Canned food recommendations

[Pine]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some recommendations on some healthy cat food. My young cat has been dealing with a few chornic conditions and some digestive issues so I want to get him the healthiest food possible given some contraints.

I've read that raw is the best, but time is my main limitation so I need to get some kind of food I can just buy and serve. My second limitation is cost, I will not be in a place where I can afford $5 cans of cat food for at least 10 years.

With this in mind, are there any brands of cat food that are pretty healthy and max $2 a can? I'm in the US if there are any regional limitations.

Thanks!

 

[Swttea]

I’m not sure if they are “the best”! but in my research these come up a lot,

Rawz
Dr Elseys
Instinct

I just wanted to let you know that rawz will send sample cans and so will dr elseys! Instinct is sold in petsmart / petco so easy to pick up a single can or two to try.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

What are the digestive issues your cat is having?

The best food is the food your cat will eat. He doesn't care if it is $5/can. If he turns his nose up to it, it's worthless. I agree with above and get some free samples from Rawz and Dr. Elsey's (both of which are pricey, however, if he does like them).

An option that you could try would be the Fancy Feast Classic Pates or the new Fancy Feast Gourmet Naturals. That line tends to be just meat, byproduct (not a bad thing!), water, and vitamins. No peas, potatoes, wheat, etc.

 

[Swttea]

What are the digestive issues your cat is having?

The best food is the food your cat will eat. He doesn't care if it is $5/can. If he turns his nose up to it, it's worthless. I agree with above and get some free samples from Rawz and Dr. Elsey's (both of which are pricey, however, if he does like them).

An option that you could try would be the Fancy Feast Classic Pates or the new Fancy Feast Gourmet Naturals. That line tends to be just meat, byproduct (not a bad thing!), water, and vitamins. No peas, potatoes, wheat, etc.

Sorry, I still think about food in terms of 3oz as my kitten doesn't eat much - so the Rawz is quite a bit more for a 5.5oz can then your $2 limit! Something around $3.30 per 5.5oz single cans, from what I can find.
If you order Dr Elseys from Chewy, a lot of the flavors come out to about $1.99 per 5.5oz can (24 packs). Some of the flavors are more/less. So if you get some samples, maybe check out which flavors would be affordable, and ask for those!

 

[LTS3]

Commercially available raw is easy to feed. Frozen raw just needs to be thawed, freeze dried and dehydrated raw need to be rehydrated in water for a few minutes before serving.

What chronic and digestive issues does your cat have? I assume the vet is aware of the issues and is treating your cat in some way?

What sized can are you looking for? No can of cat food costs $5, although Rawz comes close at $2.99 for a 5.5 oz can in some stores. Friskies has the large 13 oz (I think) cans but even those are less than $5.

 

[Pine]

I’m not sure if they are “the best”! but in my research these come up a lot,

Rawz
Dr Elseys
Instinct

I just wanted to let you know that rawz will send sample cans and so will dr elseys! Instinct is sold in petsmart / petco so easy to pick up a single can or two to try.

Thank you so much! I looked up all of those and all seem feasible, I will look into getting some samples or single cans. I appreciate it!

 

[Pine]

What are the digestive issues your cat is having?

The best food is the food your cat will eat. He doesn't care if it is $5/can. If he turns his nose up to it, it's worthless. I agree with above and get some free samples from Rawz and Dr. Elsey's (both of which are pricey, however, if he does like them).

An option that you could try would be the Fancy Feast Classic Pates or the new Fancy Feast Gourmet Naturals. That line tends to be just meat, byproduct (not a bad thing!), water, and vitamins. No peas, potatoes, wheat, etc.

GI-wise he seems to have mild pancreatitis. The vet mentioned IBD is a possibility but preliminary testing was negative and I don't want to do the biopsy. He also seems to have some allergies but we are unsure if they are food or environmental, or even triggered by stress.

He finally got over a long period of inappetance during which I offered every food available at every store near us. Now that his appetite is up I'm looking to start him on a new daily food moving forward. I will look into the ones you mentioned, thank you for the recommendations! He likes a lot of the Fancy Feast varieties but I don't know if we've tried those specific lines.

 

[Pine]

Commercially available raw is easy to feed. Frozen raw just needs to be thawed, freeze dried and dehydrated raw need to be rehydrated in water for a few minutes before serving.

What chronic and digestive issues does your cat have? I assume the vet is aware of the issues and is treating your cat in some way?

What sized can are you looking for? No can of cat food costs $5, although Rawz comes close at $2.99 for a 5.5 oz can in some stores. Friskies has the large 13 oz (I think) cans but even those are less than $5.

Some of his issues that we have identified so far include FIC, eosinophilic granuloma, pancreatitis, and chronic herpesvirus. Our vet has also suggested he might have asthma and there was some concern for IBD but I think that may be less of a concern now. The vet is the one who disgnosed the issues and we are working on various treatments to get him back to his happy and healthy self.

I will take any size but the 5oz+ seem to be more cost effective. He's a good sized boy. So I can afford a $2 large can but the little 3oz ones really tank my budget when theyre $2+ as he (depending on the calorie content) generally needs to eat 3 of them a day. Maybe I was looking on some overpriced sites when I found the ones for $5, that's good to hear they generally aren't that much!

 

[maggie101]

I just bought sheba roasted Turkey to try on my cat. Ingredients are ok except gum and tapioca but its low carb high fiber average protein and cheaper than dr elsey and rawz

 

[Flybynight]

Hi,
With the pancreatitis I would try sensitive digestion cat food. Wet not dry.
Sensitive Stomach Cats | Halo, Purely for Pets