What's your cat food budget per month?

[margd]

Chula and Paul split a can of Fancy Feast three times a day and a cup of Purina Pro Plan Urinary Health dry food overnight. Total monthly cost is about $96 or $48 per cat.

 

[kittyluv387]

I have two cats and spend too much on cat food because my kitten gets diarrhea with processed food.  So he's on a special diet of commercial raw and high quality canned.

Diarrhea Kitty - 4 primal raw nuggets and a 3 oz can of food:  About $3.10-$4/day depending on the type of raw/canned I get

Apartment Stray Kitty - A 3 oz can of food and 2 oz of dry food: About $50 a month - I feel bad I don't feed him as well as my diarrhea kitty but commercial raw just costs too much.  One day when I buy a home I will make my own raw cat food at home and feed both of them the same.

 

[missmimz]

 
Hekitty will not touch wet food.  I've seen her go 4 days without eating, until I gave in and put the dry out.  I feed her Pure Balance, although I will be changing brands after the first of the year.  One bag lasts a bit over 2 months, and costs just under $14, so about $7 in food. 

I wanted to get her on at least one can a day, but...no deal.  No cans, no human food, no "natural" wet diet.  Kibbles.  My girl wants her kibbles.  I do, however, have 4 water bowls out now, to encourage drinking.  Dunno about her kidneys (tho they seem fine) but her teeth are exceptional.

You shouldn't give up on wet food yet! Try different flavors/textures/brands to see what she likes. Big hits in my house are Soulistic, Weruva, Nutro natural choice sliced variety. I'd also be careful about keeping kibble for too long. 2 months is okay, probably, but kibble is usually pretty old by the time it hits the store anyway and once its opened it goes stale really fast. I always buy the smallest bags of kibble possible to ensure they eat it before it goes off. 

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
You shouldn't give up on wet food yet! Try different flavors/textures/brands to see what she likes. Big hits in my house are Soulistic, Weruva, Nutro natural choice sliced variety. I'd also be careful about keeping kibble for too long. 2 months is okay, probably, but kibble is usually pretty old by the time it hits the store anyway and once its opened it goes stale really fast. I always buy the smallest bags of kibble possible to ensure they eat it before it goes off. 

So far I've tried over 25 different brands/flavors trying to tempt her.  I even tried tuna, since she will drink the drained water from a can of tuna, althought she will not touch the tuna itself.  Go figure.  The smallest bag of Pure Balance, which is the best food I can afford right now, does last just at two months, but I put it in an airtight bin as soon as it comes into the house.  Someday, maybe, I'll find that magic wet food that she likes.  I do keep trying.

 

[missmimz]

 
So far I've tried over 25 different brands/flavors trying to tempt her.  I even tried tuna, since she will drink the drained water from a can of tuna, althought she will not touch the tuna itself.  Go figure.  The smallest bag of Pure Balance, which is the best food I can afford right now, does last just at two months, but I put it in an airtight bin as soon as it comes into the house.  Someday, maybe, I'll find that magic wet food that she likes.  I do keep trying.

I have one like this too, he's a licker so he only drinks tuna juice. The only canned food he even tried to eat was the juice from Tikicat's Chicken and Salmon. Strangely, he likes the raw food I make. I feed him boneless meats (with alnutrin) and i add extra water so it's easy for him to lick up. 

 

[Norachan]

Have you tried putting wet food through a blender @Mamanyt1953  and adding hot water to it to make soup? Some cats like that and if the food is warm it smells stronger and more appetising. You could also try crushing up a handful of her dry food and sprinkling that over the wet.

Mine would all happily gorge themselves on dry food if I let them.

 

[mom - cat]

We have had a terrible time with food.  I have the best well fed garbage disposal going.  There isn't a can food we haven't tried.  "The Babies" might finally relent and eat some of the better food (Wellness, Natural Balance, Merck, Royal Canin, etc.) out of desparation but that is it.  We have finally found the best combo of dry and wet food. They LOVE   dry Blue Buffalo.  Adult chicken or red meat flavors.  And we have an tiny old lady that florishes on Royal Canin "Baby Cat".   For the wet food they love the "kitty crack" of the wet food selections - Fancy Feast. 

So we keep 3 bowls of kibble out, 2 Blue Buffalo, 1 Baby Cat and every moring I split 3-4 cans of food between 6 cats.  I follow my vets suggestion of putting some water in the wet mix to thin the gravey. 

1 week Fancy Feast = $16 x 4 weeks = $64 per month

1 36 lb Blue Buffalo = $39 per month

1 14 lb Baby Cat = $19 per month

Plus Tax = $130 per month

And that doesn't include toys, collars, Revolution - LOL  And we love them.

 

[jtbo]

Gourmet, Mon Petit from Purina, starving kitty stopped eating foods she did eat and I put that to front of her, seems to go in fine.

Hugely expensive, it is packed in 50g bags, there are 6 bags in a box, that is 300 grams and recommendation is to feed 325 grams a day, I think that box did cost more than 3 euros.

In comparison, 6 x 400 grams that is 2400 grams of Purina Latz canned wet food is around 5.5 euros.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

 
Have you tried putting wet food through a blender @Mamanyt1953  and adding hot water to it to make soup? Some cats like that and if the food is warm it smells stronger and more appetising. You could also try crushing up a handful of her dry food and sprinkling that over the wet.

Mine would all happily gorge themselves on dry food if I let them.

haven't tried that one, and don't have a blender.  I'll ask Hekitty to get me one for Christmas...she's the best shopper

  She always knows just exactly what I want!  I'll let you know after Christmas how it went.  I may get it for myself before if the budget allows.  I so want to get her on something besides straight kibbles.

@missmimz She won't even touch raw.  This is one finicky pussycat.  I did try raw, chicken, turkey, beef, even pork.  Nothing doing.

 

[kittyluv387]

haven't tried that one, and don't have a blender.  I'll ask Hekitty to get me one for Christmas...she's the best shopper :bigwink:   She always knows just exactly what I want!  I'll let you know after Christmas how it went.  I may get it for myself before if the budget allows.  I so want to get her on something besides straight kibbles.

@missmimz
She won't even touch raw.  This is one finicky pussycat.  I did try raw, chicken, turkey, beef, even pork.  Nothing doing.

Do you free feed? Ive been reading that for fussy cats its best to have scheduled meal times and have hunger work in your favor.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Do you free feed? Ive been reading that for fussy cats its best to have scheduled meal times and have hunger work in your favor.

I really don't, although it would seem that I do.  I put out the amount that her vet says she should have at each meal (I took the ingredient/feeding suggestion panel from her cat food bag in for him to look over), morning and night.  It takes her from one meal time to the next to finish the entire recommended amount.  She's just a grazer.  And I just can't see withholding food for 24 hours just to get her on a schedule.

 

[kittyluv387]

I really don't, although it would seem that I do.  I put out the amount that her vet says she should have at each meal (I took the ingredient/feeding suggestion panel from her cat food bag in for him to look over), morning and night.  It takes her from one meal time to the next to finish the entire recommended amount.  She's just a grazer.  And I just can't see withholding food for 24 hours just to get her on a schedule.

I would totally try to withold a meal or two because wet food is so much better than dry. But i know its hard since theyre our babies. One thing i did is dab a little bit of wet food on my finger and smear it on his nose/mouth area to force him to taste it. Might help them realize it does taste good.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

LOLOLOLOL...you haven't read about Hekitty in some of my other posts.  Trying to smear anything on her nose could easily land me in the emergency room.  She doesn't tolerate liberties much at all.  But I'll try. 

We JUST got rid of a horrible flea infestation, and she lost a bit of weight with all the scratching, so I'll let her get settled good before trying withholding a meal or two.  I felt so guilty about the damn fleas, but I was using Frontline religiously (yeah...big help...I know that now), and I hadn't been bitten or seen any, so I thought I was dealing with allergies.  She has several that I do know about.  If my friend hadn't been gnawed to the bone by the little beasties, I'd still be saving money for more allergy tests while the fleas ate her alive.

 

[grizzlysapien]

Well, I voted for $50-75 per month, without including the food for the ferals.. 

Grizzly's food alone, costs me 19.50+22.80+26.00 = $68.30 per month.. 

That's

1. 1.5 kilo of Simpsons Premium Cat dryfood = $19.50
2. 1.5 kilo of Canagan Cat Dryfood = $22.80
3. 16 cans of Simpsons Premium wetfood = $26.00

In these I haven't included the cost of various treats we give him here and there (turkey slices, yogurt, eggs), cause we buy them for us primarily. But I'm guessing that about 600gr of sliced turkey and about 25 eggs per month..? would be another $22.. 

My ferals' food costs about $50-55 additionally, but it varies.. When they have babies I replace 1/3 to 2/4 of the food with kitten food .. Plus their wetfood.. I buy Proplan Outdoor, Proplan Junior, Friskies wetfood and/or pate, depending on when they have little ones 

 They are also fed by a restaurant owner next to my building, so I don't have to feed them grain-free food, since they get their necessary quantity in proteins.

Even if I am unemployed and half of my montly income is spent on cat food (+vet expense when necessary), I wouldn't try to decrease the amount. It wouldn't be fair to the ferals epsecially. 

 

I should have checked on a "higher" box! LOL But at the time, I though the question refered to our resident cats.. 

 

[kitty kisser]

I spend .50 a day on a can of Friskies Indoor in gravy and they eat a small bag of Blue Buffalo Sensative Stomach dry cat food $25.00 a month plus Friskies Party mix treats $5.00 so that's $45.00 a month for 2 cats plus litter, and toys.

 

[paiger8]

My ferals' food costs about $50-55 additionally, but it varies.. When they have babies I replace 1/3 to 2/4 of the food with kitten food .. Plus their wetfood.. I buy Proplan Outdoor, Proplan Junior, Friskies wetfood and/or pate, depending on when they have little ones   They are also fed by a restaurant owner next to my building, so I don't have to feed them grain-free food, since they get their necessary quantity in proteins.

Even if I am unemployed and half of my montly income is spent on cat food (+vet expense when necessary), I wouldn't try to decrease the amount. It wouldn't be fair to the ferals epsecially. :heart2:  

Do you TNR your ferals? Might save you some money on cat food! :lol3:

 

[bonepicker]

Do you TNR your ferals? Might save you some money on cat food! :lol3:

Yes I was wondering that also

 

[grizzlysapien]

 

My ferals' food costs about $50-55 additionally, but it varies.. When they have babies I replace 1/3 to 2/4 of the food with kitten food .. Plus their wetfood.. I buy Proplan Outdoor, Proplan Junior, Friskies wetfood and/or pate, depending on when they have little ones 

 They are also fed by a restaurant owner next to my building, so I don't have to feed them grain-free food, since they get their necessary quantity in proteins.

Even if I am unemployed and half of my montly income is spent on cat food (+vet expense when necessary), I wouldn't try to decrease the amount. It wouldn't be fair to the ferals epsecially. 

 

Do you TNR your ferals? Might save you some money on cat food!

 

Do you TNR your ferals? Might save you some money on cat food!

Yes I was wondering that also

Don't you think I've tried?? LOL 

Haven't had the chance to trap all of them! There was a small cat colony. I managed to trap most of them, and as soon as they were spayed/neutered they turned into "basket case" for the rest of the cats.. So, I found them homes. The others cannot be caught. I've tried everything. They've just become too smart for the traps. But when they give birth, I find homes for the babies.. Well most of them, cause 2 of them have grown with one of the mommies and have turned out just like her. Too hard to get. 

These are 2 pairs.. 2 females and their "steady" male mates.. One of the females is the one who has raised the babies just like her, so plus 2 "heirs" of the throne 

 That's 6 in total. They have found refuge in an old house next to my building. But they're not always there. Also, whenever I put traps they don't even go near them. They know damn well what that is. When I try to pet them, or go near them in general, they don't trust me. But somehow they trust me around their babies. Go figure.. 

These are the only ones I couldn't find homes for. And I don't think they will fit into a home. They're too "wild" to interact with humans, or children for that matter.. So, right now, I do what I can.. They cannot be caught, but I don't let them starve.. If they get pregnant, I see to develop a relationship with the little ones from the start, so I don't have hard time finding them homes in the long run.. But the parents, remain "strongheaded".. 

 

 

[mrskm]

How much do you spend on cat food per month? I don't have an exact figure, but it's between $50-75 per month

How many cats do you have? 2

Cost per cat?  Not sure

Also include what brands you/types of food you feed.

I feed 1 can of Wellness CORE per day (distributed into portions 4x per day), and 2 trays of Nature's Recipe grain-free chicken and turkey, split between them, 1 in the morning, and 1 in the evening. I also give a tablespoon each of Wellness Complete health dry food. I added in the Nature's Recipe only because I can't afford to feed them Wellness CORE exclusively. I can get Nature's Recipe at the Commissary significantly cheaper than I can outside the Commissary. I recently stopped buying the Indoor formula from the Wellness CORE canned food line because it's less calories per can for the same price. No thanks! 

 

[bonepicker]

Don't you think I've tried?? LOL 

Haven't had the chance to trap all of them! There was a small cat colony. I managed to trap most of them, and as soon as they were spayed/neutered they turned into "basket case" for the rest of the cats.. So, I found them homes. The others cannot be caught. I've tried everything. They've just become too smart for the traps. But when they give birth, I find homes for the babies.. Well most of them, cause 2 of them have grown with one of the mommies and have turned out just like her. Too hard to get. 

These are 2 pairs.. 2 females and their "steady" male mates.. One of the females is the one who has raised the babies just like her, so plus 2 "heirs" of the throne   That's 6 in total. They have found refuge in an old house next to my building. But they're not always there. Also, whenever I put traps they don't even go near them. They know damn well what that is. When I try to pet them, or go near them in general, they don't trust me. But somehow they trust me around their babies. Go figure.. 

These are the only ones I couldn't find homes for. And I don't think they will fit into a home. They're too "wild" to interact with humans, or children for that matter.. So, right now, I do what I can.. They cannot be caught, but I don't let them starve.. If they get pregnant, I see to develop a relationship with the little ones from the start, so I don't have hard time finding them homes in the long run.. But the parents, remain "strongheaded".. :dk:  

. We appreciate all that you do, it is a shame you can't stop the reproduction however. God bless you!