Suggestions For Cheapest Chicken, Fish, Turkey, And Grain Free Foods?

mizzely

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Hi all,

Jasmine is doing better now that we've identified more proteins she is reacting to. We've so far been able to find that chicken, some fish (sardines so far seem okay), and turkey all make her throw up and/or lick off the fur from her stomach. We've had success with venison, beef, lamb, and rabbit. We are also going to be testing duck soon. She also gets an upset tummy with grains.

Problem is, we are being forced to move from our current location because the landlord wants to move back into the property. We do not live in a pet friendly area so the places we are looking at are $200+ more a month for less space. Of course leaving the cats is not an option, but it will mean cutting back on expenses wherever we can to make it happen.

Any suggestions for cheap canned (and maybe some dry too) foods that will help our budget? We have two cats to feed and trying to keep it under $30 a month if possible. They both are older (16 and 7), spayed cats and only need about 180-200 calories a day if that helps.

Thanks in advance for any input!
 
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mizzely

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So far I'm looking at Natural Balance Wild Pursuit Beef, Buffalo, and Venison canned, Natural Balance LID Venison canned, and Evanger's Grain-Free Meat Lover's Medley with Rabbit Dry Cat Food. Think that will probably get me by, but if you think of anything cheaper please let me know!
 

Norachan

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Hi mizzely mizzely .

I'm not in the US so I don't know of any reasonably priced foods to suggest. I've found that prices tend to vary a lot depending on where you buy from. I get my cat food online and it works out a lot cheaper than buying it from supermarkets or pet shops. Maybe check out online pet supply stores?

Hopefully someone from the US will be online with some more suggestions for you soon.
 
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mizzely

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I'm looking mostly at chewy.com, I don't have any food in a 45 minute radius that fits the criteria, so I basically have to buy online :/
 

ScarlettGatsby

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That's gonna be a tight budget for 2 cats.
I think the best thing to do would be watch for sales and buy in bulk if possible.
Is salmon oil Okay? Natural Balance LID venison is on sale on chewy right now for a pretty good price. It has salmon oil though.
 
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mizzely

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Yes she's eaten the NB LID Venison for several weeks without incident and is on my short list.

So far I'm looking at Natural Balance Wild Pursuit Beef, Buffalo, and Venison canned, Natural Balance LID Venison canned, and Evanger's Grain-Free Meat Lover's Medley with Rabbit Dry Cat Food. Think that will probably get me by, but if you think of anything cheaper please let me know!
And I know it's tight :( I'm already cutting my budget on a lot of things right now to make it work. I wasn't expecting to have to make a move right now and we're already selling things around the house to make sure we can all eat. We're probably going to have to go back to splitting 1 can a day and making up the rest with kibble to make it happen.
 

ScarlettGatsby

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Don't feel bad about feeding some kibble. I feed half dry for budget reasons too. We all just to the best we can!
I'm lucky that my cat doesn't have any health issues so I can supplement with some cheap wet foods.

You can always transition back to all wet later when things aren't as tight.
 
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mizzely

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Well I was hoping to find some more options besides the Evanger's dry food just in case they don't like it, but it seems like my options are pretty limited! I wish I knew exactly what fishes she is reacting to (just know tuna for sure); might make it easier.
 

thegreystalker

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Natural Value Sardine & Shrimp
Purina ProPlan True Nature Beef & Giblets

Read the labels to check for poultry content.
 
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mizzely

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Natural Value Sardine & Shrimp
Purina ProPlan True Nature Beef & Giblets

Read the labels to check for poultry content.
I've never heard of Natural Value, who sells it? I can't find it online either.

The Proplan has chicken as its second ingredient :(
 

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Wild Calling is pretty pure in terms of ingredients and has many different proteins--not sure how price compares with NB. Also look at Merrick's Limited Ingredient canned Duck if duck turns out okay. Koha has some limited ingredient foods also that aren't chicken, turkey or fish. Not sure if they fit the budget but definitely not as expensive as Instinct rabbit!
 
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mizzely

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Wild Calling is pretty pure in terms of ingredients and has many different proteins--not sure how price compares with NB. Also look at Merrick's Limited Ingredient canned Duck if duck turns out okay. Koha has some limited ingredient foods also that aren't chicken, turkey or fish. Not sure if they fit the budget but definitely not as expensive as Instinct rabbit!
I would love to feed the really high end stuff! Sadly even the cheapest Wild Calling would be $55/ month splitting just one can between both cats :( and cheapest Koha would be $70 :(

The duck seems to be doing good so far, and the Merrick would be about $40/ month so would be a good one to use for rotation. Thanks!
 

thegreystalker

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Natural Value is a Northern California company that specializes in organic food of all kinds, including cat food. You can find their cat food varieties at jet.com. I think that they have brick & mortar stores in their local area. I get mine shipped from jet.com. Also, I forgot to mention DVP Natural Balance. My cat will eat Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea formula but she is not crazy about it.
 
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