Canned food choices difficulties

crazy4strays

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I recently made the final leap over to an all canned food diet for my cats. The trouble is, it seems like there are very few foods that really meet the specifications that I want! I want something mid priced (no more than $1.20 for 5.5 oz) no/very minimal grains, no fish, no pork, and no by products. There are so few foods that actually meet those qualifications that are reasonably priced. Most foods are either low grade or premium. It's hard to find mid grade stuff it seems.

I also live in the country. I'm about an hour's drive from any PetSmart stores.

The only food that I've found locally that meets my criteria is 4 Health brand (Tractor Supply) turkey and giblets pate. And one of my cats is picky and won't eat it, so that further complicates things. I do use it for the non-picky cats though.

Any suggestions on finding mid priced canned food? I do have an Amazon Prime membership and do subscribe and save every month, so suggestions from Amazon are fine.
 
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crazy4strays

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I looked over at chewy.com.

It looks like online buying is going to be my friend for mid priced quality canned food. With the auto ship option I can buy the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient venison and green pea canned food for only $1.04 per 5.5 oz can. It offers large cans of Wellness foods, which works out to $1 per 5.5 oz. Plus, I get 20% off of my first auto ship order.

I'm relieved that I can find quality foods at a reasonable price. 
 
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missmimz

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Why are your requirements so strict? Do any of your cats have allergies or you're just trying to get the best food you can? I think if you can't increase your food budget you'll need to relax your rules a little bit. Ultimately your cats need to eat to live, so if they have to eat food that isn't perfect it's still better than the alternative. 
 
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crazy4strays

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No, the cats don't have any allergies luckily. I just feel that for the sake of our finances, I need to do the best that I can to avoid expensive veterinary emergencies such as urinary blockages, etc.

I offered my picky cat the 4 Health brand turkey for supper and he ate it for the first time! Perhaps he's just had a little difficulty branching out his tastes since we switched to all canned. 

I realize that on a budget of $60 per month for 2 cats, the food can't be perfect, but I want to do the best that I can with the $$$ that I have available. Realistically, I probably won't be able to avoid everything on my list all of the time, but if I can get them higher quality food most of the time, then I'll be fairly happy. I realize that I have to operate within the means I have and be realistic.

My foster cat will get cheaper canned food, but that is certainly better than being abandoned on the street with no food!
 

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I looked over at chewy.com.

It looks like online buying is going to be my friend for mid priced quality canned food. With the auto ship option I can buy the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient venison and green pea canned food for only $1.04 per 5.5 oz can. It offers large cans of Wellness foods, which works out to $1 per 5.5 oz. Plus, I get 20% off of my first auto ship order.

I'm relieved that I can find quality foods at a reasonable price. 
Make sure you have tried it first before buying in bulk, never assume they will like it, catering to fussy kitties can break the bank, I know![emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️ Mine do not like most foods, they like Merrick duck or chicken pates, red barn tricky chicky, pride rockstar rabbit, Fancy Feast classic liver & chicken, core wellness chicken turkey liver, tiki car gourmet carnivore, Iams purrfect Delicasies turkey & liver and nutro natural chunky chicken.
 
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crazy4strays

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My picky cat likes Wellness. My non-picky cat has eaten the Natural Balance venison in the past.

The only thing that my non-picky cat refuses is generally kibble. LOL!! The last time I offered him a bowl of kibble (when I was trying to use up my last bag of it) he just licked it and left it there. He happily eats whatever wet/homemade/commercial raw/canned food that I give him.

My foster kitten is a little TOO non-picky. She not only eats every kind of cat food that I put in front of her, but tries to eat the kids' peanut butter sandwiches and waffles.
 
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crazy4strays

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My friend just informed me that Natural Balance has had lots of recalls. Yikes!
 

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Why are your requirements so strict? Do any of your cats have allergies or you're just trying to get the best food you can? I think if you can't increase your food budget you'll need to relax your rules a little bit. Ultimately your cats need to eat to live, so if they have to eat food that isn't perfect it's still better than the alternative. 
I agree with missmimz: maybe relaxing just one of the rules could help you fit your budget and give your cats some "variety meals" along with what you seem to have ordered online. Personally, I'd feed pork (we already feed a fair bit of it to our cats) and byproducts before grains or fish, but that's a decision that only you can make, particularly since cat tastes and moods always come into these things.

No matter what, feeding only wet foods is a great thing! Good luck figuring which ones will work for you and the cats!
 
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crazy4strays

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Does anybody have more info on Natural Balance? Have they solved the issues that led to their recalls?
 
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crazy4strays

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I think that it's good to keep a balanced perspective! I have to remember that the reality is that all of my kitties could have been eaten by predators, hit by cars, etc. , if they weren't living under my roof. Having a loving home with a cat guardian who does the best that they can with the budget that they have is a whole lot better than being abandoned in the street.

I decided that for now, I will feed the Fancy Feast classics pates, along with some of the others that have to be ordered online.
 
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crazy4strays

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I placed my chewy.com order today. I purchased a 24 ct case of Whole Earth Farms grain free duck pate and a 12 ct case of the large Wellness chicken cans. It cost me only a little over $40 for both cases.

I think that I can feed my 2 cats pretty well on $60 per month as long as I'm careful.

The foods from chewy.com were actually cheaper than feeding Fancy Feast!
 

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I hope they like what you bought. I find feeding a good quality kibble for a treat is also cost effective. I feed just a few bits, like 10 or 12 a day as a snack. One bag lasts forever. This is less than 5% of their daily food.
 
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crazy4strays

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My picky cat loves Wellness food.

It looks like I'll have a nice variety--chicken, turkey, and duck.
 

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I placed my chewy.com order today. I purchased a 24 ct case of Whole Earth Farms grain free duck pate and a 12 ct case of the large Wellness chicken cans. It cost me only a little over $40 for both cases.

I think that I can feed my 2 cats pretty well on $60 per month as long as I'm careful.

The foods from chewy.com were actually cheaper than feeding Fancy Feast!
I hope your cats like the food you ordered ..

My cats would not touch the Whole Earth Farms Pate .. It is a very solid dense pate . Unless your cats really like to chew their wet food you will have to mix in quite a bit of water to soften it up . That is what I did but my cats still did not like it ..

The only wet food I can get them to eat consistently is Fancy Feast Classic . I just avoid the fish flavors .
 

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When you can get to PetSmart you can get authority canned which comes in grain free varieties. Also if you are near a Kroger they have a grain free line called advantage which is also reasonably priced and has good ingredients. It .80 a can for the 5.5 oz can and the PetSmart food is a 6 oz can
 

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I just switched to all wet :)

In my ideal world I would be feeding a little bit of everything that is canned and mostly animal products. The idea being that, this way, any negatives from a specific brand or product could be balanced by the other brands and products. Both high end, byproduct free foods and low end foods and whatever is in between. But I also don't think byproducts are the worst thing ever- wild cats eat bones and organ meats.

As things stand right now, I can't do that to the extent I'd like. I have three cats and they like to eat. But perhaps in the future.
 
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crazy4strays

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I have one cat that eats any wet food that I've put in front of him. He eats any type of canned, commercial raw, random pieces of meat, home cooked, or whatever.
 

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I wish my cats weren't so picky. They are extremely picky!! I have tried all the best foods and they will not touch it. I have two cats. Luckily, petsmart likes you exchange foods. I feed them all canned wet food only. I don't have to worry about dry food as they won't touch it. I had finally got them to eat the fancy feast classics, which is good food. Now, they don't want that. They seem to want gravy foods, like fancy feast gravy lovers and the fancy feast medleys. I am not sure how to get them to at least eat the classics ones again. Some people say to leave it there and they will eat it when they get hungry enough. My kitties are very stubborn and I don't want them to starve. I rather just give them what they are willing to eat, as long as it is wet food.
 
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crazy4strays

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I really appreciate the recommendation for Kroger brand cat food. There is a Kroger about 40 minutes away from us, so when I can, I will definitely check them out!

I appreciate the support!
IRL, I have friends who can't understand why anybody would feed their cat anything other than a 24/7 diet of strictly dry Meow Mix, so I really can't ask them for wet food recommendations.

I feel much more confident that I CAN feed my cats good quality food and stick within my budget. Thanks again!
 
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adoringangel72

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I still bottle feed Nala, only for another couple weeks but I've found she only likes Hill Science Diet and Blue Buffalo. Tried Royal Canin from PetSmart, she didn't like it. Tried other grocery store brands, nope. She attempts to eat Science Diet hard food for kittens but just cannot eat that yet, even softened with her KMR. I tried giving her a slightly cooked egg yolk yesterday, she loved it but I didn't separate the white and yolk well enough and I read the egg white could be hard for her to digest so I took it away from her. Hope your cats find a brand of food that they like. [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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