Picky with wet food!

newkittyowner

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I have been feeding my one year old two cats fancy feast pâté for months now and they have gone off it may be a lick or two. We can't afford to spend much on their food and anyways even the expensive stuff they eat may be once then not again. I know cheap food isn't the best for them but can anyone recommend a cheap food ( I am in Canada) in the fancy feast price range I can try as we are wasting money as we keep throwing away food they don't eat.
 
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pinkdagger

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On the more affordable end, we buy Friskies ($0.70 for 5.5oz, $1.30 for 13 oz, but we get CostCo bulk packs of 48 5.5 oz for $25) and the Pet Valu brands Performatrin ($1.30 for 3oz, $2.60 for 13oz) and Health Diet ($0.65 for 5.5oz, $1.65 for 13oz). Petsmart also has their own store brands of wet food, Authority ($1.29 for 5.5oz) and Grreat Choice ($0.60 for 5.5oz, $1.20 for 13oz).

I've fed some President's Choice, no name, and Canadian Tire brands ($0.30-$0.90 for 5oz cans, I think) too just to see if they had a preference for those. They're certainly not top of the line and with the exception of Performatrin, they do have some rice flour and are heavy on byproducts, but introducing better foods in rotation helps financially and it helps broaden their palate. Finding a food they'll eat is the hardest and most expensive part, but once they choose one or two they'll eat reliably, you can more easily buy larger and in bulk to cut some costs.

I've never seen Sheba in Canada, but their website doesn't have Canada as a country where it's available in their dropdown menu. I haven't found anything about alternate names. Maybe someone else knows about it? I've read good things and have been interested in trying some with our cats too.
 
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2cats4me

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I feel your pain .. I have  2  extremely picky cats .. The one and only can food they would eat is Fancy Feast . I tried  at least 20  brands . Now my female has  developed chin acne , I believe an allergy to Fancy Feast ..  

I stopped feeding it and her chin has cleared up .

As of now they are not eating any wet food ..

I  think that Sheba is a good food .   I wish my cats would eat it ..

I am sorry I cannot help with food suggestions , I do  not what is available where you live ..
 

bonepicker

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5.5 ounce cans of natural balance ulta work out to be 60 cents half can and chicken soup for catlovers soul, 5.5 ounce can works out to 50 cents half can, my cats like both they are pates. Their very favorite is innova, which is a little more but now on clearance sale because mars bought out innova/evo from p & g. I bought 3 cases on sale for 80 cents for 5.5 ounce cans.
 
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newkittyowner

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Thank you everyone that suggested other brands. I am going to look into them tomorrow and pick a couple to try. We are down to just feeding them they wet once a day and even then they won't eat it. We are just throwing money away it seems. One they had no problem with when kittens was a vet brand but it was 2 dollars a can and my husband will not let us pay that price which is understandable but isn't feeding wet better than dry anyways? Well I know it is and as it seems right now they are mostly eating dry which I cringe  at but I can't not feed them, I love them so much and want to do the best for them. Anyways on that note  will try the other brands you guys mentioned. Also if anyone else wants to give their two cents worth I am very appreciative and I am sure my two furry babies are too if only we could understand them. Too bad they can't tell me why they don't like it!

Thanks again!
 

bonepicker

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I agree with pink dagger, I rotate because cats get bored so easy. I used to feed fancy feast 3 different classics liver and chicken, chopped grill, and chicken. I then bought 1 can of different types and kept a chart. If they liked it 3 times I would buy bigger cans or in bulk. I now have a good rotation going. FF is still in rotation along with mid price and high price foods. I ad room temperature spring water (2 tablespoons) to make more soupy and sprinkle smelly orijen dry (just a bit) on top and everything gets eaten.
 

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I don't know if it would work for everyone, but Dandy has been a pain about food. She's down to 2 flavors of FF and Tiki Cat chicken (expensive). Occasionally I can get NVI rabbit into her.

If you're not familiar with the Tiki Cat, it just looks like a can of white chicken meat and I bought the larger cans.  Since they don't come out even, I mixed the end with the rabbit and that seemed to go over well. Mixing it with the FF Tender Liver and Chicken was another hit. Maybe that would help with the boredom. I do freeze the NVI in Snack Bags but haven't tried the Tiki Cat.

Diana in PA
 

Kat0121

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I have 2 picky eaters so I know how you feel Nutro Natural Choice is one both really like (the minced/sliced varieties) and I use them to get them to eat things they normally wouldn't (Nature's Variety Instinct being one). They do not like pates on their own. They have to be mixed or topped with something else. NNC is available at Petsmart and can be found for .79-.89 a can. They both have taken to Wellness Divine Duos ( pate covered with a chunky topper). Petsmart usually has these for $1.30 each but Lilith goes crazy for them. If they like the shredded chicken types (Tiki Cat, Weruva) I'd suggest Soulistic found at Petco. It is made by Weruva and is shredded white meat chicken in broth. Sophie loves the Good Karma in the green can and the Harvest Sunrise in the orange can. This on is the shredded chicken in broth that the Good Karma has but with the addition of bits of pumpkin. She loves both of these. They both also love the Pride by Instinct line, the rabbit, duck and chicken. They also love the Natural Balance pouches which are usually .99 at Petco.

Mine were both on FF and Sheba and stopped eating them. I went to the stores, bought some of this and some of that and came up with a rotation they are both happy with. Until they change their minds, of course
   I don't know if you use Amazon or not, but a lot of canned cat foods are available with the subscribe and save feature. I have used this to get cases of food that I know they will eat and if you have Prime (so worth it), you also get free 2 day shipping. Good luck
 

dianamc

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I have been meaning to look over the threads and try some different ones on Dandy :).  Adding the chicken to the pate makes it into a chunky one, I suppose. Walmart had FF at .50 recently and that is hard to beat.

I have mentioned it before, but we got the NVI dog food rabbit (they say the formulas are the same) since it comes in the large cans. Then I freeze it in snack size ziplocks and put them in a larger freezer bag. This would work with anything that comes in a big can and really does save money.

If she quits eating FF, she'll probably starve to death but she ate a whole can this morning including the remainder of the Tiki cat mixed in with it. This was after she'd eaten 3/4 can of FF turkey at about 3 am. She has taken to opening the cupboard doors to get attention.

Hope you find something for yours that works out. Things went somewhat better when we cut out the dry food entirely. This was easier than I expected. She is one now and it's been quite awhile since we fed dry. Some of our issues at one point turned out to be that my husband had the dog food bag open...

Diana in PA
 
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bonepicker

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I don't know if it would work for everyone, but Dandy has been a pain about food. She's down to 2 flavors of FF and Tiki Cat chicken (expensive). Occasionally I can get NVI rabbit into her.

If you're not familiar with the Tiki Cat, it just looks like a can of white chicken meat and I bought the larger cans.  Since they don't come out even, I mixed the end with the rabbit and that seemed to go over well. Mixing it with the FF Tender Liver and Chicken was another hit. Maybe that would help with the boredom. I do freeze the NVI in Snack Bags but haven't tried the Tiki Cat.

Diana in PA
It sounds like my cat so I will tell you what miss fussy pants likes wellness CORE chicken, not regular wellness but CORE, merrick duck or chicken pate, innova cat & kitten regular and low fat, natural balance ultra, and weruva Peking Ducken and cats in the chicken frickazee and fowl ball. (By weruva also) andchicken soup for cat lovers soul. She also likes natural balance liver and chicken and FF classic chopped grill (green tin). She likes all these plus the tiki cat puca, nature variety instinct rabbit and FF liver and chicken. I sprinkle a few bits of orijen kibble on top because it stinks. I rotate daily to prevent boredom, rejection, and safety in case of recall. Some are grain free some have brown rice, none have wheat or corn.
 
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