Budget Aside, Does Anyone Here Choose To Feed Grocery Store Brands?

[kttn]

Like many people here, I generally stick to 'premium' brands that avoid by-products and other questionable ingredients. But I am curious if anyone here chooses to feed mainstream brands (think: Purina), even if you can easily afford 'better' brands.

The most compelling reason I've heard is that big brands have big budgets, massive research departments, and scientists to test their foods. They have decades of data backing their food up, unlike smaller brands.

I'm sure this won't be a popular way of approaching feline nutrition, but I still want to hear if there's anyone among us who feeds this way.

 

[cheeser]

I feed Fancy Feast Classics to one of my cats because that's what he likes. It's a happy coincidence for me that it's relatively inexpensive.

I used to think more expensive premium brands meant better quality. You know, the old saying, "You get what you pay for." But thanks to places like this wonderful site and CatInfo.org, I've learned that you can provide some pretty decent quality food that's budget friendly.

 

[maggiedemi]

My two cats are former ferals and they will only eat Friskies, Fancy Feast, Purina One, Purina ProPlan, and Sheba. They like a few flavors of Meow Mix, but I don't feed it that often because it seems like all the flavors have fish in them. I tried more expensive brands, but just ended up throwing everything away. They will starve themselves if they don't like their food.

 

[thegreystalker]

Wet
Sheba Entrees
Purina Beyond
Iams Premium Pate

Dry
Purina Beyond
Evolve

I order her other preferred brands and flavors online.

 

[Sarthur2]

I feed Purina One (high protein, turkey first ingredient, no fillers), and Fancy Feast wet food. My cats appear to be thriving!

 

[IndyJones]

I don't like a lot of them because they have dyes and other weird chemicals also I don't like unspecified meat either.

Food coloring has been linked to hyperactivity and cancer in children so I can't imagine it being good for a 10lb cat.

 

[cheeser]

Just wanted to add...

There are a number of things I consider when I look at possible foods for our cats. I look at the ingredients to see if there's anything that's a deal-breaker for me (e.g., carrageenan, garlic, fish products, etc.). What do the protein/fat/carb percentages look like? If a product is advertised as 'grain-free,' did the company load it up with potatoes and/or other carbs? What is the company's history re: recalls? Who is the company's co-packer? That sort of thing.

And sometimes, after trying to do the best we can with all of that info, we just happen to wind up with something we can buy at the grocery store that works out quite nicely.

That being said, we do have another cat who has some health issues, and for him, the pricier stuff we can only get at holistic pet supply stores and Chewy works best for him.

 

[IndyJones]

Interestingly enough many grocery stores now also stock a raw food selection.

 

[Willowy]

I have gravitated to Purina brands just because my cats seem to do better on them than on other mid-grade brands . I've tried other brands in the same price range, some with better-looking ingredients, but my cats just do better on Purina for some reason.

For dry food, I try to stick to the higher-end Purina products, without any artificial colors (ONE, Beyond, Pro Plan, etc). In my experience, coloring in cat food makes a lot of cats throw up, plus (this may be my imagination, idk) it seems to make litterbox odor worse.

I do rotate with a couple other brands---4Health, Chicken Soup, Evolve---just for some variety.

As for canned food, I mainly stick with Friskies and Fancy Feast because that's what my cats like and I'm not going to throw away unwanted food :/. Picky beasts.

 

[thegreystalker]

In the initial few months with me, my gal had a steady diet of Purina One Kitten (dry) and a two or three Purina flavors of wet food in a can. She seemed to be quite healthy with the Purina One Kitten and Purina One Indoor Advantage, but her business cards in the litter box were at times overpowering. As I began to read more about cat nutrition, I decided to avoid corn, wheat and soy ingredients. I am not crazy about artificial color, either. We gave up the baseline Purina products in exchange for Beyond, Pro Plan True Nature and grain-free recipes from other manufacturers. Since then, her stools have consistently been firm and nearly ordor-less. You have to read the labels to keep your cat happy and healthy.

 

[destinyz12]

I feed Sheba in the rotation along with some mid-range/higher end brands since both of my cats seem to love it, and it's grain-free and carrageenan-free and meat is #1 ingredient. Definitely one of the best 'low end' brands out there.

 

[tuffsmom]

I picked up a few cans of Fancy Feast Classic when my cat Tuff first arrived on my doorstep. I knew absolutely nothing about what to feed, but he loved it and no upset tummy. So as the saying goes,"if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" He is now 2 years old and very healthy. After reading a lot on TCS about nutrition, I think I accidentally made a good choice!

 

[sarahlove]

I mostly feed 4health. Not quite a grocery store brand but close.
One of my cats cannot handle the more premium brands or really most brands other than 4health. The only exception for her is weruva, soulistic, and tiki cat but one of my cats won't eat shredded food so I don't buy it often.

 

[mosimom]

I feed Pro Plan wet mainly. Yes, it is crap. Compare ingredients to Fancy Feast. I also feed Wellness, Blue Buffalo, and Country Naturals, but Miss Kitty isn't too consistent with those. I would and have tried to feed premium brands, but she will not eat. Cost is not an issue.
In the last three weeks she wants the food directly from the refrigerator. No heating. Weird because air conditioner is on and no temperature change.
It used to bum me out and I felt like a bad cat mom not feeding the best, but I got over it.

 

[cheeser]

It used to bum me out and I felt like a bad cat mom not feeding the best, but I got over it.

I know what you mean. But sometimes the 'best' is whatever makes them happy and healthy.

That's my rationale anyway when I eat cookies for breakfast.

 

[kashmir64]

I currently feed the kittens Purina One Kitten and the canned is Fancy Feast kitten. As soon as they are old enough though I plan on switching to Purina Beyond dry. (they don't make a kitten)
When I lived in the city, I always fed Pro Plan.

 

[jen]

I fed Taste of the Wild and Acana for years. My 2 current 15 year old cats have never had a grain in their entire lives. Now I found Purina Beyond and I always see $5 off coupons and since they have a grain free I tried that. I moved in with my bf last year and he had a diabetic cat. After weaning her off her insulin entirely I am very strict about what she eats. She gets a variety of grain free wet food as the majority of her diet. She also eats some of the GF Purina Beyond the other 2 get.

 

[shadowplay]

Yep. One of the foods in their current rotation is Purina Pro Plan. I've fed them fancier foods and their favorites still seem to be Friskies, Fancy Feast, and others. I do keep some other "healthy" options in rotation, which they will eat, but nothing seems to make them as happy as those grocery store gravy and sauce covered foods.

 

[kttn]

Awesome responses, thanks guys.

I also have Fancy Feast classics in rotation. I read that FF is one of the few brands that has never had a recall! It got me wondering if 'big brands' have more self-accountability and/or self-regulation when it comes to food safety. Of course most large brands have been recalled many times in the past, but compared to how much product they sell, is it less or more than luxury food companies?

And for many of us, feeding lower-tier food might be worth it if it means we decrease the odds of feeding recalled food...

 

[IndyJones]

I'm a bit iffy about fancy feast but if Indy keeps wasting food I may have to start giving it to her. Food is too expensive to keep throwing it away.