Grain Free Cat Food (that's not crazy expensive.)

paiger816

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Hi All-

Newbie here. I always had cats growing up, but through since then I've put a kibosh on kitties until after I bought a home. Well, I'm settled now, and am currently in the process of adopting two 5 month old bi-color Ragdoll cats (brother & sister) from a shelter. 

I'm having a hard time navigating through all the cat food debates. I've been researching for a few days and am getting pretty intimidated with all the information out there. My childhood cats (15 years ago) always ate Iams or Science Diet kibble due to vet recommendations and one's very sensitive stomach (poop everywhere, it was awful.) So since then, I've always purchased Iams because I thought it was great food. 

Well now I've been reading that dry kibble is bad, wet food is good, grain free, meat first, etc... And I'm so overwhelmed. Some of those cans of the great cat food are like $1.70- $2 per can so like $8 per day for 2 cats. I'm not even sure I eat $8 per day worth of food! :)

Does anyone have recommendations for a grain free wet food (canned, pouches, freeze dried, raw, slightly cooked, I'm open to suggestions!) and maybe a dry food for additional meals? I'm considering dry kibble in the mornings and wet food at night. Preferably food that is around $1 (or less is good!) per serving/per cat. 

Also, feeding amount recommendations, how many ounces per day if just wet food, how many ounces wet with dry food, etc...

Thank you in advance! I want these cats to be the healthiest they can be and live long lives. :) 
 

jano437

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I feed my cat Simply Nourish Stews. They are grain free and sold only at Petsmart. Right  now they are on sale for .99 a can. Regular price is about $1.29. My cat loves this food
 

pinkdagger

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Fancy feast pates/classics, Health Diet (Pet Valu), and Grreat Choice (Petsmart) are my staple wet foods. They're all $0.50ish for a 3-5.5oz can and they're all grain free. They do contain guar gum, carageenan, and byproducts if those are of issue to you. They aren't to me.

I feed Simply Nourish Source and Petcurean Go! kibble as a bedtime snack and they are grain free as well.

I feed my 5lb cat about 3oz of wet food per day split into two meals which is around 84 calories and then 0.5oz of kibble which is around 60 calories.

Our 10lb cat gets about 8oz of wet over two meals and 0.5oz of kibble (224 calories + 60 calories respectively).

I used a food scale to measure the amounts first and now I just eyeball it. You can ask your vet what a good calorie intake for your cats. It depends on build and activity level, but online I've seen recommendations for 20-30 calories per pound per cat per day.
 
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paiger816

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Thank you both for your input! I will definitely check those out!

I have heard that guar gum, & carageenan are bad (?), though I haven't heard why. I'm finding most cat foods contain them.
 

2cats4me

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Hi All-

Newbie here. I always had cats growing up, but through since then I've put a kibosh on kitties until after I bought a home. Well, I'm settled now, and am currently in the process of adopting two 5 month old bi-color Ragdoll cats (brother & sister) from a shelter. 

I'm having a hard time navigating through all the cat food debates. I've been researching for a few days and am getting pretty intimidated with all the information out there. My childhood cats (15 years ago) always ate Iams or Science Diet kibble due to vet recommendations and one's very sensitive stomach (poop everywhere, it was awful.) So since then, I've always purchased Iams because I thought it was great food. 

Well now I've been reading that dry kibble is bad, wet food is good, grain free, meat first, etc... And I'm so overwhelmed. Some of those cans of the great cat food are like $1.70- $2 per can so like $8 per day for 2 cats. I'm not even sure I eat $8 per day worth of food! :)

Does anyone have recommendations for a grain free wet food (canned, pouches, freeze dried, raw, slightly cooked, I'm open to suggestions!) and maybe a dry food for additional meals? I'm considering dry kibble in the mornings and wet food at night. Preferably food that is around $1 (or less is good!) per serving/per cat. 

Also, feeding amount recommendations, how many ounces per day if just wet food, how many ounces wet with dry food, etc...

Thank you in advance! I want these cats to be the healthiest they can be and live long lives. :) 
For grain free wet Fancy Feast Classics is a decent affordable choice , 50 cents for a 3 oz can ..  Petsmart has a couple of affordable choices too . They are Authority , 80 cents for a 5.5 oz can  and Great Choice  , 37 cents for a 5.5 oz can ..  If you look on Petsmart website they give prices for individual cans .. 

I feed my cats Natures Variety Instinct Grain Free Chicken kibble .. I buy it on Chewy.com , a 12 lb bag for $38.00 which includes shipping ..  I feed kibble for one meal and FF  for one meal ..
 
 

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I am in the process of switching mine to completely canned food. I noticed them constantly begging for tap water (Yes they refuse to drink out of a bowl, and yes there are two bowls always out). I am turning the faucet on every 20 minutes for them. They seemed dehydrated so I decided to make the switch for their health and more fluids. I used to feed the Simply Nourish Source grain free. I have not had the opportunity to make it to Petsmart to grab the canned version yet. I have started them on Trader Joes canned cat food. It is 79 cents a can here. It is actually a decent canned food. I only get the chicken and turkey. I did read to stay away from foods containing fish. I am going to look at Authority brands from Petsmart as well. I also give my pets left over cooked chicken scraps a few times a week. I am also on a budget and try to get the best I can for what I can afford. I have have also read that by products aren't necessarily a awful thing. After just a week of canned they are drinking less water.
Would love to hear other suggestions and opinions.
 

bonepicker

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I am in the process of switching mine to completely canned food. I noticed them constantly begging for tap water (Yes they refuse to drink out of a bowl, and yes there are two bowls always out). I am turning the faucet on every 20 minutes for them. They seemed dehydrated so I decided to make the switch for their health and more fluids. I used to feed the Simply Nourish Source grain free. I have not had the opportunity to make it to Petsmart to grab the canned version yet. I have started them on Trader Joes canned cat food. It is 79 cents a can here. It is actually a decent canned food. I only get the chicken and turkey. I did read to stay away from foods containing fish. I am going to look at Authority brands from Petsmart as well. I also give my pets left over cooked chicken scraps a few times a week. I am also on a budget and try to get the best I can for what I can afford. I have have also read that by products aren't necessarily a awful thing. After just a week of canned they are drinking less water.
Would love to hear other suggestions and opinions.
I add water to my cats canned food making it very wet.
 

bonepicker

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I hear a lot of people have luck with water fountains. Cats who eat canned drink very little. I put more water in boy cats food. They tend to block more![emoji]128576[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]128576[/emoji][emoji]128062[/emoji]
 

jdibby

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I add water to my cats canned food making it very wet.
I did add about 4 tablespoons of water to their bowls this morning and they were happy with it. They split a 5.5 oz can of food twice a day. They still seem to be hungry though. Wondering if I should give more canned or maybe a few tablespoons of dry between meals. My one year old male is not a huge cat but he appears to be on the plumper side. My 8 month old male is pretty small and more active. Don't want to over feed but they need to be satisfied as well. Hum??
 

pinkdagger

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Adding water to their food is a really easy way to up their water intake! Maybe you can make a game out of their kibble, like hiding them in cat towers and on furniture so they have to explore and jump, and of course you can toss kibble so they have to run the length of your home to get and eat one piece. I use a rolling treat ball for one cat, but she hogs it now so I toss and hide kibble for the other.
 

jano437

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I did add about 4 tablespoons of water to their bowls this morning and they were happy with it. They split a 5.5 oz can of food twice a day. They still seem to be hungry though. Wondering if I should give more canned or maybe a few tablespoons of dry between meals. My one year old male is not a huge cat but he appears to be on the plumper side. My 8 month old male is pretty small and more active. Don't want to over feed but they need to be satisfied as well. Hum??
My cat seems extra hungry also, since i started him on all wet. I am also wondering if I should increase his meals. Anyone have any thoughts on this
 

rupertoooo

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Thank you both for your input! I will definitely check those out!

I have heard that guar gum, & carageenan are bad (?), though I haven't heard why. I'm finding most cat foods contain them.
Here is a list of foods that are carrageenan free.  The gums are used as a binder and I believe there is currently only one company (Lotus) manufacturing food without them.  Hounds and Gatos is expected to follow suit in early 2015.  I will be interested to see if Hounds and Gatos price changes once they remove the gums because they will have to use something to bind their food.  

Addiction - Grain Free formulas are carrageenan free, the others are not.

Against the Grain - Chicken and Pumpkin Samba and Carribean Club are carrageenan free, some of the fish flavors aren’t.

By Nature - The Organic line is carrageenan free, and some (maybe all) of the "stew" line.

Castor & Pollux

Evangers

Fromm: Duck & Chicken Pate is carageenan free. So are the 3 other flavors, but those contain fish.

Fussie Cat - Chicken w/Vegetables and Chicken w/Sweet Potato

Go!

Great Life Essentials

Halo - Spots Stew varieties are carrageenan free, pates are not.

Health Extension Turkey & Chicken Entree

Hound and Gatos

Life’s Abundance Instinctive Choice

Lotus

Murr

Nature's Logic - not sure about the "porcine plasma" ingredient, which my brain roughly translates to pig blood, but I haven't looked it up yet.

Nature’s Variety Instinct - Rabbit for wet and dry is sourced from France.  I personally verified this through Natures Variety.

Newman’s Organic Grain Free

Nutrisource

Natural balance - platefulls (pouches) and delectable delights (tubs, the only non-fish one is Catatoullie Stew)

Pure Vita

Soulistic: Good Karma and Harvest sunrise do not have carageenan (there are other  carageenan-free flavors but those contain menadione)

Taste Of The Wild

Tiki Cat: Koolina Luau and Puka-puka Luau don't have carageenan (neither do the other flavors, but they are fish based).

Tiki Gourmet Line

Wellness: Healthy Indulgence pouches - Chicken and Chicken Liver, Turkey and Chicken, Chicken and Duck. Signature Selects - CHUNKY varieties do not contain carageenan. 
The Chunky Turkey in White Meat Chicken and Sauce is the only one that also does not contain fish. 
The SHREDDED signature selects DO have carageenan, so be careful.
All canned versions contain Carrageenan.  

Weruva 

ZiwiPeak Cuisine 

Thank you Lola for providing this list.
 
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bonepicker

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I did add about 4 tablespoons of water to their bowls this morning and they were happy with it. They split a 5.5 oz can of food twice a day. They still seem to be hungry though. Wondering if I should give more canned or maybe a few tablespoons of dry between meals. My one year old male is not a huge cat but he appears to be on the plumper side. My 8 month old male is pretty small and more active. Don't want to over feed but they need to be satisfied as well. Hum??
 

stewball

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I once added water to their wet food. They stared at it. Blighty put a paw in to see what it wand and backed away. Whisky tried it and walked away. First and last try
 

duckdodgers

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Fancy feast pates/classics, Health Diet (Pet Valu), and Grreat Choice (Petsmart) are my staple wet foods. They're all $0.50ish for a 3-5.5oz can and they're all grain free. They do contain guar gum, carageenan, and byproducts if those are of issue to you. They aren't to me.

I feed Simply Nourish Source and Petcurean Go! kibble as a bedtime snack and they are grain free as well.

I feed my 5lb cat about 3oz of wet food per day split into two meals which is around 84 calories and then 0.5oz of kibble which is around 60 calories.

Our 10lb cat gets about 8oz of wet over two meals and 0.5oz of kibble (224 calories + 60 calories respectively).

I used a food scale to measure the amounts first and now I just eyeball it. You can ask your vet what a good calorie intake for your cats. It depends on build and activity level, but online I've seen recommendations for 20-30 calories per pound per cat per day.
Not all of the Grrreat Choice foods are grain-free.  Last time I bought cans (earlier this month) most of the varieties were not.  You just need to be able to read the backs of cans to determine what is and what is not grain free as they are not specifically advertised as such.  Their grain free varieties are my staple wet food, and it's very affordable.  There are better options out there if you can afford them, but I've been very happy with the results on my cat. 
 

pinkdagger

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Sorry, you're right! I should have specified the pates, with the exception of salmon are grain-free from what I've seen. It's not hard to spot a grain and getting into the habit of reading labels is good for the learning process.
 

bonepicker

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Here is a list of foods that are carrageenan free.  The gums are used as a binder and I believe there is currently only one company (Lotus) manufacturing food without them.  Hounds and Gatos is expected to follow suit in early 2015.  I will be interested to see if Hounds and Gatos price changes once they remove the gums because they will have to use something to bind their food.  

Addiction - Grain Free formulas are carrageenan free, the others are not.
I do not see carageenan in Nutro natural chunky chicken loaf or pro plan chicken and liver or FF classics. The pRo plan and FF contain by products however, there are quite a few reasonable options without carageenan.

Against the Grain - Chicken and Pumpkin Samba and Carribean Club are carrageenan free, some of the fish flavors aren’t.


By Nature - The Organic line is carrageenan free, and some (maybe all) of the "stew" line.


Castor & Pollux


Evangers


Fromm: Duck & Chicken Pate is carageenan free. So are the 3 other flavors, but those contain fish.


Fussie Cat - Chicken w/Vegetables and Chicken w/Sweet Potato


Go!


Great Life Essentials


Halo - Spots Stew varieties are carrageenan free, pates are not.


Health Extension Turkey & Chicken Entree


Hound and Gatos


Life’s Abundance Instinctive Choice


Lotus


Murr


Nature's Logic - not sure about the "porcine plasma" ingredient, which my brain roughly translates to pig blood, but I haven't looked it up yet.


Nature’s Variety Instinct - Rabbit for wet and dry is sourced from France.  I personally verified this through Natures Variety.


Newman’s Organic Grain Free


Nutrisource


Natural balance - platefulls (pouches) and delectable delights (tubs, the only non-fish one is Catatoullie Stew)


Pure Vita


Soulistic: Good Karma and Harvest sunrise do not have carageenan (there are other  carageenan-free flavors but those contain menadione)


Taste Of The Wild


Tiki Cat: Koolina Luau and Puka-puka Luau don't have carageenan (neither do the other flavors, but they are fish based).


Tiki Gourmet Line


Wellness: Healthy Indulgence pouches - Chicken and Chicken Liver, Turkey and Chicken, Chicken and Duck. Signature Selects - CHUNKY varieties do not contain carageenan. 

The Chunky Turkey in White Meat Chicken and Sauce is the only one that also does not contain fish. 

The SHREDDED signature selects DO have carageenan, so be careful.

All canned versions contain Carrageenan.  


Weruva 


ZiwiPeak Cuisine 


Thank you Lola for providing this list.
 

duckdodgers

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Sorry, you're right! I should have specified the pates, with the exception of salmon are grain-free from what I've seen. It's not hard to spot a grain and getting into the habit of reading labels is good for the learning process.
Yeah the pates seem like a better choice overall for the brand. I seem to recall there being more non grain free pates, but checking when buying can easily clear that up!
 
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