Ouch!! Switching to all wet food could cost me at least $100/month

[lisahe]

 
I went to Tractor Supply this afternoon and they have  2 varieties of Friskies in the larger cans so that will help.

I decided I will just have to skip feeding a grain free dry food since one of my cats cannot tolerate all the added veggies and fruits. I don't know what else is causing his more loose stools. 

So I looked through what Tractor Supply had and for now I am going to try Iams Adult food. I am not so sure they have to have a grain free diet anyway. Maybe that has become the new 'fad' and way to promote new foods. I know there is some truth to it but I was thinking in the wild doesn't a cat eat the whole mouse etc. including the stomach and it's contents. In the stomach it would contain what the mouse had eaten which would have been more than likely corn or some kind of grain that he would have found. Who knows? It seems logical to me.

I know there are companies that do not add enough real protein and use corn gluten as a filler and that I know is not good but I don't necessarily think a grain free diet is the only way to go. Especially now since it seems to be upsetting my cat's stomach.

Why are they adding potatoes, blueberries, cranberries, spinach, and apples?? I think really people look at that and think their cats are getting more nutrition from it but are they really? The cranberries didn't keep my Jack from having crystals in his urine. 

You're so right about grain-free! In an ideal world, cats wouldn't be eating foods with wheat or corn gluten, but the problem -- as I see it -- these days is that, as you note, companies are substituting carby vegetables like peas and potatoes for those grains. And cats don't really need those, either. They appeal to people who think they sound healthy because they're vegetables and they serve as cheap fillers for the pet food companies, but you and I each have a cat that can't eat them! One of our cats has trouble with potato... that sure does narrow the possibilities for feeding these days.

 

[lisamarie12]

Originally Posted by catlover100  

I am not so sure they have to have a grain free diet anyway. Maybe that has become the new 'fad' and way to promote new foods. I know there is some truth to it but I was thinking in the wild doesn't a cat eat the whole mouse etc. including the stomach and it's contents. In the stomach it would contain what the mouse had eaten which would have been more than likely corn or some kind of grain that he would have found. Who knows? It seems logical to me.

There's no comparison to the minimal amount of predigested vegetable matter -- and sometimes grain, such as corn or oats - that wild mice would consume, to the amount of grains added to food by the pet food companies.

Whatever contents in the stomach of a cats' prey - if they eat the stomach (they will for mice but larger animals, like a rabbit, cats usually leave the stomach behind), is minimal. 

I agree with LisaHE that some companies marketing grain free foods will substitute those grains with starchy, high carb veggies to bulk up the food and cut down on meat, however, regardless - cats neither have the ability to properly digest and utilize those ingredients.  Hence that's why cats that are typically on low carb, grain free diets produce far less stool waste than those who are not.

 

[crazy4strays]

Have you tried the 4Health grain free canned food from Tractor Supply? At $0.69 for 5.5 oz, it's very cost effective for a canned food. It has no fillers or vegetable ingredients.

 

[crazy4strays]

Also, I like to watch for deals on Chewy.com. I tend to buy cases based on which are on sale. Right now the large cans of Canidae grain free chicken, turkey, and lamb are on sale for $22.79 for twelve 13 oz cans.

That works out to about $0.80 for 5.5 oz.

 

[ralphscats]

I have eight cats that range in age from eight months to eleven years old. I have to save wherever I can but I won't compromise on nutrition. I've found it costs far more in the long run.
I feed grain free kibble, grain and carageenen free canned and raw.
The large dog cans of Nature's Variety Instinct are the exact same formula as the small cat cans. Buying the dog cans is a huge savings. I also buy NV raw and free feed that. I give them all a spoon of grain free kibble two or three times a day as a treat.
I have found that feeding this is actually cheaper than feeing Friskies, and it's much healthier.
I rotate NV Instinct, Wild Calling, and Nulo canned. I feed NV raw and rotate with Bravo beef patties. I feed NV Raw Boost Instinct kibble. My costs are definitely less than $3 a cat per day. I spend roughly between $8-$12 per day to feed all of them.
I signed up for coupons on the NV website. My pet store also has a bag program for the NV raw and kibble. After eleven bags, the twelfth one is free.

 

[Electronicat77]

I heard we should feed according to lifestyle, and not necessarily weight of the cat. Precise wet comes in 13oz. I feed 6 cats with one 13oz can (twice a day) And sprinkle about 16nuggets of precise dry on each dish. The 12 pack used to cost 20$ At heartypet, but about a year or so ago, most if not all online stores raised that 20$ to 35$! Sometimes petfooddirect has the original 20$ precise sale and also a discount for auto ship. We do feed fancy feast to the neighborhood (stray) cats and have found ff decent prices on jet.com and Costco (About 12$/24 3oz cans) Pet food prices have spiked tho considerably past few years

 

[catlover100]

I heard we should feed according to lifestyle, and not necessarily weight of the cat. Precise wet comes in 13oz. I feed 6 cats with one 13oz can (twice a day) And sprinkle about 16nuggets of precise dry on each dish. The 12 pack used to cost 20$ At heartypet, but about a year or so ago, most if not all online stores raised that 20$ to 35$! Sometimes petfooddirect has the original 20$ precise sale and also a discount for auto ship. We do feed fancy feast to the neighborhood (stray) cats and have found ff decent prices on jet.com and Costco (About 12$/24 3oz cans) Pet food prices have spiked tho considerably past few years

Maybe that us partly the reason my one overweight cat has not lost as much weight this year because I was still feeding him too much food. I can already tell though now that he is on canned he is losing more weight and not begging as much for food all the time. I don't have any scales and he is so large I probably would have a hard time to hold him to weigh him anyway. But it has taken this whole year for him to lose I would estimate 4 lbs. I saw a good calculation for how many calories they need. I don't remember exactly what it was but this vet multiplied it by  80% to account for the sedentary lifestyle of an indoor cat.

I may not be able to get my other cat with urinary problems to eat much more than a can of food a day. He is just not active at all!!

 

[catlover100]

Have you tried the 4Health grain free canned food from Tractor Supply? At $0.69 for 5.5 oz, it's very cost effective for a canned food. It has no fillers or vegetable ingredients.

I have gotten 4Health canned food. There must be a different kind then what I have now because this one has potatoes, blueberries, peas, etc. in it. What I think I need to avoid for one of my cats. I will look again next time I am in there.

I also bought some Paws and Claws. The only thing about it is it has fish in it so I am uncertain on how much of it would be ok. 

 

[crazy4strays]

I get the 4Health turkey and giblets pate. It is grain free and has no vegetable fillers.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/4health-grain-free-turkey-giblet-dinner-cat-food-55-oz

 

[catlover100]

Thanks

I get the 4Health turkey and giblets pate. It is grain free and has no vegetable fillers.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/4health-grain-free-turkey-giblet-dinner-cat-food-55-oz

Thanks! I am sure that would be better and end up being cheaper than Fancy Feast. I wish it came in a larger can. It is hard to find very many brands in larger cans. 'They' are getting very tricky. I noticed at Petsmart last time I was there that most of the food especially the grain free is coming just in a smaller can. You end up paying so much more for it. 

It's like a gallon of ice cream is no longer a gallon. LOL

 

[catlover100]

I'm curious what experts say here. Is it better to feed better quality kibble, or cheaper canned (i.e. Friskies)?

I think overall most would say feeding cheaper canned is better than kibble. Or try doing what I am doing alternating with cheaper and some a little better. But I still will not be buying anything more expensive than Fancy Feast probably. Having one cat on a prescription diet is going to cost so much by itself. So the other two will eat the cheaper ones. 

 

[crazy4strays]

It comes in a 5.5 oz can. Fancy Fancy works out to about $1.10 per 5.5 oz, so 4Health food is quite a bit cheaper than FF. I use FF some, but there are many premium brands that beat it in price. For example, Red Barn Naturals tricky chicky works out to $1.07 per 5.5 oz can when I buy it by the case from Chewy.com.

Fancy Feast is good, though, if I need a smaller can for pet sitters, since premium brands tend to mark up the price of their 3 oz cans drastically.

 

[kittycort]

For multiple reasons, we do canned and free-feed dry. I know some folks are anti-free feeding but my cats are grazers. I learned the other night that Penelopy especially likes to do so at night. She had to fast for surgery and let me tell you, neither of us slept much that night, lol. I only have the one cat that is overweight (omg) the others are all normal to even slightly under-weight in the case of Sara. We have Science Diet for seniors and for kittens available, since we have both seniors and kittens. And they all eat both, except for Maple. She doesn't need kitten food and she's too lazy to climb up where we put it. And I know Science Diet has a bad rap too but that's what they like, so that's what they get. 

As far as canned, they get Friskies and Fancy Feast (the FF they get on Sundays). The Friskies we split two cans between the five, and the Fancy Feast they each get their own can. Sara also gets half a can of k/d during the day. I can't keep her from eating all the other food, and you know, since she seems to love eating now, and she's underweight to begin with, I don't want to keep her from eating, regardless of what it is. I just have to hope that the k/d fills her up enough to make her not hungry for the other stuff so much, but so far that theory has not panned out, lol.

I always free fed until getting my most recent cat...he would eat all the food immediatly. Free feeding was great for us...no hungry kitties during the day while Im gone, no howling bright and tooo early for food, and less upset stomachs. I highly recommend free freeding if youre able!

 

[kittycort]

In terms of food, it can be a lot of work to stay on top of research and trends, keep track of recalls, find a food your cat likes, and learn nutririon, all while sticking to a budget. Truly, I think pet care is sometimes harder than child care! But...you can really onky do your best. But food you and kitty are happy with. Going over your budget isnt good for anyone. And while I do believe that quality food is important, Im not sure its as back-breaking of a dilemna as we sometimes make it out to be. All the lingest living cats Ive known, who lived very healthy lives...were on rather cheap food.

Even if we feed them liquid gold, genetics play a big part. Feed them the best you can but love them even more.

 

[catlover100]

In terms of food, it can be a lot of work to stay on top of research and trends, keep track of recalls, find a food your cat likes, and learn nutririon, all while sticking to a budget. Truly, I think pet care is sometimes harder than child care! But...you can really onky do your best. But food you and kitty are happy with. Going over your budget isnt good for anyone. And while I do believe that quality food is important, Im not sure its as back-breaking of a dilemna as we sometimes make it out to be. All the lingest living cats Ive known, who lived very healthy lives...were on rather cheap food.

Even if we feed them liquid gold, genetics play a big part. Feed them the best you can but love them even more.

So true. I had a female cat that lived to 20. I think most of her life she was on Cat chow indoor. I didn't know any better. Then when she started losing weight her last year or so she lived I started giving her canned. So look how long she lived. You never can tell sometimes.

I think people can stress out over it because they are like our little kids but unlike our kids we can't communicate verbally with them. So it can be so hard to tell when they are not feeling well, etc. So people can fear that and its all the unknown of it that we fear. So much unexpected can happen so sudden. Like one of my other cats last month had an anal gland ruptured. There was a small hole. I freaked out and went over late at night to my boyfriend's house crying.  With all the cats I have had I have never had that problem and didn't even think about them having anal glands. 

 

[kittycort]

Sounds like a good long life-20 yrs! One of mine has been on top quality food..but he has had one health issue after another since he was six months old. With him, I wonder if part of the issue is that he was taken away from his mother at just 8 weeks. It was a necessary but could have led to a weaker immune system. His health issues have increased in strength so Im often forced to try new foods. Now megacolon is in full force and Im thinking about trying Fancy Feast...cheap or not...IF it helps him, its better for him than to have painful poop every day. Gees, I think Id give him anything if it would help! Ugh. Its a struggle.

I worry about mine too. Ive had to realize though too thaf even if I buy the best, it might not be the best for every cat.

Youre right thought...the fear of the unknown. With my pets, its always something new that Ive never dealt with that ends up being fatal. I could go into panic mode quick. I love my animals so much but when theyre sick, it really rips your heart out.

 

[bonepicker]

I heard we should feed according to lifestyle, and not necessarily weight of the cat. Precise wet comes in 13oz. I feed 6 cats with one 13oz can (twice a day) And sprinkle about 16nuggets of precise dry on each dish. The 12 pack used to cost 20$ At heartypet, but about a year or so ago, most if not all online stores raised that 20$ to 35$! Sometimes petfooddirect has the original 20$ precise sale and also a discount for auto ship. We do feed fancy feast to the neighborhood (stray) cats and have found ff decent prices on jet.com and Costco (About 12$/24 3oz cans) Pet food prices have spiked tho considerably past few years

Chewy.com has precise chicken big cans for 20 89 for 12 cans now!

 

[catlover100]

It comes in a 5.5 oz can. Fancy Fancy works out to about $1.10 per 5.5 oz, so 4Health food is quite a bit cheaper than FF. I use FF some, but there are many premium brands that beat it in price. For example, Red Barn Naturals tricky chicky works out to $1.07 per 5.5 oz can when I buy it by the case from Chewy.com.

Fancy Feast is good, though, if I need a smaller can for pet sitters, since premium brands tend to mark up the price of their 3 oz cans drastically.

When I go through the food I have I will have to think about ordering from Chewy's. Several things seem cheaper. And I was shocked the shipping was only $4.95. It sure would be convenient also. 

 

[mysticdragon72]

I ordered from chewy.com not too long ago and my cats wouldn't touch the food. ..well three would but they'd eat poop if I gave it to them lol ...not really but you get my point. The one kitten would walk up to the bowl and sniff it then walk away. After a few days of her not eating the one type of food that they all previously loved it was odd. I went to the grocery store and bought some other types as well as one can of the same type she turned her nose up at and darn it if she didn't gobble it up! My only guess was there was something wrong with that batch but I bought a whole case!
That's the other thing I don't like about chewys and that is that you have to buy a whole case of one type which doesn't work for me since I like to keep a variety.

 

[crazy4strays]

I keep a variety on hand as well. I just rotate which types of cases that I buy. This last time I bought 3 different types of cases, totaling 48 cans altogether. (1 12 ct case of Halo rabbit and garden greens, 1 12 ct case of Halo quail and garden greens, and 1 24 ct case of Red Barn Naturals tricky chicky) I've found that ordering 2-3 cases at a time, when combined with purchasing from Tractor Supply and other miscellaneous sources, gives my cats plenty of variety, especially since I still have cans from a prior Chewy.com order.

That may not be as practical for smaller households or households that feed partially dry food though.

I feed 3 cats only wet food, so food flies off my shelves fast.

Shipping is free for a $49 order.