What are the least expensive brands of grain-free cat food (both canned & dry)?

[chromium blues]

Check with your local pet supply shop, because some brands offer frequent buyer programs for their dry lines, which can be a big help if you're going through it. Natural Balance, Petcurean, and Nutram all offer grain-free recipes and frequent buyer programs. Nutram seems the best. Their dry food is pretty reasonable and contains no potatoes, which makes it different from a lot of foods on the market. Petcurean is expensive either way, and Natural Balance requires you to buy two more bags than the competition before you can redeem your free bag. Some pet supply stores also offer discounts on cases of cans, so its worth asking!

 

[BonitaBaby]

@bonepicker, Thank you! Yes, but it's a bit confusing to a new cat owner as I do read that dry food helps their teeth and gums...

My kitty already lost 4 teeth that had to be extracted when she was saved by the rescue shelter. I have to say that had I known, I would not have gone to adopt her. Ignorance is best sometimes as I love her & think she is absolutely the right cat for me. I'm always nice to her because she scares me a bit, otherwise, I'd be "mean" sometimes and do crazy things like people do in those "funny" cat videos when they are picking on their cats and scaring them because they think it's funny...I also would not have wanted her had I known that she'd had babies before, so I'm glad I did not know. Now I know I have to watch out for the health of her teeth...

I don't know why I was so set on giving her 1 meal dry food & 1 meal wet food a day...I guess it was a cost decision where I was trying not to spend much, but I buy so many toys and her food is more important than toys. I'm lucky she doesn't like expensive cat food...=P I finally looked up the cost of the Acana bag of cat food they gave me when I adopted her (the person was so happy when I said that I would go ahead and adopt her because my heart was set on it...after she bit me, the person said, "Oh, Bonita!", like she'd never get adopted, which weirdly pushed me to go ahead and adopt her), and that's $50 bag of cat food that I've been dumping half of to give "fresh" kibble!

  Sorry, I love talking about my cat! ^_^

My kitty doesn't eat much and loves to graze, going back and forth. She doesn't even finish 1/2 of a 3 oz. can, so I have decided to give her 1/2 a 3 oz. pate can (with added water) in the morning and the rest at night with dry kibble out for her to free feed as she pleases.

I just want to say that I'm so glad I ran out the other day and bought different flavors of Fancy Feast because the chicken pate classic is not such a big hit actually. I would have stopped trying Fancy Feast after the chicken pate classic wasn't so popular if I hadn't already bought various cans. The Fancy Feast turkey & giblets pate from this morning might be a contender, but the winner so far is the Iams kitten pate with chicken that I accidentally bought her.

I'm going to try Sheba after I'm done trying the other flavors of Fancy Feast pate and the Fancy Feast cuts. I can't believe how picky my cat is, but I always think after she refuses to eat certain foods that she's "just like me!" ^_^ Although I'm sad she doesn't like seafood so far, I think, "she's just like me!" ^_^ I barely eat seafood, especially cooked seafood. =D

Edit:  "She doesn't even finish 1/2 of a 3 oz. can", not one 3 oz. can.

 

[bonepicker]

Fish is not good anyways. Try liver & chicken ff classic or classic chopped grill ff. My cat likes those flavors

 

[bonepicker]

These are the general foods that both our boys like and what I currently pay (and I always look for the higher end grain free foods that are on sale if at all possible).  I purchase through Chewy.com almost exclusively.

Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Chicken Meal Formula Dry Cat Food - 12.1-lb bag @ $35.19

Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Chicken Formula Canned Dog Food (exact same forumla as the cat food, best bang for your buck price wise) 13.2-oz, case of 12 @ $34.80

EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey Canned Cat Food - 5.5-oz, case of 24 @ $33.19

Halo Spot's Pate Ground Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Canned Cat Food - 5.5-oz, case of 12 @ $16.99

 Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken in Gravy Canned Cat Food, 10-oz, case of 12 - $34.99

Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Duck Formula Canned Cat Food - 5.5-oz, case of 12 @  $29.40

Precise Naturals Chicken Formula Canned Cat Food - 5.5-oz case of 24 @ $33.20

Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Sliced Cowboy Cookout Canned Cat Food - 5.5-oz, case of 24 @ $33.49

Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consomme Canned Cat Food - 6-oz, case of 8 @ $23.45

Mine also like merrick duck or chicken pate. Their new favorite (small cans only) nutro natural choice chunky chicken loaf.

 

[catemthree]

Bonita, does your cat nibble on other brands as well? For years my cats were grazers and would often eat then leave 5+ times per day. However, I changed their food recently, and they go crazy and eat the whole thing in one sitting. It could be that your cat is forcing itself through the meal and not enjoying it... Good luck!

 

[BonitaBaby]

@catemthree, thanks! Maybe...for the wet food, she definitely just really likes Iams kitten pate but only finished 1/2 of a 3 oz. can once when she first tried it.

I think she just eats little...same thing with the reduced sodium turkey breast that she does enjoy. She gobbled it up the first time, but seems to reach her limit quickly now and will leave some behind even though I know she likes it very much. She does free feed on kibble...she usually doesn't eat much in the morning, but seems to eat more at night. I don't want to completely take the kibble away. I know she likes it, but she'll eat a bit, leave, then seem to go check that her food's still there and eat a little more, repeat.

The Fancy Feast Classic pates did not really work...I add water and she mostly just laps up the water, which is good for getting her to drink water. I would only buy the Fancy Feast Classics turkey & giblets pate again out of all of them based on her response. She seems to like the smells and wants the food, but then just eats a tiny bit unlike the Iams kitten pate.

I'm going to try one Fancy Feast grilled, then the Sheba pates next. At least I know she'll eat Iams kitten pate with chicken! I couldn't find Fancy Feast Kitten Turkey Feast (pate), but I do want to try that also.