High quality dry food with cheap wet food, or vice versa?

So here's the deal. My fiance and I have been having extreme disagreements about the food that we will be feeding our cats. He's worried about budget, and I'm concerned about their health -- I want to feed them the high quality stuff, but he wants the cheapest stuff they've got!

I've been able to compromise with him. We'll be feeding a wet food and dry food diet, but one of them has to be "cheap". So I was wondering, is it better to feed a high quality dry food (like Wellness, Blue Buffalo, etc) with an inexpensive wet food (i.e. Meow Mix, Friskies, etc), or the other way around?

I just wanted to see what others thought, and open to any ideas. Thanks!

High-quality dry, cheaper wet.

A really cheap dry food is BAD. Like sawdust with vitamins bad. Very high-carb, low protein, not very digestible. But even cheap canned foods are at least still made of mostly meat products. Try to stick to brand names like Friskies for the majority of their intake (it's OK to have a few store brands in the rotation, but not too much).

Also, if you figure it by ounce, some "cheap" wet foods aren't really cheap :tongue2:. Meow Mix is about 60 cents for a little tub (3-oz, I think). Fancy Feast is about the same. For that price per ounce you could get Wellness or Evo in the 13-oz cans.

I've thought about that! The problem is that they won't eat a 13oz can quickly enough and I don't want it sitting in the fridge for more than 3 days. They'll be eating mostly dry--they're not big fans of wet food, but I want them to start eating it.. I hope to get them fully on wet food, so I can then get the higher quality wet food in larger cans, but it's gonna take some time. I can't tell you how many cans of Wellness and Natural Balance I've got around the house because they won't eat it anymore :| and this is another reason why he's also against paying for more expensive foods.

I agree with Willowy. Bad dry food is so bad. I would pick the best dry that you can afford and add a cheap wet food like Friskies pates which also come in the 13oz cans. You can add better quality wet foods as their taste/finances permit.

Agreeing with the posters above, especially if it's what they're eating most of. Until they get a taste for the wet food, you can buy the Friskies (or whatever) in the large cans and freeze part of the can into ice cube trays. Then put the frozen cubes into baggies in the freezer for future use so none gets wasted.

Since the cans do not do well in the fridge for more than 3 days, I'd suggest doing a whole 4 days (Mon-Thurs) feeding only dry then switch it up on Fri-Sun, feeding wet food. It works for me and their weights are great!

4 Ibs of Merrick dry grain free chicken lasts me about 3 weeks to even 4 weeks sometimes, that is with 3 young cats. Every Mon-Thurs I feed each one roughly 1/2 cup of dry food

On weekends (Friday, Saturday,Sunday) I only run through maybe 2 or 3 Merrick wet food cans. The cans come in 5.5oz. I only use roughly 1oz (I weigh their food using a small food scale) of wet canned and also add 1/4 cups of water into that 1 oz....1 oz canned + 1/4 cup water per cat...Do it once in the morning and once during night or whatever fits your schedule. I repeat all those measurements on Friday, Saturday and Sunday twice a day. So they get 2oz canned

There are even weekends when I only feed them once in the morning and don't feed them the second portion dinner usually once or twice a month even. They still are great!

+ 1/2 cup water each. Basically I make their weekend, a hydration weekend   Slurp Slurp. 

My vet is very impressed of their Shiny Coats, Healthy Weight, and their activity level! (They get 30 minutes minimum/per day of playing with me. Before they play i give each of my cats 3 treats EACH. and After play I give them another 3 or 5 treats EACH...Some treats are 2 or 3 calories per treat so its quite a lot for them.)

5 Month Red Point Mix : 5.1 Ibs

5 Month Red Point Mix2: 5.2 Ibs

11 Month Siamese/Bengal Mix : 11.2 Ibs

My cats are living healthily, and I am still able to budget well as a college student! 3 cats. No problem. They still get both high quality dry and wet.

But remember, every cat is different, so anyone's results will be different. But this works for me!   

Jin Xiong Lor,
Are you feeding dry in addition to the wet food on the weekend? 11 to 16.5 oz total of wet food split between them over 3 days is not enough food, esp for growing kittens. If feeding in addition to dry on the weekend is fine.

Definitely high quality dry, lower quality wet.  It's not worth it to feed any generic/cheap dry food.

I read on here awhile back that Petsmart's wet food brand Grrreat Choice has a couple of grain-free canned varieties.  Most of the varieties AREN'T grain free, so you need to read the can label to check.  I know that the Poultry Platter is, I think the other one I have in the pantry now is Country Dinner or something like that.  These 5.5 oz cans are $0.40 regular price, and are very frequently on sale for $0.37.  If you get them on sale then it's actually cheaper to buy the smaller cans than the larger 12 oz cans.  This adds up to about $11/month if you're feeding one can per day. 

I alternate on a daily basis between this, Friskies (about $0.50/can I think?), and misc. other cans that I splurge on.  Back when I fed my young cat a tiny amount of dry food (like 10 kibbles at bedtime tiny) I fed Blue Wilderness.  Because I was feeding mostly the canned, the expensive dry food was a fairly negligible cost.  I would still be buying the Blue Wilderness regularly since it's what my ferrets eat, but the cost from my cat was quite small!  Also keep in mind that you'll have to feed much less high quality dry for the cat to get the same nutrition from much more low quality dry.

I would suggest checking out food prices and working out what you can afford.  I would suggest feeding as much wet food as possible, and make what dry food you do feed of reasonable quality. 

Oops forgot to mention, I do add an additional 1/4 of dry cup each cat on weekends (Sat-Sun). Once a month I don't supplement in dry food, so they just get the wet food.

I know my young cats are well fed, not under (their rib cage doesnt show) or over fed (I still see their waistline from a top view). My cats are small-medium build, so I do not know how this will work for large cats like Maine Coons.

Last 2 weeks ago my Vet was surprised how healthy (their coat, their weight) they were and was very interested in my method of feeding all 3 of them. Works well for me so I'm going to stick to it! (:

3 Weeks from now they are all going to get neutered! All three! I'm quite excited and am finally able to get them all done!   

I'd like to add in that I spend roughly about $30-$45 a month on food/treats for all 3 cats. I also use crystal litter so it's roughly another $30-$40...so total about $60-$90 a month for all 3 cats. This is without VET visits of course.

I'd also add in that the higher quality the food, dry and wet, the FULLER and HEALTHIER your pet will be. That is because there are less fillers, so choose wisely and always look at the list of ingredients even IF it has a good brand name like BLUE, WELLNESS, or MERRICK. Every different flavor contains different ingredients. I've done a lot of research about what's good and what's not so good.

Like I said. What works for me doesn't mean it will work for others. Every cat is different, thus different results.   

So for those who do think that I'm not feeding my cats enough clearly just do not know my cats well enough to judge. (: Their my cats, I have them, I play with them everyday, I feed them everyday. I've gone through 20 different kittens/cats which I've rescued and re homed and all has gone well with my method. So it's easy to be able to feed both high quality wet and dry food with a budget. You just have to be smart and do your research. I'm 21 years old but that doesn't mean that I do not know what I am doing. To each their own, I guess.

Whatever works, works. Just have to be knowledgeable about what is being done really.  

Jin Xiong Lor said:

 
So for those who do think that I'm not feeding my cats enough clearly just do not know my cats well enough to judge. (: Their my cats, I have them, I play with them everyday, I feed them everyday. I've gone through 20 different kittens/cats which I've rescued and re homed and all has gone well with my method. So it's easy to be able to feed both high quality wet and dry food with a budget. You just have to be smart and do your research. I'm 21 years old but that doesn't mean that I do not know what I am doing. To each their own, I guess.

Whatever works, works. Just have to be knowledgeable about what is being done really.  

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Well since you mentioned that you supplement them with the dry food on weekends, that does make a difference   Sure, folks don't know your cats for sure!  But, if you told someone that you had three children that did just fine splitting three ham sandwiches through the weekend then I doubt anyone would think you're doing a good thing even without seeing the kids!  But if you then mention that those sandwiches aren't their only food source then you may be doing just fine...  Everyone does have to develop a feeding program that works for their animals, but if you were truly feeding them only 2 oz/day of wet food without the dry food then I really doubt that the kittens would be getting the calories that they need. 

Comparing cats with children isn't a good comparison. Both are two different.
And it actually can be just enough. Kittens/Cats are made differently. Their bodies are so so so, oh so different.
Research Research Research.

My young cats are healthy so what can I say
I'm happy and their happy! Hehe

Jin Xiong Lor said:

Comparing cats with children isn't a good comparison. Both are two different.

And it actually can be just enough. Kittens/Cats are made differently. Their bodies are so so so, oh so different.
Research Research Research.

My young cats are healthy so what can I say

I'm happy and their happy! Hehe

Click to expand...

I've been around both kids and cats enough to know the difference   Point being:  both species have a minimum daily calorie intake.  So, yes, they are fairly comparable in that regard.  Different in many senses, but

And, yes again, there are nutritional differences between cats and kittens.  The main difference here is that kittens are still growing and thus have much higher nutritional needs for their body weights.  I HAVE done my research in that department. 

I'm not saying that you're feeding your cats wrong... but I didn't see the need to get defensive about someone questioning your feeding methods when you forgot to provide the full story and include half of their daily meals!

View media item 204499
Moon Staring Off Into Space (5 Months Old)

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Fatty Ocean Napping like a Baby (11 Months Old)

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Sun also Staring Off Into Space (5 Months Old)

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The Feline Family always sleeping together on their blanket (:

Woah woah woah, who was being defensive? Did you read it in the way as if I were defensive? That's funny. I'm just typing what's going through my mind is all. 

J jin xiong lor What a beautiful group of cats you have. I love that last picture of them snuggling together while napping.

As always, it is difficult to read tone in the written word, but your original description of how much you are feeding on weekends made me wonder as well. I would agree with other posters that 2 oz of food a day for growing kittens is not enough for 3 days out of 7 so I was glad to hear your revision that they also get some dry food during those days.

Jin Xiong Lor said:

And it actually can be just enough. Kittens/Cats are made differently.

Click to expand...

While cats are all made differently, yes, I cannot imagine any cat for whom 2 ounces a day of canned food would possibly be enough, and I would worry about fatty liver disease. My mom has a tiny 5-pound 18-year-old cat (small, elderly, inactive, so her caloric needs are low), and even she eats at least one can (3 oz) of Fancy Feast a day, sometimes more depending on her mood. So I too am relieved that they also get dry on those days!

Well I get free check ups and reduced fees when I visit my family's veterinarian friends. Internal and externally everything is fine. So all is well and doing great! (: I'm not too worried at all. Especially since I can stop by a vet every month so that helps a lot actually. (: We all have different methods of feeding, different information, and different opinions on things. Its like I said earlier, what works for my feline family doesn't mean it'll work for other feline companions. I am just wanting to let others know my method and from there they can tweak it to their felines liking. Sooo, I actually don't see how it blew up like this haha, but yeah , it is quite easy to feed both high quality foods, wet and dry, on a budget. It also can mean less vet visits . (:

We found, early on, with our first boy that with the cheaper canned and dry seemed to have him hungry all the time.  Being neutered it also started putting - not much - but more weight on him than I preferred.

After carefully tracking & putting the math to what we spent on the wet canned FF & Friskies we were buying, it turned out way cheaper when we moved to the Instinct brand of wet foods, and frankly on the pricing break I'm way ahead being able (and now knowing from my research here) to purchase the 13.3oz dog food cans which are the exact same formula (the company is quite happy to answer those questions as well) and it is at a much better price per ounce than the cheaper foods we were buying.   I have also seen that the higher grade food, with way more protein, they actually eat less each meal before they are truly full.

We were spending roughly $.58/per ounce on a 3.3oz can on FF classic chicken (by the case @ Walmart), and I am now spending $.31/per ounce for a 13.3oz can of the Instinct Rabbit (case of 12).  The chicken in the dog food sized cans is even cheaper per ounce at $.22/per ounce for a 13.3oz can.  I purchase almost all foods from Chewy.com because their prices are very reasonable and free shipping on all orders over $49.

We were already feeding a higher grade kibble (EVO chicken/turkey) to the big guy along with the FF/Friskies variety of wet.   But the same rationale & math was applied & we stepped up to the Instinct brand kibble alongside the wet.    All of their food has lasted a lot longer when we moved to the higher protein/meat foods.  

The only reason I went with the Instinct lines over the many other grain/gluten free choices is that I do intend to slowly add the pre-packaged raw into their diets and Instinct has those products that I can easily start rotating in.   But I would not hesitate on any other the other recommendations here as well.

Agree with above poster about Chewy.com. That is where we purchase almost all of our food (both personally and for the rescue.)