Cheapest Premium Foods

Hi everyone,

I have a question on behalf of my friend. She has 4 kitties and a very tight budget.
She usually shops for their food while grocery shopping or is in walmart/target and buys whatever is on sale or whatever she happens to have a coupon for.
Some of her kitties handle the changes well, but others get tummy upsets as the changes are not gradual and happen every time she runs out of whatever food she previously bought.

My question is, what food can I recommend her that costs very little, but has good ingredients that she doesn't need to wait a sale on, and can buy consistently so her babies can stop having tummy upsets and have good nutrition/soft fur, etc. Their fur leaves much to be desired.

Her budget is about $1-1.50 per pound of food.

I of course recommended her the Maxximum Wal-mart brand, as that is the only food that came to mind in that price range, and premium.
Dry food only.
I would love more ideas. Thank you!

From Walmart, Maxximum is all I would recommend.

I have a very senior cat who is fussy and won't eat the more premium food but I got a sample of Purina Natural and all my cats like it alot. Ox has had problems in the past with explosive diarrhea and he hasn't had an episode since eating this. It doesn't have dyed food color which is good if they get an upset stomach and have to vomit as it doesn't stain.
I buy it at the grocery store but have seen it at target but only the smaller bags. I think if you go one Purina's website you can get a free sample.
This food is within her budget however I wish it did come in larger bags.

Have you looked at Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul cat food? It is reasonably priced but not sold at groceries.
I only tried the kitten formula and she didn't like it. Will give it a try again when she goes to adult food..

Chicken soup
Nutros Max
Sportmix ( low end premium)
Pro pac
Solid Gold

Great thank you.
I think the problem with her is that she doesn't go to pet stores or feed stores often.

So foods that are available at grocery stores/ target and walmart are the only ones that she would consider.

I know grocery stores have tons of low end foods.
Walmart has maxximum, natural life, purina and iams.
I have never been to target so I have no idea what is available there.

Last time I visited, her babies were eating Deli-Cat (sp?).
Once I saw that I figured I need to help her find a better food, while keeping her budget in mind.

I would certianly recommend Iams Multi Cat. That's what I feed my kittys & I signed up on Iams website to get their Newsletters & Coupons & at least once a month in the mail I get a $5 Coupon from them sometimes find $3 off coupons in the Sunday paper. It's good stuff & I've never had to buy it without a coupon It's WAY more expensive at PetStores but at places like Target, Walmart, etc its much cheaper.

Hope This Helps.

Originally Posted by Lore

I would certianly recommend Iams Multi Cat. That's what I feed my kittys & I signed up on Iams website to get their Newsletters & Coupons & at least once a month in the mail I get a $5 Coupon from them sometimes find $3 off coupons in the Sunday paper. It's good stuff & I've never had to buy it without a coupon

It's WAY more expensive at PetStores but at places like Target, Walmart, etc its much cheaper.

Hope This Helps.

Click to expand...

Most of us who have done some research on cat foods DONT think IAMS is a premium... Ingrediant wise is is similiar if not identical to LOW end grocery ... IMHO any food with by products of animal and corn as its first two ingrediants IS NOT premium

To the OP

If Sportmix is avail in your area it is by product free and chem preservative/ artificial color free and is 13.99-15.99 for a 35lb bag the 18 is 6.99

http://www.sportmix.com/cat/originalRecipe.tpl

Felidae is reasonably priced as well. Around the same as Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul. Not found in grocery stores/walmart though, she'd have to go to a pet store.

Remind your friend that with a quality food, there are less fillers, so the cats EAT less. Meaning the cost per bag evens out (or in some cases, is cheaper than) cheap foods!

Nutro Max and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul are often found at feed stores too. Around here Max goes on sale (the 20# bags) for about $20-$21 pretty regularly--that's at Petco and Petsmart.

Plus if she joins Petco PALS or Petsmart PetPerks Programs she would also get coupons in the mail. Petco sends me 10% coupons pretty often and sometimes I get coupons from Petsmart for $5 off a purchase. I usually use those for when I need dry food.

Also, when feeding better foods the cats are healthier which means less in the way of vet bills later on. I just discovered there is a feed store about 4 blocks from where I work. This is in a very urban area. Surprised me!

I think the answer to your question would be Maxximum since you have stated that she would be unlikely to go anywhere but Walmart or the grocery for her pet food. It doesn't really matter what other good brands are out there at the pet stores, if she doesn't go to those stores, she's not going to buy them.

Thanks so much for all the replies.
I think tight budget is why she shops walmart/target, stores that are known for carrying stuff at lower prices.
I hope she takes my recommendation for Maxximum, I bet her kitties will do much better on that food vs Deli-cat.