What to feed a large cat colony?

luvfelicia

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We've been caring for a large colony for years and have always bounced around with food trying to find the best food for them and not break the bank. Right now we're feeding them Purina (hate doing that!) but we're on a limited budget. We're spending about $235 or so a month. I've been researching and trying to find a better brand for a better deal. Not having much luck so far. With caring for so many we can only afford dry right now. I came across a brand called Sportmix for cats. Ingredients aren't great and it matches Pruina but it's a little more affordable. I also came across Evolve and it would roughly match what we're paying now depending on how much they end up eating. By the way, they are NOT free roaming. We built a huge enclosure on our property so they're protected from wildlife and cruel neighbors, so they can't hunt. They depend strictly on us to feed them.

Any thoughts on these two or any suggestions for how to save on feeding these guys and hopefully being able to feed them better food at the same time? Thanks!!
 
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Willowy

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My ferals hate Sportmix :/. They do like Dad's though, maybe that would be an option. Do you have a Sam's or Costco membership? If so, their store brands are decent and cheaper than Cat Chow (well, the Sam's Club one is about the same quality as Cat Chow but cheaper, the Costco one is better quality but costs about the same). Don't get Meow Mix, Alley Cat, or Special Kitty dry food; you end up with sickly cats so that's not worth the savings.

TBH I'm OK with Cat Chow for ferals. Except for Dad's and the Sam's brand, that's the cheapest one I'm comfortable with.

If you're spending that much on food, there must be a LOT of cats! How big is the colony?
 
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luvfelicia

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Thank you!! There's about 50 cats :)
 

oldgloryrags88

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TSC has a brand there called Multi Cat I think. 40lbs for $19 where I live. Also Cat Chow isn't the worst. My cats got sick when I was on a budget and bought them Dad's. Best of luck and thank you for taking care of those kitties! [emoji]9786[/emoji]️
 
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luvfelicia

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Thanks for the suggestion! I caught a glimpse of Multi Cat but didn't know anything about it
 
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luvfelicia

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Is Diamond safe? I know they've had recalls in the past but are they ok now? They've got a 40# bag that might work for our budget
 

oldgloryrags88

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Is Diamond safe? I know they've had recalls in the past but are they ok now? They've got a 40# bag that might work for our budget


The huge pet food recall was years ago (almost 10 years ago). I use taste of the wild which is made by Diamond.
 

Willowy

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Yep, I forgot about regular Diamond. It's just as good as Cat Chow, not sure if it's cheaper. Depends on your source I suppose.
 
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luvfelicia

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Chewy has it for pretty reasonable. It'll be about a week before we can try Diamond. We're having to go grab 3 bags of cat food tonight to get us through til the end of next week. If we have to end up getting Sportmix for right now, is it gonna hurt them? Or does it pretty much match up to Purina?
 
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luvfelicia

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OK good. My worry was that it would hurt em. Hopefully ours like it ok till we can get better food :) thanks!
 
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