3 pound bag vs 30 pound

[Kennethkeen]

So I've bought 30 pound bags before and they lasted all year though is it really a good idea to store dry food for that long? I mean can it dry it out even more and go bad I'm assuming not but those with only one cat and a small bowel does a 3 pound bag usually last you the entire month?

I'm looking at switching brands and it would be cheaper for myself to buy the 3 pound bags vs $40+ for 20 to 30 pounds but it does last all year going that route I'm just not sure if it's worth it in the long run

 

[Maurey]

Dry food is already not the best nutritionally, and it loses more nutrition through exposure to air. IIRC it's suggested to buy no more than for a month, b/c after that the food might not be nutritionally complete w/ constant exposure to air. Not to mention it might get stale, which is just unpleasant for your cat.

You can avoid some of the issues by separating the food into airtight plastic containers that'll last your cat a month, though.

 

[Kennethkeen]

Dry food is already not the best nutritionally, and it loses more nutrition through exposure to air. IIRC it's suggested to buy no more than for a month, b/c after that the food might not be nutritionally complete w/ constant exposure to air. Not to mention it might get stale, which is just unpleasant for your cat.

You can avoid some of the issues by separating the food into airtight plastic containers that'll last your cat a month, though.

So do the 3 pound bags generally last an entire month just for one cat?

 

[Caspers Human]

They make screw-on lids for five gallon buckets.

There is a heavy, plastic ring that snaps over the rim of a standard 5 gal. bucket and the lid screws on just like the top of a giant pickle jar. There is a rubber gasket around the inside rim to seal in the contents.

If you put your dry cat food in a bucket with a screw-on lid, it should stay fresh, practically forever and all you have to do to get the food out is give the top a spin.

I couldn't find them at Lowes' website but I'm sure that a place like Tractor Supply probably has them.

 

[Maurey]

So do the 3 pound bags generally last an entire month just for one cat?

Couldn't tell you. Depends on the caloric requirements of your cat, and the caloric density of the dry food. I feed raw, so I have very little context on how much dry food the average cat would eat.

 

[Kennethkeen]

They make screw-on lids for five gallon buckets.

There is a heavy, plastic ring that snaps over the rim of a standard 5 gal. bucket and the lid screws on just like the top of a giant pickle jar. There is a rubber gasket around the inside rim to seal in the contents.

If you put your dry cat food in a bucket with a screw-on lid, it should stay fresh, practically forever and all you have to do to get the food out is give the top a spin.

I couldn't find them at Lowes' website but I'm sure that a place like Tractor Supply probably has them.

That's a good idea, though I don't mind ordering the big bags they just take up more space and hard to make sure they stay fresh. I should also ask what brands should I look at around $5 my cat's not really a picky eater I just notice every couple months she coughed up dry food she's been eating, I never really found a good wet mix she likes either. I'm not really trying to be cheap when it comes to food but I'll save money if I can knowing it's a good product. She's about 3 years old part siamese part something else.

 

[Maurey]

To my knowledge, there aren't any foods that cheap that are particularly good, to be honest. Wysong Epigen (or the formulation w/o starch, Epigen 90) is probably the best traditional dry food you can buy, though some animals don't do well with the amount of protein in it, especially if they've been fed primarily high-carb kibble. Other really good options are freeze and air-dried foods, like Primal and Ziwipeak, respectively. Vital essentials is another p decent freeze dried food. They're very low carb, high protein, and have very little unnecessary additives in them.

For slightly more budget options, you'll want to look at Dr.Elsey's Clean Protein, Tiki Cat Born Carnivore, or Petcurean Go. Tiki Cat is also great in that they sell broths to put into dry food, which increases the water intake of your kitty, which many cats on dry food are lacking.

 

[Sammy123]

I would recommend depending on the number of cats you have. I have only one big boi at 16lbs and a 6lb bag will last him maybe 6ish weeks. If you have 2 or less cats then I would say go with a 3 or 6lb bag maybe even a 12lb. But I wouldn't buy a big one unless you have 2 cats that eat a lotttt or more cats. You can store it right and make sure no air gets into it but it can mold if it goes too long unused I had this happen once and was horrified. Also the air makes it dry out more and it may lose nutrtitional content

 

[game misconduct]

So I've bought 30 pound bags before and they lasted all year though is it really a good idea to store dry food for that long? I mean can it dry it out even more and go bad I'm assuming not but those with only one cat and a small bowel does a 3 pound bag usually last you the entire month?

I'm looking at switching brands and it would be cheaper for myself to buy the 3 pound bags vs $40+ for 20 to 30 pounds but it does last all year going that route I'm just not sure if it's worth it in the long run

i buy a small bag of dry food for graycie each month but i feed her canned along with dry each day. feeding from a bigger bag i would assume it would go stale even stored in a food bin no longer being sealed in package i would rather feed her fresh food everyday so yea the dry food thats been out gets tossed in trash and fresh dry food gets put out for her each morning and night

 

[kittenmittens84]

My cat gets dry food as a midnight snack in a puzzle toy so he goes through it pretty slowly. I used to keep it in a ziploc bag but he definitely didn’t like it as much near the end of the bag probably because it was getting stale. I bought one of those OXO pop top plastic containers that make an airtight seal when you press the lid and it keeps the food way fresher. More expensive than a basic plastic tub but they’re really well designed and last forever. The one that holds my sugar I’ve had for years.