Should I feed a cheap wet food and quality wet food mix or quality wet and quality dry mix?

[benimalika]

I want to start feeding my cat wet food exclusively to help him lose weight (vet said he should drop a pound/half a kg) and since it's overall better for health. I was previously feeding him good quality dry food with poor quality wet (whiskas, iams, friskies).

The problem is the budget. I've often heard that the cheapest wet food is better than the most expensive dry but I don't know if it's a myth or not so my question is: is it better to feed a cheap wet food and quality wet food mix or quality wet and quality dry mix (a change that my budget allows)?

We just adopted a kitten as well and feeding both cats quality wet food would come to around 200$ a month which is just too much for broke university students. (The kitten for now is getting only quality wet food until she is 8 months since the first few months are so important, we bought her quality dry as well but she refuses to eat dry food so it would also simplify my life to feed both of them wet food from now on)

So it would be something like:
Quality wet food in the morning (hound & gatos)
Cheap wet food at night (friskies)

OR
Quality dry food in the morning (nutrience sub-zero)
Quality wet food at night (hound & gatos)

Another problem is that my adult cat is a VERY slow eater (he usually eats 1/4 can of wet food when we feed him and the other 1/4 in the next 2 hours if the kitten doesn't get to it first) so I think the dry food is better suited for this since the kitten doesn't steal it and it doesn't go bad as quickly. Will he get used to eating his wet food quickly in the morning and at night or will he end up eating too little with all wet food?

Sorry for the overload of information! Any help in highly appreciated but please don't say to just feed all quality wet because I simply can't afford it! My dream is to feed them a raw diet and hopefully I can afford it in the near future but for now I would love the advice on these two combinations

 

[molly92]

All wet food is better by far. Even good dry food still has a lot of carbs compared to wet food, and carbs are what make weight loss difficult. They don't fill up cats like protein does so when you cut back calories to reasonable levels you end up with a hungry and miserable cat.

I know Friskies is the cheapest, but if it works out budgetarily, I would recommend Fancy Feast classics and/or Sheba pates instead. Even if you don't feed Hounds and Gatos at all and just feed those, I think that would be good. Those are really high in animal protein, whereas Friskies has a lot of rice. But even if you keep feeding Friskies, it's still better than dry.

Wet is not as convenient as dry unfortunately, but maybe you can come up with a few strategies to help. Feed smaller portions at multiple intervals, or place the food dish up high where the kitten isn't used to going, etc.

Good luck, and good for you for working so hard to keep your cats as healthy and happy as possible!

 

[Vega's Dad]

I'd second that
If you look at this Fancy feast review
Fancy Feast Classic Paté Turkey & Giblets Gourmet Cat Food Review
Nutrition 4 out 5 is pretty good.
Ingredients 2 out of 5. The main reason is by-products, which do no harm to cats IMHO.
Guar gum is not ideal but you may find it in high end (or high priced) food. And, hey, there is no carrageenan!
No grain, no potato, no fruit, no vegetable = no plant. Better than lots of if not most high ends.
There are artificial flavors and menadione sodium bisulfite complex, unfortunately. Some flavours have sodium nitrite and added colors but those can be avoided.

And Frieskie
Friskies Classic Paté Poultry Platter Cat Food Review
It is like downgraded version of Fancy feast.
It has rice and carrageenan.
Protein % is lower.
So is the price, especially if buying large cans.

All wet food is better by far. Even good dry food still has a lot of carbs compared to wet food, and carbs are what make weight loss difficult. They don't fill up cats like protein does so when you cut back calories to reasonable levels you end up with a hungry and miserable cat.

I know Friskies is the cheapest, but if it works out budgetarily, I would recommend Fancy Feast classics and/or Sheba pates instead. Even if you don't feed Hounds and Gatos at all and just feed those, I think that would be good. Those are really high in animal protein, whereas Friskies has a lot of rice. But even if you keep feeding Friskies, it's still better than dry.

Wet is not as convenient as dry unfortunately, but maybe you can come up with a few strategies to help. Feed smaller portions at multiple intervals, or place the food dish up high where the kitten isn't used to going, etc.

Good luck, and good for you for working so hard to keep your cats as healthy and happy as possible!

 

[pinkdagger]

I don't have any issue mixing high and low quality foods to keep their palates and stomachs tolerant of various foods, whether I need to change things up for my budget, something gets recalled or discontinued, or if my cat ends up in the care of someone else who can't be as accommodating to my feeding style or budget. I actually tend to mix different brands/qualities of wet food per meal so every meal is a little different and there's no brand/formula loyalty or boredom.

Especially if weight is a concern and you'd like to make quality kibble stretch more, something I've been doing since I got my cat is using wet food for meals (calculating price per ounce to mix and match the less great foods with the greater ones, as I too was a broke student once) and using high quality kibble as a bedtime treat - the trick is, she had engage with me to work for them. Toss kibble and make your cat chase it to earn his meal piece by piece, and place pieces on/in cat-appropriate surfaces for him to sniff out and find, or utilize puzzle toys and DIY alternatives like toilet paper rolls. My favourite kibble is Petcurean Go! but my budget "relief" kibble is Petsmart's Simply Nourish Source, so I think having some backups for "best" and "next best" when you need to tighten the belt a bit is helpful for both wet and dry.

 

[benimalika]

Thank you all! I have started feeding them a mix of hound & gatos and fancy feast which was mentioned as better than other low end foods. They're not a big fan of the hound & gatos yet so I might just go with full fancy feast or mix a little bit of the good food in every meal

 

[moxiewild]

There are a lot of other high quality canned foods other than H&G too! Dr. Elsey’s, RAWZ, etc

As far as lower quality, I would also recommend Tiny Tiger from Chewy. It’s a cheaper than Fancy Feast, and roughly the same quality.

The big cans of American Journey (another Chewy brand) are also pretty affordable and decent quality.

If I recall correctly, I think some of the Paws and Claws Tractor Supply brand are similar to FF too?

We feed our ferals the Special Kitty pates. Ingredients are comparable to Fancy Feast and WAY cheaper, but the brand can be a bit questionable. Still, at 22oz for a $1, it’s the only way we can afford to feed low carb wet to so many ferals.

I was going to suggest a timed wet food feeder, but that won’t keep the kitten out And microchip feeders are expensive.

We feed a couple of our grazers a little Dr. Elsey’s or Young Again dry, or ZiwiPeak air dried to help compensate for what the others take. Very calorie dense foods and negligible carbs.

Are you sure you’re feeding he kitten enough? They require a ton of food in the first year!

 

[benimalika]

There are a lot of other high quality canned foods other than H&G too! Dr. Elsey’s, RAWZ, etc

Thanks so much for the info. Unfortunately I'm in Canada and can't find a lot of these brands! I'm sure it will be super helpful if someone else has a similar question I was originally going to feed them RAWZ but hound and gatos was cheaper for around the same quality according to what I read which is why I landed on that one. It was the most affordable good quality food I could find!

I also did something similar to compensate. Since Malika (kitten) won't touch dry food I leave 1/4 cup out a day for Beni (my older cat) in case she's eating his wet food. That way he's still mostly eating a better wet diet but I can monitor that he's eating enough. A few days he's eaten it all but mostly he doesn't (he prefers to wait for the wet food) so I know he's not going hungry which makes me less stressed

For now I'm feeding Malika whenever she wants which is what my vet recommended until 4 months and then 3x a day until she's a year old! But even when I feed her and her brother at the same time she tries to switch to his bowl It's just a little hard to keep track of the amount he's eating for now but I've decided not to stress myself out too much. Beni is only half a kilo over his ideal weight so it's not a huge deal. The vet just said to try to lower it while he's still young as it's much worse for an older cat to be overweight and it's easier to manage early. So I would rather she gets all the nutrition she needs for her first year and then focus on Beni's weight loss more when I feed them both twice I day. He's not gaining weight either so far so that's good