And because that's a whole lot of text I just wrote, here's the above broken down into a simple list. Based on PetCo prices, and feeding amounts for an average adult cat, here are the breakdowns for how much eat diet costs to feed one cat per month, from cheapest option to most expensive:
9 Lives canned: $27.30
Wellness Core Kibble: $29.12
Soulistic canned: $36.70
Half Wellness Core Kibble, half 9 Lives canned: $41.86
Half Wellness Core Kibble, half various high-end grain-free canned: $49.40
Various high-end grain-free canned: $53.39
It should be noted that my grain-free canned selection above includes one very pricey food (Blue Wilderness Duck). I should calculate what a diet of the cheapest grain-free I can find is, and see how that compares.
Edit: Ok, I went ahead and calculated the monthly price of feeding Soulistic (PetCo's cheapest grain-free canned food) and that comes out to $36.70 pet month.
Still more than the kibble-only diet, but actually cheaper than a half Core kibble, half low-quality wet food diet. So there you go! I've added that to the list above.
9 Lives canned: $27.30
Wellness Core Kibble: $29.12
Soulistic canned: $36.70
Half Wellness Core Kibble, half 9 Lives canned: $41.86
Half Wellness Core Kibble, half various high-end grain-free canned: $49.40
Various high-end grain-free canned: $53.39
It should be noted that my grain-free canned selection above includes one very pricey food (Blue Wilderness Duck). I should calculate what a diet of the cheapest grain-free I can find is, and see how that compares.
Edit: Ok, I went ahead and calculated the monthly price of feeding Soulistic (PetCo's cheapest grain-free canned food) and that comes out to $36.70 pet month.
Still more than the kibble-only diet, but actually cheaper than a half Core kibble, half low-quality wet food diet. So there you go! I've added that to the list above.