Blue Buffalo v. TotW

thelinz · Sep 2, 2012

Hi all.

I'm trying to decide what cat food to feed my 5 year old tabby. She's strictly indoor, has 3 legs, so keeping her under 8 lbs is basically my goal in life.

She's been eating Blue Buffalo Spa dry for a year now and loves it, and lately I've been feeding her dry in the morning and wet at night.

I'm in college and my budget was basically just cut to the bone.

So I'm looking into Taste of the Wild Venison and Salmon. I've never had any crystal problems, but there is the concern with switching her to a fish-based food.

She gets 1/6 c. dry in the morning, put into a treat ball, it lasts till about midday. At night she's fed 1/3 5.5 oz can of Trader Joe's Private Label wet food (again trying to budget)

With the Diamond recall in April/May, I DO have some concerns about switching her over. But I'm afraid shes down to her last 3 meals and absolutely needs more food.

Any advice on Taste of the Wild?

sevenwonders · Sep 2, 2012

Hi there!

Thanks for posting, and for taking good care of your little kitty

I think you will get some positive feedback on TOTW,

but personally, I also try to avoid feeding fish every day.

Additionally, TOTW is Grain Free, which many people will swear by,

but one of my boys recently suffered with a Urinary Tract problem while on GF foods,

so I'm now reconsidering my position.

Personally, if Blue is just not in the budget at this time,

I'd also take a look at Evolve and 4Health.

(I just posted a comparison thread yesterday, where you can see prices and ingredients.)

These are both free of corn, wheat and soy, and they are Chicken based,

so I think they might be easier for her to transition to than TOTW.

Please let us know if you have any other questions and keep us posted!

Willowy · Sep 2, 2012

You can switch up the canned food to save a bit, too. Adding some Friskies (paté flavors only) into the rotation could save a few pennies.

Blue Spa Select actually has salmon higher up in the ingredient list than TOTW (it's the 7th ingredient in Blue, 8th ingredient in TOTW). Annd TOTW is chicken-based. . .venison isn't listed until the 7th ingredient. So I don't think it'll make much difference.

And, I know that buying the bag is a big expense, but when you look at the daily expenditure it's not much

. At 1/6 cup per day, that's only about 10 cents a day

.

sevenwonders · Sep 2, 2012

Willowy makes some good points (as always)

Among Friskies Pate varieties, I find the Poultry Platter to be about the best.

Another option would be to try a can of "Innova Cat & Kitten" formula.

You can get a 13.2 ounce can for a little more than the cost of a 5 oz can of Blue.

If she likes it, you can save a lot more $ by buying a case of 12 from PetFoodDirect.

If you select the "Auto Ship" option, it is only $16.99. per case!

(You will need to buy more than one, or add a bag of dry

to keep the average shipping cost down to where it is still beneficial.)

By the way, of course she won't eat 13.2 oz at once,

but you can put the extra in a little tupperware type container

and keep it in the fridge. When you feed her next time, just

microwave a little water and stir it into the food to warm it up.

thelinz · Sep 2, 2012

Thanks guys!:lol3:

Yeah she's a little picky,

I have can covers from the vet's office, I used to work in, and TJ's wet food is 62¢ and the chicken flavor and turkey flavor are basically what she eats, so it would only be dry that's fishy. Thanks Willowy for the breakdown comparison to Blue!

Having a finicky eater helps a poor gal budget for the best, I can eat the likes of ramen.... My girl cannot!

I guess my only current concern with TotW is the recent Diamond recall.

I'm aware & accepting of the fact that there's no food human or animal that is not suceptible to these kinds of errors & risks. As well as the fact that the claims made are those of voluntary recall for a bad batch of dog food, but with a big company like Diamond and the FDAs findings against them, I'm still a bit wary.

What kind of timeline does or usually afford to these situations?

Is it more comfort of the consumer?

thelinz · Sep 2, 2012

SevenWonders said:
Another option would be to try a can of "Innova Cat & Kitten" formula. :nod:
You can get a 13.2 ounce can for a little more than the cost of a 5 oz can of Blue.
If she likes it, you can save a lot more $ by buying a case of 12 from PetFoodDirect.
If you select the "Auto Ship" option, it is only $16.99. per case!

Will DEF be checking into this thanks!!!!

Willowy · Sep 2, 2012

I was going to suggest buying the larger cans, too---the same food can cost about half as much per ounce that way---but since your cat only eats a couple ounces a day, and you're only supposed to keep opened canned food in the fridge for 3 days, I didn't know if it would work for you.

Supposedly the Diamond plant that was contaminated was cleaned up. Usually oversight is better after a recall. And it was only one plant, that may not be the supplier for your area. And salmonella is fairly common in kibble anyway. Personally I'm comfortable using Diamond products but it's up to you.

thelinz · Sep 3, 2012

Considering 13.2 oz/ 8 days gives me roughly her daily dinner portion, I assure you a lot of food would go to Waste with the bigger cans!

I'm going out and buying TotW tomorrow! Decision made!

Wet food debate still active, but the home delivery & info on pet food direct has been most useful. As have you guys!

I'll keep you posted on Trinity's transition....

Her birthday was last Tuesday. I suppose in addition to her mountain of jingling presents, a little stress over her diet is the LEAST a mama could do!

sevenwonders · Sep 3, 2012

thelinz said:
Considering 13.2 oz/ 8 days gives me roughly her daily dinner portion, I assure you a lot of food would go to Waste with the bigger cans!

I just put the left over food into a little plastic resealable container (like the ones that lunch meat comes in.)

You could put a small piece of plastic wrap over the food as well, and smash it down to make good contact

with the food, which would keep the air out and keep it fresh longer.

I would avoid keeping it in the can with the plastic lid.

I used to do that, but I noticed that the food would start to get a metallic smell,

and the lids get a little rusty where they contact the can.

If you still feel like that would be too much food,

PFD sells "By Nature 95%" in 6 oz cans...

they end up being $9.85 per case of 12 on Auto Ship.

(Auto Ship by the way, can always be changed or edited or cancelled without any issue at all.)

cat person · Sep 4, 2012

thelinz said:
Hi all.

I'm trying to decide what cat food to feed my 5 year old tabby. She's strictly indoor, has 3 legs, so keeping her under 8 lbs is basically my goal in life.

She's been eating Blue Buffalo Spa dry for a year now and loves it, and lately I've been feeding her dry in the morning and wet at night.

I'm in college and my budget was basically just cut to the bone.

So I'm looking into Taste of the Wild Venison and Salmon. I've never had any crystal problems, but there is the concern with switching her to a fish-based food.

She gets 1/6 c. dry in the morning, put into a treat ball, it lasts till about midday. At night she's fed 1/3 5.5 oz can of Trader Joe's Private Label wet food (again trying to budget)

With the Diamond recall in April/May, I DO have some concerns about switching her over. But I'm afraid shes down to her last 3 meals and absolutely needs more food.

Any advice on Taste of the Wild?

I am not sure, which, Blue Buffalo Spay dry food you are feeding, but, they look better then Taste Of The Wild dry food. In my humble opinion.

Blue Buffalo v. TotW

thelinz

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sevenwonders

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Willowy

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sevenwonders

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thelinz

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thelinz

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Willowy

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thelinz

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sevenwonders

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