Very Inexpensive Grain Free Canned Food

ginny · Jun 19, 2014

Hi,

I posted a while back about my kitty Nat who had sudden onset grand mal seizures (in March of 2012) after receiving Purevax Rabies shot by Merial. Tests were run but no conclusive answers were ever found. At first he had a high calcium leading the emergency vet who took that blood sample to think that Nat had a tumor. His calcium several months later returned to normal. He had seizures from March 2012 through July 4, 2012. Then not one single seizure until January 2013. He had about 7 or 8 seizures then, and then inexplicably not one single seizure the whole rest of 2013, until now. It's quite puzzling to me.

He just begun yet another round of seizures beginning the other night. <sigh> The seizures are grand mal and last about 10 seconds. The seizures were at first 24 hours apart, and now increasing to 6 hours apart, just like before.

So what does this have to do with grain free diet? I mentioned Nat's on again/off again seizures to a coworker who suggested I try a grain free diet, as he did for his dog who had seizures. Since then, his dog hasn't had any seizures and has been off Phenobarb for the past 2 years now.

I have nothing left to lose. Still not sure this will fix the problem, but I'm willing to try anything.

I have noticed that Nat and his half-brother Oreo are the most addicticted to their kibble. I get Purina Naturals dry food. Oreo has skin problems. I'm very interested in seeing if I can GET them off grain altogether and IF it will help. I think it will help Oreo's skin problems. I myself have been able to come off of Prevacid (acid-reducer) just by greatly reducing my intake of grains, especially wheat.

Any advice?

Thanks!

ginny · Jun 19, 2014

I hate to throw this in but it's something I'm wondering:

There are many cases in which labeling on "human" food is inaccurate or incomplete due to the poorly regulated laws regarding labels. If it's that way with human food, then I'm sure this is going on with pet food as well. Thoughts?

bonepicker · Jun 19, 2014

Do not like word animal liver, like cats and dogs liver!

ginny · Jul 16, 2015

Update on Nat:

Nat was put on Phenobarb ear cream twice a day. He hasn't been a good patient so wasn't always able to get it on him. In August of 2014, had a phenobarb level drawn. It was 1. something! That's nowhere near therapeutic which is in the neighborhood of 14 or so.

Since then, his vet said to keep on with the cream anyway because it seemed to be helping.

Then this past January, his seizures started again. I was sick in late December so I actually missed giving him his cream about a day or two. Perhaps that was the reason? I don't know since the vet didn't think it was really helping much anyway.

He went to the ER and was treated in ICU with IVF's and valium and IV phenobarb and started on the pills twice a day. That helped, but he's not a good patient so after he got used to the medicine, he started running from me at pill time. I had to crush it and give it by syringe. In March, the seizures started back and the dose was increased after yet another ER visit and ICU stay.

So far, I am holding my breath. In all, I've only missed about 2 doses over the past 7 months, which is a stellar track record given the fact that Nat is a big boy and he resists with all his might. I'm lucky he is a lover, not a fighter. The increased dose seems to be holding him for now. He is still not a good patient even after all this time. He dreads it and so do I but I have to do what I have to do. I really wish vets were smart enough to find out the cause of his seizures. He has tested negative for FIV and Leukemia.

ladyhawkke · Jul 25, 2015

Hi, just joined but I've been following The Cat Site for a few years now. Petsmart has raised the Great Choice Poultry Platter to 52 cents. I still buy it as the ingredients are better than most. I do switch around the food but wonder if it's necessary.

2cats4me · Jul 25, 2015

Ladyhawkke said:
Hi, just joined but I've been following The Cat Site for a few years now. Petsmart has raised the Great Choice Poultry Platter to 52 cents. I still buy it as the ingredients are better than most. I do switch around the food but wonder if it's necessary.

Welcome to TCS .. Yeah , the Great Choice used to be .45 cents here . It is still good buy though ..

ladyhawkke · Jul 25, 2015

I don't know what's going on with my Petsmart here but they have been out of the GV Poultry Platter> Friskies has it but the ingredients are not the same, really bad.

2cats4me · Jul 25, 2015

Ladyhawkke said:
I don't know what's going on with my Petsmart here but they have been out of the GV Poultry Platter> Friskies has it but the ingredients are not the same, really bad.

Actually Great Choice & Friskies are basically the same . With the exception of rice & menadione they have almost the same ingredients so not really bad ..

Great Choice Poultry Platter :

Ingredients: Turkey, Poultry By-products, Sufficient Water For Processing, Meat By-products, Animal Liver, Fish, Salt, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, D-calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide, Choline Chloride, Carrageenan And Taurine

Friskies Poultry Platter :

Ingredients: Turkey, Meat by-Products, Water Sufficient for Processing, Poultry by-Products, Liver, Rice, Fish, Artificial and Natural Flavors, Salt, Guar Gum, Calcium Phosphate, Added Color, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Potassium Iodide.

karen dsupin · Mar 10, 2016

I just read the ingredients on Petsmart website and it's firstg 2 ingredients are BY PRODUCT's from a meat source. That's not healthy in my book

Willowy · Mar 10, 2016

Karen Dsupin said:
I just read the ingredients on Petsmart website and it's firstg 2 ingredients are BY PRODUCT's from a meat source. That's not healthy in my book

By-products are not unhealthy for a cat. In the wild, they eat all parts of the animal. Anything from an animal will be healthier for a cat than anything from a plant. So, while the by-product industry is not well-regulated, and I'd rather see muscle meat listed first, i would rather feed a cat food with by-products in it than a cat food with a lot of plant products in it.

karen dsupin · Mar 10, 2016

Thank you for your reply. That is why I joined this forum, so that I will learn things. I didn't know that about the by-products. It just seems like one person says one thing and another person says another. It is very frustrating trying to do what's best for my cats and then reading all different answers.

My cats were eating Iams Grain Free shredded chicken and beef, they seemed to have slowed down on eating it as they were. I switched this week to Sheba (which claims it is grain free) and I always give them Pure Balance Grain Free dry from Walmart. They seem to really enjoy that and they only get a little. They don't seem to like the Sheba, but they are stuck with it for now. They will eat it when they are really hungry. Guess I'll be going back to the Iams Grain Free shreds.

Thanks for the info on by products.

lisahe · Mar 10, 2016

Willowy said:
By-products are not unhealthy for a cat. In the wild, they eat all parts of the animal. Anything from an animal will be healthier for a cat than anything from a plant. So, while the by-product industry is not well-regulated, and I'd rather see muscle meat listed first, i would rather feed a cat food with by-products in it than a cat food with a lot of plant products in it.

Same here! A lot of the plant ingredients are just fillers that put extra carb calories into a cat.

lisamarie12 · Mar 10, 2016

Willowy said:
By-products are not unhealthy for a cat. In the wild, they eat all parts of the animal. Anything from an animal will be healthier for a cat than anything from a plant. So, while the by-product industry is not well-regulated, and I'd rather see muscle meat listed first, i would rather feed a cat food with by-products in it than a cat food with a lot of plant products in it.

While it's true that in the wild a cat would eat the byproducts of their fresh kill, whole prey - those byproducts aren't questionable. The byproducts in pet food, we have no idea what the source of those byproducts are, possibly trash ingredients from 4D meats.

Unless a company is e.g., Bil-Jac (dog food only) and actually touts the use of byproducts in their food, I'd question the sourcing from other non-premium companies that tend to bulk up the food with more "meat byproducts" than meat itself.

Willowy · Mar 10, 2016

LisaMarie12 said:
While it's true that in the wild a cat would eat the byproducts of their fresh kill, whole prey - those byproducts aren't questionable. The byproducts in pet food, we have no idea what the source of those byproducts are, possibly trash ingredients from 4D meats.

Unless a company is e.g., Bil-Jac (dog food only) and actually touts the use of byproducts in their food, I'd question the sourcing from other non-premium companies that tend to bulk up the food with more "meat byproducts" than meat itself.

By-products in canned foods can't be from 4D animals. By-product MEAL in dry foods can be though (the high heat of rendering it into meal is considered to kill any pathogens in 4D meat). Well, I guess they could put by-product meal in a canned food; I've never seen it though. There's a thread around here talking about the definitions of cat food ingredients. Probably a few years ago.

And, I agree that the by-product industry isn't well-regulated, but if it comes down to a choice between a food with by-products and minimal plant ingredients versus a food with no by-products and a lot of plant ingredeints, I'm going to go with the one with by-products. Based on my research. Other people may choose differently.

karen dsupin · Mar 12, 2016

This is very informative, thank you all so much. I'm still having problems with my two eating mostly anything at all. They won't touch 9 lives, Friskies, itc... I've given them Sheba and they walked away. I'm back to Iams Grain Free that they used to love and now they look at me. I don't know what to feed them, I'm going nuts. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it, I have been through every Grain Free cat food on the market.

Thank you

lisahe · Mar 12, 2016

Karen Dsupin said:
This is very informative, thank you all so much. I'm still having problems with my two eating mostly anything at all. They won't touch 9 lives, Friskies, itc... I've given them Sheba and they walked away. I'm back to Iams Grain Free that they used to love and now they look at me. I don't know what to feed them, I'm going nuts. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it, I have been through every Grain Free cat food on the market.

Thank you

Have you tried Nutro Natural Choice? It might be a little more expensive but even picky cats seem to like it. They have lots of flavors, it's grain-free with no fillers, and there's a bunch without carrageenan, too. One of our cats likes NNC so much that we had to cut back on it because she eats too fast and barfs.

karen dsupin · Mar 12, 2016

No I haven't. I've never heard of NNC before. I will look it up online and check it out. Thank you so much.

I do want to ask the forum what their opinon is on feeding Iams regular cat food vs the Grain Free. It can't be that bad since Iams has been around forever. Just wondering because, if my two are slowing down on the Grain Free, maybe sticking with Iam's will be ok, just switching to the regular?

I remember my mother in laws cats ate Friskies (fish only) canned and Meow Mix for their entire lives and lived to be 15 and 17. They never had any health problems and were indoor/outdoor cats. Do you think that we are making too much of this? I'm starting to think I'm just running with the crowd because everyone else is doing it.

Just a thought.

Thanks everyone.

bonepicker · Mar 13, 2016

Indoor outdoor cats supplement with live prey, this kind of offsets the inexpensive dry food

ivy caliby · Mar 13, 2016

Costco members may be aware that cases of Friskies pâté go on sale there from time to time, priced at about $0.35 per 5.5-oz can (without factoring in the price of membership). Box of 48 cans (turkey, mixed grill, salmon, ocean whitefish/tuna). Hard to beat that even with supermarket-branded pâté.

karen dsupin · Jul 12, 2016

Hi all my cat loving friends

I'm wondering if my two picky eaters would be ok eating just their grain free dry food? They drink more water than any cat I've ever had previously, so the dehydration factor shouldn't be a problem. They are at the point where they won't eat any wet food. Nothing interests them. I've been giving all the cat food away to my local shelter and they are very pleased, where as I'm going broke. I have been ordering cat food online at Chewy and they are very good about returns, but it's gotten to the point where I won't even ask for one because my two won't eat anything. I could understand if they had a reason to stop wanting their wet food, like some change in their home life or something stressful, but they are very happy, energetic cats. They just seem to not want wet food anymore. Please tell me to stop worrying someone

. Thank you

Very Inexpensive Grain Free Canned Food

TCS Member

TCS Member

Animal Lover Extraordinare

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Animal Lover Extraordinare

TCS Member

TCS Member