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

kittens mom

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Fancy Feast has never had a recall. As I stated earlier I called a customer rep after the melamine contamination that killed so many. We don't feed any gravy blends only pate and try to keep it to chicken and turkey though they love some of the shrimp and salmon pate. Mook only pukes the liver flavors and Sheeba ( This doesn't include her occasional stress puke).
One thing neglected in so many pets of every kind is regular fecal checks for parasites.
 

Shane Kent

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Dry: Whiskas Seafood Selections and Iams Chicken and Salmon Grain Free Naturals
Wet: Whiskas Perfect Portions Chicken Pate, Friskies Chicken Pate and Friskies Salmon Pate.

I feed them the Whiskas dry food less and less and the Iams more and more. Slowly getting them off the Whiskas even though they seem to prefer it. Zoe lost weight eating Whiskas and now with the Iams she has put back on weight.

I have tried different brands and flavors but these are the foods my cats prefer. I have tried a variety of wet foods from both grocery and pet stores but my cats are very picky about wet food. When I got Zoe from the Humane Society she ate Iams Chicken Pate but she will no longer eat it. Zoe is an incredibly picky eater.

My work cats were feral and they will eat just about anything. They (Kitty and Rusty) will only eat wet food that is Pate, same with my other two cats. They don't like shredded in gravy, they lick up the gravy and leave the meat. I feed Kitty and Rusty the same foods listed above. I really shouldn't call them my work cats anymore because they are living at my house now. It has only been a few weeks so I still have them separated from the other two cats.

I want to get the cats over to the Iams Grain Free Naturals dry food completely and next step is to try better wet foods. At least with Kitty and Rusty at home not as much wet food will go to waste as they are not as picky as Taz and Zoe.
 

tarasgirl06

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I would have absolutely nothing against feeding some of the brands other posters have talked about here! Unfortunately, my cat have each had problems with Purina products (throwing up) in the past, so I don't even attempt to feed them any now. They showed no interest when I bought a few different kinds of Fancy Feast for variety; ditto Sheba. I guess they're spoiled but they are so very worth it. But I am not snobbish about this issue -- and I have known lots of cats who have thrived on "supermarket" cat foods.
 

kittens mom

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Without fail I popped open a can of FF and then noticed it had gravy. Mook begged I gave it to her and then she puked it all up. We only feed the pate because of gravy puking.
 

JMJimmy

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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 fed the cheapest of the cheap out of necessity and now that we can afford more, we find we don't need to. All our cats are healthy and happy eating Wiskas kibble and Friskies wet. CDN$0.54 per 155g can (5.5 oz) though I don't recommend the beef Wiskas... sinky poops! The salmon/tuna are best for our sensitive stomach cat and the "seafood medley" the worst.
 

fidola

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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.

No I don't.
 

redneckcatman

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Well Ms. Dixie only eats Nine Lives Beef Blend. She is probably the most particular cat I have ever had the pleasure of being around, but she won't eat fish (not even fresh fish)... She won't eat chicken... Really, she won't eat anything but beef. And it must be chopped, not pureed. I'm not sure if it is because she is a torbie cat or what, as I have had cats nearly my whole life and they will mostly eat anything offered that is wet food. It can be exasperating, as I would like to feed her some variety, but that is all she will touch. I have spent hours looking for another beef wet food, but have not found any that is not mixed with something else as the primary ingredient. Then again, maybe it's because she is from West Texas, and Texans like beef
:winkcat:
 

katlady-18

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After recently losing my beloved 10 yr. old Pumpkin, I'm left with Chance (not sure of his age, somewhere around 5 1/2); Chance has always gotten whatever prescription food Pumpkin was on because it was easier to feed both the same thing (first the Hill's C/D, then for the last year z/d dry and i/d wet). But now that he's the only one, I was thinking of switching him to a good quality, non-prescription food. I went over to Petco to look at brands and ingredients and took note of a few on my phone. Then I came here intending to begin a thread asking opinions/experiences regarding those brands and saw this thread, and it's kind of refreshing to see some people say their kitties do well on cheaper brands. While I understand why many pet parents think higher quality foods are best, I have to admit I get nervous thinking that if less widely used/known brands were to be involved in a recall, I might not hear about it as quickly as if a big brand were involved (then it'd be all over the news). And, as I think someone else might've mentioned, the big companies have more years of research and testing behind them.

Now as for those pricier brands, I'll ask here, any advice, knowledge/personal experience with these (I'll post later in a separate thread if necessary): Soulistic, Muse, Halo, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Merrick, Canidae? I really liked one called Applaws, but then saw that it apparently is not nutritionally complete and recommended only for occasional use? :(
 

maggiedemi

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My cats like the Muse dry food, but my male cat vomits it up. I think the kibble is too small for him. He swallowed it instead of chewing it and it all came back up whole. He doesn't do this with larger kibble. I think you're fine trying cheaper wet foods like Friskies and Fancy Feast. It's the dry food that causes me the most problems. I just have to limit it and watch for throwing up or urinary problems.
 

Shane Kent

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To add to my previous comment.

I don't wish to seem critical of Whiskas Dry or Friskies Pate because both have served me well. Neither of my cats nor my vet have given me a reason to be critical. I will add some detail to why I would like to try switching because I don't have a problem with those brands.

None of my cats vomit much, Taz and Zoe do on occasion but not often. They seem to like what I feed them and my vet tells me they are healthy. I am not entirely against what I am feeding them now but I would like to try different food as I am concerned with the weight of Taz and Zoe, more so Taz. Our vet says Taz is healthy but I would feel better if he put on a little bit of weight. Zoe lost weight after I got her, I have had her for 3 years. It could be she is more active at my house than her previous home, I got her from the Humane Society so I have no way of knowing for sure. Zoe seems to have put on weight switching to the Iams Grain Free but it hasn't been for long so that is not for certain. It is a work in progress. Taz eats more wet than dry food which is why I would also like to try switching wet foods.

I have the opposite problem with my cats Kitty and Rusty. They were living in the office building where I work and eating lots of mice and moles plus I was feeding them. In the spring both of them fattened up a little too much on mice and moles. Rusty was about 5 pounds overweight and Kitty about 3 pounds overweight. They are at my house now losing weight without mice and moles to dine on at night. When I say I want to fatten Taz up a bit I don't mean like Kitty and Rusty as I do realize overweight is not healthy.
 
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maggiedemi

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Well, what caused him to vomit it up then, I wonder? He doesn't vomit the larger kibble, only the smaller kibble like Muse and Rachael Ray.
 

Willowy

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He might eat it too quickly---that can cause upchucking. The small kibbles would go down faster than large ones.
 

thegreystalker

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Dasust said; "I feed Pro Plan wet mainly. Yes, it is crap."

I respectfully disagree. The Pro Plan formulas sold under the "True Nature" variety contain quality ingredients. More importantly, the pate versions do not contain corn, wheat or soy. Also, the True Nature recipes do not contain artificial color, which some cat owners consider to be an asset (unlike Fancy Feast). True Nature recipes can be found online at Chewy.com and Jet.com at very good prices. Read your labels because a few True Nature recipes contain CWS.
 
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kttn

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Now as for those pricier brands, I'll ask here, any advice, knowledge/personal experience with these (I'll post later in a separate thread if necessary): Soulistic, Muse, Halo, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Merrick, Canidae? I really liked one called Applaws, but then saw that it apparently is not nutritionally complete and recommended only for occasional use? :(
i've had good luck with natural balance, soulistic, and merrick. i think they snubbed canidae. natural balance is a really good deal, meets my calorie requirements, but some formulas tend to be higher carb so make sure to double check that. i tend to rule out any 5.5 oz can that isn't around 200kcal and has too many carbs which limits my choices greatly :(


I respectfully disagree. The Pro Plan formulas sold under the "True Nature" variety contain quality ingredients.
i think True Nature is great too!
 

bonepicker

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I look at it this way, I buy the best I can afford that my cats enjoy, you will make yourself crazy keeping up with recalls, I also rotate so they don't eat same thing twice in a row, because of recalls and boredom. I decided I did not want certain ingredients even though my cat would eat the friskies I give to the Feral cats. I feed my cats soulistic chicken dinner pate & shreds, wellness Core natural pate chicken & chicken liver and whole earth farms duck or beef pate and no kibble. I give them purebites freeze dried chicken for treats(buy dog size bag) from chewy.com or petco.com. The cats love them all but there are plenty they don't like expensive ones too!
 

mizzely

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Dry kibble i will never go with the super cheap brands again, but wet I wish I could! They all have chicken or undisclosed poultry of some sort and my senior kitty has an allergy. They enjoy that food so much more than many of the expensive ones that it would just be easier in so many ways.
 
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