Wellness up to 3$/can!!!!!!! ACK!

I have been feeding Cello wellness wet food for the past 2 years and he's been doing great, however over the past couple months the price/can has almost doubled. Up until september I was paying 1.79/can, now it's $2.99 for a 12.5oz can (I'm in the GTA in Ontario for reference). I feed Cello one of these every 3 days as well as California natural dry, so it is costing me over $1/day for his food, then of course there is Kismet's food. I would like to switch, but I have no idea where to start, I was looking at Evo and MaxCat, but they aren't THAT much cheaper...... I don't know if it's comprable to what you're getting.

Any advice on what wet to feed that is still as healthy as the wellness, but maybe a little cheaper. I'd like to be at less then $2.50/12.5 oz can if possible......

thanks

hmmm, it's been 2.99 here for awhile now (London area). It's the most expensive brand here...(that I've been interested in) I can't help with your question though.... but wanted to add, Kizzy's name is Kismet too

I've found Chicken Soup to be of a decent price, it's actually cheaper than MAX Cat here. However, I can find only the 5.5 oz cans (which is $.70 or $.79 per can US). MAX is now $.89/can I think.

Raw food is actually gonna come out cheaper, and it's A LOT better for your cat. Don't pay for all the marketing, markups and additives!

Depends which maker you get it from of course, but you don't need to get the one with the fancy packaging. A cheaper brand is just as good - it's raw meat. I live in Canada, and I buy Natural Chow - in the US there's probably something similarly affordable. And remember that the smaller they portion it (tiny medallions, 1/4 pound, 1/2 pound, etc), the more you'll pay because there's more handling involved. Buy an 8 or a 4 lb chunk, and redistribute it yourself.
I found that ice cube trays work the best: defrost the meat, put it into ice cube trays and cover the trays with aluminum foil to avoid freezer burn, than refreeze. That way you'll always only take out exactly as much as you need. I asked the vet, and this procedure (defrosting once and refreezing) is perfectly fine.
It's gonna take about 20 minutes work every two weeks or so, but well worth it for your wallet and your cat's health.

Originally Posted by BelleDiamond

Raw food is actually gonna come out cheaper, and it's A LOT better for your cat. Don't pay for all the marketing, markups and additives!

Depends which maker you get it from of course, but you don't need to get the one with the fancy packaging, it's just as good - it's raw meat. And remember that the smaller the portions it comes in, the more you'll pay because there's more handling involved. Buy an 8 or a 4 lb chunk, and redistribute it yourself. I found that ice cube trays work the best: Defrost it once, put the meat into ice cube trays, and that way you'll always only defrost as much as you need. I asked the vet, and this procedure (defrosting once and refreezing) is perfectly fine. It's gonna take about 20 minutes work every two weeks or so, but well worth it for your wallet and your cat's health.

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One needs to RESEARCH a raw diet thoroughly... just raw meat IS NOT a good diet ...

If done right a raw diet in MOST areas will = the cost of feeding a mid grade dry with mid grade wet ....

And just to make thing s easy , lets leave the raw talk for the raw forum

Back to topic ... are you using the grain free wellness or all flavors??

Originally Posted by sharky

One needs to RESEARCH a raw diet thoroughly... just raw meat IS NOT a good diet ...

If done right a raw diet in MOST areas will = the cost of feeding a mid grade dry with mid grade wet ....

And just to make thing s easy , lets leave the raw talk for the raw forum

Back to topic ... are you using the grain free wellness or all flavors??

Click to expand...

Sorry to keep you off topic for another post, but a raw diet IS still better than Wellness wet or dry - and far from being mid-quality. I free-feed my cats a premium quality high protein dry (I alternate between two premium brands a year), and they get raw in the morning and at night: beef, chicken, etc..
I did do LOTS of research, and I spoke to vets, several experienced breeders, high quality pet food store owners and read forums, and reviews on the net to find out what the perspective is of people who have tried raw and processed.

And again - my premium, NOT mid quality dry and raw combo diet still comes out cheaper than your $3 a can Wellness, and under $1/day. I did calculate it down to the cent when I figured out my cats' diet. I feel it's beneficial to mention it here in this thread, since lmunsie lives in the same city as I, and was asking for advice on healthy and more affordable cat food.

Off topic over, back over to you

Originally Posted by sharky

One needs to RESEARCH a raw diet thoroughly... just raw meat IS NOT a good diet ...

If done right a raw diet in MOST areas will = the cost of feeding a mid grade dry with mid grade wet ....

And just to make thing s easy , lets leave the raw talk for the raw forum

Back to topic ... are you using the grain free wellness or all flavors??

Click to expand...

For the record, I did try some raw (one of my best friends is an expert in it, and I used this forum) when I first got my cats, I tried for over a month but they were just not interested (got them already at age 7). I also tried homemade food which was also a bust. Perhaps if I ever get a kitten I'll do my research and tackle this again, but for now I'm sticking to store bought.

In anycase, the canned is all flavours (not the core which is grain free) and the dry is the same, not grain free, but all flavours. Kismet also gets orijens dry and Cello also gets California Natural dry.

I really want to continue a primarily wet diet with cello though........ just don't want it to be costing SO much.......

I don't mind buying smaller cans, atleast then it's always fresh, and according to what white cat mentioned, it might be cheaper to buy small cans of maxcat or chicken soup.

I wanted to double check on grains

chicken soup

max cat

natural choice

natural balance

newmans own ( some walmarts carry)

natural life

brandon farms ( sister of by nature that can sometimes be found in grocery stores)

by nature

authority

eagle pack

natures variety ( the dog is the same as the cat but often cheaper)

California natural

Solid gold

being in Ca perhaps Go natural is cheaper for you than here





by the way before jumping on a mid grade : ask what mid grade is( I call most premiums junk ) ... to me it is a food without by products , without soy ( in most to all formulas ) , without corn in a wet food , without most grains and if present not higher that 5th or 6th ingredient Ask and you will get lots of answers here ...

wow! thanks so much for that list sharky.
So I'm assuming you would endorce any of those you listed as healthy or comprable to the quality of the wellness

Yeah, some cats won't fancy the taste of meat if they're not used to it. Too bad.
In that case, here are a few extra tips for looking at the ingredient list, applies to both wet and dry:

No: Animal Digest, unspecified meat, by-products, corn, corn gluten, wheat gluten, BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin
OK: Rice, some wheat, some veggies
Plus Points: DL-Methionine, 0.025<Magnesium<0.1, cranberries, blueberries

In all cases, look for something with a specified meat source as the first ingredient, like turkey, chicken, etc.

Good luck finding something yummi and healthy!

Sharky, there is a reason premium is called premium, and not mid-grade

Originally Posted by BelleDiamond

Yeah, some cats won't fancy the taste of meat if they're not used to it. Too bad.
In that case, here are a few extra tips for looking at the ingredient list, applies to both wet and dry:

No: Animal Digest, unspecified meat, by-products, corn, corn gluten, wheat gluten, BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin
OK: Rice, some wheat, some veggies
Plus Points: DL-Methionine, 0.025<Magnesium<0.1, cranberries, blueberries

In all cases, look for something with a specified meat source as the first ingredient, like turkey, chicken, etc.

Good luck finding something yummi and healthy!

Sharky, there is a reason premium is called premium, and not mid-grade

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I would advise searching and reading the forum ... you will learn alot ...

premium = to marketing ... do the true homework .. the word premium can be put on anything without any guidelines... thus those of us with yrs of experience grade the labeling different

your mag numbers are off for uti health and you have both wet and dry stats without a differentiation


Yes I think those all fall into decent to very good , some have the ?? ables of unknown livers and more grain than I like but

here eagle pack is 1.60-2$ for a 13oz can ... most of the others are avail in 6 oz only

I had fed Wellness when my cats were kittens and they are six years old now. I noticed the price a few months ago and it has really went up since I had been buying it. When I bought it before it was one of the more expensive brands but it was in line with other higher end premiums. It now is a lot higher than the other premiums.

Oh Sharky, if only you were in the U.K and new all the products here *sigh*, although your advice already has been brilliant.

I feed my cat Panther 1/3 cup Wellness CORE and 3oz wellness caned (not CORE) per day. I guess I must have missed the price increase because I remember it always being about $1.50 a can (6oz) for wellness canned and $1.90 for Wellness CORE canned. I figure its not really necessary to feed a completely grain free diet. But that's just me based on what I've learned. My older sister feeds raw and swears by it, but in my small town its not possible so I have to make due with what I can get.

Was horrified last week when the price was up to $2.99
Went into the store today to buy litter and wellness can;s are now $3.19!!!!
I BUY THEM EVERY WEEK AND THE PRICE KEEPS CHANGING!

Well time to do my research, pick a new brand and buy it in bulk before prices of everything skyrocket.

Wellness will be receiving any angry letter. The pet food store told me they have raised prices 4 times in the last 6 months...... maybe they didn't get the memo that it's a recession?

Just to put it in a little bit of perspecive, fancy feast elegant medleys that Cindy just loves and gets as an occasional treat is nearly $1.00 for a 3 oz can. And it's a crappy food. All the cat food is going up, if you ask me, not just Wellness. Even Authority is pushing toward $1.00 for a small can. I guess it's not unlike our food in the grocery store, everything is going up when we can least afford to keep up with it.

I switch, every two days, between Wellness and another cheaper brand (Nutro I think?? I'm not sure) that I found at Petco. I just can't afford to feed only Wellness wet food anymore with the price increase. I came here and complained about it a month or so ago. Our prices didn't double, though, thank goodness, but still went out of our price range to be exclusively fed. The other food I feed is only $.89 per can, and one lasts her two days. Much cheaper compared to $2 per can.

Originally Posted by lmunsie

Was horrified last week when the price was up to $2.99
Went into the store today to buy litter and wellness can;s are now $3.19!!!!
I BUY THEM EVERY WEEK AND THE PRICE KEEPS CHANGING!

Well time to do my research, pick a new brand and buy it in bulk before prices of everything skyrocket.

Wellness will be receiving any angry letter. The pet food store told me they have raised prices 4 times in the last 6 months...... maybe they didn't get the memo that it's a recession?

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Yikes. how large is the tin? i only use wellness wet here for dogs LOL. the cats won't eat higher grade wet. I paid 3.19$CAD for a 13.2oz of the 95% formula's.

I'm not sure which other wets to recommend as i said i don't use premium wet for cats, where are you shopping? usually pet value and global carry wet foods at a decent pricing but their aren't many other places to purchase the premium brands, do you have a bark n fitz? i was in one recently and found their food prices to be reasonable.

good luck!

I've been really disappointed by the selection of my local PetSmart. The only halfway decent foods I've found there are the Nutro/Nutro Max Cat brands. The Authority brand looked OK, but it gives one cat diarrhea and makes another throw up, so that's a no go. At Pet Supplies Plus, I found that Wellness (CORE) and Chicken Soup are pretty good brands. The Chicken Soup is reasonable at .89/5.5 oz can, but both the Wellness and the Wellness CORE are 1.39, which is too much IMO. They do have a coupon buy 4, get 1 free on the Wellness right now that brings it down to $1.12/can, so I've bought a bit. I think the only cat food either of these places sells in a large can is Friskies though.

So, I decided to go check out a local pet store (Agri Feed Pet Supplies) today and I was pleasantly surprised. The cat section is about 1/2 the size of the one in Pet Supplies Plus and 1/5 the size of the PetSmart cat section, which is why I tried them first. The cat food section was great though. It was small, but there was no Friskies, Nine Lives, Iams, or any other 'grocery store' brand. Other than the Science Diet, pretty much all of their canned foor was pretty high quality. In the large cans, they had Wellness, Innova, California Naturals, Evo, Merrick, and maybe one or two other kinds.

For comparison, the Wellness was $2.24 for a 12.5 oz can (and is it just me, or does the fact that they put less in the same sized can seem like they're being cheapskates?) while the Evo was $1.57 for a 13.2 oz can and the Innova was $1.36 for a 13.2 oz can. From what I recall, the California Naturals was ~1.67/can and the Merrick was > $2.00, but I didn't buy any of those, so I don't remember exactly. I do find the price difference between the Wellness and the Evo/Innova to be pretty insane though, especially in light of the fact that 1) there's less in the can & 2) IMO, the ingredients in Wellness aren't as good as the other two.

Originally Posted by followedbydolls

Yikes. how large is the tin? i only use wellness wet here for dogs LOL. the cats won't eat higher grade wet. I paid 3.19$CAD for a 13.2oz of the 95% formula's.

I'm not sure which other wets to recommend as i said i don't use premium wet for cats, where are you shopping? usually pet value and global carry wet foods at a decent pricing but their aren't many other places to purchase the premium brands, do you have a bark n fitz? i was in one recently and found their food prices to be reasonable.

good luck!

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I didn't know that Bark and Fitz sold cat food. I thought it was just a dog store. We have one here.

The cat food Wellness is $3.19 (12.5oz) here as well...at a pet store...Critter Jungle. I must check out the price at Pet Valu...but I don't find their prices to be any lower, even though they say that they are a discount store

Even the cheapest dry cat food (that I put in the garage for assorted animals) has jumped from $8 for 8kg, 2 yrs ago, to nearly $11 this year already. Might have to stop feeded the 'wanderers' although I know that some of them are outside an awful lot.

And...our lovely prov gov't has given us HST (without a vote) so now all our utilities will jump by 8%.....guess some of us aren't part of a recession!!