Advice on Strays Nutrition

Hello Everyone

I live in Malta (central Europe) and besides having 6 cats in house i currently feed 16 strays almost all neutered (the once not yet belong to a new colony i just started to care off, last weekend).

I read lot of cat nutrition on the internet and i must admit it gets scary to learn what our pets food contains, at the same time with 16 ferals i really cant do miracles with my low budget and food here is very expensive. I am currently feeding the strays 'Simba' food in cans of 170g (main ingredient fish) together with Royal Canin for Strays dry food. Royal Canin in Malta came with an offer on the 15kilos bags of 35euros.... which at first it seemed like a good idea but when i bought it... the main ingredient was very disappointing.... cereals. I will be buying Bonmascota next as it is far cheaper and main ingredient is Chicken at least.

Simba cat food is expensive for 16 cats 170g per can and it costs 51c of a euro each, with 16 cats i have to use at least 6 daily and the cats have to have only dry in the evening It pains me.

Was reading food which is by Purina is the worst food, does anyone knows if it is true cause i was going to try Friskies/Felix both by purina, also what about Whiskas?

We do have cheaper food, some pet shops sell cans of 6 for 2.33 but am afraid of the quality, any suggestions? Probably i should not think too much as it is better than them starving...

When i`ll learn how to post pictures i`ll post some of my lovely ferals.

I've always gone online and bought my food from stores online, I think it's cheaper, you usually get free shipping and can be set up for auto delivery so it can be delivered as often as you want and you have a variety of foods to choose from. and if you want to save more money, buy in bulk and get 12.3 oz cans or higher. petfooddirect.com, chewy.com, petflow.com, they all have a good variety of healthier food options

Wet canned  food is usually of good enough quality, even the cheap brands, so even the Whiskas wet food should be OK, better than for example, RC with cereals as main ingredient.

One practical tip.  If you think your  ferales are decent hunters, you dont need to buy them food of very highest quality.

They do take their share of mices, so they gets enough with animal proteins and fats.   How do you think most farm cats would survive and even thrive?  when the farmers give them mostly cheap brand  dry cat food??

But if you dont think they are good hunters, you get to try and give them better food.

If you are forced to buy cheap brands of dry food, try and find labels "for kittens" or "for active" cats.

These do contain typically more of meat and fat.

Avoid labels "for adult" or "for senior" cats - even if you cats ARE adult and even senior.

These do contain typically less of animal proteins and fats.   One problem with reducing the fat is also, is they often dont increase the protein contends instead, but they often increase the carbohydrates = cereals instead.

Good luck!