How Can I Make Wet Food Affordable?

[Burlews]

So now that Shadow's gone and I'm only feeding two cats, I thought about switching to wet food. Did the research on calorie needs for both the boys, went to the store, picked up a can of Fancy Feast and found the number of calories per can on the label, and started punching numbers on my calculator. So, that comes to.......$35-40 a week. Whoof. My entire grocery/household/hygiene maximum budget for three people and two cats per week is $140 a week.

So how do you all manage to make wet food affordable?

And I forgot to add some dry food in diet is better for their teeth.. So I believe both in moderation.. And wet is good to ensure hydration..

 

[MissMolly08]

And I forgot to add some dry food in diet is better for their teeth.. So I believe both in moderation.. And wet is good to ensure hydration..

Dry food helping teeth is a myth.
What Dry Food Does to Your Cat's Teeth - Feline Nutrition Foundation

 

[FelinskiFamily]

Dry food helping teeth is a myth.
What Dry Food Does to Your Cat's Teeth - Feline Nutrition Foundation

I have to say that in my experience, out of 4 cats, the one that is fed all wet did have teeth problem. I made Julio eat one raw meal every other day and the problem disappeared. So in my experience it might be connected. It might not happen to every kitty who is fed all wet, I don't know, but it did happen to mine.

 

[MissMolly08]

I have to say that in my experience, out of 4 cats, the one that is fed all wet did have teeth problem. I made Julio eat one raw meal every other day and the problem disappeared. So in my experience it might be connected. It might not happen to every kitty who is fed all wet, I don't know, but it did happen to mine.

Are your other cats on dry or raw? Raw that contains bones I believe has been proven to help teeth so adding in raw and the problem subsiding makes sense. If you had added in kibble, I doubt it would have had the same effect. Every cat is different though, of course. My in laws have a cat that was fed dry most of his life and still had so many problems with his teeth that most of them have been removed.

 

[FelinskiFamily]

Are your other cats on dry or raw? Raw that contains bones I believe has been proven to help teeth so adding in raw and the problem subsiding makes sense. If you had added in kibble, I doubt it would have had the same effect. Every cat is different though, of course. My in laws have a cat that was fed dry most of his life and still had so many problems with his teeth that most of them have been removed.

Others were/are on mix dry/wet (but one of them is still very young to be honest, 2 months) and one was on all dry cause she wouldn't eat wet. They say teeth problem can also be genetic, but if someone has a situation like mine, they can easily draw the conclusion all wet diet causes gingivitis.

 

[vyger]

Well, I am probably going to get told how this is not a good idea, but ----
Years ago (many actually) when my daughter moved back home for a while she brought her 2 cats with her, which was fine. Everything went well for a number of years but then the older cat started having trouble keeping his food down. He was barfing everything up and it usually came back up looking much the same as it went down, unchewed chunks. In an effort to get a food that he could keep down I started experimenting with a food processor. The formula that actually worked was to put a bunch (as much as he would eat in a day) of dried food in the processor and blend it until it was well chopped. Then add some water, a touch of tuna juice for flavor, and a teaspoon of virgin olive oil and mix it until it turns into a coarse paste. I don't know why but the olive oil made the difference and he ate it all and kept it down. Vegetable oil didn't work, but olive oil did and it help his fur too. So if you really want to give them wet food you can make their own from dry food and add whatever extras you think needs to be in there. It's cheaper than the canned food and you don't have all those little cans around.

 

[Notorious pets]

We buy premium Nature's Variety wet cat food in bulk/by case, and dry food in the largest size possible when there is a sale occurring and store coupons. I try to buy bulk if it's a good deal, as most foods have a good shelf life. It helps save a few dollars over time. One of my cats has a sensitive stomach and needs wet food periodically (but not every meal), so we alternate or sometimes mix wet with sprinkles of kibble around it to entice her. We also add room temp. water to her wet or sometimes dry meals, as it seems to help her stomach and she seems to enjoy the "soup" too.

We often don't feed the full can, and divide portions and store in airtight container to feed over a couple days. Of course we make sure the caloric intake meets their needs when we feed a mix of wet and dry! By doing this, I would say we spend about $30-35 a month on feeding 2 cats

 

[MissMolly08]

Well Dave's customer service is pretty awesome so far so that's a plus! They responded super fast and actually asked me which foods I would like to try. My cat is not too picky as long as it's pate so hopefully this works out and I will have a new rotation of Friskies, FF and Dave's.

I just got my samples of Dave's today!! They sent me the big 12.5oz cans of 3 different flavors to try!! I was not expecting them to send all 3 flavors, nor such big cans! They asked which food I would like to try and I listed a few I was looking at and told them any one of those would be great...they sent them all! Kitty has already been fed dinner tonight but I know what I'm offering for breakfast in the morning!

 

[bonepicker]

Dry food helping teeth is a myth.
What Dry Food Does to Your Cat's Teeth - Feline Nutrition Foundation

Totally agree

 

[bonepicker]

I have been browsing Chewy for months and somehow never saw that Natural Balance food. That's a great price and it is high calorie so my cat wouldn't even need a full can a day! I'm going to look around and see if I can find it locally to try before ordering from chewy though. My cat has never had things like guinea fowl and quail so I need to see how she reacts first.

Petco sells it

 

[MissMolly08]

Petco sells it

Thank you. I emailed that company as well about samples but have not heard back so I'll check petco next time we are in the area. It seems Petco carries more variety than Petsmart but unfortunately it is further from us too. Wish we had one a little closer.

 

[MissMolly08]

I opened the can of Dave's Turkey flavor this morning and it was the perfect texture! I usually have to cut up her pate, smash it with a fork and then add water because she likes it soft. This stuff was so soft on it's own that I couldn't even cut it, I had to scoop it out of the can with a spoon! I didn't add any water and she licked her bowl clean!
The only thing that will take some getting used to is rationing it. With small 5.5 cans, I could see the food from a top view and cut it into even chunks and then scoop part of it out. This stuff is in the tall 12oz cans so I had to just scoop out what looked like 1/4 of the can. I'm sure I'll get used to how much is in a can though and get better at it.

 

[MissMolly08]

Thank you. I emailed that company as well about samples but have not heard back so I'll check petco next time we are in the area. It seems Petco carries more variety than Petsmart but unfortunately it is further from us too. Wish we had one a little closer.

Well darn it. Right after I sent this, I checked my email again and did finally get a response from them. Their Wild Pursuit line of food is being discontinued anyway so no point it trying it I guess.

 

[bonepicker]

Thank you. I emailed that company as well about samples but have not heard back so I'll check petco next time we are in the area. It seems Petco carries more variety than Petsmart but unfortunately it is further from us too. Wish we had one a little closer

Thank you. I emailed that company as well about samples but have not heard back so I'll check petco next time we are in the area. It seems Petco carries more variety than Petsmart but unfortunately it is further from us too. Wish we had one a little closer.

Chewy.com and petco.com sell it

 

[moneekw]

For litter, have you tried ordering Dr. Elsey's Multicat litter? I can usually get the 40lb bag for $15 and its very good at odor control if you clean the pan every day.
For wet food, have you considered the Natural Balance Wild Pursuit line of cat food? A case of 6oz x 24 (250 calories per can) costs $21.48 on Chewy. That puts you at $6.26 per cat, per week.

Chewy also has Dave's Pet Food. They have 12 oz cans of food (410 calories each - so enough for both cats) - $23.88 for a pack of 12. That's also around $7 per cat, per week.
Slightly more expensive than Natural Balance and Dave's is Whole Earth Farms (Real Duck and Chicken is 166 kcal/5oz, so you might have to split a 1/2 of a third can between both cats each day). Slightly above that in cost is Holistic Select, which does have the advantage of coming in 13oz cans.

I made a list on Sunday of wet food prices per month for 200 calories (for a single cat). Its not all inclusive, but I could share it with you if you like.

 

[moneekw]

For litter, have you tried ordering Dr. Elsey's Multicat litter? I can usually get the 40lb bag for $15 and its very good at odor control if you clean the pan every day.
For wet food, have you considered the Natural Balance Wild Pursuit line of cat food? A case of 6oz x 24 (250 calories per can) costs $21.48 on Chewy. That puts you at $6.26 per cat, per week.

Chewy also has Dave's Pet Food. They have 12 oz cans of food (410 calories each - so enough for both cats) - $23.88 for a pack of 12. That's also around $7 per cat, per week.
Slightly more expensive than Natural Balance and Dave's is Whole Earth Farms (Real Duck and Chicken is 166 kcal/5oz, so you might have to split a 1/2 of a third can between both cats each day). Slightly above that in cost is Holistic Select, which does have the advantage of coming in 13oz cans.

I made a list on Sunday of wet food prices per month for 200 calories (for a single cat). Its not all inclusive, but I could share it with you if you like.

Hi yeva2292, would you mind sharing your list of wet cat food prices? I would really appreciate it. : )

 

[yeva2292]

Sure! Here is the link to the Google Drive location Wet-food.xlsx. I haven't made any changes to it in the last few months, so just remember to check the item label for accuracy

 

[Tagrendy]

I mix up dry food into the wet one ( 50/50 ), add a touch of water & give that to the kitten. Everywhere I read seems like dry food is only bad for lack of moisture - this way though there is no lack of moisture, the kitties poo is soft when squished & the money saved allows me to buy him high quality food.

 

[Tagrendy]

I mix up dry food into the wet one ( 50/50 ), add a touch of water & give that to the kitten. Everywhere I read seems like dry food is only bad for lack of moisture - this way though there is no lack of moisture, the kitties poo is soft when squished & the money saved allows me to buy him high quality food.

 

[Whatarecatseven]

I have 2 cats. They generally have a bowl filled with dry food. I usually go the store and get a box of the cat food packets that have each like what...150g of wet food. They usually get wet food for breakfast and dinner, sometimes they get some tuna in the morning ( without oil ). Its relativdly cheap if you ration it. I haven't had problems with it.