Probably been asked a thousand times, but best food for the price?

BEST is a very big question... What is good for one cat may not work for another...

What do you have access too and what are you paying for the SD ? What do you want the food to do ? Ie less shedding , fewer hairballs , less smelly box?

With the price it can really depend where you shop for your cat food. Every store can have such different pricing. Two pet specialty stores I go into frequently can differ by $5.00 or more on the same food.

You will get many opinions on here but as sharky said, What is good for one may not work for another. I started Chester out on Nutro Max Kitten when he was 9 months old. He is about 13 years old now so he eats an adult formula in the Nutro line. It is what works for him. I always look for the sales on it, which helps.

Regardless of what you decide to feed when changing their diet be sure to mix from the old food to the new food gradually. Actually over about one week.

This change ratio works usually works well (just in case you needed it)
25% new food with 75% old food for 2 days
50% new food with 50% old food for 2 days
75% new food with 25% old food for 2 days
100% new food after that.

Good luck with your search! I hope you find what works for your three babies!

Feeding cats an all dry diet is not best for their overall health and longevity. They need the high protein and moisture-content that wet food provides to prevent urinary problems. Any cat fed only dry food is, literally, always in a state of dehydration, because cats are such poor water drinkers. It also tends to make cats fat, which brings further health complications. I know it's convenient for you, but please reconsider. For times when you want to feed them some dry, there are freeze-dried foods you can give your cat. I'll be totally honest, they're not inexpensive, and it sounds like you're on a tight budget, but they are nutritionally superior to commercial dried food. (If you knew the by-products, chemicals and other crap they put in Iams and Science Diet, you'd never give it to your babies!) Consider the extra money spent for good-quality food as an investment in your cat's health. (Just like with people.) Better nutrition now, means less health problems, medications and vet visits later. Please, trust me, on this! I recommend checking out the FAQ on this website. http: //www.wysong.net/learn/ I also highly suggest reading, The Nature of Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein, DVM. http://www.drmarty.com/ It will answer all of your questions about animal nutrition. I bought a used paper-back copy on Amazon.com for around $10. Again, look at it like an investment. I have no affilitation with any pet food company, even though I'm sending you to a Wysong site, but I'm really passionate about educating pet owners about the risks associated with feeding their pets cheap, commercial food.

IMO, if the budget allows, and your schedule allows, and kitty does well on it, an all-wet diet is great. However.....there are cats that thrive on dry kibble and some cats truly don't like wet (may depend what they were fed as kittens - I've read that for some cats, whatever texture they got as they transitioned to 'grown up' food, that's food to them!). My boy ideally should be on a wet diet, as he's had struvite crystals. But, he doesn't like wet food, and even when I can get more than a teaspoon at a time down, his stool does get soft. That's him, though - lots of cats do extremely well on a all-wet diet,and yours might be in that range. Just don't beat yourself up if one of your babies just doesn't like wet food...it happens. Mine were adopted as adults - I've no idea what they ate in the first homes or while they were strays.

Working with the vet, we're doing Hills C/D dry and a bit of CD wet (this is prescription food). Knock wood, he's doing very well.

In the end, the best food is the food kitty eats and thrives on. And just be sure to provide lots of clean water. Water fountains are great, as is leaving bowls of water in various areas of the house - changing water daily, so don't forget where you put them!

Look for a grain free food with high protein. Taste of the Wild or Natural Balance are the best choices for the $$$. Science Diet may have great advertising but it is NOT a good food.

I feed all dry food and my cat is thriving off of it. As a lot of other people said it depends on the cat. I feed Blue Buffalo Wilderness and it's working out great! It was trial and error with me, I switched her food many times (even though I hated doing it) until we finally found the perfect food for her .

You realize that the no grain Natural Balance have a Low normal protein level when compared to grain containing foods? This is because they have a High High starch level.

What stores are in your area? Since all 3 cats are young, I'd probably recommend Taste of the Wild. It's mid-priced and grain-free. Other decent quality (but not grain-free) and decently priced foods are Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers' Soul, Diamond Naturals, and 4Health. But the decently-priced good foods aren't usually available at the big-box pet stores. If there's a Tractor Supply Co in your area, they have a good selection. Independent feed stores also are pretty good most of the time.

ETA: oh yeah, I do think that cats should have at least some canned food in their diet if at all possible, just to get some moisture into them. Even a cheap canned food is fine for this purpose. Sophistacat (from Petsmart) is an inexpensive brand that isn't too bad.

I've been quite happy with the pricing at my local Petsmart.

Their regular prices appear to be what others have as special sale prices.

Buying in bulk also seems to save quite a bit.

Right now I am favoring the Wellness brand, although its pretty expensive stuff. Note though that even on their feeding instructions, they highly recommend throwing in some wet food into their diet and going mixed though, just to ensure they are staying hydrated. Its inconvenient, but on the days you have time, not a bad idea to throw some canned out for em.

Blue Buffalo also looks very good, but unfortunately one of my kitties is allergic to one of the ingredients in the kitten kibble. Couldn't figure out which, but had diarrhea finally narrowed down to it as it went away when taken off and returned when finishing the last of the big bag of it I had.

The Natural Choice "complete" wet food line is also nice, and probably the best value.

Yes, it's almost always more cost-effective to buy the largest bag, as long as it'll be used up in a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes the price per-pound is HALF the per-pound price of the smaller bags.

Petsmart does have better prices than the other big pet stores (for food and litter anyway). But even so the feed stores can usually beat their prices. The big thing is whether there's a good feed store in a convenient location!

I know more about dog food brands.. I was told that a good rule of thumb is that if they make good dog food, they make good cat food as well.

I asked a question recently about people's opinion on brands.. its really going to come down to what's readily available to you, what's in your price range, and what your cats do best on (and of course, what they will eat.. my piggies are not too particular on eating dry food, but some cats are finicky).

but, Chicken Soup is a pretty good brand for the price. I dont have any stores that carry this brand locally, unfortunantly, or I'd be buying this for my cats. Years ago I used this brand when I had 4 + dogs to feed. Most of them did well on it.

If you have a costco near you.. Im told that their Kirkland signature pet foods are good for the price.

I've seen different opinions on Diamond. Its from the same company that makes Chicken Soup.

for the price you probably pay for Hill's... wellness, solid gold, taste of the wild, california natural, merricks.


Your first step is to look and see what's readily available to you.. how far are you willing to drive to go get pet foods? Some companies will also ship pet food... if shipping is an option for you to consider.. Drs Foster and Smith's pet food seems to be a good quality.

Most pet food companies do have websites.. there are store locators on the site.. and you can contact them for free samples if you are unsure of what brand you want to try.