of finding what your cats will eat I suppose.

[cjtill]

I am sure there will be a few Turkish Cypriot friends that will get items from the South for a small fee if we cannot get over ourselves, but I for one will just miss browsing around the big Malls and department stores.

[Deniz1]

My miss only eats Whiskas chicken in jelly in the small pouches and some Brekkies which are getting harder to find. Outside cats eat anything. If a supermarket here made pet food cheaper they would be onto a winner.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

I know this might be out there as an idea but why not give the cats the cheap food that is available over here? I know cats can be very fussy and will turn their noses up at it for a couple of days but when they are hungry enough they'll eat it. If I was hungry enough I'd eat it.

[teatime]

I've found that even the street cats I feed get fussy once they are getting regular meals but they do all seem to like the tinned food from Ledi which is less than 3 tl a tin.

[Maisiemoo]

I used to feed a street cat and he wouldn't eat any food with beef in it, even roast beef would be rejected. Rokus seems acceptable, especially the liver variety.

[Deniz1]

Its a myth that cats will eat anything if they are hungry. THEY WONT.

[Mowgli597]

Its a myth that cats will eat anything if they are hungry. THEY WONT.

Then they’ll die. Job done!

(Somewhat tongue in cheek from an ailurophobe!)

[COG]

You could also consider trying to find friends & acquaintances who are EU passport holders, who cannot be restricted from access to an EU area. They’ll probably continue to shop south of the border & could perhaps help out.

[silverfir]

Mowgli597, I had to look up ailurophobia (cos I’m an eijit). Wonder how many others did too

[Butterflyaway]

I have just made my first batch of home made cat food.

Brown and white boneless chicken, some brown rice, broccoli and carrots, all expertly cooked, and a bit of cheddar.

All mixed up and refrigerated. I think it needs some gravy, English mustard and maybe a Yorkshire Pudding, but that is only my preference!


I will report on the outcome in the next couple of days.

[Keithcaley]

I've a feeling that you may have some visitors...

I'm not saying who though!

[Butterflyaway]

Titch ventured over earlier.

Neighbour’s joke!

[kibsolar1999]

check green line regulations as well.
to bring over cat food is not permitted. or?
so, difficult to ask somebody to do illegal things.

[EnjoyingTheSun]

Its a myth that cats will eat anything if they are hungry. THEY WONT.

If any animal is hungry enough, and I include humans in that, they'll eat anything. Obviously like humans they have their favourite dinners and other dinners that aren't at all popular. All cats have it in their DNA to be fussy but then you see strays dragging any crap out of a bin when hungry.

The problem is cats are stubborn and strong minded and their owners, not so much.

So after putting down something different for tiddles, the cat knows he/she only has to hold out about two hours before the owner rushes off to the kitchen in tears to poach some wild salmon in a prawn broth.

[come_on_aylin]

Spotted in Supreme last night, Whiskas 1+ years, 3 + 1 pouches (i.e. 4) 12.99TL reduced from 18.99TL (I think). Going from memory...

[Butterflyaway]

I have just made my first batch of home made cat food.

Brown and white boneless chicken, some brown rice, broccoli and carrots, all expertly cooked, and a bit of cheddar.

All mixed up and refrigerated. I think it needs some gravy, English mustard and maybe a Yorkshire Pudding, but that is only my preference!


I will report on the outcome in the next couple of days.

Everything went down well with all three cats apart from the rice.

[kedikat2903]

Cats can’t digest vegetables or rice. They are obligate carnivores. If you are cooking the meat for them you must add taurine. Cats need taurine to keep their heart and eyesight healthy. They also need calcium. You can get taurine supplements from health food shops. You can grind the tablet up and add a pinch to the meal. For calcium you can grind egg shell and add a small pinch of that too. I feed my cat raw meat and bones so all the taurine and calcium is there. I get that it would be expensive if you have a few cats. You could buy chicken hearts which are full of taurine and cheap. One raw heart a day would help with the taurine intake.

[johnny1]

i live in the south and for a fee i can do your cat food shopping.

[Keithcaley]

i live in the south and for a fee i can do your cat food shopping.

Hi, if it does 'come to the crunch' , would you be happy doing a 'combined shop' for 2 or 3 of us?
It would save us the insurance and the time, which might recompense you for your efforts - plus a hero's welcome of course!

[johnny1]

if its worth it.... why not

[Keithcaley]

OK, let's see what happens with Brexit

[Butterflyaway]

Made a recipe of white and brown cooked chicken with carrots and green beans with some light chicken gravy and finely chopped parsley.

My cats were like animals!

They loved it.