Owners who feed their cats raw/high quality canned food, how can I make this transition less overwhelming and...less expensive?

[Bloominz]

I got a new kitty a week and a half ago and he's settling in very well. He's a 3 year old Maine coons mix ( he's 10 lbs) who I think has mostly grown up on dry food.

I've lived with cats in the past and I took care of my childhood cat for a while until she passed from lymphoma in March. That was when I started reading up on cat nutrition. I learned quite a bit and there is still so much to learn.

I know my cat's diet will never be perfect but, I want to do the best I can. Granted I am a college student so I think the most I can spend on a cat + other stuff he may need is $60 a month and this will be split between me and my partner.

I work at an animal hospital and plan on taking him in at some point just for a check up to see if he has any allergies or is at a healthy weight ( he definitely seems to be ) and I think I'll talk to them about this transition but, I also want to know what you guys do! Or can lead me to scientific/ good resources.
His past owner used to feed Iams so I've been transitioning him to Only Naturals dry food that has turkey liver and other freeze dried pieces.
I am also feeding him different brands of wet food to see what he likes, he eats it sometimes. I'm trying to transition him to only wet but I'm worried I'm going to do it incorrectly by that I mean do it too fast and I am also realizing how expensive it will be to feed him just wet food.

I have currently been feeding him wet food in the morning and if he doesn't eat it within a 2-4 hour range, I pick it up and put it back in the fridge. I'm trying to get him through one can a day while only putting 1/4 of dry out at night ( which I will also pick up if he does not eat it) ( today I put 3 tbsp out of his late afternoon since he was crying and I didn't want to feed him again until later, he did eat a whole packet of soulistics wet food this morning, I had to entice him.) I do want to get him on a feeding schedule but, I'd only be able to feed him twice a day most days throughout the week and my partner will only be able to do the same. When I am not working 7:30 to 6pm I could feed with 3 times a day but that would be so inconsistent for him.

I want to get him to only eating wet food and then occasional raw food with occasional treats such as chicken hearts or chicken necks for teeth health.
What do you guys do? What do you feed your kitties? How can I make this process less overwhelming while not breaking the bank? Any and all advice would be appreciated. I'm really overwhelmed and I feel like I'm gonna lose sleep over this since there is so much info to learn and know and I just want the best for my cat.

I live in the NC,USA for reference for food options

 

[Bloominz]

Forgot to mention,
The brands of wet food I have tried are

Soulistics ( which I like but I am also disappointed that about every single one of their foods contains seafood )
Wellness and Wellness Core
Some Tiki Cat
Weruva BFF
Purvita

 

[lisahe]

It's great that you're thinking about this now, Bloominz ! And I'm sorry to hear about your previous cat: our previous cat also likely had lymphoma (after IBD) and that's also when I learned about feline nutrition. That really can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, I learned about diet the same way you did.

Did you happen to read Dr. Lisa Pierson's site: Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats.

If there's one thing I'd suggest, it would be (to borrow from both Dr. Pierson and our cats' vet), meat, meat, meat. The more meat protein (and the less carbs) you can feed your cat, the better. Since budget's an issue (I think it is for all of us: decent cat food's not cheap!) I'd also suggest looking at calorie counts. Some of the foods you listed are relatively low-calorie (some Weruva/BFF and Tiki, for example) so you might want to look for more options with higher calories. (I think Wellness Core is high calorie, right?) Also, don't feel like you have to feed "the best" (whatever that means; nothing's perfect) food all the time. It's good (for a lot of reasons, including shortages) to have a rotation of foods. Fancy Feast Classics (the ones that aren't fish-based) are a decent option. We feed a can of FF turkey and giblets every week. Sheba (especially the pates) is a very decent food, too. We also feed some BFF, Tiki, and some of Chewy's foods. More of our cats' foods are commercial raw (Primal and Purpose) and I also make homemade cooked food.

So that's the short version. Lots of meat. Low carbs. And no menu is absolutely perfect. Oh and it's a good practice to read the ingredients, checking regularly to make sure nothing's changed.

 

[Maurey]

Homemade raw is always going to be the cheapest option. I’d suggest starting with a meat completer before you’re confident in balancing things on your own, even if it is a bit more pricey that way. Since he’s an adult, you can use any kind of completer. EZComplete, TCFeline, etc. Altrunin is a happy medium if you want to eventually try making your own PMR, eventually.

A cat with a healthy weight of only 10lbs will need only around 4.5 oz a day of raw a day, if not less. Rule of thumb is 2-3.5% of ideal body weight, depending on metabolism and activity.
My 20lbs and 15lbs cats eat 1.1lbs of raw between the two of them a day; it costs me around 4USD for 2.2lbs of basic PMR mix. They eat 33lbs in the average month, so it costs me around 60 USD a month to feed them (not counting the other things I add to their diet, like goats milk/kefir, quail eggs, sardines, or fish oil, but they’re not a significant part of the diet, something they get in small amounts regularly).

That said, I don’t live in the states, and meat prices do vary by area. Even so, raw being cheaper than good quality canned is pretty standard. I imagine even in an expensive city you could feed a single 10lbs cat raw for 40 a month or under, especially if you’re rotating chicken with more expensive proteins.

To contrast, the cheapest canned food locally available that I’d ever consider feeding my cats is Animonda Carny. The cheapest I can get it is $5.60 for an 800 gram (~1.76 lbs) can. According to my maths, they’d need a full can every day, so that’s twice the price of the raw I feed; it’s a good chunk more expensive even if i include the extra stuff they get in their diet.