Dry food options

adventuregirl

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I know dry food isn’t the best for cats, but unfortunately our lifestyle dictates that we have to leave dry food out. I have always given my kitties wet food at night, and let them graze during the day. With my work schedule this is what works best. I am looking for a good dry cat food. Right now Phoenix is eating Wholesome Blend grain free that I got free from a pet supply store because they give out coupons if you adopt from the shelter. I have priced this and unfortunately I won’t be able to afford it. I’m looking for a good grain free or low grain food. I saw that Costco has a grain free called Natures domain. Does anyone one have any experience with this? I see such mixed reviews on Kirkland cat food and don’t know which to believe.
 

Azazel

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I’ll leave the dry food suggestions to the kibble experts, but also just wanted to point out that there is also the option of using a timed feeder to leave frozen canned food out for your cat when you leave for work. I do this all the time and my cats get a wet meal for lunch when I’m not home.

Some people also just leave wet food out. It doesn’t go bad that easily assuming your house isn’t boiling hot.
 
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LTS3

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I’ll leave the dry food suggestions to the kibble experts, but also just wanted to point out that there is also the option of using a timed feeder to leave frozen canned food out for your cat when you leave for work. I do this all the time and my cats get a wet meal for lunch when I’m not home.

Some people also just leave wet food out. It doesn’t go bad that easily assuming your house isn’t a boiling room.

:yeah:

Canned food is fine if left out all day in a bowl or timed feeder. It's a cooked product so it won't go bad. It will go dry but most cats are ok with that. There are way to keep canned food fresh and moist longer such as freezing it first.

Or consider leaving out some freeze dried raw or air dried food out instead of kibble. Both are healthier options. Freeze dried raw is supposed to be rehydrated in water before serving but it is ok if fed dry.

And it's perfectly ok if cats don't even have something to snack on during the day :agree: It's fine for a cat to have little hunger pangs and be eager to eat dinner when you get home. I don't leave food out for my cats during the day and they're fine for 12 hours until I get home.
 
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adventuregirl

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I’ll leave the dry food suggestions to the kibble experts, but also just wanted to point out that there is also the option of using a timed feeder to leave frozen canned food out for your cat when you leave for work. I do this all the time and my cats get a wet meal for lunch when I’m not home.

Some people also just leave wet food out. It doesn’t go bad that easily assuming your house isn’t a boiling room.
I may go to a timer eventually, but at this point I think it’s best to let him free graze. He was so food focused when I got him. I don’t want his life to be constantly worrying about when his next meal will be. He was so skinny and just so hungry all the time when he came home. He also ate so fast he vomited it back up. Now that he sees his food isn’t going anywhere he’s doing better and not over eating. If he gets overweight I will adjust accordingly, but he’s a 6 month old super playful kitten right now so I’m not worried about weight.
 

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I may go to a timer eventually, but at this point I think it’s best to let him free graze. He was so food focused when I got him. I don’t want his life to be constantly worrying about when his next meal will be. He was so skinny and just so hungry all the time when he came home. He also ate so fast he vomited it back up. Now that he sees his food isn’t going anywhere he’s doing better and not over eating. If he gets overweight I will adjust accordingly, but he’s a 6 month old super playful kitten right now so I’m not worried about weight.
The key is to have a set routine. A couple of my cats are also food obsessed, one coming from a hoarding situation. As long as they have a set routine and they get fed roughly at the same time every day they will know when to expect it. Cats aren’t grazers by nature so having set meals actually more closely mimics how they would eat ~10 small meals a day if they were hunting on their own.
 

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I agree 100% about having a routine for feeding, mine are on one and it works out beautifully compared to free feeding kibble like we did with our other cats.Now that I am better educated about feeding wet food my two male cats know when they are going to be fed,when we had kibble fed cats they seemed to eat out of boredom.
 
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adventuregirl

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As I have already said my schedule at this time does not allow me to feed several times throughout the day, or have a specific meal time. I work different shifts including overnights on different days and am not home at the same every day. I’m not comfortable using a timer at this point. I didn’t ask for a lecture on wet vs dry or how to feed my cat wet food with my schedule. I also mentioned I am on a budget, and asked if people have used Costco’s grain free food and if it’s a good option. I don’t mean to sound rude, but please answer my original question.
 

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I have both an adult cat and kitten at home. The two dry foods I use are Natural Balance Original Whole Body and Nature's Variety Instinct food for kittens.
 

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Purina 1 dry food seems to keep my cats happy. All forms ("flavors") have animal protein as the first ingredient. It is about 60 cents/lb more expensive than Meow Mix. But they seem to eat less of it per day as compared to Meow Mix or Science Diet. And I free feed, and my cats are not fat. Plus I give each of them a half tin of wet every couple of days.

Which ever dry food you feed, check the ingredients. The fir
st one or two listed should have an animal origin. Note that "chicken byproduct" is usually made from chicken skin and organs. "chicken meal" is made from chicken meat and skin. No organs included.
 

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Do you have a Tractor Supply near you? This food seems good and is budget-friendly:


These are pricier but also look decent:

 

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As I have already said my schedule at this time does not allow me to feed several times throughout the day, or have a specific meal time. I work different shifts including overnights on different days and am not home at the same every day. I’m not comfortable using a timer at this point. I didn’t ask for a lecture on wet vs dry or how to feed my cat wet food with my schedule. I also mentioned I am on a budget, and asked if people have used Costco’s grain free food and if it’s a good option. I don’t mean to sound rude, but please answer my original question.
I was just giving you another option and mentioning that wet food is also fine to leave out for long periods of time. Thought it might be helpful for you to know that schedule is not a problem for canned feeding if you don’t let it be.

I don’t feed dry food so I don’t have any recommendations for you on it. Will leave that to others.
 

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Do you have a Tractor Supply near you? This food seems good and is budget-friendly:


These are pricier but also look decent:

I can't speak to Costco's food since there's no Costco where I live, but I can second EmersonandEvie's recommendation of Tractor Supply's 4health food. I used to feed it to my cats before I switched to getting my cat food through Chewy.
 
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adventuregirl

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I was just giving you another option and mentioning that wet food is also fine to leave out for long periods of time. Thought it might be helpful for you to know that schedule is not a problem for canned feeding if you don’t let it be.

I don’t feed dry food so I don’t have any recommendations for you on it. Will leave that to others.
No hard feelings. I know every one was trying to be helpful, but no one was actually answering my questions and I wanted to steer this thread in the direction I intended! Thanks for the tips!
 
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adventuregirl

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Do you have a Tractor Supply near you? This food seems good and is budget-friendly:


These are pricier but also look decent:

I think there’s one a couple of towns away where my sister lives. I’ll have to double check and make sure it’s an actual Tractor Supply and not a general “farming store “ there’s lots of those around. We have a Costco really close, so that would be more convenient, but Tractor Supply wouldn’t be to inconvenient I could just plan on getting cat food when I go see my sister! I will have to compare ingredients thanks!
 
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adventuregirl

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I can't speak to Costco's food since there's no Costco where I live, but I can second EmersonandEvie's recommendation of Tractor Supply's 4health food. I used to feed it to my cats before I switched to getting my cat food through Chewy.
What do you get now that you order from Chewy? I don’t know a ton about it. Is Chewy a better deal than say Amazon?
 

1 bruce 1

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Many members here like Dr. Elsey's brand, but it's expensive.
I'd just read ingredients labels (you can do that online) and make sure there's a lot of animal protein in there. If you're worried about dehydration or kidney health, a water fountain might encourage them to drink more to keep them flushed out. It's good you're feeding some wet food!
realmeatpet.com has some kibble and freeze dried options that might interest you, but depending on your budget, cost could be a factor.
We have used taste of the wild kibble (also natural balance) as a treat, and the cats always gave it two thumbs (paws?) up.
 

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So here is what I found:


$29.99 for 18 lbs ($1.66/lb)

Ingredients
Salmon meal, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, pea protein, canola oil, natural flavor, choline chloride, DL-methionine, taurine, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.



I don't know if there are other flavors, but I personally would not feed this food. The main reasons are that all the meat protein is fish based (which long term daily use of fish can cause problems for cats), and the "protein" amount is artificially inflated by the use of peas (cats can't use plant protein). Additionally, it has more forms of carbs than meat, which is backwards for what you ideally want. High meat protein, moderate fat, and low carb is what a cat thrives on.
 

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I try not to feed very much dry food but look for chicken as first ingredient.
 

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I'm not from the USA and dont know about the Costco's dry food but I suggest making a calorie calculation about the budget. I feed Acana Wild Prairie to my cat which is both for adult cats and kittens. It's higher calorie than some other foods I have checked at the time so it actually costs cheaper.

I remember seeing Purina has grain-free options in the USA like Purina Beyond. I use several different dry and wet formulas from Purina and while I hate how they make business and don't share enough info, for the most part their food works fine. (Friskies, Purina One - I feed the street cats with them. Pro Plan Delicate wet food - I feed my own cat with it, single animal protein. They have dry formula as well but it's grainy.)
 
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