Fancy Feast Classic vs. Chunky

When I first joined this site I was adamantly against feeding Fancy Feast to my cats. However, I have been doing a lot of reading about the brand and it seems that it might not be as bad as I originally thought (and definitely a lot more affordable than a lot of other brands). Reading through the forums it seems as though most people recommend the Classic recipes and only the classic recipe. When comparing the classic and chunky recipes of the same flavor it looks as though the Chunky actually is higher in protein and lower in fat, which seems better... is the turn off the ingredients breakdown (there are some icky ingredients in both)?

Could anyone shed a bit of light on this for me? I have included the breakdown of information below.

I should also note that FF is not the only food in my kitties' diet. I also rotate in Tiki Cat, Soulistic and Natural Balance.

Fancy Feast Classic Chicken Feast - 91 calories / 3 oz. can

46% protein / 51% fat / 4% Carbs        2.20 Phos

Ingredients: Chicken, chicken broth, liver, meat by-products, fish, poultry by-products, artificial and natural flavors, calcium phosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, added color, salt, magnesium sulfate, taurine, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, niacin, sodium nitrite (to promote color retention), 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.

Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken Feast - 90 calories / 3 oz. can

51% protein / 44% fat / 5% carbs         2.20 Phos

Ingredients: Chicken broth, chicken, meat by-products, liver, fish, turkey, wheat gluten, poultry by-products, artificial and natural flavors, soy flour, soy protein concentrate, calcium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, guar gum, potassium chloride, added color, salt, taurine, carrageenan, locust bean gum, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, niacin, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, 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.

The FF chunky has wheat gluten, soy flour, and soy protein. I am thinking that is why the pate classic type is recommended. 

luvmy4 said:

The FF chunky has wheat gluten, soy flour, and soy protein. I am thinking that is why the pate classic type is recommended. 

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Correct. Cats have no use for these ingredients.

Soy is considered particularly bad, some people say it increases the chances of hyperthyroid and other problems. And wheat gluten that high on the list? That's why the protein is higher. So, yeah, that's why the Classics are recommended instead.

Nobody is really saying that Fancy Feast is very high-quality. It does have artificial colors and flavors and nitrites (some flavors). BUT. . .it's better than dry food and some people just can't afford the better brands. And some of the "better" brands have a lot more veggies and carbs and so that may not be appropriate for, say, a diabetic cat. So it's sort of a "lesser of 2 evils" kind of thing.

Thank you all! I would love to be able to afford to feed my critters a high end brand but even if I were go go with a "medium" priced food like Tiki Cat, I would spending about $200 a month on them just to feed them 6 oz. of food per day. They're absolutely worth it but I'm just starting out and paying off student loans so money is tight. Financially it makes the most sense to use something like FF and then rotate in higher quality foods as well.

I will definitely be using the classic from now on instead of the chunky.

Check out store brands too. I had a cat that preferred the Winn Dixie version of Fancy Feast classics over the brand name version.

Even with chosing Pate, you still have to be careful. I would choose those that lists a type of meat as its first ingredient. I would also avoid those with sodium nitrite in it. If it's bad for humans, I can't imagine it'd be good for cats. 

 Its already explained that the chunky looks higher protein because it is using plant proteins to boost the amount. and cats cannot use plant protein nearly so efficiently as animal protein.  that's aside from the issue that wheat and soy are common allergens.

The Classic are still the best out of the FF.  

But with the FF cans being so small, you might find that some  of the less expensive 'premium' foods like Merrick or Wellness,  might possibly end up being a similar price .  especially on sale. 

 and Petsmart's Authority brand is actually cheaper  ( about 90 cents for 6 ounces) and is no byproducts.  It does have a small amount of  "brewers rice"  but I dont think enough to make it high carb. and rice at least isn't a common allergen.   So that might be an option to feed some of the time.   ( I like to alternate brands,  in case one become unavailable  due to a shortage, recall etc.,   then at least they are used to eating something else.)  

maewkaew said:

 Its already explained that the chunky looks higher protein because it is using plant proteins to boost the amount. and cats cannot use plant protein nearly so efficiently as animal protein.  that's aside from the issue that wheat and soy are common allergens.

The Classic are still the best out of the FF.  

But with the FF cans being so small, you might find that some  of the less expensive 'premium' foods like Merrick or Wellness,  might possibly end up being a similar price .  especially on sale. 

 and Petsmart's Authority brand is actually cheaper  ( about 90 cents for 6 ounces) and is no byproducts.  It does have a small amount of  "brewers rice"  but I dont think enough to make it high carb. and rice at least isn't a common allergen.   So that might be an option to feed some of the time.   ( I like to alternate brands,  in case one become unavailable  due to a shortage, recall etc.,   then at least they are used to eating something else.)  

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Thank you! I was initially scared off from Authority given the fact that the fat is higher than the protein. I will have to revisit that brand to see if I can rotate that in with the FF as a staple food. I did look at Wellness and Merrick but a dollar a can it's just a little too expense to feed every day. The cat that I'm feeding is 25 pounds and on a kitty diet. Even so, we eats small amounts of food our times per day so I do still go through a considerable amount of food. I've been making sure that at least 4 oz of the food that he eats each day is a high quality food like Tiki Cat, Natural Balance and Wellness however, I just can't afford to feed him those foods for every feeding. I wish that I could though! I had originally intended to feed him only Tiki Cat, Weruva and Natural Balance and then I bought the first month of food and it cost me nearly $200! I want the best for my butterball but $200 f cat food is outrageous. Once he's down in weight and not eating like a horse he will be on an all premium diet but until then I do need to find a low cost alternative to rotate in with the premium foods in order to offset the cost.

A lot of other forum members with pudgy cats or cats with dietary restrictions had recommended FF chicken classic so I figured that it was worth looking in to. I will also have to take a closer look at Authority... it may replace FF for me. I was looking at it on the all mighty food chart and it looks like it's low carb. The only concern is that the fat content is higher than the protein. However, the quality ingredients may win out in the end. Thank you for the suggestion!

Finding the right food has been frustrating. He'll literally eat anything but every food seems to have at least something in it that people don't like. There really isn't the "perfect" cat food.

I agree that it's hard to find good cat food that your cat will also eat (although it sounds like you don't have that problem at least). Have you looked into the larger size cans (12 oz) of foods like Evo and Hound & Gatos? That can be a more economical way for you since he is still going through a lot of food. I can find the big cans of Hound & Gatos for $1.99 a can.

vball91 said:

I agree that it's hard to find good cat food that your cat will also eat (although it sounds like you don't have that problem at least). Have you looked into the larger size cans (12 oz) of foods like Evo and Hound & Gatos? That can be a more economical way for you since he is still going through a lot of food. I can find the big cans of Hound & Gatos for $1.99 a can.

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Do you buy locally or order online? I've been looking for the large cans of those brands but I haven't had any luck finding them at that price. If I can locate the 12 oz. cans for $1.99 that would be about the same cost as FF and definitely a better quality.

It's the gravy in them, it contains a lot of carbs which kitties don't need. I am just curious as to what meat by products is....

I can find H&G locally. Online prices are good if you can order in bulk.