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

jade14

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I feed almost exclusively Fancy Feast, Sheba, & Science Diet. I don't like some of ingredients in SD or the high carbs but he only gets it on rotation. He LOVES Fancy Feast and the portions of Sheba are so handy. I have tried probably every brand of canned food in Pet Smart and higher end pet stores and he will pretty much always throw up and get diarrhea. He has gotten the 4Health occasionally but I am unsure if it agrees with him completely or not. After about a year or so I finally narrowed it down to the foods he can handle. He does get a very small snack of Hill's T/D in the evening. I would love to feed him a higher end food, I am very picky with the food my pets eat and don't mind paying for good food, but so far I have yet to find a brand that seems to agree with him AND that he likes. I am hoping to eventually try some raw with him, we just have a few vacations coming up this summer and I want to be home until I am sure he does well on it. (also, I will only feed the FF Classics, and I will once in awhile buy a fish flavor of the Sheba portions but probably not any more than once or twice a month)
 

thegreystalker

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Be aware of the distinction between Pro Plan and Pro Plan True Nature. PPTN, particularly the 'Classic' varieties, are grain free. The basic Pro Plan and particularly Pro Plan Savor, are loaded with carbs like corn and wheat.
 

shadowplay

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I forgot to add that we've recently tried a couple flavors of Iams grain-free stuff and they have liked that as well. It's got shreds in sauce which they love but also is reasonably healthy and decently priced. I may try incorporating more into the rotation to see if they eat it consistently.
 

_spadekitty

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I feed my kitty Trader Joe's wet food as his main. For the price, the ingridients aren't too bad. I also have fancy feast classics in his roation, sheba makes him vomit. He gets Acana Meadowlands dry as a snack, and I'm thinking of switching him to Wellness as his main wet as the ingridients are great, he loves it, and I'll ultimately be paying about the same monthly as I do on cat food anyway with the higher quality brand.
 

kittens mom

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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...
I had a long phone conversation with a FF customer service rep after the melamine debacle from China years ago. There may be better foods but per that discussion and their safety record there are other things to consider when feeding any food and that is the source. We go through 5 cans of FF daily that doesn't count the expensive kibble. At .53cents a can it's sure not cheap but it has a good record the ingredients in the pate is decent and I can find it at any local store. Although our local grocer it's about .80cents per can so we try not to run out. All cat foods no matter how cheap or how bad the ingredients are nutritionally complete.
 

Gizmobius

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I would prefer to feed higher quality brands but really, I want to feed him what he wants and likes. He tends to favor Sheba and Fancy Feast over his more expensive foods! I only wish Fancy Feast made more flavors that didn't have pesky hidden fish as an ingredient as he only gets fish flavors once a week. But I am comforted knowing that Fancy Feast (and Sheba too I think?) have never had a recall. I just got him some Friskies today, but only a few cans as it tends to be super carb-y.
 

thegreystalker

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My gal surprised my recently when she took a liking to Iams Turkey dinner premium pate because we tried some other flavor of Iams last year and she refused it. As for Fancy Feast, she likes it but I gave it up because of the artificial color. To each his own.

Finally, I just watched the documentary 'PET Fooled' last night. My biggest concern was the lack of transparency from the food manufacturers. And frankly, a lot of what they make is overpriced, despite its middling content.
 

artiemom

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I will say that my guy was fed the local grocery store brand food, for years, before I adopted him. It was a battle to switch him over to top brand name food. He loved the junk, because he had grown up with it.

I do think FF classics is an ok brand. I did have to resort to it for a while.

I also think that feeding the more inexpensive brands will make it harder, in the future to transition them over to a prescription diet, if there is ever a need for it.

I may be wrong, but I really wonder if there is a connection with the cheaper quality food, (questionable food sources) and the increase in IBD and bowel issues in cats.

My guy has IBD and now bowel issues~~~ constipation.

just some thoughts.....
 

DreamerRose

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I feed Fancy Feast, Sheba, and Purina One Urinary Tract Health dry food. I also buy the odd can of Friskies, but Lily tends to be overweight, so I don't feed it often. I used to feed Beyond, but one flavor has disappeared, and Mingo got struvite crystals. The food that the vet sold me made him sick, so the Purina One seemed to be the answer. So far, we haven't had a reoccurrence of the crystals.
 
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kttn

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At .53cents a can it's sure not cheap but it has a good record the ingredients in the pate is decent and I can find it at any local store. Although our local grocer it's about .80cents per can so we try not to run out. All cat foods no matter how cheap or how bad the ingredients are nutritionally complete.
honestly i am starting to think FF/sheba is pretty inexpensive unless there's something i'm missing. there's no carrageenan and they're high calorie enough, which is something i'm struggling to find in brands for less than $1.25 per 5.5 oz (hound and gatos is my other find so far)
 

ashade1

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I run a small rescue so we mostly feed donated food- which tends to be on the low end..9 lives, Meow Mix, Etc. I usually try to buy a bag of higher quality food and mix it in with the lower quality (I think it makes me feel better about feeding it to them lol). My kittens get Purina One Kitten, its relatively inexpensive and is one of the better kitten foods. When I am buying food for the rescue I tend to shoot towards the middle foods- We go through 40 lbs of food very fast so it would be impossible for me to buy the highest quality. I just recently discovered a brand called Goodlife- I am impressed with the quality for the price. It isn't the best, but far from the worst and the price is right in my range for feeding so many cats!
I took a couple of animal nutrition classes in college (I have an animal science degree). My nutrition teacher told us when picking food for your cat or dog mostly the quality is just effecting what comes out of it... ie dogs with a higher quality food poop less lol because it is more digestible. Same goes for the smell and consistency of the poop. He said obviously the more expensive foods have better ingredients, but he said you can also buy a 50lb bag of purina dog chow for $20 and people have been feeding it to their dogs for decades without any complaint.
 

kittens mom

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honestly i am starting to think FF/sheba is pretty inexpensive unless there's something i'm missing. there's no carrageenan and they're high calorie enough, which is something i'm struggling to find in brands for less than $1.25 per 5.5 oz (hound and gatos is my other find so far)
We're going through 5 cans plus per day so it does add up since they get some pretty expensive kibble with it. They are cleaning it up though and I'm done with the pretty labels and really expensive cans of food that my cats won't touch. My cats all throw Sheba up or won't touch it.
 

maggiedemi

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ashade1- my female cat really likes that Goodlife dry food from Walmart too, the chicken one in the orange bag. It has some bad reviews on Amazon, but she likes it.
 

kittens mom

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I fed a feral colony for 5 years with 9 Lives dry food and Friskies wet. The vet we worked with on TNR said it was the healthiest group of ferals he'd ever seen.
Our feral cats did quite well on the cheapest food because it was a supplement to what they were hunting. Before my SIL brought home litter after litter saying she was rescuing them and causing a massive overpopulation the ferals wouldn't touch the human offered food and they were sleek and healthy for all appearances. They were not immune to the other things that shorten their lives.
When cats are kept indoors I think a lot of us are trying to provide them a natural diet. We are then preyed upon by the pet industry. No matter what food you list high to low someone has had a horrible experience with.
 

jtbo

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Friskies, Purina, I wonder what is really the difference as in a bag it says Friskies by Purina.

Mine eat Friskies dry food and Whiskas brand wet food which comes in pouches, which is much better than Latz (also by Purina) canned food, not as cheap, but no pooping or other issues with Whiskas, also quite large range of different tastes.

Small bag of Friskies dry food (I think it is around 2kg or 4.4 pounds) is 6 euros here and 12 pouches of Whiskas is bit over 4 euros, I'm not sure about currency conversion, but I'm quite sure our local pricing is not the best around, 2 hour moped trip to next town saves around 20% already and in big world prices might be lot more affordable.

I have to live by with around 900 euros a month so with 4 active outdoor cats price of food is quite a lot to pay, but I'm sure there are worse situations too.

There are then Kitekat and some grocery store's own brand cheap foods, but those I stay away from.
 

kittens mom

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Friskies, Purina, I wonder what is really the difference as in a bag it says Friskies by Purina.

Mine eat Friskies dry food and Whiskas brand wet food which comes in pouches, which is much better than Latz (also by Purina) canned food, not as cheap, but no pooping or other issues with Whiskas, also quite large range of different tastes.

Small bag of Friskies dry food (I think it is around 2kg or 4.4 pounds) is 6 euros here and 12 pouches of Whiskas is bit over 4 euros, I'm not sure about currency conversion, but I'm quite sure our local pricing is not the best around, 2 hour moped trip to next town saves around 20% already and in big world prices might be lot more affordable.

A lot of brands you think are different are simply produced and packaged under different names. Goes for a lot of products. Sometimes reading the label can show the cheaper store version is the same as name brand. It's important to check the cost per ounce or serving size.
I live in a small town a can of fancy feast is approaching 90 cents at the grocer but driving to a Walmart it's 57 cents. Even without the currency conversion you can see it's worth it to travel a bit.


I have to live by with around 900 euros a month so with 4 active outdoor cats price of food is quite a lot to pay, but I'm sure there are worse situations too.

There are then Kitekat and some grocery store's own brand cheap foods, but those I stay away from.
 

stacydc83

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If mine did eat healthier brands or raw I'd be all for it. Lily my rag doll is so picky and I think that rubbed off on my now 9 month old kitten Zoe. They lick up Purina pro plan, I call it kitty spaghetti, the tomato pasta and chicken. And they nibble on (Lily won't touch adult hard food) simply nourish kitten dry food.
 

margd

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I feed Fancy Feast, Sheba, and Purina One Urinary Tract Health dry food. I also buy the odd can of Friskies, but Lily tends to be overweight, so I don't feed it often. I used to feed Beyond, but one flavor has disappeared, and Mingo got struvite crystals. The food that the vet sold me made him sick, so the Purina One seemed to be the answer. So far, we haven't had a reoccurrence of the crystals.
This is exactly what I feed Chula and Paul both of which prefer these to the more expensive foods I've tried. Paul is thriving but Chula periodically goes through a few days of vomiting in a row. I don't think it's associated with the food though since she also goes for weeks with no problem at all.
 

pet mom

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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.
I have mixed feeling's after reading about the food recall's, the FDA has a list on cat and dog food recalls.
many of the food's I thought were top of the line are listed.
 
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