Affording all wet - so confused on quality/price?

Annieca2016

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My girls, Snap (7) and Grommet (5) currently eat 1/2 cup Hills Science Indoor dry a day and they each get 1/2 can of Blue Buffalo Freedom either chicken or fish. The wet food equals 62 cents a day to feed them, and I think the Hills should last them about 3 months so....like 38 cents a day for that (It's a new food for them so I'm not quite sure.)

Whenever the dry food runs out in a few months, I'm considering feeding them mostly wet. I want to continue to feed them a tiny bit of dry so that I don't get a paw to the eye at 4 am demanding noms, and I can continue using their automatic feeder. The problem I'm running into in planning this is how expensive wet food is! I totally understand why - it's better ingredients (generally), better quality (usually) - it's just the idea of feeding my girls something like Tiki Cat After Dark would go up to $3 a day. I had always been taught Friskies or Fancy Feast was terrible cat food. (Although my vet did recommend Fancy Feasts or Friskies at one point to keep up their moisture levels. Said you didn't have to go fancy - just make sure it was a pate.) But then I look at the Cat Food Nutritional Composition chart on Cat Info.org and some of Friskies has more protein/less fat/fewer carbs than the Blue Freedom I'm feeding them now?

How do y'all afford all wet? I love my girls as my own children and I want the best for them. But I also want to be realistic about what I can afford. Any suggestions?
 

Whenallhellbreakslose

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Hi there. I feed an indoor kitty and outdoor kitties. I give them wet and dry. Unfortunately, I am very limited in what I can buy. So with wet food it is Friskies and Fancy Feast ( what is considered the fast food of cat food) when i can afford to buy something better I go with Blue Buffalo, Weruva or Tiki Cat. However, since it is not very often I can afford that I usually put powdered vitamins in all the cats food. I make sure everyone gets Lysine to boost the immune system, especially the outdoor kitties in the winter.

I strongly suggest not feeding a diet of mostly dry food. I owned a male cat who seemed very healthy, but ate dry food like it is going out of style. One day he was letargic and vomiting all over. He was taken to the vet, than the vet emergency hospital. The vet thought he had FLUTD( Feline Lower Urinary tract disease). This happens usually to male cats when crystals develop in his urinary tract causing a blockage. This is a fatal condition and could take a cat out in a few days. Thankful, my cat didn't have it, he just had an bacterial infection.

With feeding cats my rule us feed them the best you can afford and if needed, put extra vitamins in it so your cats arn't lacking anything. Hope that help you.🙂
 

daftcat75

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Hedge your bets. I like both Fancy Feast Classic pates and Tiki Cat After Dark. Rotate between the two. The Tiki Cat AD will bring up the quality of their diet while the FF will bring down the price. FF Classic pates are not as garbage as others would have you believe. I'd rather feed a cheaper food with a better recipe than a more expensive food that has all kinds of inappropriate ingredients.

Meat, moisture, organs (also called byproducts which is just unnamed organs), and supplements are all that's needed, preferably in that order, for cat food. Anything else is a potential irritant. Fruits and vegetables aren't natural sources of vitamins for cats. More often, they are just irritants because cats, being carnivores, lack many of the enzymes to utilize plant-based sources of vitamins and minerals. If the ingredients label reads like something you might like to eat with superfoods, fruits, and vegetables, that's not cat food. That's marketing!
 

Willowy

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if needed, put extra vitamins in it so your cats arn't lacking anything.
The cheaper foods have no lack of vitamins (supplements are cheap for pet food producers), so be careful about supplementing. Overdoing it can be worse than underdoing it. What cheaper food lacks is higher-quality meat protein, so a better "supplement" would be giving some good meat every now and then.
 

CatLover49

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Hedge your bets. I like both Fancy Feast Classic pates and Tiki Cat After Dark. Rotate between the two. The Tiki Cat AD will bring up the quality of their diet while the FF will bring down the price. FF Classic pates are not as garbage as others would have you believe. I'd rather feed a cheaper food with a better recipe than a more expensive food that has all kinds of inappropriate ingredients.

Meat, moisture, organs (also called byproducts which is just unnamed organs), and supplements are all that's needed, preferably in that order, for cat food. Anything else is a potential irritant. Fruits and vegetables aren't natural sources of vitamins for cats. More often, they are just irritants because cats, being carnivores, lack many of the enzymes to utilize plant-based sources of vitamins and minerals. If the ingredients label reads like something you might like to eat with superfoods, fruits, and vegetables, that's not cat food. That's marketing!
Unfortunately my almost 7 month old kitten doesnt like pate
 

EmersonandEvie

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I feed Friskies (Poultry Platter and Tuna and Chicken), Fancy Feast, Tiny Tiger (which is Chewy's house brand of Fancy Feast and a little cheaper), and Purina Pro Plan True Nature Turkey and Chicken. On weeknights, they each get Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach dry food. I also add water to their wet food in the morning and evenings (they get a snack of wet before husband comes to bed).

Any commercial food is already complete and balanced. Do not give extra vitamins. There is too much of a good thing!

No one will ever shame you for what you can afford. I used to feed wet exclusively but had to cut some costs. I spend right at $75/month for my three cats (which would be less without the PPP Sensitive, but Evie throws up other dry foods). Do the best that you can and feed as well as you can, but don't feel like you have to break the bank.

Like you pointed out, Friskies and Fancy Feast are decent food. I wish some of the ingredients were better, but it supplies meat, organs, and moisture, and vitamins. That's really it- nothing extraneous and biologically inappropriate like cranberries, peas, etc.
 

Uncled

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I feed Friskies pate and Paws and Claws from Tractor Supply ,pate also. My cats are healthy and eat what is offered and with a cat my motto is the best food for your cat is the one that they will eat on a consist basis.
 

LTS3

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Any commercial food is already complete and balanced.
Not unless it's one of those supplement / complement / treat type foods. None of these foods are complete balanced diets. They are only meant to be fed in addition to dry food. Some known brands: Fancy Feast Broths, Applaws (all canned / pouched / tray foods sold in the US only. UK-sold products are complete), Friskies Lil' Soups, and Rachael Ray Nutrish Purrfect Broths.

Read the teeny tiny print on the label. The AAFCO statement will indicate if the food is a complete balanced diet or a supplement / complement food. The ingredient list is another place to check. If no vitamins and minerals are listed, the food is not a complete diet. If you're still not sure, err on the side of caution and give the food as a treat only.

How do y'all afford all wet? I love my girls as my own children and I want the best for them. But I also want to be realistic about what I can afford. Any suggestions?
Don't buy 3 oz can if you intend to feed only canned food. Those 3 oz cans add up in cost over time. Plus they tend to have well under 100 calories so you'd need to feed 3 or 4 cans daily to each cat, maybe more, to keep your cats from starving.

Many brands have 5.5 oz and larger sized cans available. You can buy cases of food online or from a pet store.
 

daftcat75

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If there are supplements in the ingredients, it is probably complete. But it doesn't hurt to check for the AAFCO statement. If it's just meat or meat and water, that's probably not complete, or one of the "for supplemental or intermittent feeding only." Those you can feed as a rare treat or as a temporary food (eating something is better than nothing!) when kitty's not feeling so well.
 

CFD-JTZ

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The cheaper foods have no lack of vitamins (supplements are cheap for pet food producers), so be careful about supplementing. Overdoing it can be worse than underdoing it. What cheaper food lacks is higher-quality meat protein, so a better "supplement" would be giving some good meat every now and then.
Agreed! The quality of ingredients are the key factor. It's not just a question of whether there's enough protein and nutrients, but also what is in the protein and where does it come from? Lower quality often equates to questionable meat.

Unfortunately my almost 7 month old kitten doesnt like pate
It will be much more difficult to ween them off of dry food as an adult. Try putting down some wet food, and wait until kitty eats some before you give him/her a few pieces of dry food as a treat. It's difficult to see them cry for food, but they should eventually resort to whats available. Of course, you don't want to starve them, but if they finally eat the wet food a couple of hours later, success and no harm done! If they continue to refuse, maybe try a different brand or flavor. Even if it's a little cheaper! Cheap wet food is slightly better than a life of dry food only.
 

maggie101

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My favorite thread is the cat food deals thread. Many people post about deals. I like ff classics or sheba roasted chicken or Turkey perfect portions. It is cheaper to buy online unless some store has it on sale. Wet cat food is expensive but not as much as taking them to a vet
 

LTS3

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Chain pet stores often have giant food sales around the holidays. That's a good time to stock up on food :)

There's nothing wrong with feeding a mix of brands. Some people feed mostly affordable brands like Fancy Feast or Friskies but occasionally include higher end brands like Weruva or Koha.

Store generic brands may be quite similar to big name brands so don't overlook those. Wal Mart's Special Kitty brand of canned foods are similar to Fancy Feast and Friskies.

Take a look at the end of the aisles at the pet store or big box store. The "end caps" facing the walls are usually where clearance items are found. You can sometimes find pet food and supplies there. Check the regular pet aisles, too. I remember seeing a whole shelf of various varieties of Fancy Feast on clearance at Target once. The cans were like $0.35 each and all were in good condition (no dented cans) and not expired. I think it was someone here on TCS who got a huge score of canned food that were on clearance at a chain pet store a few years ago.
 

CatLover49

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Agreed! The quality of ingredients are the key factor. It's not just a question of whether there's enough protein and nutrients, but also what is in the protein and where does it come from? Lower quality often equates to questionable meat.



It will be much more difficult to ween them off of dry food as an adult. Try putting down some wet food, and wait until kitty eats some before you give him/her a few pieces of dry food as a treat. It's difficult to see them cry for food, but they should eventually resort to whats available. Of course, you don't want to starve them, but if they finally eat the wet food a couple of hours later, success and no harm done! If they continue to refuse, maybe try a different brand or flavor. Even if it's a little cheaper! Cheap wet food is slightly better than a life of dry food only.
My kitten dont like pates..but he does eat some of the other types of wet...Cause im not going to feed him just dry...my daughter did her cat..and he got urinary crystals..and yes I believe alot of the reason was she only fed him dry..
 

CFD-JTZ

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My kitten dont like pates..but he does eat some of the other types of wet...Cause im not going to feed him just dry...my daughter did her cat..and he got urinary crystals..and yes I believe alot of the reason was she only fed him dry..
Oh ok, thats great! I know it is very difficult when you have a kitty that loves dry food so much. Out of my 6 babies, 1 of them is obsessed with dry food. Even after eating his favorite wet food he cries for his kibble. Little turd!
 

CatLover49

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Oh ok, thats great! I know it is very difficult when you have a kitty that loves dry food so much. Out of my 6 babies, 1 of them is obsessed with dry food. Even after eating his favorite wet food he cries for his kibble. Little turd!
Oh my boy wanted all dry..but nope I started early getting him used to the wet also...
Cause when I first got him..he was around 4 months old..when got him from a lady my son knew...she had told me he loved dry
I knew then after I got him home slowly got him used to wet also.and now hes around over 6/and 1/2 months old..and he eats wet in morning n wet afternoon..and gets a squeeze up treat...mid afternoon n evening late a little bit of dry
 
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Talien

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Even if your Cats don't really like pate it's not impossible to get them to eat it the same way you'd transition them to a new brand or flavor of food. You just add a bit of pate (preferably the same flavor/brand so the only thing they're getting used to is the texture) to the food they do like and slowly use more pate and less of the current food over a period of time. If they stop eating then back up a bit, it's not uncommon for a Cat to take up to a month to fully transition to a new food.

Yes good quality Cat food can be a little expensive, but LTS3 LTS3 is right about not buying 3oz cans as they are much more expensive overall, if you can find 5.5, 8, or 10z cans of the same food then get those. One of the canned foods I buy (Tiki Cat koolina luau) from Chewy comes in 2.8oz, 6oz, and 10oz cans. Buying the 2.8 oz cans comes out to roughly $0.54/oz, but I buy the 10oz cans which is around $0.36/oz. The smaller cans are more convenient since you don't have to cover and put them in the fridge and maybe heat the leftovers if your Cats don't like cold food, but you pay more for that convenience.
 

LTS3

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Canned food can be frozen so if you find that a large 10 or 13 oz can isn't eaten with a few days, you can just freeze the rest or portion a new can out into serving sizes and freeze some.
 

Mailmans_Mom

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How do y'all afford all wet? I love my girls as my own children and I want the best for them. But I also want to be realistic about what I can afford. Any suggestions?
I agree with everyone here who says to read the ingredients; don't trust a brand. I've fed some varieties of Friskies, Fancy Feast, Sheba, and Whole Earth (a Merrick brand, $1.25 per 5 oz can). I know it is very controversial, and it is absolutely essential you do thorough research before diving in, but I just made my own cat food for about $0.60 per 6 oz, and I didn't wait for any kind of sales. Could nearly cut it in half if I did.

You want to do your best and you will find a way. Watch for deals and buy in bulk. I just learned about PetFlow (another online pet retailer), and you can find loads of coupons if you're a new customer. Good luck!
 

bluebklyn

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I buy a more expensive grain-free dry food that Nishi likes and has access to most of the time. But the majority of her diet is wet and I alternate Friskies and Fancy Feast with any of the more expensive food that happens to be on sale. I rotate the on-sale-more-expensive brands with the others. She likes the variety and I like saving money.
 
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Annieca2016

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Thank you everyone! I felt so guilty looking at the cost but also wanting what is best for my girls! When they run out of their Hills, I'll mix it up with a mixture of the cheaper and more expensive.
 
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