2 kitten incoming...shocked after some reading

So me and my wife, in our late twenties, are getting our first two kitten from a shelter next saturday. I used to have cats when i was younger but didn't bother knowing what was best for them (that was my parents job) and they fed them science diet dry food...both cats never suffered but they were also "exterior cats" so that might have helped too now that i know dry food isn't great for cats. So yeah this morning i decided to do some research because i frankly had no idea how to pick the food for my future kittens. We ended up buying a large bag of vetdiet food (local canadian food brand of Mondou stores)...not sure if i will keep it tough after reading dry food has direct impact on cat's health. 

My main concern right now is more on the budget side...canned food seems way more expensive than dry food. After doing some research, the prices and selection isnt so great in Canada either. 

We don't have the kitten yet but we did visit them and as most sheltered pets, they are fed with dry food. My question is (i would appreciate feedback from canadians in the same situation) ...is it mandatory to transition to 100% canned food or being 50/50 is also an option? Is there a place i can buy canned food in bulk? 

Any ressources on other articles i should read about kittens and particularly nutrition for them. Any "decent" dry food on the market here in Quebec? Thanks for your help

Can't help on your questions but another option is to feed a balanced raw diet. It can be cheaper than canned depending on how much meat and organs cost in your area.

MOD NOTE: Please remember to read this post if you are considering (or recommending) a raw food diet:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/282314/recommending-a-homemade-diet-hold-your-horses

We have some good articles on the website about feeding kitty.  Here's a good starting place:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-food-for-your-cat

There are several Canadian members on TCS--hopefully one of them can chime in with information about what's available in your area.  

Welcome to TCS!  

thanks for your help. 

Is going 50/50 dry/wet a good or bad alternative? 

if so, what brands should i consider without breaking the bank?

A good food for your cats is food that:

1) your cats will eat. The best premium food means nothing if they won't touch it.

2) is within your budget.

It is commendable that you are researching about cat nutrition. While wet food is preferable to dry due to moisture content (cats are designed to get most of their water from their food, so they have a very low thirst drive), many members here feed their cats dry food and live long happy lives.

Truth is, there is no scientific evidence that conclusively say that wet is better than dry. Too many variables are involved that are out of our control, the biggest one probably being the genetics of the cats in question.

Don't beat yourself up if you cannot afford wet at the moment. It does not mean that if you feed dry, you are a bad parent or that you are killing your cats. Buy the best food you can afford to feed, whether wet or dry. There certainly are brands or ingredients that you want to try your best to avoid, such as ingredients that have very little animal protein, and this is where research comes in handy (and TCS!). 

I feed raw, so unfortunately I don't have specific advice about brands in Canada, but I just want to chime in and say don't worry about feeding 100% wet.

Also, kittens need as much food as they can eat for growth, so the "recommended feeding" labels that you see may not be accurate. 

I would say for kittens, feel free to offer a variety. If something were to happen, it's always nice to have a fallback food, even if it includes dry food. Feeding some wet food is generally better than none at all. Vet Diet isn't one of my first choice foods, but I've certainly seen worse.

You get the hang of reading ingredient labels and learning on the fly. If I see corn, rice, glutens, soy, or starches anywhere in the first 5 ingredients or if it comes before the meats, I put the bag down. If you want to but can't return it at this point, there's nothing wrong with feeding it mixed with other foods. Kittens are eating machines!

Just skimming over the Mondou website, it looks like Nutrience Natural and 1st Choice for kittens are pretty good foods; however, these are based on my personal preferences for my cats (being relatively low carb, ideally below 25%; containing no corn; fish not the main ingredient - as you read more into nutrition, you'll learn to build your own preferences and requirements of food for your kittens). Some others seek grain free or by product free or fish free - it's all up to the individual caregiver. It's not listed on Mondou, but places like Global Pet Foods and Pet Valu carry what I consider a stellar brand, Petcurean's Go! Fit + Free in both wet and dry, and Petsmart has a good dry food called Simply Nourish as well.

Pet Valu has 3 store brands in both wet and dry, but I would personally only recommend Performatrin and Health Diet in their wet formulas. The third food, Fluffy's Favourite Recipes, is dirt cheap but also contains a high concentration of corn, which is far less desirable and in that case you really get what you pay for. It smelled bad coming out of the can, and it smelled bad coming out of the cats. 

I actually made a list of Pet Valu and Petsmart wet foods based on their price per ounce when I hit some financial barriers myself. These are all in Canadian dollars, including the 13% Ontario tax so if you're in Quebec, your prices may be slightly lower. I was aiming for those with no corn and costing under 30 cents/oz so that was my personal cut off point, and of course it means I have options if I have a particularly low income month and if I have a little extra spending money another month:

Friskies bulk (Costco - includes 48 cans, a mix of mariner's catch, tuna, chicken pates, and turkey and cheese shreds)
28.25 = 48x5.5oz
    = 0.09469 / 1oz

Friskies individual
1.46 = 13oz
    = 0.1121 / 1 oz
0.81 = 5.5oz

    = 0.1472 / 1oz

Performatrin (Pet Valu)
3.00 = 13oz
    = 0.2039 / 1oz
1.80 = 5.5oz
    = 0.28909 / 1oz
1.46 = 3 oz
    = 0.43 / 1oz

Feline Cuisine (Pet Valu)
0.69 = 3oz
    = 0.22277 / 1oz

Health Diet (Pet Valu)
1.46 = 13oz
    = 0.1121 / 1oz
0.74 = 5.5oz
    = 0.1335 / 1oz

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul
2.03 = 5.5oz
    = 0.368 / 1oz

Natural Balance
2.14 = 6oz
    = 0.36 / 1oz

Feline Holistic Select
4.17 = 13oz
    = 0.3208 / 1oz
2.59 = 5.5oz
    = 0.471 / 1oz

Nutro Max
1.12 = 3oz
    = 0.37 / 1oz
1.35 = 5.5oz
    = 0.25 / 1oz

Authority (Petsmart)
1.46 = 6oz
    = 0.25 / 1oz

Iams Purrfect Delights
1.01 = 3oz
    = 0.34 / 1oz
Iams Proactive Health
1.46 = 5.5oz
    = 0.27 / 1oz

Grreat Choice (Petsmart)
1.35 = 13.2oz
    = 0.11 / 1oz
0.67 = 5.5 oz
    = 0.12 / 1oz

Innova
3.72 = 13.2oz
    = 0.29 / 1oz

Don't feel like you have to feed top of the line 100% of the time. Some cats just decide they don't like certain foods and will opt for lower grade ones as their first choice. If you're concerned about overall quality, you can mix higher end with lower end to help cut costs. Once you find a brand or two your cats will eat reliably, you can buy in bulk too. Unfortunately we're not as lucky as our US neighbours who often get crazy good deals on bulk foods and free shipping... I was able to find Ren's Pet Depot selling in bulk, but their prices aren't much different from going to a store and asking to buy a case of food in person. In some cases, it was more expensive.

Thanks for your input FhiCat. Like you said, i might have overreacted a bit. I will do more research and i'm leaning towards 50/50 and maybe aiming for more in the future. I'll probably stick to best quality of dry food and "cheaper" wet food as i think this will benefit the most instead of the opposite. 

Now the food i bought isn't popuilar since it's a local brand so hard to know if it's any good. Might as well return it and check for other options. 

There is a TON of variety of canned food here in Canada, you just have to know where to look...Off the top of my head (big deep breath)...

Performatrin, Petcurean, Nutro, Merrick, Weruva, Natural Balance, Wellness, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Nature's Variety, Blue Buffalo, Tiki Cat, Solid Gold, Holistic Select, Hi-Tor, Hund and Gatos, Best Feline Friend, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Health Diet, Feline Cuisine...And I'm sure I've left a lot of them out. There's also Honest Kitchen, which is an oddball but a good one!

I understand budget considerations. I would just get a no grain dry and not grain wet and do 50/50 like you mentioned. And keep them inside. Outdoor cats do not live long.

I am not a Canuk but I love Hockey.   

Bonjour. If you are in a major Quebec city, you shouldn't have any problems finding decent pet food stores. PetValu is great. Petsmart is good. Montréal and Québec City have Global Pets. If you are living in the townships or off the beaten path, you might have to look online. Unfortunately, Canadians don't get the amazing deals on cat food that the Americans do.

Go Habs!