The nightmare of finding foods!!!

white cat lover

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Cat food shopping will be the death of me!!!!!!

I've got the following kitties:
Twitch - 5 years
TigerLily - 3 years
Dorian Grey - 4 years
Molly - 3-4 years?
Ophelia Rose - 4 years

Some with history of UTI. Lily has a somewhat sensitive stomach.

I've tried a zillion foods over the years. Right now, everyone is on Wellness (blue bag kind) mixed with Purina ONE senstive systems.

I'm an hour from the "local" pet stores. I need to buy big/bulk bags. Price is a concern, I can't afford to feed everyone Wellness CORE.


My biggest concern is UTI health....I had everyone on Nutro MAX until they changed their formula & then I started having UTIs in everyone.


I have my variety of wet foods I feed, but am looking for a dry food (or two/three for the different needs in the different kitties). Raw & homemade are not options (I don't have a vet to help me with them).

I would order online but it's almost $30 to ship food to me.


I can get the foods Petco carries or the following:
Felidae
Science Diet
Iams
Katz-N-Flocken
Indigo Moon
Premium Edge
Eukanuba
Sensible Choice
Innova/Innova EVO
Nature's Variety Prairie
Smutty Smut "store" type brand junk
Eagle Pack
Taste of the Wild/Diamond/Diamond Naturals
Nutro MAX/Nutro NC
Chicken Soup
Precise
Pro Plan

I just can't be buying 5 different foods & am having trouble finding a few foods that will work for my 5.
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Raw & homemade are not options (I don't have a vet to help me with them).
Feeding raw and/or homemade does not require guidance from a vet except possibly in the case of a kitty with an already existing serious illness. There is no reason to believe that the companies that produce processed foods have some secret knowledge that allows only them to produce satisfactory foods for pets. The premixed raws with supplements are every bit as safe to feed as commercially processed foods.

IMHO..
 

littleraven7726

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I used to feed Nutro MAX chicken too, but after the formula change Nabu wouldn't eat it. That was about the time the new Iams came out, so we got a small bag.

I've been having pretty good luck with Iams Healthy Naturals chicken for Nabu & Stimpy. They have a little of a sensitive tummy, and had UTIs when they were young. But not for years. I have been using Friskies/Fancy Feast for wet. They have beautiful soft coats and are pretty frisky for being 8 and 11 yrs old.

The kitten needs to put on some weight (3 lbs at 5 months old) so I bought her some Eukanuba Kitten dry, and she's packing away 3 cans of Fancy Feast Kitten per day so far. I had a couple Special Kitty Starters from when we were setting the trap, and she ate all of those too. She's getting free fed dry. We originally had Purina Kitten Chow (we weren't sure we'd catch her), but now she likes the more expensive stuff better (of course
). We're taking the Purina to the shelter instead. I did a taste test for her yesterday- a bowl of each, she had a definite preference. I'm using Eukanuba Kitten because my sister's cats were raised on it and they put on weight with it. And she really needs that. She's completely isolated from the guys, so they can't get her kitten food. We decided to do 1 (4 lb) bag of Eukanuba and see how she looks after that.

If you want to try the Naturals and see if your cats like it, Iams has coupon offers on their site. My MIL switched her cat to Iams Naturals, but Morris doesn't like it as much as he did his Royal Canin. I think she's switching him back when he's out. Also big bags (17 lbs I think) of the Iams go on sale regularly at Petsmart, and when possible I combine it with a coupon. Ends up being around $20-$23 for a big bag if you have a coupon and a sale. Around $25 with just a sale.
 
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white cat lover

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Originally Posted by mschauer

Feeding raw and/or homemade does not require guidance from a vet except possibly in the case of a kitty with an already existing serious illness. There is no reason to believe that the companies that produce processed foods have some secret knowledge that allows only them to produce satisfactory foods for pets. The premixed raws with supplements are every bit as safe to feed as commercially processed foods.

IMHO..
It just isn't going to happen. I believe raw/homemade diets should be done under a vet's guidance.....too many chances to mess something up.

I lost a kitty due to something caused improper nutrition that could have easily been remedied if someone cared earlier this spring. I'm not willing to risk it.

I am a bit leery of trying the Iams. Albiet yes I can get it readily, at the same time, for the ingredients IMO it's fairly pricy. But if it works, it might be worth trying.....cou
 

littleraven7726

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

I am a bit leery of trying the Iams. Albiet yes I can get it readily, at the same time, for the ingredients IMO it's fairly pricy. But if it works, it might be worth trying.....cou
I was pretty desperate when we tried it. Stimpy has some food intolerances so most of the premiums they either didn't like or couldn't digest. Iams is pretty close to Nutro in price, so it also fits our budget (which since I returned to school full time is definitely a consideration).
 
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white cat lover

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I just bought a bag of Wellness...erm the blue bag. I know it works, for the most part, for my kitties. We shall see how they do on it, & adjust the food accordingly.

Unfortunately, I need large bags of food. The pet stores had almost no 10+ lb bags of food in stock....all they had was Nutro (which all my kitties do not do well on) & Science Diet.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

I just bought a bag of Wellness...erm the blue bag. I know it works, for the most part, for my kitties. We shall see how they do on it, & adjust the food accordingly.

Unfortunately, I need large bags of food. The pet stores had almost no 10+ lb bags of food in stock....all they had was Nutro (which all my kitties do not do well on) & Science Diet.
that is all we can do ... ie anyone with multiple issues
 

littleraven7726

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

I just bought a bag of Wellness...erm the blue bag. I know it works, for the most part, for my kitties. We shall see how they do on it, & adjust the food accordingly.

Unfortunately, I need large bags of food. The pet stores had almost no 10+ lb bags of food in stock....all they had was Nutro (which all my kitties do not do well on) & Science Diet.
Can they order them for you? I know our one of our local stores carries big bags of Wellness.
 
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white cat lover

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Originally Posted by littleraven7726

Can they order them for you? I know our one of our local stores carries big bags of Wellness.
They can, but it's an hour drive for me to get back to pick up the bag. It's cheaper for me to just order it online & end up paying $20-30 on shipping for a "big" bag. I normally don't plan the 1-2 weeks ahead of time when I'm going there, so I can't ask them to get one brought in for me, either.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by littleraven7726

Can they order them for you? I know our one of our local stores carries big bags of Wellness.
My thought exactly. If you do your pet food shopping at any one particular store, they will often order specifically for you since it isn't really a big deal for them to include a larger bag in their weekly/monthly order.

I live in a small town with a small, independently owned pet store and the owner was quite happy to order any special foods and sizes I wanted. In fact, she started out ordering Merricks just for me but now stocks it as some other customers buy it as well. Same with Orijen and World's Best multiple cats formula. She always has one large bag of each in stock plus 1 case of each flavour of Merricks I use, with my name on it for when I need it - as soon as I buy that bag, she'll wait a couple weeks and then order another to be there when I need it.
 

zorana_dragonky

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I heckled my local Pet Supplies Plus a lot because they promised to have my order of Wellness cans and Taste of the Wild dry within a week or so, and it took almost three weeks. Now everyone in their recognizes me, and they told me today when I went in that they have two more cases of the wet food and another bag of the dry in the back with my name on it, and they will keep it stocked for me all the time.
What service! I'm glad I decided to buy local instead of order online. Just a little heckling and now they are ready for me whenever I want!

Maybe they just like me because I buy premium foods, instead of a $8 big bag of Friskies.


Anyway, maybe there is a smaller local shop somewhere in your area, White Cat Lover. Usually smaller stores are happy to order something, to make a sale and create a regular customer!
 
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white cat lover

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My smaller local shop is a kitten/puppy mill. It's an utterly disgusting store. That's seriously it for local shops. Otherwise, my next nearest local shop is the small/non chain pet store an hour from me.
 

sakura

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

My smaller local shop is a kitten/puppy mill. It's an utterly disgusting store. That's seriously it for local shops. Otherwise, my next nearest local shop is the small/non chain pet store an hour from me.
good for you for not shopping there. In the town I used to live in, the only place I could find Merrick in was one of these types of stores as well. I wouldn't go there for that reason.
 
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That's what I'm about to do....but I also pick up canned food, kitty litter, etc on my trips that I can't get around here. So it makes it slightly worthwhile.
 

pat

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

That's what I'm about to do....but I also pick up canned food, kitty litter, etc on my trips that I can't get around here. So it makes it slightly worthwhile.
You can get free shipping for some canned foods via some online shops
 

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My two cats (one kitten one adult) have been eating EVO for several months now and are doing great.

Kitty has a very sensitive tummy, and this is one of a very few she will eat and digest just fine. The local feed store carries big bags of it too.

hope you find one soon. I went through quite a few myself before finging EVO, so happy I did.

Edit: Kitty actually seemed to digest Science Diet the best, but it doesnt have the nutrition Id like for her. Plus, she was shedding a ton on it!
 
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