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Cat Chow - Confused.

post #1 of 26
9/8/10 at 5:04am
Thread Starter 
I have searched the forums and read up on some recommended "decent" foods (Mid price range). But I'm terrified to buy Cat Chow again. Boo was eating cat chow when his crystals started and ever since I've had an aversion against it, even though it might not cause any other cat crystals.

What is the general consensus on Cat Chow? Our prices around here are about 6 bucks for most small to less-than-medium bags. Since I have 3 outdoor cats, 2 female 1 male, and Chickster, indoor, I was going to feed Chickster Purina One Chicken and Rice, and the outdoor cats the same. Well, I've just had to sell some of my stuff to have money this week, and ran out of cat food at the same time. I have 30 bucks and wanted to buy Chickster The Purina One (about 6 dollars for a small (4?) pound bag) and buy a bigger bag of probably-not-so-good food for the outside cats. I feel terrible thinking of doing that. Any suggestions on how to feed all four of them and try to save a tiny bit of money? I plan on looking for a food that lists some sort of meat as the first few ingredients (First really).

Thanks for any help guys. I've just never had so many cats at one time
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post #2 of 26
9/8/10 at 5:59am
What is your budget? Do you have access to Costco? Their Kirkland brand of maintenance cat food is pretty good - made by Diamond... it is 15 dollars for 25 lbs!! I believe the first ingredient is either chicken or chicken meal (which is just dried, ground up chicken and is fine.) You can feed all of the cats this.

I don't know what else you have available to you. Just grocery stores? Big box pet retailers like Petsmart?

Petsmart's Authority brand is fine, too. It may be a bit more than you can afford, though. It's about 8 bucks for 4 lbs. $14 for 8 lbs. and $27 for the 18 lb bag according to PS's web site.

ETA: I have a friend who feeds her outdoor cats P One and they are fine as far as I know.

And to answer your question - IMHO - Cat Chow is junk.
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post #3 of 26
9/8/10 at 6:35am
Years ago I had a cat get urinary issues while eating purina. I took all mine off it for few years then started using it again at some point. I have had 21 inside cats on it and the moms/babys on the kitten chow but due to getting an AMAZING deal all are eating science diet.

I never saw another cat have issues again minus Ben but he had issues pop up 7 years ago as a kitten and he even gets issues every once in awhile on the rx diet

Do the best you can and realize there's cats being fed store brand every day by ppl who can and cant afford better. I would do what you are doing far as getting an outside cat food and one for the indoor kitty. may be ablke to supplement outside cats at time if you get a deal/have couon/to much opened food to use it all that month
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post #4 of 26
9/8/10 at 9:49am
Addie covered it but I will ask again where can you shop? what is your price range ( ie 20 $ for 20lb s or 35$ for 20 lb)
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post #5 of 26
9/8/10 at 10:10am
About how many pounds do they go through approximately per week and how many weeks do you need for them to get by on your purchase?
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post #6 of 26
9/8/10 at 10:14am
Don't know if you have Target in your area, but they sell Purina One at a very good price...less than $6 for the bigger size, and $10.99 for the 16 lb size (at least here in AZ)
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post #7 of 26
9/8/10 at 11:13am
I pay $23 for 16 pounds of Taste of the Wild, that feeds 3 adult cats for slightly more than a month (free feeding).

Just remember, and this is very important when you are on a tight budget, the more fillers (IE: Cheaper) the pet food, the more you end up buying because they must eat more to fullfill nutritional requirements.
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post #8 of 26
9/8/10 at 11:46am
The general rule of thumb is that larger bags are cheaper. For me, I buy them anyways because of the numbers I'm feeding. If you can't afford to buy a 12-16 lb bag & store it safely until it's used, that's understandable, too.

Like Arlyn, I can get TOTW for a decent price. I also feed Purina ONE, which is now $22 for 16-ish lbs here. However, I get the Sunday newspaper & they sometimes have coupons in there. I know I bought several small 3 lb bag of Purina ONE in Target, as they were on sale, plus I printed a coupon from Target's website & combined that with a coupon from the manufacturer - it ended up cost $2 for a 3 lb bag.
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post #9 of 26
9/8/10 at 4:08pm
Maybe Purina Naturals? First ingredient is chicken meal, no by-products or coloring. One step up from Purina ONE, IMO. It's $15.99 for 15 pounds at Petsmart, and is frequently on sale. Of course I never buy the smaller bags, but I think it's around $9 for 7 pounds at Wal-Mart.

I do buy Cat Chow for the outdoor ferals. They're doing great, and I prefer Cat Chow over Friskies or Meow Mix for several reasons. You do what you have to do sometimes, and there are a lot worse foods than Cat Chow (grocery store brand generic dry cat food = BAD!).

But yeah. Knowing your price range and the stores in your area would be helpful in making suggestions.
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post #10 of 26
9/8/10 at 7:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Maybe Purina Naturals? First ingredient is chicken meal, no by-products or coloring. One step up from Purina ONE, IMO. It's $15.99 for 15 pounds at Petsmart, and is frequently on sale. Of course I never buy the smaller bags, but I think it's around $9 for 7 pounds at Wal-Mart.

I do buy Cat Chow for the outdoor ferals. They're doing great, and I prefer Cat Chow over Friskies or Meow Mix for several reasons. You do what you have to do sometimes, and there are a lot worse foods than Cat Chow (grocery store brand generic dry cat food = BAD!).

But yeah. Knowing your price range and the stores in your area would be helpful in making suggestions.
Agreed - not a bad choice for a food available in grocery and Walmart type places.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arlyn View Post
I pay $23 for 16 pounds of Taste of the Wild, that feeds 3 adult cats for slightly more than a month (free feeding).

Just remember, and this is very important when you are on a tight budget, the more fillers (IE: Cheaper) the pet food, the more you end up buying because they must eat more to fullfill nutritional requirements.
That's a good price for TOTW.... I am lucky... there is a place not far from my BF's house that sells TOTW 15 lb bag for $19!!! Best price in the entire STATE!!
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post #11 of 26
9/8/10 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I was completely out so I Went by food lion and found a huge bag of Cat Chow on sale for 11.99, which I Figured was pretty good so the 4 cats will be set for the rest of the month, for sure. It was probably a 10-15 pound bag, I can't remember now.

I don't have access to a Costco but I Do have a Petco and a Petco card. I also have Target, I didn't think to look there for cat food. And as far as budget goes, I usually try to get the biggest bag I can for 25 or less. I was buying huge bags of the Purina One C&R for about 21.99 at PetCo, but I didn't have the money for that this time. As far as budget goes, it's up and down right now unfortunetly. Hopefully once things improve I can go back to getting Purina One. I've seen the Naturals but wasn't sure if that was a better food than PO or less than. And I only was buying PO because my new vet recommended that or Wellness for Chickster.

Don't worry about me buying grocery store brand foods, I would not EVER do it. I believe Lowe's foods makes a brand called Paws Premium. I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole I don't care, yuck!

Chickster isn't too happy about the Cat Chow, but I've seen her eating it today. The other ones don't care as long as they're shoveling something in their mouths

Thanks for the help guys!
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post #12 of 26
9/8/10 at 8:50pm
Naturals IMHO is better than cat chow ( which is with atta cat as a if you have to it is below decent but can be used) and better than most Ones and Pro plans IMHO.. ie it has no by products or artifial colors or flavors
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post #13 of 26
9/9/10 at 5:31am
Thread Starter 
Great, thanks. I will get the naturals next time. I can't find the Chicken and Rice Purina One ANYWHERE anyway. Grocery store, PetCo, PetSmart, everyone's always out, so forget chasing that down. I will go after the naturals. <3 Thanks again
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post #14 of 26
9/9/10 at 8:24am
Be warned---I wouldn't use Cat Chow for the house cats no matter how bad finances got, only because it makes the litterbox odor unbearable! I think it's the food coloring, any food with coloring it it makes them extra stinky. Hopefully it won't have that effect on your cats.
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post #15 of 26
9/9/10 at 10:54am
I wouldn't ever feed Cat Chow or Purina or anything of that nature-ever. Not even if finances were super tight. I'd figure out a way to cut other expenses. I will never compromise on the quality of their food. Look at your budget; is there anything you can do without for right now?
Also, the cheaper foods are full of crap and fillers, so they need to eat more to get nutrients. You could end up spending the same as you would on a better food.

Another option would be homemade. It's cheaper then some of the better brands of commercial foods and it's better for them. Negative to it is you spend more when starting up (for containers et cetera).

Where all can you shop? What is your price range?
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post #16 of 26
9/9/10 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat_crazy View Post
I wouldn't ever feed Cat Chow or Purina or anything of that nature-ever. Not even if finances were super tight. I'd figure out a way to cut other expenses. I will never compromise on the quality of their food. Look at your budget; is there anything you can do without for right now?
Also, the cheaper foods are full of crap and fillers, so they need to eat more to get nutrients. You could end up spending the same as you would on a better food.

Another option would be homemade. It's cheaper then some of the better brands of commercial foods and it's better for them. Negative to it is you spend more when starting up (for containers et cetera).

Where all can you shop? What is your price range?
your questions are answered within the thread already
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post #17 of 26
9/9/10 at 2:42pm
Woops! Somehow missed that.

You can get 5, 6, and 7 pound bags of Blue Buffalo, Wellness etc. at Petco for around $16.99 a bag (which lasts my three cats around two weeks, sometimes longer). Halo is a little less expensive if I remember correctly. Don't know if that's to much?
With your Petco card you save some money and can even get a free bag every once in a while.
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post #18 of 26
9/9/10 at 3:18pm
Now, see, I would consider $16.99 for 7 pounds to be out of the question. I can't afford that at all. If I had only 1 or 2 cats, maybe. But not for 20 cats! Fortunately I can get decent brands (Chicken Soup, Diamond Naturals, TOTW) for less than Purina ONE. But if I couldn't, I would feed Purina and not feel bad about it. It's better than letting them starve, or leaving them on the streets to fend for themselves. Millions of cats do fine on cheaper foods, it's not cruelty if you can't afford Wellness. I buy the best I can afford, and that's all I can do. I will not criticize anyone for feeding their cat Purina. At least the cat is being fed and cared for.
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post #19 of 26
9/10/10 at 12:00am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, that was the problem to begin with. Things are so tight we are literally eating pintos and bread that we've had stored. We're trying to sell things but as far as cutting the budget, all our money is going towards bills and there's nothing we're spending money on like entertainment or anything.. It will loosen up by next month, but this was a squeeze. Only reason I had any money was for selling some stuff to co-workers. (Plus side, I've lost 18 pounds!) I wanted to get enough food just in case something bad happened, but didn't want it to be a low quality food. I am getting paid this morning so I will go get, at the very least, a smaller bag of Naturals. I will drop by PetCo and Target and see if I can't find a good deal... I've given up on Walmart because their prices for all cat related things were always too high in my opinion.

But I am relieved to know now that the Purina Naturals is an OK food. Thanks for all your help
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post #20 of 26
9/10/10 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snickerdoodle View Post
(Plus side, I've lost 18 pounds!)
Haha, I guess that's a good side effect of being low on the food budget, LOL. As long you eat healthy cheap food like beans and oatmeal and not cheap junk like hotdogs.
Quote:
I will drop by PetCo and Target and see if I can't find a good deal... I've given up on Walmart because their prices for all cat related things were always too high in my opinion.
Huh, I've always found PetCo to be very overpriced, IMO, (Petsmart usually has better prices for food) and Target to be higher priced in general than Wal-Mart, though not by much. Funny how that's different in other areas of the country.
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post #21 of 26
9/10/10 at 4:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post

Huh, I've always found PetCo to be very overpriced, IMO, (Petsmart usually has better prices for food) and Target to be higher priced in general than Wal-Mart, though not by much. Funny how that's different in other areas of the country.
I just got a 5ish lb bag of Wellness Healthy Weight for $4 as it was "priced to sell" in Petco.....so you never know what you may find.
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post #22 of 26
9/10/10 at 5:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snickerdoodle View Post
Great, thanks. I will get the naturals next time. I can't find the Chicken and Rice Purina One ANYWHERE anyway. Grocery store, PetCo, PetSmart, everyone's always out, so forget chasing that down. I will go after the naturals. <3 Thanks again
if you have access to a Petsmart, their Authority brand is good value for the money - about $1 a pound... &, IMO a better quality food than cat chow.
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post #23 of 26
9/10/10 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by laureen227 View Post
if you have access to a Petsmart, their Authority brand is good value for the money - about $1 a pound... &, IMO a better quality food than cat chow.
Hmm, here Authority dry costs around $26 for a 16-pound bag. Not the most expensive but not really a good price for the quality, IMO. I suppose it would be a good choice if your only shopping option is Petsmart, but independent feed stores usually have better foods for a better price.

Yeah, I've found good clearance deals at PetCo, but their regular prices are high. Just for comparison, they charge $16.99 for a 16-pound bag of Cat Chow, which costs $11.99 at Wal-Mart.
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post #24 of 26
9/10/10 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Hmm, here Authority dry costs around $26 for a 16-pound bag. Not the most expensive but not really a good price for the quality, IMO. I suppose it would be a good choice if your only shopping option is Petsmart, but independent feed stores usually have better foods for a better price.
weird! i get [or used to - it's what i fed the ferals] a 20 pound bag for about that same price.
just checked their website - new packaging, new sizes. wonder why companies do that?
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post #25 of 26
9/10/10 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by laureen227 View Post
weird! i get [or used to - it's what i fed the ferals] a 20 pound bag for about that same price.
just checked their website - new packaging, new sizes. wonder why companies do that?
so they make more $$ as most take months to years to figure out that the 20 lb bag does not seem to last as long since it is really a 16 lb...
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post #26 of 26
9/10/10 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
PetSmart seems to be higher than Petco here, but I stopped by Target today and picked up 2 3.5 lb bags of food (Naturals and Chicken and Rice) for about 11 bucks. This is really only for Chickster since we have that huge bag of Cat chow, but I will divvy it up for the other cats. Got some wet too for .40 cents a can (Friskies)

Unfortunately, the Purina Naturals is a total no go. The only one who likes it is Mississippi and she ate the Naturals out of all three bowls and left the Cat Chow :T

Chickster is gobbling up the Purina One Chicken and Rice. I think I figured out why I couldn't find the Chicken and Rice for so long -- It's been repackaged and is now called "Smart Blends" -- It's first ingredient is Chicken followed by brewer's rice, then corn gluten meal. I am wondering why they decided to repackage it because it was selling like hot cakes before this. Anyway, chickster's happy, Bowel movements are normal, and everyone else is content. Finally!

This will turn into one of those families where the Mom has to cook three separate meals for everyone because no one likes the same thing LOL! Oh well.

Thanks guys <3
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