cheaper wet food

Nutro has different quality formulas.

The one I like is the one that says Complete Care big across it. Whats actually cheaper, by me at least, is to get the 12oz cans of Innova. The only trick is that you have to use it in 3-days, so if that's not possible w/ 12oz, you'll have to stick to 5oz.

As Ducman pointed out, Nutro is a different formula. You can try the Nutro Max or the Complete Care. Both are Nutro products but have different formulas. Budget wise, if that is your main concern, Nutro Max would be your best choice.

My cat did that too. She'd lick the gravy but still look for dry. I thought I'd never switch her and then BOOM - I happened on a brand she liked and that was it. Maybe try one that's more a ground or pate consistency? He can't just lick the fluid then - it kind of forces him to take wet solid food into his mouth.

I picked up 2 cans of "Newmans own" kitten food the other day-meats are the first ingredients, and Kairi liked it. It was 89 cents for a 3oz can. That's a inexpensive as I could find without entering the realm of the supermarket brands. If the ingredients are good, in the right ratio, I say buy what you can afford to feed your cat comfortably.

If you have a Trader Joe's near you, their wet food is cheap, 49 or 59 cents for a 5.5oz can. I can't find anything wrong with them, no byproducts of anything gross like that in them. They're the pate style, so you wouldn't have the leftover bits like you do with the gravy kinds. Or, if you do continue to buy the kind with chunks and gravy, try mushing up the chunks with a fork and mix it all around, then your kitty might lick it all up.

I'd personally feed Friskies instead of Nutro - Nutro has had so many problems, and I just wouldn't trust them, the food is not worth it for the price. Do a search for "problems with Nutro" and it comes up with pages and pages of complaints of pets getting ill and dying, with Nutro not admitting there is a problem with the food!

I have a list of the gravy type pet foods, I'll quick search for it!

Here it is:

-Innova Flex
-Nature's Variety Homestyle
-Weruva
-SOME Merrick flavors (some are pate and some are chunks, check labels or experiment)
-Wellness POUCHES
-Blue Buffalo healthy Gourmet
-By Nature Goldleaf selects
-Soulistic (Petco "brand" which is I think actually made for them by Weruva)
-Best Feline Friend

Weruva just came out with some of their flavors in 10 ounce cans, so that would make it more affordable than the smaller cans they have.

I use friskies with no issues. I am feeding 31 cats and my newly found drop off kitten will go on that in a few weeks. I combine flavors sometimes or will top off a few big cans with fancy feast.

I stay away from chunks and any fancy feast is classic only-lower carb as I have a food controlled diabetic and dont want to risk anything.

Nutro I dont trust. I hit the 1/2 off short dated sales often as I can(I am buying my friend her cats food and they get dry) and I refuse to buy it even when marked down.

I respect your right to your opinion. I seriously do. But can you possibly be any more vague in your criticism of an extremely good pet food?

How many of those brands you listed make their own food? How many of them buy their own food and can trace every single ingredient back to it's supplier? How many of those you listed are more than a recipe and marketing company?

My cats eat a variety of canned foods from the expensive to the cheap. I do feed them Premium Dry and won't change that. They actually get a mix of Wellness Complete Care and TOTW right now. I mix grain free and Grain inclusive to be on the safe side. I also add canned food to keep hydration up. They get Friskies, Fancy Feast, Nutro, Avoderm, Blue, Authority, and even Sophisticat on occasion. They prefer the chunks style in gravy and will eat both the gravy and chunks. They don't really like pate but will eat it once in a while. I prefer the better brands to the cheap stuff, but sometimes the kitties have other ideas. I feel as long as they are eating some can food it is better than none. Also Wellness has a new line out that has chunks and gravy and my cats seem to like it.
As to feeding the cheaper stuff. I keep an eye and ear out for recalls. Oddly it seems that Friskies and FF haven't had as many recalls as the higher end brands. Weird. Even Wellness had a recall on some of their cans because of a vitamin or mineral imbalance. Nothing fatal, but if you feed one brand exclusively, that could cause issues. I try to avoid thing like that with variety. I would like to think that most of the petfood companies would have learned their lessons after the 2007 recalls, but I also think that pet owners should also be proactive in making sure the food they feed is safe. Sad that we have to do that I think.

I try to avoid fish in the wet foods I feed...and my cats will only eat the pate or loaf style, so I'm a bit biased, but I typically have fed the following with success: friskies (special diet pate "beef and chicken" and "beef and liver"), authority (petsmart brand) lamb formula pate, natural balance (any of the meat and pea varieties...these are all pate style).

If your cat likes a lot of juice...the halo cans and the merrick can are very watery...stew-like.

I've fed chicken soup for the cat lover's soul canned too...they loved it and it's relatively cheap..but has fish, so I can't feed it now.

Also, if you can get them, my cats loved the "triumph" cans..better quality than friskies and way cheaper than some other brands... I fed the turkey formula since it has no fish, but the cats also liked the beef (it has fish)...these are a slightly more watery pate style than the friskies pate.

Artgecko