What do you feed your ferals?

Oh that is a good deal! Wish the Petsmart weren't so far away. I always stock up when the supermarket has it on sale - but it's $0.50 per can then.

Wow LDG....I get it for $.46 per can at WalMart on a regular basis.  I am sure the difference in our location is the reason for the price difference.  I started feeding them the can food back in the summer when I was worried about them getting enough fluids with the heat.  I saw how much they loved it and I continued buying canned food to give them.

You know... I should probably check online pricing at chewys.com or something....

www.doggiefood.com has decent prices once you factor in the discounts. Once you make an account they e-mail you coupon codes. . .right now they have 25% off a $200 order, 20% off a $100 order. . .pretty good. But I don't know how long that'll last. They always have a 15% coupon code though.

I wanna feed Rival gourmet to 9 of my 13 indoor cats is it a good cat food sorry if i budded in this thread i need to find something cheeper

Hi all, so I bought some Taste of the Wild Venison & Salmon and did a taste taste with my indoor cats against Purina One Beyond Chicken & Oat.   They strongly preferred the Purina.   Then I did a test on Hercules, put one corner of the bowl with TotW and he ate the Purina far more.    So kinda worried...I had thought TotW was supposed to be a very tasty food?   Should I just go with another brand?  Also considering Indigo Moon....would love some feedback on that too.   Keep in mind I'm only feeding this to one, sometimes two ferals.

Mewlittle, I did a quick internet search on Rival and found http://www.bestcatfoodreviews.org/rival-gourmet-cat-food-has-anyone-used-it.html    which wasn't too complementary to Rival.  Maybe Purina has a good option?   I think a little better of them than I used to based on the positive testimony of a very experienced emergency vet I met this past summer.   They have a range of prices.  There are higher quality foods and more expensive ones, but we've got to find a balance.  He recommended specifically against Meow Mix and Friskies.   Please no one take offense if you feed these foods just sharing one pov.

It is called Latz canned food, but it is Purina brand which also Friskies is, all those are Purina products.

6 cans is 5.40€, I guess it is somewhere around 6$ range? That is cheapest wet food here, but probably not worst.

Then Hill's science diet, when I can afford, but it is Purina Friskies meat dry food which is 5.20€ for 2kg here, not sure what it would be per pound in US currency.

I would like to order all food from zooplus.com shop which sends stuff here from Germany and is cheaper delivered to home door than our local petshops with discounts when comparing same products.

Hills's is about twice as expensive as Friskies dry food, but it is much better, lot less scooping from box and lot less smell.

Also it lasts longer, 20kg did last around 5 months with 6 cats, with less wet food, compare that to Friskies that would be nearly 40kg for the time and having more wet food. So costs are not that much different, but when one is counting pennies to make ends meet, finding that extra 100 is bit hard really and only buying in big amounts Hill's is such low price.

These are quite alive indoor cats, most of them, quite bit of running and jumping so I guess they eat bit lot because of that.

JTbo, you are right Purina does make Friskies!   So now I wonder what that vet was thinking.   His thoughts came out as we were talking about the best foods for my cat who was in the ER with urinary obstruction.   He was saying that many of the current high quality grain free foods were still resulting in many cats coming in with urinary crystals and he thought some of the older classic foods had stood the test of time and weren't so bad.

Bastfriend said:

JTbo, you are right Purina does make Friskies!   So now I wonder what that vet was thinking.   His thoughts came out as we were talking about the best foods for my cat who was in the ER with urinary obstruction.   He was saying that many of the current high quality grain free foods were still resulting in many cats coming in with urinary crystals and he thought some of the older classic foods had stood the test of time and weren't so bad.

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It is very difficult to find anything that is not Purina related at least in market's in here, of course some really cheap ones are not Purina related, but I like to stay clear of those.

I think that Purina Cat Chow is the original Purina, or what is left from the original as products always develop, but that is same name I found was used in 20's when Purina was Purina Mills company, today it is Nestle brand.

Here is Purina related recalls which might be worth to keep on eye as it with any food one is using, mistakes can happen and it is good to keep on eye of news from manufacturer on that:
http://www.nestlepurina.com/

There should be all Nestle pet food brands:
http://www.nestle.com/brands/petcare

Purina surely is one of the oldest brands, but as a company that is no longer, if I have understood correctly, but as a brand it still exists, it is bit confusing with all those brands, but it seems that there are really not quite so many manufacturers that first might look. Bit different recipes then with differently branded products.

edit: Oh yes, Latz wet food is also Purina, it is Felix in some other places.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé_Purina_PetCare

I have a comment.

IF we are fairly sure they are decent mousers and hunters, it is not necessary to give them first rate food for active cats.  As they will fill up with first rate food themselves, ie mice and other trofées.

As long we know they are good hunters, even cheap fairly low grade food is OK.  This works in any case for the farm cats I do follow sometimes.   

StefanZ said:

I have a comment.
IF we are fairly sure they are decent mousers and hunters, it is not necessary to give them first rate food for active cats.  As they will fill up with first rate food themselves, ie mice and other trofées.

As long we know they are good hunters, even cheap fairly low grade food is OK.  This works in any case for the farm cats I do follow sometimes.   

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:nod: That's my general thinking on feeding the ferals. It's just supplemental, for the most part.

Yikes! I must be doing something wrong! Reading thru the posts on this! I can't afford all that canned food!I've been feeding the ferals chicken gizards, livers and breasts, turkey, ham, tuna at about 5 to 10 ouncesa day along with the dry food that's out there 24/7!The chicken livers are $1.69 for about 20 ozs. Tuna is $0.74 a can, the turkey and ham are bits and piecesthat they package cheap and sell at Walmart The chicken gizzards and livers get baked then fed to them.I'm disabled with no income so I give them what I can, they do get fed every single day though!

TheOldFart said:

Yikes! I must be doing something wrong! Reading thru the posts on this! I can't afford all that canned food! I've been feeding the ferals chicken gizards, livers and breasts, turkey, ham, tuna at about 5 to 10 ounces a day along with the dry food that's out there 24/7! The chicken livers are $1.69 for about 20 ozs. Tuna is $0.74 a can, the turkey and ham are bits and pieces that they package cheap and sell at Walmart The chicken gizzards and livers get baked then fed to them. I'm disabled with no income so I give them what I can, they do get fed every single day though!

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if you can, forget the tuna and chicken livers and get the 13 oz cans of friskies. these can be purchased for about $1 a can so it would be cheaper than the tuna, same price as the livers and would be much more nutritious for the cats.

i don't know if you have one near you but petco has the 13 oz friskies for $27.94 for a case of 24 cans, and you can get it delivered.

TOF, I commend you for feeding the ferals even though you have no money.  Feed them what your pocketbook can afford.

Too much liver is toxic.  It isn't necessary to cook liver or gizzards, raw is fine (but again, too much liver is toxic).  Tuna isn't the best food for cats on a regular basis because tuna is high in phosphates and other minerals which can lead to UTIs/blockage.  You mention you also give the cats little bits of turkey and ham from Walmart--is this deli (lunch) type of meat or raw?  If raw, that is the best kind of food for cats; however, if deli, probably has too much sodium and seasoning that isn't good for cats either.

Petco sells 13 oz cans of Friskies for around $1.09 cents (PetSmart, around 99 cents).  Occasionally the local grocery store where I live has Friskies on sale for 41 cents for a 5.5 oz can.  I agree, Friskies would be better than liver and tuna, though if you can afford it, gizzards and really cheap raw meat would be a great treat.  Cats don't require sirloin steak, they are fine with stewing meat (NO seasonings).

Again, thank you for feeding the ferals.

I have been feeding the colony of ferals dry food from Aldi.  You can buy 15-20 lbs. for $10.00.  For three cats, this will last me over six weeks.  Much cheaper than the Science Diet I feed my cat at home.  Sometimes when I know its going to be extremely cold I feed one of the kittens can food, which is also purchased at Aldi. I like to think I'm getting a few more calories in her so she stays warmer. She also has a box with towels in it to keep off of cold concrete floors.

OH thanks so much! You guys are a wealth of good info! I tried replying the other day butit seems my posts don't seem to make it a lot!My kids (feral cats) don't seem to like the liver much! It seems they'd much rather have thecanned food that you guys buy! I even got them some smelt recently! They were "so so" aboutit! I often warm up some chicken broth when it's really cold and offer it to them also! I've noticedthey always seem to go for the liquid from the canned food first, after that's gone they eat the meat!Uncle Sam has denied my disability again so it been many years now of no income! It was so verytough to get the $100 bucks to make a couple of shelters for them (storage bin shelters, insulated).My mother donated from her social security! She's a cat lover also!Anyway I'm rambling on! Thanks so much for the great info!!!! I sure appreciate it!

Whaler said:

if you can, forget the tuna and chicken livers and get the 13 oz cans of friskies. these can be purchased for about $1 a can so it would be cheaper than the tuna, same price as the livers and would be much more nutritious for the cats.

i don't know if you have one near you but petco has the 13 oz friskies for $27.94 for a case of 24 cans, and you can get it delivered.

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you know meat or animal by products in friskies and other brands that say meat by product is dead dog and cats chicken liver organs euthinized animals of any species this one show was talking about it because this one woman was eating cat food and the guy trying to help her was trying to tell her about the secret meat of meat or animal by product if it chicken by product then its any part of the chicken if it says liver by product its any animal liver even cats and dogs that vets pounds etc kill or road kill they find will i can right a book on this so i'm leaving at this

I wrote a super super long post, but of course my phone screwed it up and now it's gone..

The short story is I feed Pet's Pride to my feral.


Edit: here's part of what I wrote:

Mewlittle said:

you know meat or animal by products in friskies and other brands that say meat by product is dead dog and cats chicken liver organs euthinized animals of any species this one show was talking about it because this one woman was eating cat food and the guy trying to help her was trying to tell her about the secret meat of meat or animal by product if it chicken by product then its any part of the chicken if it says liver by product its any animal liver even cats and dogs that vets pounds etc kill or road kill they find will i can right a book on this so i'm leaving at this

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Actually, if you read through this thread http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245614/...by-products-meal-or-rather-not-think-about-it you will see that meat by-product only contains meat from slaughtered animals, not pets or road kill or 4D animals.
As long as it names an animal or doesn't say 'meal' you are okay. :-)

.

Minka, what about a food like this one     I've heard it's a good brand but has chicken meal as the first ingredient and in the title!