Healthy, affordable wet food?

I desperately need some advice. My secure job is starting to look less secure. I have an overweight 8-year-old cat who I've had for about a year. When I adopted him, the rescue lady told me to feed him Wellness, wet food only, because of his being overweight and too much kibble from his former owner having made him fat. For the most part I've been doing that (with only some occasional dry if I go away somewhere overnight and now and then because I thought it was supposed to be good for his teeth). Sadly, my cat is still overweight. (I recently got him a harness and leash in the hopes that more movement might help, too, even if he just takes me for walks inside our apt. building.)

The problem is Wellness is very expensive. I need to find some other healthy alternative for him that I can afford even if something happens to my job. I'm trying to pinch pennies as much as I can now, just in case. I do sometimes get other brands if they're on sale. Can someone suggest an affordable food option that doesn't have by-products? And preferably as close to grain-free as possible, given his weight issues? I'm in NYC so there's no Wal-Mart or Sam's Club or things like that anywhere nearby that I can get to, since I'd need a car to get there.

The owner of my local pet store told me about some frozen raw food (Rad Cat), but when I googled it, it looks even more expensive than Wellness. But that made me  start reading up on raw food, thinking that maybe less processed food would be cheaper. (I'm vegetarian, I haven't bought meat in a few years….) I got so far as to give him some raw chicken. (He loved it - meanwhile I'm thinking: Parasites! Disease! I don't think I could go that route without getting a complex.) So maybe not that.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, I'd be so grateful…
 

Sorry about your job situation ... Take a look at Soulistic at Petco or Authority at Petsmart. Can you get to those pet stores? There is also a brand called "Daves" :lol3: http://davespetfood.com/. But you would have to find this at a natural pet food store . But is is very reasonable and of good grain-free quality. Good luck with your search!!!!

Thanks! I was just looking for Soulistic in Petco today, but they didn't have it. Petsmart is kind of far away from me, but I might be able to get there on the weekend. It looks like Dave's would be pretty easy for me to get, I'll check them out too. I've never heard of them before.

You can order it from Petco or Amazon (petco ships via amazon too).  Unfortunately you can't buy by the can - you have to get a whole case.  But it's only $10!

http://www.petco.com/product/110263/Soulistic-Adult-Canned-Cat-Food-in-Gelee.aspx

I'm trying to wean my kitty on that right now from dry food  It looks good enough for me to eat!

I second the recommendation for Authority cans from Petsmart.  It is a bargain, compared to other canned foods of the same ingredient quality.  We get it for $.70/can on sale (6 oz), and $.79 when not on sale.  Looking at the Wellness ingredient list for chicken, Authority has more chicken broth, has almost none of the fruits/veggies (some flavors have beet pulp, the Chicken Pate I'm looking at does not) and Authority has Brewer's Rice as the 5th ingredient.  It's a grain, but then Wellness has Flaxseed which I guess is a grain too--but not as much as in Authority. 

Whatever amount you feed your cat, you could decrease the daytime amount (plop the extra bit from the can in a container in the freezer until it's one meal's worth?), but I like my sleep, so I try to keep the nighttime meal a good size!  Different brands have more or fewer calories, fat, etc., so when changing brands keep an eye on the cat's weight.

I'm a 20-year vegetarian, but we're doing raw because our kittens have digestive trouble with the ingredients in canned (brewers rice, or carageenan, or lots of fish...something).  It's been worth the yuck of raw for the end of yuck in the catbox.  Our homemade raw costs about the same as Authority canned, because we get meat super-cheap (we live near the meat-packing district, and I dive into vats of meat for low-low prices).  I can understand wanting to keep things simple, non-gross, and affordable!  But if he ever starts to have intestinal issues, raw seems to solve a lot of problems.  Or, if you just can't find a cheaper canned food that he likes and is healthy for him.  Even if I had to chop up that chicken all by myself (thank goodness hubs is a carnivore! ) I would, after seeing how the kitties recovered from their gross litterbox problems.

Good luck in finding a new brand, and I hope that things work out OK with your job.

 

Another thing:  Even though a food is grain free, that does not mean that it is low in carbohyrates.  Carbs contribute to obesity as well.  http://parentingfurkids.wordpress.com/canned-cat-food-carb-chart/  is a chart for the carbohyrate levels (on a dry matter basis) for several brands/flavors of canned cat food.

If you order food online you can typically get much better deals than if you buy it in store.  At least it works out that way here! 

Trader Joe's (if you have one near you) has cheap but fairly good quality canned food.

When I started feeding raw, I had to have someone else around while I was cutting up meat, in case I fainted (which I did come close to a few times).  Trust me, you get used to it!  If you can find any other raw feeders in your area they may even be willing to help you out - telling you the best places to get meat, and maybe even help with getting meals ready for a while, till you can handle it.  http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ny_raw_feeders/  is a Yahoo! group for raw feeders in NYC if you want to check that out.

I will throw my hat in the ring for Soulistic. I have been feeding my cats Soulistic for over a year now and they love it. Brandy Rowe is right, it does look good enough for a human to eat.

I want to feed my cats a good cat food. I found a store where I can buy Soulistic, is this any good?

werra said:

I want to feed my cats a good cat food. I found a store where I can buy Soulistic, is this any good?

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Yes, it's a very good food to most. Three of the people in this thread have recommended it.

I also recommend soulistic. I also ordered Dave's to try.

You have had some excellent suggestions.  I'll add my .  My cats thrived on Nutro Max Cat Food.  It is an all natural cat food.  When on sale you can find it for about 69 cents a can.  Sometimes there are coupons for it in the newspapers and online as well.  You can find it at Petco, Petsmart and some of the independently owned pet stores.  You can check it out at http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx It is a guaranteed product too.  Feel free to PM me with any questions.  If I don't have an answer for you I'll try to find it.  I am so sorry about your job situation. Hope it gets much better for you soon!

This is a great bunch of suggestions, thank you all. I just wanted to add that feeding raw can get very expensive if you want to do it full-time. I looped in raw food for a month or so, after a lot of research.

1. You can't buy crappy chicken and feed it raw. It has to be good quality chicken.

2. You can't buy it pre-ground; you have to grind it yourself (the ground chicken is very much more likely to be contaminated).

3. You can't just feed the raw meat; you have to add supplements (there is more to the cat's full nutrition than the raw meat; they would, e.g., naturally eat a whole  animal; there are things in organs and bones that they need), which are not particularly cheap. (My cats love the taste supplement powder though. I now keep it around to sprinkle on the canned flavors they don't like.) 

My 8-month-old kitten gets Wellness grain-free but I also supplement with cans from Trader Joes and also Authority, both of which are half the price and seem to have a good ingredient list to me. I also buy decent quality chicken on sale (breast meat or thigh meat usually), or else giblets from a chicken, and give him that raw, which he loves. He gets treats of a teaspoonful of sardines for his coat once a day as well. So far, knock on wood, he's super active / healthy and at an ideal weight, and has shiny fur. Then again, he's a kitten and still growing. My old (RIP ) furbaby was a big fella and I was trying to get him to lose weight for much of his adulthood (I wish I knew then what I know now .....).

As for your kitty, have your tried those laser toys with him, to get him to chase? 

I think if you do strict portion control / time meals and try and get him to do a little more exercise, he should be able to lose weight...

How much do you feed him per day?

For an adult cat, usually one 5.5 oz can is enough for the day, depending on calories etc.

My cat is overweight as well I hate it! I know it is so unhealthy for him. I am transitioning him to an all wet diet. Have you looked at Taste of the Wild?

Personally, I avoid using any food that contains seafood on a daily basis, due to the potential for Kidney problems, stones, etc... and mercury poisoning.

Most Soulistic flavors have a lot of seafood in them.

confuzzled said:

Thanks! I was just looking for Soulistic in Petco today, but they didn't have it. Petsmart is kind of far away from me, but I might be able to get there on the weekend. It looks like Dave's would be pretty easy for me to get, I'll check them out too. I've never heard of them before.

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Petco has reasonable shipping if you buy online...only like 5 bucks for ups ground, and you can order as much as you want.  Sometimes they have specials where if you order over 49.00 you get free shipping.  I bought my Soulistc from Petco online.

I don't know a whole lot on prices between brands plus I am in Canada so I'll just share my knowledge on how to get your furbaby to lose weight in a healthy manner.

Canned food is definitely the first step to helping your cat lose weight because it typically contains more protein, less carbohydrates, and more moisture (all good things). Overall, feeding a dry food only is not recommended for any reason (even the dental claim is a farce) here's a good link on it: http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

What you want to do is find a brand that has very few carbohydrates, because carbohydrates are what causes cats to put on weight, unlike humans, cats gain their energy from fat and have no need for carbs. One thing to keep in mind is that veggies/fruits = carbs too. So I recommend a food with few of these as well as grains. Some good brands I am aware of that provide this are:

• Natures Variety Instinct
• EVO
• Before Grain
• Ziwipeak
• Almo
• Blue Wilderness

However I do not know if they are available to you or meet your price requirements.

Next once you choose a food, I would look at the feeding guidelines on the can and follow it for your cats particular weight by putting its daily allowance into a container so that your not feeding him more than he should be getting (its very easy to over feed). Then after a couple of weeks you can slowly start to decrease that amount (but I emphasize SLOWLY). If a cat looses weight to quickly he could develop fatty liver which can be fatal. My recommendation would be to come up with a diet plan with your vet once you choose his food. If you do start decreasing amounts and notice your cat is NOT eating and you can't get him to eat, thats the first sign of fatty liver and bring him to the vet asap.

Hope this was helpful, best of luck!