Will we have to switch to canned food?

[terestrife]

I'm not sure what to do. I have been feeding my cats home cooked food for years. I have the powder supplement (ustew). But food is so scarce right now. I have enough grinded chicken for maybe 1-2 months (not exactly sure).

I was going to go find more chicken thighs but feel guilty that someone else might need the meat. Thats IF i can even find any... Im not sure if i should look for good canned food just in case. I wish we knew how long the stores will remain low on supplies.

What do you guys have planned?

 

[neely]

I understand your concern. Fortunately I made a food run right before all the hoarding, etc. started so I'm okay for now but may be in the same boat as you in a month or two. I would suggest always keeping an alternative supply on hand whether it's canned or another product just in case things get worse. Better safe than sorry. In the meantime, it's very considerate of you to try and conserve the chicken thigh supply but honestly if that's what your cats are used to I would recommend buying a normal supply and not going overboard. Best of luck!

 

[Tobermory]

I bought 15 pounds of chicken thighs earlier this week, but I almost wiped them out. I think I have about a month's worth of homemade at this point. But I'm also stocking up on canned just in case. Kitties gotta eat.

And btw, I was in the grocery store today and there was NO cat litter on the shelves. I'm okay for litter at the moment, but there's yet another thing to worry about.

 

[terestrife]

I understand your concern. Fortunately I made a food run right before all the hoarding, etc. started so I'm okay for now but may be in the same boat as you in a month or two. I would suggest always keeping an alternative supply on hand whether it's canned or another product just in case things get worse. Better safe than sorry. In the meantime, it's very considerate of you to try and conserve the chicken thigh supply but honestly if that's what your cats are used to I would recommend buying a normal supply and not going overboard. Best of luck!

i got lucky too and bought their meat a week before the insanity happened. it just so happened to be my time to make new food. thank god.

i'll keep an eye out and maybe buy a little at a time if i see any meat around.

I bought 15 pounds of chicken thighs earlier this week, but I almost wiped them out. I think I have about a month's worth of homemade at this point. But I'm also stocking up on canned just in case. Kitties gotta eat.

And btw, I was in the grocery store today and there was NO cat litter on the shelves. I'm okay for litter at the moment, but there's yet another thing to worry about.

i have 20 lbs of meat, but with two cats that doesnt last for very long. lol i have back up cans just in case.

did you check amazon for litter? thankfully i bought two bags recently, if i economize and keep their box clean that can last me a while. it just runs out fast when i do a full clean up and replace all the litter.

try to buy a couple of 40 lb litter bags if you can.

 

[Tobermory]

did you check amazon for litter?

I do have one full 20-lb. bag of Smart Cat, and I just placed an order for another 20-lb. bag from Chewy. Should last awhile even with three cats and three very large litter boxes. I’m hoping that people will have stocked up and supply will get a bit more consistent in the future. I usually buy from a small, local independent store, but I got their last bag last week.

 

[terestrife]

I do have one full 20-lb. bag of Smart Cat, and I just placed an order for another 20-lb. bag from Chewy. Should last awhile even with three cats and three very large litter boxes. I’m hoping that people will have stocked up and supply will get a bit more consistent in the future. I usually buy from a small, local independent store, but I got their last bag last week.

ok good. i've noticed the pet supplies in the grocery stores are starting to run low. im glad that i bought a couple of bags last month because it was on sale.

 

[lisahe]

I do have one full 20-lb. bag of Smart Cat, and I just placed an order for another 20-lb. bag from Chewy. Should last awhile even with three cats and three very large litter boxes. I’m hoping that people will have stocked up and supply will get a bit more consistent in the future. I usually buy from a small, local independent store, but I got their last bag last week.

I'm also hoping supply of many groceries becomes more consistent. I tend to stock up on things when there are sales and coupons so was in decent shape for a lot of stuff but put in a moderate Chewy order anyway. All things considered, they were pretty fast: I ordered on Sunday and the shipment arrived on Thursday. My Alnutrin (a bigger concern since I was almost out!) also arrived very quickly.

Since our cats eat homemade cooked, commercial raw, and a little canned, I made sure to have some extra for each "mode," with more canned on hand than usual, for just in case. Plus plenty of Pure Bites, in case this really takes a long time and they get tired of canned! I also ordered an extra bag of Dr. Elsey's chicken dry food. I've been using tiny amounts of it as a nighttime snack for Edwina, who barfs bile if she gets hungry, and figure I could feed a bit more of it if I really have to. It also works for our cats as a topper or treat so it's good to have on hand.

Most of all, I hope the food supplies stabilize so it's easier to make a variety of foods for us and the cats! Thank goodness I recently bought some bulk packs of chicken at BJ's and froze nearly all of it! As I keep telling my husband, we can eat stuff like beans and rice (which I love anyway!) but the cats can't.

I hope all of you are doing okay! Stay well!

 

[Azazel]

The local farm that I usually get my turkey from couldn't give me boneless, skinless, thighs because the folks who work in the back who do the cutting of the meat were all at home self-isolating because they recently got back from a trip. So the issue was not that they were low on supply but low on employees. They only had whole turkeys or bone-in parts. I guess I could have bought the bone-in thighs and removed the bone myself but for some reason didn't think of that at the time... I ended up finding the thighs at a different, more expensive, butcher. I asked when they received their delivery and arrived right away at the store when they were in. I bought a bunch of frozen liver too so that I have some in the freezer for future batches. I ended up making enough food to last the kitties about 1 and a half months and bought a few extra thighs to freeze.

I feel bad because I feel like I'm contributing to the panic by buying extra meat but that's the vicious cycle of the panic. People start panicking so then other people who normally wouldn't panic start buying more too because they worry that there will be a shortage due to the panickers and so forth.

I also stocked up on Feline Natural canned which is the only can food they sometimes eat - just in case.

 

[kittyluv387]

I already have a lot of meat and liver or turkey and rabbit from Hare Today so it's not too bad. I usually add in turkey thighs from the market to bring the turkey price of the batch down but it wouldn't be a big deal for me to spend extra to get all my Turkey from HT. Before this stuff happened I already had 20 pounds of chicken thigh from Costco purchased from them too. I just naturally have a few months of food and extra meat on hand so things have just been business as usual for the cats.

 

[lisahe]

I just naturally have a few months of food and extra meat on hand so things have just been business as usual for the cats.

You sound like me! I always like to have extra around, too. (That proved really fortuitous with stuff for humans, especially hand soap, which we absentmindedly bought two trips in a row at BJ's so now have a couple gallons of liquid soap plus a zillion bars of soap. That's especially good since disinfectant wipes are so hard to come by!)

And thank goodness I thought to buy chicken livers last Tuesday! I am thinking about getting some freeze-dried liver treats, though, which could be backup for Alnutrin meals and occasional treats, too -- the cats really love duck liver.

 

[Tobermory]

I also ordered an extra bag of Dr. Elsey's chicken dry food. I've been using tiny amounts of it as a nighttime snack for Edwina, who barfs bile if she gets hungry, and figure I could feed a bit more of it if I really have to.

I did the same—ordered another bag of the Dr. Elsey’s dry chicken to make sure I had it on hand. Iris can’t eat much at one time so I give her a dry snack mid morning (about three tablespoons). She’s such a skinny thing, and it’s how I keep her weight up. If I need to stretch the homemade and canned, I can’t supplement with a little dry. Not ideal, but like you:

I keep telling my husband, we can eat stuff like beans and rice (which I love anyway!) but the cats can't.

I feel bad because I feel like I'm contributing to the panic by buying extra meat but that's the vicious cycle of the panic.

I felt exactly the same way when I bought nearly all of the chicken thighs at the butcher the other day. I don’t want to over-buy, but I feel like I’m forced to do it.

 

[cataholic07]

I feed premade but for sure am stocking up! I bought 20lbs so far and will be getting more once my new freezer comes
so maybe look into premades?

 

[furmonster mom]

I have enough for a couple months, but hopefully by then things will have calmed down a bit and the stores will be restocked. You gotta figure, even if people are self quarantining for a month, they will still need groceries again at some point.