Affordable canned food?

I am new and do not know  how to post, can someone tell me..
I am taking my 3 boys off  dry food..they have been eating it for years.
 Simply Nourishing dry food ..
 
I have put them on  one half can of Friskies
turkey and giblets in the am and one half can in the afternoon and 3 tablespoons
of dry inbetween just started t his past week.
 
I have one cat overweight 22 lbs and
he can not clean  himself the last 3 years and I have to clean  him 3 times a day with
unscented wipes or wet papertowells..
 
I hope to get him   down in weight  over the next 6 months or so to rectify
this situation some and also prevent urinary and also diabetes in him .
 
Any hints on what other canned catfood would be okay for them, I have read to not
buy fish, salmon or tuna  canned foods for cats..to stay with chicken or turkey
giblets or shredded. They are eating this..I bought but still act hungry for dry food..
 
Anyone suggest the best canned foods that  are the price of Friskies...
I can not afford Wellness or merrick for 3 cats each day..
 How much would you feed a 10 lb, 16lb and 22 lb cat per day?
Thanks from a  new member, SheriT

Sheba, Fancy Feast CLASSICS, and the Friskies PATES are all reasonably priced and fairly low carb.  Unfortunately, Sheba and FF only come in the smaller cans, but they often are on sale and I see coupons for them all the time. 

You can also look for 13 oz cans of food.  Wellness, for example, comes in 13 oz cans for almost the same price as the 5.5 oz cans (at least around here).  That makes them pretty inexpensive, actually, per oz.     And I've heard that some companies cat and dog foods are identical, and the dog food cans are larger, so you could buy them and they are much more economical.  I THINK Nature's Variety is one of them, but not sure.  You would just have to check the ingredients item by item to verify.  What you are really looking for is Taurine...that's what is critical for cats that dogs don't requires.  It occurs naturally in meat, but cat food manufacturers add more.  (I quickly looked up Nature's Variety Instinct DOG food, and see it does have Taurine, but I didn't do a line by line verification)   Anyway, if you live in the United States, you can order cases of canned food via the internet and if you order over a certain dollar amount, you can get free shipping.  That's what I do, and it ends up being pretty economical (IF they eat it )

Oh, as to how much they should be eating, that depends entirely on what food you are feeding, because you need to go by calories.  But I WILL say that I can almost guarantee that 1 can per day for your 22 pounder, plus the 3 T of dry (is that shared between all of them or individual) is not enough.  He musn't lose weight too quickly!   You want to aim for between 15 and 20 calories per lb of cat per day.  This is based on their ideal weight though, so for your overweight one, if he should weight 18 lbs then multiply 18 (lbs) times 15 (the lowest amount of calories per pound you should feed) and that gives you 270 calories per day to feed him.  Now you have to figure out how to feed him that based on how many calories in the food you feed (both canned and kibble).  For this cat, you might run it by your Vet too, as to how much he should weigh, how many calories you should feed him each day, etc., because, seriously, cats CANNOT lose weight too quickly or they can get very ill.

Thank you for your comments and advice.

Hope others will free to answer too.

The Friskies turkey or chicken giblet in gravy they have one that says special diet

that is lower in magnesium.. it does not state the phosphorous or ash on the can.

We have bought that one this week and took the cats off the Simply nourishing dry food.

I did not know  how much to feed Peebo who needs to l ose weight over the next few months.

One can of 5.5 ounces  a day you say is not enough to feed him..

That is what I was giving him.....

and the two smaller tomcats one 5.5 can a day

half at breakfast and half at 5 pm

and just two tablespoons of dry food mid day for now..to crunch   on

I honestly do not  know how to figure out calories for Peebo to lose weight

over the coming months..My goal is to have him smaller by fall so that hopefully

he can groom himself and clean himself some after his uses the bathroom.

Can you  help me by telling me if one and half cans would be okay for peebo per day

since I can not figure out calories etc.

I  have to stay with Friskies and alternate with Fancy Feast because feeding  3 cats

cost us...can run as high as 100.00 or more a month just for canned food.

For most of us that is a huge part of our own budget for our own food.

Wish I could buy Wellness or some other higher priced brand but not able to do that..

Luckily my cats have good health at ages 3, 7 and 8 ..and never have to go to the vet

except for yearly shots..and once in a while a rare issue .such as the little one playing with

a rattlesnake ...he had a thing for snakes..one day a black snake was coiling all up his body

and Leo was charmed by the snake..until I went out and got the snake off the cat..

He has brought so many baby snakes up that he had killed and is the hunter out of the 3 cats.

Sheri T

Here's a link to calorie counts of some of the most common wet cat foods including Friskies. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272192/affordable-canned-food#post_3489284

Honestly, you are not going to be able to find anything that's comparable to Friskies for price. It is the least expensive by far of the okay foods (for me, that means high animal protein, low carbs), especially if you stick to the 13oz cans (available for 98 cents at Walmart). Given your budget limitations, I would stick to that as their main food and mix in some other ones when you can. As mrsgreenjeens mentioned, some of the higher quality ones come in the larger 12 or 13oz cans (Hound & Gatos, Nature's Variety Instinct (the larger dog size is the same as cat version), Wellness, EVO).

Now that you have the calorie counts, stick to 15-20 calories per pound of ideal body weight for each of your cats.  So the 10lb cat should be eating about 150-200 calories daily, split into 2 or 3 portions, so that's going to be about 5-6oz of food, depending on the calorie count.

So, it sounds like your cats have access to the outdoors.  It's surprising that you have an obese cat when that's the case .  I don't let mine go outside because I live in a pretty high traffic area (among other things), but when I DID let other cats outside, I never had a problem with their weight. 

Anyway, as far as helping you with the calories, I just called Friskies to get the calories per can of what you are feeding, and the Special Diet (which is a nice low carb Friskies BTW)  Turkey and Giblets is 173 calories per 5.5 oz can, and the Special Diet Chicken and Gravy is 151 calories per can.  I have no idea what kibble you are feeding, or how much of it Peebo is actually eating,  so can't figure in that amount of calories for you.  Does the bag give the amount of calories per cup?  Usually they do.  then just divide it by 1/4 for, then keep dividing it down until you get to the amount you are serving him.   Subtract that amount from 270 (if you and your Vet decide that is a good starting point) and what is remaining is the amount of canned calories you want to serve.  Let's say as an example that you are feeding him 50 calories per day in kibble (yes, kibble lis VERY high in calories!)  Subtracting 50 from 270 leaves 220 calories you would want to feed him in canned.  So  you could feed him a little over 1/3 can of the turkey and giblets (1/3 can is 58ish cals) and 1 full can of the chicken (151 cals) .  OR 1 1/2 cans of the Chicken totals 227 calories.  So you see how you can work with it and switch it up?   But it all depends on that kibble.  ALSO, though, if he has access to outside, who knows what he may be eating out there?

thank you so much

That gives me an estimate of what to feed Peebo as he loses

which for now is two 5.5 cans a day for a 20 lb cat

he is 22 lbs..and has to lose weight over a  period of months to come

hopefully  over 6 months ..if what I am aiming for..

I just could not figure how much food...

I myself  just cut down on carbs and leave off sugar in my own

eating habits to lose weight over a period of months

I have never been able to be detailed on measuring and

calorie counting....I am not lazy it just confuses me...

Thank you for helping me..

Sheri T

how kind of you to help me concerning Peebo.

I will feed him just 2 tablespoons of  grain free dry food for now once a day

a t noon ..he acts so hungry but maybe just nervous eating like

we humans do..boredom eating.

Then am and pm feed him the canned food

l and half cans of canned food...as he loses weight

then I can adjust it..over the coming months

It is good to get him off the dry food it seems

so I am helping him in that way..even though weight loss

may be slow..

Being a novice at this weight loss

I do not want to harm Peebo losing too fast or

depriving him..

He began to gain weight after a dog chased him up a tree and he fell on his back

from way up a tall tree...I am guessing he has arthritis from the fall

he was about 5 when that happened and will be 8 years old this coming May.

Thanks, Sheri T

Hey, I understand perfectly.  We all need to learn differently.  Some of us need to just read a quick and dirty version, others need to see charts, etc.  Whatever it takes, we want you to get what you need in the end

the  main thing to be aware of is that cats can develop something called Fatty Liver Disease (AKA Hepatic Lipidosis) if they lose weight too fast either from too little food or just because they stop eating on their own for whatever reason.  Once they get this, they get jaundice and they literally CANNOT eat without throwing up.  They have to be force fed, sometimes for months.  One of mine got it years ago and was on a feeding tube for FOUR months .  Yo want to avoid this at all costs. 

oh my  I hope I do this right with the weight loss..

I will go real slow..and if he stops eating the canned

food which he is slowing down ..he wants the dry

this is the 3rd day of canned food..what do I do?

sheri

There was a really good thread on here detailing the weight loss of a very large kitty.  Maybe someone can link to it.  His foster mom worked really hard to get the pounds off.

Unless my math is really screwy (which has happened), the large cans of Wellness chicken are about the same price as Fancy Feast per ounce and the large cans (dog) of Nature's Variety Instinct Chicken are not much more per ounce.  I was looking on Chewy.com.  I just picked chicken but there are a couple of lower priced flavors so you could mix things up a little with those. We pay .58 per can for FF at Walmart and I rounded it to .60 to make it a little easier but it's not going to make much difference.  You can still feed FF but look for some other ones to give variety. I am going to order the NVI dog food although it's going to seem strange! I have seen a message somewhere from the company saying they are the same but couldn't find it again. It is worthwhile to do the math on some of these large cans vs. the smaller cans.

Good luck with your kitty's weight loss. (I am sorry.  I just re-read and see that you are feeding Friskies which is cheaper than FF. Still, it might pay to watch for some sales on the big cans.)

I feed mine Friskies SD Beef and Chicken dinner (181cal) for 2 of his 3 meals,. he gets 2/3 a can on top of his morning portion of  Innova. He enjoys it greatly. Petsmart often  has them on sale for anywhere between .45 to .50 per 5.5oz can. A 24ct case with tax is about $12.50 for me.

The 'Classic' Style pate comes in 13oz cans and runs about 1.09 at petsmart, I haven't tried it but would make a good alternative if I get tired of ordering his Innova online. The Turkey and Giblets and Country style dinner appear to be the healthier out of the bunch. ( Lower Phos, decent Cal)

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

I was simply curious about the cost of Friskies so I looked at the sale paper the local supermarket had last week.  You had to take 50 cans, but it came out to .40/can.  That is almost half the price of Fancy Feast (not quite).  That figure is based on their FF sale which was the same.  It's certainly the most economical and I see they say "pate" too.  I expect you could watch for some coupons and do a little better too.  It's a pain in the behind in there hunting through cat food but I guess it's worth it.

Thanks for telling me what you feed your male cat.

I wish Friskies had some flaked or giblet or shredded chicken canned foods

but I do not see anything at Pet smart or wallmart except Turkey giblets and gravy

it is ll or 12 percent protein so I bought 24 cans of that..

My cats will not touch pate..I wonder how many other cats dislike that texture or taste?

maybe all that read this thread will give us an idea on that

I did notice and maybe it is just too early and wishful thinking now..

They have been on canned Friskies turkey and giblet for 3 days

Last night the litter box was not full  from them using it all night long

and they were not meowing for me to get up at l am and 3 am and

one did meow for me at 5 and I got up and let them outside 

and let t hem back in at 7 am to feed them and let them sleep

for a few hours..Weather was mild..

Am  I imagining that my cats have difficulty even with grain free, no corn, good quality dry food

with being too hungry..thinking they are hungry when they were not..because they had food set down

many times a day to eat on the dry food for the last few years?

I have that problem myself with carbs..and sugar..

I get to really getting hungry and not even really needing to eat

so I  try to eat less white carbs myself and leave off candy and sweets

hard to do but I lost 22lbs this past year and never even exercised...

by cutting back on the white carbs and sugar..

my blood sugar dropped 10 points I was prediabetic but I am not now..

I am worried now about getting Peebo to lose weight..

 I pick  him up a lot to carry him to the door...and clean him up so I know how heavy he is..

I saw the link on the obese cat that one of you sent me..yes peebo looks like that cat when he sits down

however none of my cats had a large bowl of food per day ..

The vets would not be interested in helping me and me buying my own food for Peebo to lose weight.

I will just have to feed him three times a day, am and pm split the 5.5 ounce can and some grain free dry

at lunch time just a little amount one third of the bowl.. and just try to do the best I can..

I will not starve him, rather he be fatter than a sick cat..from malnutrition...

Sherit

food?

My cat has eaten all the pates except she doesn't care for Hound & Gatos - I don't know if it was the texture or something else..  Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea had a very sticky texture and she really disliked that one.  The only shredded meats she's had have been Weruva and Tiki Cat chicken and she loves them both, although the Weruva doesn't agree with her so well.  They are both (to me) fairly high priced foods and I don't think they are worth the money (again to me on my budget). I think you get a little more food with Tiki Cat in case you ever see a great sale.  They are both rather low calorie foods too.

Maybe the key is to start them early? Buttons, our other cat, will eat the H&G pate and she never had canned food but she may be an exception.

Sometimes we get coupons for a free can of FF so keep an eye out for those.  FF has everything imaginable. The display looks like a cruise buffet or something. I have also found free coupons for some of the "better" brands.  True, it's only a can but if you don't have to go out of your way, it's worth  it.

SheriT, I don't understand why you don't think the Vets will help you if you don't buy food from them.  Vet's jobs are to help you and your animals!  They should happily tell you how much they think Peebo should weigh, at the very minimum.  Then you can figure out the amount of calories to feed based on that optimal weight.  But I would suggest NEVER to buy "weight management" cat food, as I don't know any cat  that it has worked for.  The key is high protein, low carb and calories burned.   That's another reason you need to stick with either the Friskies special Diet or their Pates, because all the others (Friskies) are NOT low carb. 

I'm not sure I understand what you were saying about the wishful thinking .  Wasn't it GOOD they didn't get you up in the middle of the night, or was that bad?   And WHY do you carry Peebo to the door,  walking is good exercise, and sounds like he needs as much exercise as possible .  WHY are you worried about getting him to lose weight?   That it won't happen?  It CAN happen as long as you monitor his intake.  Don't be afraid.  Just start slowly and be sure to weigh him weekly to make sure he isn't losing too fast, or, heaven forbid, gaining .  Then adjust accordingly.  BTW, here is that thread on Mickey, the cat who started out at 27 lbs and his weight loss journey:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

Since Peebo has a bad back, just think how much better he will feel without all that extra weight to carry around .  You can do this, and we'll be here to help you!

Mrs green jeans

thank you , it is overwhelming for me this week starting them on canned food .

3 cats,  3 plates and keeping amounts for each ..

What I have seen this week..

Less residue in the litter box at 5 am when I got up today...

a lot less..of urine and feces..for the 3 cats.

I let them out at 5 am so maybe someone went outside after they went out

at 5 am.

I wonder if the dry simply nourishing food and other grain free dry food made them

have more bowell movements than they are having from wet canned food?

I have decided to feed them 7 am and 11 am and 5 pm..

I have the special diet canned turkey Friskies for them all.

I have bought the 5.5 ounce can for each cat

and will look for the larger cans soon.

Do you think the dry causes some cats to have irritable bowell or more bowell movements?

Do you think the cats could be constipated from canned food?

I appreciate the support, I never thought such a simple thing would cause  me stress to switch

from dry ..semi free feeding to doing portions and timed feeding for these 3 cats.

I will get through this with all your help on this site the ones who have replied and posted back to me.

Thank you so so  much, all of you!

Sheri T

I completely understand exactly how stressful the switch can be. I have 4 cats and one foster. I switched 3 of my cats onto wet recently and one is on 50/50 wet/dry.

I am pretty sure dry food has more fiber, which would cause more poos. I am not 100% on that someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I also feed friskies wet (and one gets meow mix wet.) But be careful with MM because they do contain fish. I'm also looking into other brands (like Fancy feast and Sheba) to add for variety so they don't get bored. I'm taking my time with that because the switch was a tad stressful and they are picky. Good luck! After a bit it should be smooth sailing. I'm very use to the feedings now and it's just another part of my day.

Originally Posted by SheriT  

I have decided to feed them 7 am and 11 am and 5 pm..

I have the special diet canned turkey Friskies for them all.

I have bought the 5.5 ounce can for each cat

and will look for the larger cans soon.

Do you think the dry causes some cats to have irritable bowell or more bowell movements?    YES, DEFINITELY TO BOTH QUESTIONS

Do you think the cats could be constipated from canned food?  NOT NORMALLY SINCE CANNED FOOD HAS A LOT MORE MOISTURE IN IT...WHAT WE ADVISE FOR CONSTIPATED CATS IS TO EAT CANNED FOOD AND ADD MORE WATER TO IT 

I appreciate the support, I never thought such a simple thing would cause  me stress to switch

from dry ..semi free feeding to doing portions and timed feeding for these 3 cats.  I'VE BEEN THERE, SO KNOW JUST HOW YOU FEEL.  HANG IN THERE, IT'LL BE WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN

I will get through this with all your help on this site the ones who have replied and posted back to me.

Thank you so so  much, all of you!

Sheri T

Click to expand...

See my responses within your quote above IN BOLD CAPS.    But I'm still a little concerned about how much you will be feeding Peebo.  3 times a day is good, but the amount is what I am wondering about.  You said 1   5.5 oz can of the Turkey and Giblets per cat.  Are you still going to be giving them some kibble too?  Peebo will definitely need something more than just that one can of food .  If no kibble, then probably 1 1/2 cans of THAT particular canned food would be enough, since that equals 259 calories, and after seeing his picture,  I'm thinking 18 pounds is still  heavier than his optimal weight.  But  once he starts losing, you can continue to adjust his food, even as his activity level increases.  And if you read that thread about Mickey, you will see that cats can level off just like people and sometimes may need to have a change just to get their metabolism jump started again.  But I think we're a long ways from that yet    BTW, if you are still going to feed kibble, WHICH kibble are you going to feed?  Have you worked out the amount of calories, and figured out how to keep Peebo out of the other two's dishes? 

Today we bought fancy feast but we realize we might not be able to do that for 3 cats

I already had turkey and chicken giblets some in the Friskies special diet and some regular

Friskies cans...

The others I would not buy which are seafood ..types or pate..

My cats are having a hard time getting the giblets and shred canned food up

off the dish into their mouths and dropping it..trying to eat it

so I bought Fancy Feast today ..seems it is easier to eat

someone tell me what pate is other than horrible to look at and my cats did not like

the 9 lives pate last year when I bought a can for a treat.......

If a cat dislikes pate in one brand such as 9 lives will they dislike the consistency

of pate in all canned food brands?


The dry food I have is simply nourishing made by Pet smart and it is the turkey

with brown rice and has about 374 calories  per cup. No corn in it ..

I thought maybe give Peebo a fourth of a cup for lunch time when I am home

or mid day and then half up the 5.5 ounces  from his own can the other two meals

7 am and 5 pm feeding..

I have a husband who will free feed so this is difficult for me...and having to

try to  keep 3 cats apart and   also someone who does not care ..who will buy

the better dry ...above our budget  but who likes easy feeding for the cats..

I looked at the big cans of friskies as some members suggested today but they

were none at walmart that said chicken or turkey..they were all seafood or pate

types..so I did not buy those..

I think it wil get easier....someday LOL

Peebo is an eater , I think he is not hungry ..he actually is heavier this week to me..

when I pick him up..

he was not eating bowl fulls of dry food..when feeding him the higher priced grain free

dry cat food, he had at most one bowl full which would be l and l/2 cups of food a day...

but he always acts

like is hungry

I have to say that peebo is scared of black trash bags, I wonder if a hawk

tried to attack  him in years past, anything hanging over head on a clothes line

or chair and he is terrified of it..even his shadow..

He has problems.....anxiety ..it seems over people,  noises and black objects or over

hanging objects..otherwise  he does not ruin the house, he does not spray and is a good cat.

someone mentioned the meow mix canned food..They love that and it is seafood

so did not buy anymore of that..had some  already...

That is the favorite food of theirs in the past..and they had that 3 times a week

as a treat..splitting one small container for 3 adult male cats..

I know the Special Diet has a slight difference in consistancy then both the Innova/evo . I find those two to be a bit more mushy.