Switching an almost 2 year old to canned

[oonawingedwolf]

It's been some time since I could afford to feed good food and it has haunted me the entire time I have had my Daemon. I am now blessed with a better financial situation.  I want to be sure I switch him correctly.  My vet is open to all diets and does not tout one over another. He did tell me to stay away from guar gum and a couple of other items used in canned food.  I am looking at hitting online sales to get variety but am afraid I may have to depend on brands available at Walmart and Dollar General at least to start with.  He weight 8 lbs.  He's currently kind of lazy but I am working on getting toys to help encourage him to be more active (suggestions for that would help too). I would love advice on brands, varieties to avoid and the such.  I am sure things have changed some since my cat before Daemon passed.  She died from complications that well, a better diet would have avoided, I switched her to better food too late.  I would like Daemon to have a longer, fuller life.

 

[ashekitty]

I'm so happy for you that you have a better situation! Congrats!

If you are going to go with less expensive brands like Friskies and Fancy Feast and Sheba, I would stick to the Pates or classics. Out of those three, Fancy Feast and Sheba are about to same quality and Friskies is a little bit lower quality.

If you are going to go with the more expensive brands, you can try Soulistic (petco brand) Weruva, Lotus, Nature's Instinct.

One other thing: If you are a Costco member they have a brand of canned cat food with good ingredients called Nature's Domain. It actually comes out to be cheaper than Sheba.

Also I would check out Chewy.com (https://www.chewy.com/b/wet-food-389)

 

[thegreystalker]

I second the recommendation for Sheba.  And yes, Chewy.com is your friend, as is Jet.com.

Here are other varieties that do not break the bank and are good choices (no corn, no wheat, no soy ingredients);

Purina Pro Plan True Nature.  The Chicken & Turkey entree can be had for less than 17 bucks for 24 cans (5.5 oz) from Chewy.com.  Triumph is also an affordable no-grain brand.

 

[ashekitty]

I second the recommendation for Sheba.  And yes, Chewy.com is your friend, as is Jet.com.

Here are other varieties that do not break the bank and are good choices (no corn, no wheat, no soy ingredients);
Purina Pro Plan True Nature.  The Chicken & Turkey entree can be had for less than 17 bucks for 24 cans (5.5 oz) from Chewy.com.  Triumph is also an affordable no-grain brand.

Yes, I agree. Out of Sheba and Fancy Feast Sheba has slightly better ingredients in my opinion. I also think it is cheaper.

 

[destinyz12]

Here are some canned food ingredients that most people on here like to try to avoid: Carrageenan (can be a major stomach irritant if given too much), Wheat, corn, corn gluten and any other type of grain (cats aren't meant to digest them), too many fruit/veggie fillers (also can be hard to digest-every cat reacts differently though).  The grains and fruit/veggies are also good to avoid in dry food of course too if you decide to feed that.   and just a general cat food rule- try to avoid feeding fish flavors too often since they can cause various issues if given too much.  Also, look for a specific meat as the # 1 ingredient listed.  Some of my picky cats favorites that aren't too expensive are Chicken Soup for the Soul's stew (comes in beef and chicken flavors), Merrick Purrfect Bistro trays (beef, chicken, turkey, and duck flavors), and Sheba cuts (Chicken, turkey, and occasionally Trout as a special treat).  She will tolerate the pates sometimes but prefers shreds/cuts/chunks in gravy.

 

[hark]

It's been some time since I could afford to feed good food and it has haunted me the entire time I have had my Daemon. I am now blessed with a better financial situation.  I want to be sure I switch him correctly.  My vet is open to all diets and does not tout one over another. He did tell me to stay away from guar gum and a couple of other items used in canned food.  I am looking at hitting online sales to get variety but am afraid I may have to depend on brands available at Walmart and Dollar General at least to start with.  He weight 8 lbs.  He's currently kind of lazy but I am working on getting toys to help encourage him to be more active (suggestions for that would help too). I would love advice on brands, varieties to avoid and the such.  I am sure things have changed some since my cat before Daemon passed.  She died from complications that well, a better diet would have avoided, I switched her to better food too late.  I would like Daemon to have a longer, fuller life.

I've been reading Trader Joes canned cat food is healthier/better choice than Friskies. I have been using Friskies for YEARS but have heard alarming things so now I am now switching theirs to Trader Joe's myself. I heard it was pretty much the same price as Friskies too.

 

[oonawingedwolf]

Thank you for all the information on brands. I actually have chewy bookmarked and plan to order there. I noticed most if not all pate styles have guar gum in them. While I would rather not feed anything with that in it...I have found that I would be limiting my cat to maybe 8 varieties if I did. That makes me sad but what can you do right?