I've been feeding my kitten a diet of 90% Blue Buffalo canned food, along with BB dry as supplemental feeding. He's grown a lot since I got him at 6 weeks, his coat looks and feels much better, he's got lots of energy, and he's become quite a vocal cat who chirps and trills happily when he's playing or discovering something. When I got him, his "eliminations" were gooey and unhealthy, but now he's squeezing out pellets like a pro. (Sorry for the imagery lol.)
Anyway, while I intend to keep him on a solid diet, I need to find a decent back-up/alternative canned food for a couple reasons:
1) BB is expensive, especially in New York. Last time I dropped $50 for less than 30 cans of the stuff, and the smaller 3 oz cans go for $1.29 to $1.59, while the 5.5 oz cans are $1.49 to $1.79.
2) I have to hop on I-95 and drive a few towns over to a Petco to buy BB. The two local petstores within a few minutes of my home don't carry it, and sometimes I don't have time to go to Petco if I'm low on Blue Buffalo.
There's a local grocery store within walking distance, and it's got Friskies, Fancy Feast, 9Lives, a store brand, and a few others, including Sheba. After spending time reading the ingredients, it seems like Sheba's cuts and pate lines are the best among the grocery store brands, with a balance between nutrition, convenience and price. Sheba is 85 cents a can at the local grocery, compared to 55-65 cents for stuff like Friskies and 9Lives, not much difference.
The Sheba cuts and pate include real chicken, turkey, etc., they're grain-free, and the additives are almost all vitamins and minerals. On the bad side, they all include the dreaded "meat by-products," broth is sometimes the first listed ingredient, and some of the varieties use food coloring.
Here's a typical nutrition label from the "Cuts" line. This one is for "Chicken Cuts":
Chicken Broth, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavor, Starch, Added Color, Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Copper Sulfate),Tetra Potassium Pyrophosphate, Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex [Source of Vitamin K Activity]), Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Xanthan Gum, Taurine, DL-Methionine.
Here's the label for the Salmon pate:
Salmon, Meat Broth, Meat By-Products, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Poultry By-Products, Natural Flavor, Added Color, Guar Gum, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate), Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex [Source of Vitamin K Activity]), DL-Methionine, Salt, Taurine.
Again, I'm looking for a second option. I plan to keep my cat on primarily Blue Buffalo, with Sheba to give him some variety, and as a second option when I don't have time to immediately drive to the pet store. Does anyone here feed Sheba canned food to their cats? If so, how are they doing on it? And if you don't think Sheba is a good second option for canned food, do you have any suggestions I should look into?
Anyway, while I intend to keep him on a solid diet, I need to find a decent back-up/alternative canned food for a couple reasons:
1) BB is expensive, especially in New York. Last time I dropped $50 for less than 30 cans of the stuff, and the smaller 3 oz cans go for $1.29 to $1.59, while the 5.5 oz cans are $1.49 to $1.79.
2) I have to hop on I-95 and drive a few towns over to a Petco to buy BB. The two local petstores within a few minutes of my home don't carry it, and sometimes I don't have time to go to Petco if I'm low on Blue Buffalo.
There's a local grocery store within walking distance, and it's got Friskies, Fancy Feast, 9Lives, a store brand, and a few others, including Sheba. After spending time reading the ingredients, it seems like Sheba's cuts and pate lines are the best among the grocery store brands, with a balance between nutrition, convenience and price. Sheba is 85 cents a can at the local grocery, compared to 55-65 cents for stuff like Friskies and 9Lives, not much difference.
The Sheba cuts and pate include real chicken, turkey, etc., they're grain-free, and the additives are almost all vitamins and minerals. On the bad side, they all include the dreaded "meat by-products," broth is sometimes the first listed ingredient, and some of the varieties use food coloring.
Here's a typical nutrition label from the "Cuts" line. This one is for "Chicken Cuts":
Chicken Broth, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavor, Starch, Added Color, Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Copper Sulfate),Tetra Potassium Pyrophosphate, Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex [Source of Vitamin K Activity]), Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Xanthan Gum, Taurine, DL-Methionine.
Here's the label for the Salmon pate:
Salmon, Meat Broth, Meat By-Products, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Poultry By-Products, Natural Flavor, Added Color, Guar Gum, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate), Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex [Source of Vitamin K Activity]), DL-Methionine, Salt, Taurine.
Again, I'm looking for a second option. I plan to keep my cat on primarily Blue Buffalo, with Sheba to give him some variety, and as a second option when I don't have time to immediately drive to the pet store. Does anyone here feed Sheba canned food to their cats? If so, how are they doing on it? And if you don't think Sheba is a good second option for canned food, do you have any suggestions I should look into?