Can't afford grain free canned food :(

[oneandahalfcats]

I must have been blessed with these kitties with the fact that they love water and drink anything I give them, I even have to stop them from drinking the dish water and toilet water, Gross! But they really do go crazy for water and if they see me go to the sink they run for the sink looking for more water

I never known about homemade diets before I will do tons of research on it, I can get beef kidney, livers for cheap as dirt so that might be an option

Very glad to hear that your kitties are good water drinkers!

Before I got a water fountain, my big male cat used to love drinking water straight from the tap and would get up on the counter and sit waiting for it to turn on by itself.

  He now enjoys his water from the fountain.

 

[ayeshajae]

I always thought the pet fountains were really cool and I hope to get one since the one place my cats aren't as interested in is their water bowl

 

[Willowy]

Half canned, half dry might be do-able? I feed my cats canned Friskies, and, honestly, they're doing better now than they did when on TOTW dry. Plus the reduction in urinary problems has saved on vet bills.

By-products in a canned food are somewhat better than all the carbs in almost any dry food, because at least it's animal-based protein. Cats are carnivores, so even an animal part we think is nasty is better for them than a plant ingredient would be.

So if you got Friskies, we'll say 50 cents per 5.5-oz can (I can get it at Walmart for 46 cents a can but I don't know if that's everywhere), gave them each half a can a day. . .that would be about $15 a month. Plus the dry, at TSC TOTW is $11.99 for a 5-pound bag and say each cat gets 1/4 cup a day along with the canned, that would be about 40 days worth for 2 cats, would come to about $9 per month. So that would be $24 a month for the both of them. Not too bad. If you feed the dry only (at 1/2 cup each per cat per day) it would be $18 a month so it's only $6 difference.

If you get the 13-oz can (if your cats will eat it the next day after being refrigerated), that would cut the price per ounce a bit. Also if you get the larger bag of TOTW it will cut the per-pound price as well.

 

[ayeshajae]

Hogg really good info what you said about byproducts is probably true never thought about it that way before

 

[oneandahalfcats]

When you compare plant-based ingredients to meat products, in this case, by-products, then yes, the by-products may be better depending on the carb in question. The worst offenders are corn, wheat, soy. However, not all by-products are created equal and I would seriously wonder about something that costs only .46 cents for a 5.5 ounce can of food. I mean, how reliable are the ingredients when something is this cheap? If the food contains things like liver, kidney, heart, spleens, etc., then this fine. But by-products can also mean feet, beaks, horns, skin, feathers, etc.

Re. the TOTW at $11.99, that's a good deal!

 

[nightcrazyhunt]

It is definitely hard to feed a cat good quality food without sacrificing a bit I can totally understand. I'm in my early twenty's and attending college. I have three cats, and live by myself in a small apartment. I'm only able to go down as far as $45 for all three. Which makes me so happy! Its much better than where it was at, which was between $80 to $100 on just canned food. They still do eat canned! I just switch around using Trader Joes, Evo, Daves, and Great Choice ( Mixed Grill flavor only). Here and there I can treat them SHEBA (3oz) and Whiskas (3oz) four times a week. I do give them eggs which are slightly cooked(no oil, or salt), so I have to do a bit of scrubbing haha when I wash the pan. I always purchase chicken gizzards,liver, and heart for very cheap at the local grocery market. And I definitely always check online for coupons! Whenever I shop at petsmart or petco, I usually get some kind of coupon which I definitely use! I just got a $3 coupon for doing survey. All I need to do now is buy $3 worth of canned food and use the coupon and it'll only cost me about 2 quarters for 4 (13oz) Grreat Choice cans haha! Free money handed I would say 

 

[nightcrazyhunt]

Also, would like to add in, I take the city bus as often as I can to get away from paying gas for the car! Definitely will save you a lot of money. Riding the bus does take a bit longer, but eh, I've got time, and I'd rather save money! Bling bling bling lol! I'm still able to spoil myself and the cats this way!