Cheap but decent wet food?

ninacaliente

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I'm looking for a wet food for Griffin and Bastian (both 17 months old). They are currently eating TOTW dry. (Sprout eats NV Instinct canned lamb exclusively, but I cannot afford to feed that to all 3.) In the past they've eaten Instinct, Innova, and Wellness wet food, but my budget is crying out for some relief!

What inexpensive wet foods are still decent? They will still be eating TOTW primarily, but I want to offer them some wet each day mostly for moisture content. (They had a fountain that they liked, but they managed to break it. I have no doubt they would find a way to break another one, so I have not replaced it.) They've always liked pate-style wet foods, although I haven't offered very many chunky styles before. Any suggestions?
 

jack31

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Authority brand is the only pate brand that is consistently eaten in our house--runs about .68 a 6 oz can here.

My boys also like the 3 oz cans of Nutro max which are all chunky.

Leslie
 

alleygirl

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Originally Posted by Jack31

Authority brand is the only pate brand that is consistently eaten in our house--runs about .68 a 6 oz can here.

My boys also like the 3 oz cans of Nutro max which are all chunky.

Leslie
My boys also eat these two brands of wet.
 

meowqueensdaddy

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Originally Posted by Jack31

My boys also like the 3 oz cans of Nutro max which are all chunky.
My two have been doing Max Cat for a while. Petco has 24-packs for... $15-ish. Free of byproduct, made from muscle meat, mostly free of grains (some flavors contain wheat gluten or rice flour).

Just FYI, I discovered accidentally that the "Veal PâtÃ[emoji]169[/emoji]" flavor really is a pâtÃ[emoji]169[/emoji], not chunks in sauce like the others. This came in handy in a sudden phase of "We Will Not Eat Chunky Wet Food With Sauce" that happened recently.
 

followedbydolls

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If they like pate style i think you have way more options, have you looked at nutro?

mine won't eat loaf/pate types AT ALL so i mainly use fancy feast..
 
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ninacaliente

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Originally Posted by followedbydolls

mine won't eat loaf/pate types AT ALL so i mainly use fancy feast..
Funny, when I offer mine the chunks-in-sauce types they usually just lick up the sauce.


Thanks for all the suggestions! If anyone has more, keep them coming! I will be on the hunt for cat food tomorrow.
 

cruisermaiden

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This is not in league with the other brands mentioned on this thread but I feed my two boys Friskies canned. They usually only like the sliced/chunky kind which is somewhat harder to find in a lot of brands and my budget really can’t handle the prices of the premium brands. They eat it with no problems and it comes in all kinds of the sliced flavors (they have just as many pate style flavors too). I buy it in bulk every two months as I’ve found that how often Petsmart puts it on sale for $.40/can. Regular price is $.60/can when not on sale.

Also, I've been able to get my boys to eat some pate styles by mixing them well with warm water to make a cat food paste, almost like a thick meaty gravy that they lick up. They don’t like this as well as the slices, but thought I’d say since I know I am not the only one with kitties who turn up their noses at the pate foods!
 

sharky

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mine like wellness and evo ( okay they will eat anything
)

I buy the 13 oz cans for 2.29( roughly 18 cents an oz) .... typically I pay .75-1.50 for a six oz (12.5 cents an oz to .25 cents an oz )( wellness and evo in a big can for me at least are more economical ...
 

white cat lover

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I feed my cats high quality dry - and they get all qualities of wet food. Mostly as to find chunks in gravy high quality is near impossible.

They get Solid Gold, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Meow Mix, Eagle Pack (my guys prefer the 13 oz cans to the 5 oz cans - more gravy/softer pate style), Merrick, Precise, etc.
 

korina

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The cheapest grain and by product free canned has to be Merricks.

Lucky for me I live near a petstore that sells nothing but premium and gets really good prices.

I pay 23$ for a case.

Its also good because they are 150 calories a can (versus 220 for Instinct and EVO)
150 calories is my vets recommendation for my pleasantly plump kitties.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Jack31

Authority brand is the only pate brand that is consistently eaten in our house--runs about .68 a 6 oz can here.
that's what mine get. i only buy the lamb & rice flavor - it's the only one w/no fish ingredients.
 

junebugbear07

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We use Friskies, Fancy Feast and some other brand like Nu-Pet or something? My dad wont buy anything expensive, although they get Iams dry food which I guess is good right? I am affraid of the potassium level in wet food tho, my grandmas cat got i think got a urinary infection where he wouldnt pee. Almost had to be put down, but hte surgery helped and he is all better now!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by JuneBugBear07

We use Friskies, Fancy Feast and some other brand like Nu-Pet or something? My dad wont buy anything expensive, although they get Iams dry food which I guess is good right? I am affraid of the potassium level in wet food tho, my grandmas cat got i think got a urinary infection where he wouldnt pee. Almost had to be put down, but hte surgery helped and he is all better now!
wet food potassium is far better than dry for uti health ...

Iams in my opinion is overpriced "junk " food ... there are a couple of grocery foods cheaper and IMHO better
 

mzkitty

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Originally Posted by NinaCaliente

Funny, when I offer mine the chunks-in-sauce types they usually just lick up the sauce.


Thanks for all the suggestions! If anyone has more, keep them coming! I will be on the hunt for cat food tomorrow.
mine too! But I have found a way around it. I "mash" it with a fork then he eats it all!
 

korina

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Originally Posted by sharky

wet food potassium is far better than dry for uti health ...
Iams in my opinion is overpriced "junk " food ... there are a couple of grocery foods cheaper and IMHO better
I was shocked when I was in Walmarthellhole the other day, buying extra wide scratching carboard thingees and picked up a package of Iams and was shocked to see ground corn in it.

I would call it overpriced garbage food, not junk (although corn has sugar which might make it sweet).

I honestly think Nutro changed their ingredients since the recall for the poorer.

Sharky, I know you don't like to make lists of foods to recommend, but I think a sticky post rating food in order of quality ingredients and then msrp would be helpfull.

I had no idea that Kirkland was a sleeper Nutro competitor.

We can at least be happy that Wellness has invaded Petco (as well as a few other premiums)
Just wish Natura and NV would go to big box pet stores, not for my convenience, I will still support my local private store, but to have that option available to the public for purchase and knowledge.

If Nutro didn't sell to Petsmart, and the recall never happened, I would have never known there were by product free foods and ones made by more responsible companies.
 

sakura

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We buy Authority canned cat food for Henry in the 6 oz cans. It has ingredients similar to Nutro Natural but is the Petsmart store brand. Thankfully he'll eat leftovers so we can just split the can in 2.

Mattie and Chloe are much pickier. The cheapest food they will eat (with good ingredients) is the Chicken Soup wet food.

The cheapest wet foods here are Nutro Max, Nutro Natural, Authority, Natural Balance, and Chicken Soup. I always buy the larger sized cans to save $.
 

aileen06

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Originally Posted by MzKitty

mine too! But I have found a way around it. I "mash" it with a fork then he eats it all!
Princess would do this also with Meow Mix and I tried mashing it also but if she got to a big piece she would just stop and not eat anymore. Meow Mix is the only wet food she was interested in though so now I take the Meow Mix and put it in one of those mini food processors with some water. I know this doesn't sound great but she actually likes it best when its the consistency of a thin milkshake. But I figure at least she's getting extra water and she always eats it all!
 

kara_leigh

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Originally Posted by Aileen06

Princess would do this also with Meow Mix and I tried mashing it also but if she got to a big piece she would just stop and not eat anymore. Meow Mix is the only wet food she was interested in though so now I take the Meow Mix and put it in one of those mini food processors with some water. I know this doesn't sound great but she actually likes it best when its the consistency of a thin milkshake. But I figure at least she's getting extra water and she always eats it all!
Nora prefers her wet food this way also. I don't put it in a food processor, but I do mash it up really well with water until it is pretty runny. She won't eat it any other way.
 

zoeysmom

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Originally Posted by kara_leigh

Nora prefers her wet food this way also. I don't put it in a food processor, but I do mash it up really well with water until it is pretty runny. She won't eat it any other way.
I've got two more here who put my Magic Bullet blender to good use. Apparently mashing it up and mixing it with water just wasn't good enough.
 
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