Inexpensive good wet and dry cat foods found at the grocery store

davey · May 28, 2016

Hi, we have a Target, a Safeways, a Walmart, and also Petco and Petsmart in walking distance.
However mom is on Medicare so to feed her feline it needs to be cheap as possible without hurting her.

There are a lot of new kinds since we last had a cat in the 90s, and the old kinds are gone.
Some types the cat hated, and others she devoured.
It is spendy but it appeared one would be good: https://www.beyondpetfood.com/products/cat/salmon-whole-brown-rice/
And since she does not eat a full can of cat food (even tiny cans) this one would be good: http://www.sheba.com/Products/Perfect-Salmon

What do you think about these two kinds, remembering that mom cannot afford high prices and these are kinda pricey for her?
What other kinds of foods do you think would work as well or better?

LTS3 · May 28, 2016

Wal Mart's Special Kitty brand of canned cat food is fine and inexpensive

The pate ones are the best to use. The ones in gravy can be high in carbs which are not good for a cat and sometimes there's more gravy than acutal food. Those are ok as a treat.

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet are also good to feed. Many people stick with the pate ones. The other types of Fancy Feast like Gravy Lovers and such are ok as treat.

Petsmart has a brand your mom may be able to afford: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306956/new-affordable-petsmart-brand-d

Petco and Petsmart often have big sales on foods so that's a great time to buy

Sometimes Wal Mart and Target has similar sales. Be sure to check the "end cap shelves" at the end of every pet food aisle. That's usually where you'll find canned food and other pet stuff on clearance. Always double check the expiration date on each can of food to make sure it's still good. I've found Fancy Feast on the end cap shelf at Target for $0.25 a can one time

None of the food was expired. The store probably wanted to make room on the regular shelf for other items.

Here are additional TCS threads on affordable food:

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

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272192/affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274517/cant-afford-grain-free-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308919/best-grocery-dry-food-brands

pinkdagger · May 28, 2016

I think Petsmart and checking flyers may be your best bet - I don't have a PetCo so I can't vouch for their prices or selection.

I really like the Grreat Choice pates from Petsmart, and they're grain-free with the exception of the salmon flavour. They're 65 cents per 5.5oz can (cheaper than Fancy Feast and Friskies wet here), and a ~10lb cat can usually eat a can a day. If you offer one meal wet and one meal dry, it'll help cut costs. Another store brand from Petsmart that I like to feed for dry is Simply Nourish Source. The Source is higher protein than the regular kind. Compared to other foods in the price range, its carb content is relatively low and it's fairly high protein for a dry too. I have seen a lot of people recommend Sheba as an affordable and good brand too.

catlover73 · May 28, 2016

If anyone in your family has an account on Amazon it may be cheaper to look online for cat food. We feed Wellness Core grain free and it is significantly less expensive on Amazon than it is to buy it in person at Petco near our house. We have Amazon prime which has free shipping. The money we save on cat food in a year is more than the cost of our Amazon prime membership.

NewYork1303 · May 29, 2016

If at all possible, I would limit the fish flavors that you feed. These can cause problems for cats if fed to often. They are okay to feed once and a while, but its best to try and stick to ones that have chicken, turkey, and beef.

I use Sheba and I like it for cost effectiveness. I can get it for around 50 cents a can when I buy it from Chewy.com. They recently had a deal where it was half off so I bought a case of 24 cans for $6 dollars.

I agree that it is best to shop sales to try and find the food that you need at a lower price.

I think the Beyond cat food looks pretty good, but I would recommend sticking to this one:

https://www.beyondpetfood.com/products/cat/white-meat-chicken-whole-oat-meal/ or this one:

https://www.beyondpetfood.com/products/cat/grain-free-white-meat-chicken-egg/

Looks like they have a $5 off coupon available on their site as well.

thegreystalker · May 29, 2016

While I think generally that Beyond formulas are fine, read the labels and you'll discover that some of the Purina Friskies brand wet food has a similar ingredient content. Friskies is much less expensive than Beyond. Moreover, if your cat's tummy can handle a moderate amount of grain, then the 'Tender Morsels' variety of 9 Lives wet food may be suitable for you. 9 Lives is cheap for a reason, but in the Tender Morsels varieties and the Meaty Pate varieties the first three ingredients (excluding water) are Meat by products and muscle meat.

davey · May 29, 2016

LTS3 said:
Wal Mart's Special Kitty brand of canned cat food is fine and inexpensive

The pate ones are the best to use. The ones in gravy can be high in carbs which are not good for a cat and sometimes there's more gravy than acutal food. Those are ok as a treat.

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet are also good to feed. Many people stick with the pate ones. The other types of Fancy Feast like Gravy Lovers and such are ok as treat.

Petsmart has a brand your mom may be able to afford: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306956/new-affordable-petsmart-brand-d

Petco and Petsmart often have big sales on foods so that's a great time to buy

Sometimes Wal Mart and Target has similar sales. Be sure to check the "end cap shelves" at the end of every pet food aisle. That's usually where you'll find canned food and other pet stuff on clearance. Always double check the expiration date on each can of food to make sure it's still good. I've found Fancy Feast on the end cap shelf at Target for $0.25 a can one time

None of the food was expired. The store probably wanted to make room on the regular shelf for other items.

Here are additional TCS threads on affordable food:

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

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272192/affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274517/cant-afford-grain-free-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308919/best-grocery-dry-food-brands

Thank you.
It would be awesome if it were 25 cents all the time.
They markup things a lot.

davey · May 29, 2016

catlover73 said:
If anyone in your family has an account on Amazon it may be cheaper to look online for cat food. We feed Wellness Core grain free and it is significantly less expensive on Amazon than it is to buy it in person at Petco near our house. We have Amazon prime which has free shipping. The money we save on cat food in a year is more than the cost of our Amazon prime membership.

Interesting. Good idea

davey · May 29, 2016

NewYork1303 said:
If at all possible, I would limit the fish flavors that you feed. These can cause problems for cats if fed to often. They are okay to feed once and a while, but its best to try and stick to ones that have chicken, turkey, and beef.

I use Sheba and I like it for cost effectiveness. I can get it for around 50 cents a can when I buy it from Chewy.com. They recently had a deal where it was half off so I bought a case of 24 cans for $6 dollars.

I agree that it is best to shop sales to try and find the food that you need at a lower price.

I think the Beyond cat food looks pretty good, but I would recommend sticking to this one:

https://www.beyondpetfood.com/products/cat/white-meat-chicken-whole-oat-meal/ or this one:

https://www.beyondpetfood.com/products/cat/grain-free-white-meat-chicken-egg/

Looks like they have a $5 off coupon available on their site as well.

She hates anything but fish though.
If we buy a big bag of other flavors and she paws to cover it up, we just wasted money.

Inexpensive good wet and dry cat foods found at the grocery store

davey

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LTS3

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pinkdagger

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catlover73

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NewYork1303

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thegreystalker

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davey

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