Wet Food Suggestions?

Richard2121

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I have been working tirelessly to try and go through a process of elimination to find 4 or 5 good brands to rotate with my 4 babies. They all have to like the food which makes it difficult but fortunately I have found a few that work. I am on a stricter budget right now and will be able to expand my options in another year or two after I graduate from college.

Right now I am prioritizing wet over dry and then looking at a happy medium between ingredients label, cost, and something my cats will actually eat without much of a fight. So far they LOVE Blue Indoor Freedom Flaked Chicken. I don't know why they love it but its a necessity for them. I know, it has carrageenan but they seriously go bananas and empty their bowls so I feel obligated to continue feeding for now. They seem less enthusiastic about Fancy Feast Classic Pates but they do enjoy the Chicken and Beef flavor which has no fish. So I have been rotating those two brands/flavors while also testing out new brands as well. They have been eating the Tiny Tiger Chunks in Gravy but two of my four babies will lick all the gravy and not finish all the meat bits. They eat other "chunks in gravy" foods and don't do this so it must be something about the meat consistency? I ordered some of the Tiny Tiger Pate to try so maybe that will be better for them.

So my question is, does anyone else feed these foods and have suggestions for what other brands I could try? They do not like Natural Balance (any flavor), they don't like Purina Pro Plan very much, and they do not show much interest in American Journey although I can get them to nibble on it occasionally. They also won't touch any Pate style Blue Buffalo which is odd.
 

KarenKat

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Trying wet food with our guys and the hands down favorite was Life’s Abundance. It’s a mostly chicken pate, and only available off their website Life's Abundance. They do sell individual cans so you can try it out.

Another favorite in our house is Caru, the consistency is pretty gruel-like but our picky eater really likes it.
 

Erin80

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Mine have gone totally off pate. Right now they are loving the Go! brand chicken stew. They will pretty much eat anything that is bits in gravy. They also get commercial raw every day which they love most.
 
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Richard2121

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So far I love the suggestions but unfortunately I cannot afford to be spending that much on cat food right now. The brands recommended are just a tad too expensive for my current budget. :)

I have looked at Go! and Life's Abundance before and although Life's Abundance is not too expensive, I already pay a lot for the Blue Freedom Indoor Flaked Chicken each month so I try to limit the cost of the other brands I mix in to the rotation. As I said, though, I plan to upgrade their foods in a couple years when my budget is higher!
 

She's a witch

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Check this out:
Redbarn Naturals Lamb Pate Skin & Coat Grain-Free Canned Cat Food, 5.5-oz, case of 24
Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Rabbit Pate Canned Cat Food
although I think you've just missed the promo on the Merrick this time
 
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Richard2121

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I will maybe try the merrick purrfect bistro, still a little pricey but at least it is pate. The Redbarn is a no-go as my kitties have already shunned the chicken stew and lamb pate flavors. :headshake:
 

RajaNMizu

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I wound up trying the girls on Sheba about five months ago due to a great sale. It's actually a very decent food and it's reasonably lower in cost so we added it to our rotation. CatFoodDB - Sheba Cat Food Reviews
 

mizzely

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I have a picky girl too so i know the struggle. Most of what she adores is more expensive so I just have to make it a once or twice a week thing. Her favorites:

Caru
Tiki Cat Mousse
Weruva Slide N Serve
Nutro Soft Loaf

Next food I'm going to try is WholeHearted or Miko I think, since she does like some shredded chicken.
 

lisahe

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I wound up trying the girls on Sheba about five months ago due to a great sale. It's actually a very decent food and it's reasonably lower in cost so we added it to our rotation. CatFoodDB - Sheba Cat Food Reviews
Yes, Sheba's very decent food -- our cats have finally started to like it so I'm glad to have something a little lower-priced in their rotation!

Our cats really love the new BFF "Play" pates from Weruva, which seem to have suspiciously similar ingredient lists to these Soulistic pates, which cost a bit less. Then again, Petco has been having promotions on the BFF version -- and BFF has some flavors that Soulistic doesn't, like chicken/lamb and chicken/beef -- so I've bought those.
 

RajaNMizu

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Yes, Sheba's very decent food -- our cats have finally started to like it so I'm glad to have something a little lower-priced in their rotation!
Same here! Neither of my girls will touch Friskies or Fancy Feast so it's helpful in the budget department.
 

kmoulus

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I find the BFF foods to be very high in salt. My cat is on a moderate sodium diet (cardiac disease) and I have done a lot of research on sodium levels. I applaud Weruva for the tons of nutrition info on their website and I feed Speedy mostly their Slide-N-Serve (and Tiki Cat mousse), but I think BFF is the highest sodium of all Weruva foods.

Weruva and Tiki Cat can be pricey. While I would prefer to shop at an independent store, they charge about $2 per pouch while Petco and Chewy are more like $1.49.
 
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Richard2121

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Thanks again guys for all your input!! When we choose to feed wet/raw only it makes things complicated as far as budget goes. The cats have to actually like the food and we try to ensure that it has quality ingredients too. I am learning that my cats may be set in their ways due to my own experimentation. Actually, there was a time about 5 months ago that I ordered about $200 worth of fancy feast through Chewy and ended up returning it because they all refused to touch it. I was feeding Sheba and Holistic Select at the time....sigh....now they like most fancy feast classic pate flavors but refuse Holistic Select and Sheba in all varieties.

See the problem is Richard has always had diarrhea and it seems to be a mixture of antibiotics and lower quality food causing his stomach upset issues. We have tried a little bit of everything. Fecal tests, probiotics, tylosin powder (briefly), and pumpkin. He won't touch the pumpkin no matter what I do. He has had a few short spurts of solid stool so I am wondering if its infectious or digestive related. My other cats have more consistently solid stool (I have 4 if them). I want to eliminate the possibility of a digestive issue before moving forward with a $250 fecal pcr panel. I am going to try an experiment this week. I am going to try feeding them Wellness Chicken Pate and get them off of Fancy Feast and stop changing their food so frequently. I will be stern about it because this morning I got all of them to eat a decent portion of Wellness without hesitation. The reason I am trying Wellness is because it comes in 12.5 ounce cans and is a middle range quality wet food. I also have about 24 cans readily available from a failed attempt to transition them to Wellness previously. So I won't lose much if I fail again. But they seem willing to try new foods they just know how to push my buttons and get me to cave before the transition is complete.

Long story short there is a reason I am testing new foods and asking questions on here. With 4 cats I suppose it is highly likely that one of them does not tolerate Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc. My vet also said that because Richard is in good health otherwise and growing rapidly, we are not in a rush to figure out the loose stools. I have Nexabiotic on hand and I will maybe give that a week or two and see where Richard stands after that.
 

Tuffysmom

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My Tuff is a Fancy Feast guy for sure. Has been eating it 3+ years and is a beautiful, healthy cat. I only feed the classic pate.
 
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