alternatives to Tiki Cat

i bought Tiki Cat on a whim just to see my kitty's reaction (she's normally a pate girl), and i've never seen her so thrilled with food. every time she's had it she's purred while eating, promptly passing out in a blissful food coma afterward.  it was great being able to identify what the food actually was, and also that she had to CHEW.

it's really expensive so i'm wondering what else is out there that is comparable. i am looking into commercial raw but right now would just like canned recommendations.  

the only one i know of is Weruva but i do not like the low calorie count. are there any others? foods that look 'real' and have meat chunks. stews? human grade? i'm not exactly sure what i'm asking for but i hope someone can point me in the right direction since google isn't being super helpful.

thanks again!

I'm afraid I can't recommend brands as I'm in the UK, but there's nothing wrong with rotating Tiki Cat with cheaper brands. I feed a couple of expensive brands alongside some cheaper (but still good quality) ones to keep everything affordable. The Thrive I feed sounds pretty similar to the Tiki Cat...it really is kitty crack, and mine go nuts for it I think they almost find it yummier because they don't get it all the time too. It stays more of a treat that way

Many canned fods are low calorie, typically under 100 for a 3 oz can / pouch and around 150 for a 5.5 oz can. It's easy to control a cat's daily calorie amount with canned food IMO. Here are some charts to compare calorie content:

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

As Columbine said, it's fine to rotate some other inexpensive brands with the Tiki Cat so the cat gets a wider variety of foods and it helps out your budget. You could feed a mix of both pate foods and chunks / shreds / sliced foods. Maybe feed inexpensive pate foods and occasionally feed the textured food as a treat?

Tiki Cat is mostly seafood based. Seafdood shouldn't be fed all the time because it's pretty low in protein, some cats get addicted to eating it, other cats may develop urinary issues. Weruva is great and the company also makes Soulstic which is basically a lesser exnepnsive version of Weruva and only sold at Petco. Petco often has food sales so you could really stock up on food.

Pride by Instinct has texture. You might be able to find this at Petco but an independent pet store or wherever you bought Tiki Cat from would definitely have it. You can sign up on the NV web site to get coupons.

Wellness has pate and textured foods. Big chain pet stores like Petco and Petsmart sells this brand.

You might find this photo album of what cat food actually looks like inside the can helpful: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ninga/sets/72157630596066364

Wellness's Signature Selects line, Fussie Cat, Earthborn, Lotus's Just Juicy line, Petsmart's Simply Nourish Stews, Nutrisca, Nature's Recipe as well as the Purely Fancy Feast lines are all actual shredded meat.

If you aren't already familiar, check out Chewy.com. Prices are almost always better here than they are in any store.

you guys are awesome, thank you so much for the brand recommendations! i'm being very careful about too much seafood in her diet, i'm mostly interested in the new non-fish line Tiki Cat recently released, which unfortunately costs way more

the flickr gallery is extremely helpful! it's exactly what i was looking for. i'll do what was suggested and put together a diet that incorporates affordable food with some pricier stuff mixed in.

thanks again

I mix Merrick duck or chicken pates with tiki puka luau or Soulistic ( petsmart )good karma chicken

Our cats like Tiki's Gourmet Carnivore foods a lot -- they especially enjoy them for the liver chunks and the slurpy juice, I think -- but we definitely couldn't afford to feed them all the time, either!

Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball and Chicken Frick a Zee (spelling?!) aren't as low in calories as some other Weruva foods, plus they do have lots of real meat shreds without any vegetables.

As for foods that are less like Tiki's but also good (and less expensive!), our cats especially like Merrick LID foods and Bravo turkey fricassee. And Nutro Natural Choice as well.

Good luck!