Best (cheapest) food for a poor college student?

First, I'm sure this has been asked a bajillion times before and for that I am sorry. I'm really feeling guilty and I need some advice.

I have 2 cats. One is a year old and the other only 5 months. I had a full time job as a manager and they got fed really well. They still do, but now that I'm in school full time (with a heavy course load in pharmacy), I'm only working 8 hours a week. Right now, every paycheck I get is going toward feeding them and that's fine! I will feed my babies before I feed myself, but I need to figure something out here.

Right now they're on Earthborn Holistic dry and it has been really good for them. Their coats are soft and shiny since I switched and they love it. As for wet food, they get it once a day Monday through Friday and the usual brands are Blue Buffalo or Pride. Everything I feed them is high quality and grain free and that's something I really believe in.

Now, to my problem...

The thought of putting them on a crappy dry food because I can't afford the high quality stuff makes me want to cry. I'm at a loss for what to do.

I'm in Canada and the price of Blue Buffalo Wilderness is $27 for the 6lb bag (that's what they were on before I switched because of the cost) and Earthborn Holistic is $23, and neither bag lasts long.

The fact of the matter is, pet food is way more expensive here. Ordering online isn't an option. I've searched all over the city (I live in a small city) and none of the pet stores carry these brands cheaper. I don't drive so I can't travel.

What do I do?

Do I give in and switch to something cheaper until I can afford to switch back? What cheaper food isn't horrible? I've heard okay things about the President's Choice nutrition first?

I feel like a bad cat momma I have to get my education but I also need to care for them the best I can.

How about something like Fancy Feast classic wet?    Their classic lines is grain free and the experts say that even the cheapest wet is better than a expensive dry.   Many here who are looking for a cheaper alternative wet that is grain free feed FF classic. 

Sheba is another less expensive one that is grain free.

Aren't those considered to be really low quality? I'm not sure I feel comfortable feeding that to my cats.

grandlinegirl said:

 
Aren't those considered to be really low quality? I'm not sure I feel comfortable feeding that to my cats.

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It depends on which ingredients bother you.     There is no caregeenan but there is stuff like meat by products and artificial/natural flavors.   It is a grain free food and wet is better for cats than dry

Here's the ingredient list .  Remember it has to be the FF Classic line

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

I would not call fancy feast classics poor quality.

Anything that is grain free and has a good source of meat listed as the first ingredient is not crap food.

As for dry, I would switch them to Natural Balance.

They have grain free, but even the regular is decent and affordable.

It really does depend on what you are looking to avoid.

I went on the local sites and Natural Balance is just as expensive here ($22-$25) so that's not an option. It's the same price as I'm paying now.

I'll try the fancy feast. It seems to be pretty popular...

grandlinegirl said:

Aren't those considered to be really low quality? I'm not sure I feel comfortable feeding that to my cats.

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Better than any dry, believe me when I say that!

bonepicker said:

Better than any dry, believe me when I say that!

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I agree.

Well, I searched around online and I can't find fancy feast classic available for sale here?? Not Petsmart, Walmart or any of the other pet stores. There's every kind of fancy feast but classic. I guess back to square one!

grandlinegirl said:

 
Well, I searched around online and I can't find fancy feast classic available for sale here?? Not Petsmart, Walmart or any of the other pet stores. There's every kind of fancy feast but classic. I guess back to square one!

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That's surprising.

How about Sheba? Is that available?

I remember reading in another thread that the pate isn't called "classic" in Canada. You can still get it, it just doesn't have the word Classic on the label, IIRC.

Isn't it? All the other varieties are available. I even searched on google and everything came up with American sites. Maybe it's not available in Canada? That's a no to Sheba as well.

The ones available:

Other Fancy Feast

Friskies

Purina

President's Choice

Iams

Meow Mix

Whiskas

And then the store brands like Walmarts...

It is not marinated, roasted, chunky, sliced, or gravy lovers. It is the original pate form. In Canada they do not use Classic wording. Look for pate.

Oh really? So would this be the classic one?

http://www.petsmart.ca/cat/food/fancy-feast-cat-food-zid36-24699/cat-36-catid-200004?var_id=36-24699

Friskies and Iams pates are not too bad either. 

Oh! Okay! There's one just called like 'Chicken feast' and some labelled as pate. So it's those ones? Awesome!

Yes, my two cats eat FF occasionally, 2 flavors have no fish - liver and chicken (brown label) and chopped grill(green label) those are favorites of my cats. Friskies has rice in it but it comes in large cans ( like dog food) very economical.

grandlinegirl said:

 
Oh! Okay! There's one just called like 'Chicken feast' and some labelled as pate. So it's those ones? Awesome!

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Yay!  That's great!

Good luck.    Look into the other ones mentioned here too like Friskies and Iams pate so that you can feed them a variety.

Is online purchasing out because of shipping? This place has Fancy Feast and ships free with orders over $25:

https://well.ca/brand/fancy-feast.html

Also consider larger cans of food. You can freeze cat food, just make sure you give adequate thawing time. It takes longer than expected.

Does Petsmart have Authority brand in Canada? It has some brewer's rice in it, but it's not too bad.

If you have Costco in Canada, I've seen both Friskies and Fancy Feast in bulk cartons at the stores in the U.S. (southern California).

Yep, the pates aren't called Classics here, they aren't listed as part of a "line". We can order in bulk from Well or Ren's Pet Food Depot, but Petsmart and Pet Valu also stock some pretty good foods (Authority is available in Canada). My cats are touch and go with it, but I quite like Performatrin's regular wet food line.

I've only seen Friskies in bulk packs at CostCo, but it's a good deal - 48 cans for $25. If you don't want to feed too much fish, be aware that half of the pack is comprised of two fish flavours (the others are chicken and turkey and cheese shreds). If you don't have a CostCo membership, you can get in with a CostCo gift card and just saying you're interested in getting a membership but want to see what's available.

Poor college student times are good times. Lots of the time, the cats eat better than we do. I'm pretty much in the same position, full time school, next to no hours (nor time to accommodate them) at work. I keep a rotation of Friskies, Grreat Choice (Petsmart), President's Choice, Performatrin, and Wellness so they get their mix of better foods and arguably junkier foods.