Lots of allergies, etc. in 14 cat home.. FOOD ADVICE?

I have 14 cats (all rescues). I would guess that almost half of them have some allergy/skin issues off and on. They've always eaten Friskies dry and Whiskas dry. I now know those foods are loaded with the crappy, allergy causing ingredients. I want to switch them to a better food. After researching, I decided I wanted to put them on Blue Buffalo, but then I found out that no stores in my area carry the large bags. So that was out. I decided on Wellness. The largest bag they have is 12lbs. I bought the first bag this past Friday. Today is Wednesday and this morning I had to go buy another bag ALREADY! At $38, I can't afford 6 bags a month of this stuff. I know that the healthier food is expensive and worth it, but I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to mix it with something else? I went through Pet Supplies Plus and read all the ingredients on the different foods. I was thinking about mixing it with Purina One. It has some of the crap ingredients too, but it looked like one of the better ones.

I can't decide if it's a good idea to mix it? Anyone have any advice, tips, or other ideas? I really want the kids to have a better, healthier diet.

some purina ones I find to be decent and mixing is fine for some cats... do you have access to chicken soup, diamond or nutro brands?

If you are looking to save but still get a good quality food maybe try the Nutro Max Cat line. I use it for Chester along with other Nutro foods. I actually just found it on sale at a Petco for $19.99 for 16lbs. I am not sure how long that sale is going on but it is a good deal. It has a good amount of fatty acids to help improve the skin & coat and has always worked well for Chester. Every store will be different on price. Petco is usually more expensive but this sale was a good one.

I hope you find what works for you.

Pet Supplies Plus should carry the Max Cat line too and the prices have always been good there.

Depends what they're sensitive to.....I understand the price issue, as I have 17 indoor cats. Currently I'm feeding them a mix of Taste of the Wild, Chicken Soup, Diamond Naturals, and Purina Naturals. I can find all of those foods locally for about the same price (average of $1.25-ish a pound). If you can't find any of the others, Purina Naturals is pretty good (no by-products or dyes, but does have corn) and quite affordable. Petsmart is the only place I've found the large bag, it's $15.99 for 15 pounds when not on sale.

If you are struggling with allergies with your crew, don't invest in a large bag of anything until you test it on your gang. I'm feeding 10 cats right now (have had a lot more in the past) so know how fast you can go through food. I've had to throw out big bags in the past when one or mine of them had an adverse reaction to it.

Some of mine have chronic medical conditions and some of the "good" foods have actually hurt mine. I have 1 boy that can't tolerate Wellness (he can't handle fish), and he developed a blockage from Nutro. You may have a trial and error period for a while until you settle on something that yours can handle.

I know what it's like to have a large fur family and have some with allergies. I actually have 2 now with allergies (6 cats in all). One pulls her fur out in spots and the other one throws up.

Do you have a Mounds Pet Store near you? They have their own brand of natural good quality food. I think it's like $24 for a 20lb bag. It's made with all natural foods and no junk corn fillers. I had to stop my cats on it because the beet in it was making one of my cats throw up. But otherwise it was a really good brand.

I have them now on Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. I think it's about $26 for an 18lb bag so it's roughly around the same price. Not too much more. And they love it. You can try to mix food to stretch it out, but I did not have good luck with that. I was mixing some of the old with the new and at first it seemed okay but it just took a little longer for the one to start throwing up again.

But you can try it. Also check the food that you purchase. If it has a 100% money back guarantee, even if it's open and been used, you should be able to bring it back and exchange it for something else. I did that. Just ask them what their policy is. Some may let you keep returning bags until you find one that works for you. I asked Mounds, where I get my food, if they couldn't eat the new stuff if I could bring it back and exchange it again. They said I could do that with any of the foods. Which was really nice to know. I think they may do that because of the returns they get, they just use the unused food with their adoptable cats. But that would be something to look into if you change foods and they can't eat what you buy.

Hope you get things figured out soon

If I were in your shoes, I would check out Taste of the Wild, Kirkland Signature (Costco brand), Chicken Soup, Natural Balance, Diamond Naturals, Nutro Max, Authority, Nutro Natural.

Mixing isn't a bad idea, imo.