Affordable wet food that isn't awful

cynoid

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I have been feeding my 2 cats fish fancy feast and today noticed a cheaper option(friskies) available with a bigger can. I looked up the difference between the 2 and learned that I should not be feeding cats salmon/fish flavors, the gravy isn't great and a bunch of other things. I kept reading here and multiple people have mentioned that for the price of fancy feast there are much better options(but they never specified what those were).

I am feeding the cats 1 can/day each with access to as much dry food as they want. The wet food costs ~65 cents a can each and I would like some suggestions on what I can replace these fancy feast cans with that will have better nutrition and be cheaper or the same price. I know there is a pretty big list on the nutrition but it's honestly pretty daunting to go through that and compare each item to what's actually available in my local Ohio grocery stores/amazon.
 

maggie101

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I feed my cats ff classics turkey and giblets. Ingredients aren't bad compared to other ff food. There seems to always be bad ingredients in any food. Just make sure meat is the first ingredient. I use catfooddb.com to gett a quick reference on ingredients. Other food more expensive
 

Maurey

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Assuming you’re in the US, here are some good options:
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...d---grain-free-chicken-recipe-flaked-in-gravy
https://www.chewy.com/wellness-complete-health-pate-chicken/dp/34451

A detailed breakdown of each food is provided here: The 5 Best Cheap Cat Foods That Are Affordable and Healthy! (2021) - All About Cats
Would personally suggest against buying Authority unless everything else is completely out of budget for you, though.
 

solomonar

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From my experience:
- continuous availability is important, to avoid changing often the diet
- reading the label is also of great importance, because if the cat is not OK with a particular food, then the vet will ask me what I feed him
- chronic conditions are relevant - I must feed my tomcat low-fat products, because of gastritis
===
A few years ago I fed my cat cheap grocery pate. The main reason was that he loved that particular low-end brand.
This brand caused him gastritis, which is very difficult to treat and costs me.
 
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cynoid

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Assuming you’re in the US, here are some good options:
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petco...d---grain-free-chicken-recipe-flaked-in-gravy
https://www.chewy.com/wellness-complete-health-pate-chicken/dp/34451

A detailed breakdown of each food is provided here: The 5 Best Cheap Cat Foods That Are Affordable and Healthy! (2021) - All About Cats
Would personally suggest against buying Authority unless everything else is completely out of budget for you, though.
I thought it was a bad idea to feed fish/shrimp flavors due to UTIs?
 

Maurey

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I thought it was a bad idea to feed fish/shrimp flavors due to UTIs?
It’s fine to feed fish, if it’s part of a rotation (e.g. once a week) and not a primary food. Also I’ve linked random food from the specific lines, not the specific food, to clarify 😅 any formulation from those specific lines should be pretty decent for the price.
 
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Talien

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Walmart's in house brand (Special Kitty) isn't great but isn't as bad as a lot of other commercial foods. The unspecified meat by-products is most likely pork trim which is not the best quality for Cats, but it's still better than other foods that are mostly corn/wheat/potato/pea or other carb heavy plant ingredients that provide no nutritional value and are just filler.

It's VERY affordable if you are on a tight budget, a 22oz can costs a little over $1. It's my go-to for feeding strays and Cats that I've rescued while I look for shelter placement.
 
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