Budget Friendly Can Food?

My cat was eating dry food when we adopted her.  I intially fed her both dry (Solid Gold Chicken dry food) and can food and then she started refusing to eat the can food.    I recently switched dry foods  and she has put on some weight.  But, she has been willing to eat some can food.  She is eating Friskies Poultry Platter and Mixed Grill.  I think I remember those being some of the better Friskies can foods.   Our budget is limited right now, but I want to try out some other can foods with her again.    Hopefully this is my opportunity to get her eating more can food and trim off some weight.

What are some of the more budget friendly can foods?  

wimama said:

 
My cat was eating dry food when we adopted her.  I intially fed her both dry (Solid Gold Chicken dry food) and can food and then she started refusing to eat the can food.    I recently switched dry foods  and she has put on some weight.  But, she has been willing to eat some can food.  She is eating Friskies Poultry Platter and Mixed Grill.  I think I remember those being some of the better Friskies can foods.   Our budget is limited right now, but I want to try out some other can foods with her again.    Hopefully this is my opportunity to get her eating more can food and trim off some weight.

What are some of the more budget friendly can foods?  

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the Friskies pates are fine. If your cat likes them and they are in your budget, then keep them in your rotation. All 3 of mine love the Friskies poultry pates. If tyou have a Petsmart by you, give the Grreat Choice pates a try. They are comparable to Friskies and Fancy Feast and are affordable. This is Petsmart's house brand. If you have a Tractor Supply Company by you, try their 4Health line. They have a grain free line of canned foods that are .69 each for a 5.5 ounce can. This is a little more expensive than Friskies but it is a good food and not expensive. 

The right food for your cat is the one she will eat that you can afford. The most expensive foods out there are worthless if they end up in the trash can or garbage disposal. I learned that the hard way. I have 3 very picky eaters. 

See these threads for suggestions:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308964/healthy-but-affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257683/cant-afford-premium-cat-food-anymore-help

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/310188/adding-inexpensive-wet-food-into-an-all-dry-diet

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306956/new-affordable-petsmart-brand-d

I also second Fancy Feast Classics (classics only!). It has no carbohydrates or carrageenan. I would personally choose this over any medium quality brands that are filled with grains or veggies as cats cannot digest carbohydrates and it's really just a ploy to make humans think it's healthy and balanced, whereas they are used as cheap fillers.

You could always stick to FF Classic and then whenever your budget allows add a high quality one  - say once a week or once a month just to change thinks up. Definitely scrap the dry food - it will cause your cat more problems digestively over the long-term.

Here is a list of the highest quality commercial foods on the market (most expensive to least expensive):

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

Hope this helps! 

I couldn't agree more with @Violetxx about avoiding dry food as well as canned foods with lots of carby vegetable and grain fillers: foods like Fancy Feast Classics and Sheba are low in carbs and high in protein, which makes them good for attaining and maintaining healthy weight. @Kat0121's suggestions are great, too: Friskies pates have a little rice, which ups the carbs, but it's pretty decent food at a very reasonable price, definitely better for a cat on a diet than dry food!

Good luck!

Thank you!   She has been enthusiastically eating the Friskies, but she refused to eat the Fancy Feast Pate's I bought her at Christmas time.  All my previous cats always loved the Fancy Feast pates.   She is my biggest cat and pickiest eating cat I have ever had.    

I don't know if you have a Trader Joes around you, but mine carries "Tuna for Cats" which does not have grains or fillers and is $.59 for a 5.5 ounce can. We have a couple of cans on hand and my cat will eat it in small quantities in addition to her usual brand.

We feed Fancy Feast classics and some of the PetSmart Grrreat Choice, both of which are not frou frou brands. Our cat is very healthy. Our purrbaby doesn't like the expensive brands and, like someone above said, the right food is one she will eat that we can afford.

Trader Joe's foods in general aren't bad: they're a little carby (according to the food charts on catinfo.org) but they're pretty decent food and definitely an improvement over dry food for weight control. The turkey and giblets is lowest carb of their pates. Our previous cat loved that one and it's very reasonably priced.

Then again, if your cat's happy eating the Friskies pates, which are pretty decent food, too, if it ain't broke, maybe it's best not to fix it!?

Believe it or not, if you do the math, Wellness 12.5 ounce cans, as a twelve pack, are cheaper than Friskies. If look at the price based on his many ounces you get for the price, its a better deal.

Grreat Choice (Petsmart brand) pates are not too bad either. $0.45 a can, comes out to $10.80 for a 24 pack of 5.5 oz cans. I've not tried it yet but think I will when I buy more cat food.