looking for wet food recommendations

So, I wont pretend I have been feeding my kitty good food. I have been feeding grocery store crap as we have been struggling. However I recently got a new job and we can now afford to feed better food. I am wondering if anyone had any wet food recommendation? I still can't afford outrageous prices... so I'm looking for a good wet food for a fair price. THANKS!

First off, don't feel bad for not being able to afford to best premium food. You're not alone and many cats live long, happy and healthy lives on various types of food.

For budget food, I always liked Fancy Feast Classics. Their classics line are surprisingly decent, as they do not contain corn or wheat gluten. I got a pack of 5 for $3 recently (it was on sale). Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul is also another cheap alternative ($0.79 for a 5 oz where I live), but it has grains in it. It's also not a bad option for that price. 

Beyond that, you can always hop over to our review section and see which ones are cheap and decent.

If you aren't already, you may also want to consider supplementing your kitty's food with dry food to help with cost. Mix the wet and the dry and a can of wet can last a couple of days or so for one kitty. Sadly I don't have recommendations for dry, as I feed Halo's Spot Stew and I think that's a little on the pricey side ($20 for a 3-lb bag).

The foods I feed my cat don't have carrageenan and fish in them.

Some affordable brands that I use in my cat's that are fair:

Around my area in WA State, Petco has Nutro on sale for 10 for $10 till 3/15 - I think all areas have that deal.  It's regularly $1.25 per 3 oz can

Nutro Natural Choice Minced Chicken

Nutro Natural Choice Sliced Turkey 

Wellness Sliced & Minced Chicken and Turkey recipes - these go for around $1.25 per 3oz can or so

And then I do feed specific cheaper recipes from brands in the rotation to go easy on the wallet that are around 65-89 cents per 3oz can- I choose these as my cheaper brands because those are the best that IAMS and Fancy Feast offer with no suspicious ingredients:

IAMS Purrfect Delicacies Slow-Cooked Turkey & Liver Dinner in Gravy

IAMS Purrfect Delights Cluckin’ Good Chicken Dinner Chunks in Gravy 

Fancy Feast Classic Chicken Feast

Fancy Feast Classic Turkey & Giblets Feast

As a rule of thumb.  Its easier to make a decent wet food than decent dry food.  Thus, you can give almost any wet food, and it will be OK.  Perhaps not perfect, but better than some of the cheap dry.

Look at the contents so there arent too much grains and such, or other bad parts like carragean mentioned above.  It appears some of the producents think its acually good with grains etc...

I had even seen examples of dry food, which is quite good as far as dry food goes.  And they also make wet canned food.  Can you imagine what their brand of wet food contain?

EXACTLY the same ingredients as in their dry food. But in put in wet...

It also depends, if they are hunting?   Taking a mouse now and then makes it easier to manage on cheap dry food.  How come farmer cats are often so shiny and well doing, although they typically get the cheapest dry brands there is?

Or for inside only cats, what are  you giving them for extra of human  foods.

So, for example,, youghurt, cheese, eggs, are good for cats as treat or even part of food.   Cheap raw chicken by-products, alike heart, stomach, liver, raw wings, is high class food for cats. Olive or canope (rapeseed) coldpressed oil...   There are cheap brands too, not all are fancy ecological and costly.

There are surely more examples.

Feline empathy, which wellness have no carageenan besides Devine duos?

You feed your cat the best food you can afford and that suits your lifestyle. That is all us humans or more importantly Cats can (should) ask of us.
I fed prey model raw in part because I can find chicken and beef on sale at any grocery store, but some of the higher end brands only at PetCo/PetSmart, which don't open at 6 a.m. (why oh why ?):lol3: And because I have the time (I live alone, no responsibilities) and interest in raw feeding; not everyone can.
I am currently fostering/adopting Hercules. I am alternating brands such as Fancy Feast Classic and Soulistic (only available at PetCo) with prey model raw. He didn't like some other brand he tried. I understand PetSmart's brand Authority is pretty good. I will eventually transition him to raw.
I fed a small community cat colony where I use to live (30 minutes from where I live now). They are a little picky (!) but love Fancy Feast and some types of Friskies. I also leave out dry food. This food is certainly better than what they would get dumpster diving.

bonepicker said:

Feline empathy, which wellness have no carageenan besides Devine duos?

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Ooops, ignore that.  I was multitasking when I wrote that and accidentally listed Wellness.  I do feed it once in a while though (but not a lot) since my cat likes it.

Edit: Also what's weird is that I noticed when I go to the Petco website, these recipes (out of the Sliced, Minced, and Cubed only) aren't listed with carrageenan:

Wellness Sliced Canned Cuts: Chicken, Turkey & Salmon, and Turkey 

Wellness Minced Canned Cuts: Turkey and Chicken

Wellness Cubed Canned Cuts: Turkey & Salmon

But at the Wellness website, all of the Sliced, Minced, and Cubed recipes do have carrageenan.  Probably an error on Petco's part.  I think that's what I was looking at last night when writing this because I was curious about all the Wellness recipes and their ingredients.

Edit: Also most of the signature selects actually don't have carrageenan in them:

Chunky Beef & White Meat Chicken Entree in sauce

Chunky White Meat Chicken & Wild Salmon Entree in sauce

Chunky Turkey & White Meat Chicken Entree in sauce

Flaked Slipjack Tuna with Wild Salmon Entree in Broth

Flaked Slipjack Tuna with Shrimp Entree in Broth

Thanks, I have been feeding dry food up until recently. I've noticed that her poops are HUGE i'm talking small dog big (sorry, gross I know lol). I'm hoping switching to wet food will help with that. I'm thinking of going to Canidae as I had really good results with it for my dogs in the past (and I am putting them back on it). 12 5.5oz cans will run me about $20 or 12 13oz cans run about $23 (also depending on the flavor). I was just wondering if there was anything better for around that price or cheaper! 

Oh and Poptart is an inside cat. Sometimes we take her for car rides (yes, she LOVES the car lol) but she is never outside hunting or alone.

MeowKittyMeow said:

 
Thanks, I have been feeding dry food up until recently. I've noticed that her poops are HUGE i'm talking small dog big (sorry, gross I know lol). I'm hoping switching to wet food will help with that. I'm thinking of going to Canidae as I had really good results with it for my dogs in the past (and I am putting them back on it). 12 5.5oz cans will run me about $20 or 12 13oz cans run about $23 (also depending on the flavor). I was just wondering if there was anything better for around that price or cheaper! 

Oh and Poptart is an inside cat. Sometimes we take her for car rides (yes, she LOVES the car lol) but she is never outside hunting or alone.

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I'm not a fan of Canidae because they do have carrageenan in their canned foods.  I wouldn't feed it all the time.  

If you're on a budget, I would try the Fancy Feast Classics and Iams recipes I mentioned above.  Even try the Nutro Natural Choice deal still going on.

My niece feeds the Canidae to her three cats and they are all doing well on it.

AbbysMom said:

My niece feeds the Canidae to her three cats and they are all doing well on it.

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Canidae has rice I think.

I fed Nilah grain free and she became extremely skinny.  Now I have her on various Australian foods which have rice and she's so much better.

I feed grain free, my cat vomits on grain.

bonepicker said:

I feed grain free, my cat vomits on grain.

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My cat vomits on turkey, lamb and anything fishy.  Cats can be so different. 

@MeowKittyMeow I'm not a lot of help as I use local food a lot (Australia), but I agree with Fhicat about the Fancy Feast Classic range.  

You really have to choose your battles and balance your budget with your cat and how they handle foods. You can spend all the money you want, you can move heaven and earth and get your cat the most gourmet food that you never could have even dreamed of affording, it could be fish-free, grain-free, hormone-free, all organic, etc. etc. but it's all for naught if a) your cat doesn't like it and won't eat it, or b) your cat can't stomach it.

There are a multitude of ingredients some cats do great with while other cats will promptly yark it back up. If you have any special criteria for a desirable food for your cat, it will shave down your options quite a bit. Even having one ingredient on a "must-have" or a "no-go" list will help a lot. Honestly, I feed some of the cheapest foods out there - some $0.40-$0.80 per 5.5oz can (in Canada. US prices are cheaper). Friskies contains rice (not an issue for me, as long as it's not grain-based), carageenan, and guar gum. Petsmart's Grreat Choice contains carageenan, guar gum. Right now, these are my staples, but I throw in a couple of "splurge" brands once in a while which, for me, are Performatrin and Wellness maybe once a week. The cats are happy and healthy, and I can still afford to keep a roof over our heads so everybody's happy.

oh hey meowkitty, I just joined this site and nice to see people here from Washington state..  ..

I wanted to throw in that I sometimes buy great choice gourmet 3 oz cans of turkey and giblets (which are carrageenan, fish, Menadione(vitamin K) and grain free! for only 50 cents a can .. ( I think 45 ish on sale )  and also if you have a fred meyer or Kroger store near you can also get Luvsome Turkey and giblets which also have the same benefits as GCGourmet and the same price.. I refer to it as "generic fancy feast "..myself ..

also I buy at petsmart Great choice Poultry platter and Country Dinner for my mom.. that's only 40 cents  (37 cents it's on sale ) that's actually grain free .. but they both have carrageenan. and the poultry has fish.. but Turkey I think is the first ingredient then the by-products..

another I normally buy Is Friskies Special Diet  Turkey and Giblets ( I think might have chicken giblets  but It's listed as poultry so I'm not sure) but there's no fish.. and I think is the most limited fish free I can find of that..  though there is carrageenan, menadione, brewer's rice. and by-products..  but there's no corn wheat and soy there.. the grocery store closest to me sells that when I can't get to Petsmart so that's what I pick up.. you can also get this at target for 47 cents.. I think 45 cents on sale at petsmart.. 53 cents is the regular price..

so what's the issue with guar gum?  (almost every cat food has that?)..

I wan't to emphasize I do feed grain free dry /wet  as much as I can.. but sometimes I do have to buy friskies sometimes.. my cat seems to do o.k on that..

I know evanager's isn't everyone's favorite but It is somewhat affordable.. and their pheasant canned cat food is somewhat affordable and by-product and grain free with no fish or chicken I get for about $1.30 for 5.5oz at the smaller pet stores .. another choice Precise holistic flaked chicken, beef, pork grain free 5.5 oz for 1.30 -1.50 depending where you go..

nice talking to ya

wanted to add Trader joe's is good too but just the wet..

My cats like Merrick Pates Duck and Chicken (it has carageenan), Nutro Natural Choice chunky chicken loaf, Tiki cat Puka luau (shreds), Fussie cat tuna & prawns, (looks human grade) has carageenan, Red Barn Tricky Chicky, (bits), Pride Rockstar Rabbit and Daredevil duck.(chunks). FF liver and chicken or chopped grill classics (no fish)

pinkdagger said:

You really have to choose your battles and balance your budget with your cat and how they handle foods. You can spend all the money you want, you can move heaven and earth and get your cat the most gourmet food that you never could have even dreamed of affording, it could be fish-free, grain-free, hormone-free, all organic, etc. etc. but it's all for naught if a) your cat doesn't like it and won't eat it, or b) your cat can't stomach it.

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Read labels pick up a can of this and a can of that, see what they like.