Never Ending Cat Food Dilemma

[Mrs. PBJ]

I also do a quick switch with all my pets on food.

Boss has been on a high quality food from the womb.

I think it makes a difference. Amy I was saying about Taste of the wild is a hit or miss.

Boss can handle evo and TOTW and Wellness core and Instinct.

But he has never been fed Purina or anything like that.

So i guess it could make a difference. I have never had a issue switching boss between foods. I can change his canned food. His kibble no issue. So i am pretty lucky.

Amy I really hope you find something for your four babys.

 

[undergunfire]

I ended up getting some Purina ONE (chicken) and am going to try that out with my cats. Iam's Healthy Naturals was $7 for 3.5lbs and didn't come in larger bags, so I thought that was a bit too much. Hopefully this works for us, but if it doesn't then I am at a loss for what to do! I can't keep switching back and forth because it can't be good for their tummies...and I also can't afford to feed 100% wet (plus, the cats like some crunch and like to snack on the dry - Juju at least).

Yeah, Kat...I am glad we can switch between wet food with no issues....but its the dry food that is such a pain in the butt (literally..for the cats, anyway). I still wish I could handle feeding raw, but it seems pretty pricey and I can't stomach it (even just to supplement their diet).

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

undergunfire wrote:

I ended up getting some Purina ONE (chicken) and am going to try that out with my cats. Iam's Healthy Naturals was $7 for 3.5lbs and didn't come in larger bags, so I thought that was a bit too much. Hopefully this works for us, but if it doesn't then I am at a loss for what to do! I can't keep switching back and forth because it can't be good for their tummies...and I also can't afford to feed 100% wet (plus, the cats like some crunch and like to snack on the dry - Juju at least).

Yeah, Kat...I am glad we can switch between wet food with no issues....but its the dry food that is such a pain in the butt (literally..for the cats, anyway). I still wish I could handle feeding raw, but it seems pretty pricey and I can't stomach it (even just to supplement their diet).

Amy have you look into Evo canned you can get a 13 ounce can for 2 bucks. Its the only reason I can still feed boss wet while we are trying to save for a car.

Or even Evo dry sorry if you posted already about evo but its a good grain free food and for the price of a can of wet its a great price point. Considering I was paying 89 cent for a 2.8 ounce can of wet.

Boss get
TOTW dry 1/2 cup a day
2.3 ounce of Evo canned a day

 

[undergunfire]

My cats can't handle EVO dry....there was poop smeared all over my house when I tried that, LOL. A LOT of cats can't handle EVO because it is so rich.

EVO canned here is almost $3 for a 13oz can - that's $3 per day just in canned which is $90 a month JUST for canned food. Litter is about $20 per month, so that is $110. Then add in dry which is around $30....thats about $140 just for the cats, which isn't do-able. With 4 cats, 1 dog, 4 rabbits, and 4 rats I pay about $160 per month ($100 on cats alone)....so increasing the total by another $40 is going to be a bit much since I am still in school for the next 6 weeks.

 

[pocketsizedrhino]

I know you may not be interested in trying something else, but I wanted to mention Evanger's brand cat food. They have a "low grain" formula that is a great price for what it is. They have a 12lb. bag for $25 on their website but it may be cheaper elsewhere. I didn't know about this brand until recently.. their packaging turns me off a little bit though I'll be honest, lol.

 

[undergunfire]

I can't get Evanger's locally and can't afford the added shipping costs. Living in a small area sucks...higher prices and less options as far as stores go. I have a feed store that has TONS of dog food brands, but yet a tiny cat food section...then there is PetSmart & Petco, as well as a mom & pop pet store who waaaay over charges.

Someone just needs to come over to my house 2x a day to feed raw, LOL. I can't even force myself to purchase meat at the store when I get into one of my "well, I should try feeding raw again"....I feel gross and nasty just walking past the meat isle :laughsmiley:.

 

[Happi Bun]

Update on our never ending Cat food dilemma-

We switched off Science Diet. I can't even remember why we switched to that junk in the first place. Really bad ingredients. :yuck We are feeding Authority Sensitive Solutions now. No animal by-products, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It's not high quality but not low quality either, it's about middle ground. Was recommended on the Cat Forum for people who can't afford the really high end stuff. We are going to feed a high quality canned food along with the Authority dried. It's just a matter of finding one they like! I tried Blue Buffalo Spa Select cans, yeah that didn't go over well.

 

[undergunfire]

Thats good news, Erika! I forgot I had tried the Authority kind with my kitties and it didn't work well for them, so I am glad it has been working for your kitty.

I finally have no more runny cat poo in my house, either :biggrin2:...we are feeding Nature's Select & it gets delivered right to our door (or to the grooming salon)! $51 for 40lbs, so its not that bad.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Wow Amy I never saw the post about Evo I pay 1.72 a 13 ounce can for Evo.


But I think we may be changing to Evangers I can get it for 1.26 for a 13 ounce can.

I hope everyone that has a cat on Evo plans on getting them off before they change ingredients.

 

[Happi Bun]

That's too bad your kitties didn't do well on Authority. That's actually what we fed our previous kitty, Sunny, for his adult life. He passed away at 15 and always did great on it. Some cats just don't respond well to certain foods. Like how ours did awful on Taste of the Wild but others can do great on it.

 

[BooLette]

I feed Blue Buffalo Wilderness. It is the only dry food that doesn't make my cats vomit. That said, every cat is different just like every dog is and what works for mine may not work for yours.

 

[LV426]

I have four cats:
Trouble: 16 years
Monster: 4 years
Squidgey: 6 years
LittleBit: 11 months

Trouble has Chronic Renal Failure so he's on a special canned diet. I feed him Hi-Tor Neo. It's a low phosphorous and low protein diet. He needs the extra moisture from the canned and he's lost a bunch of teeth in his old age so he doesn't eat as much dry anymore.

The other 3 are currently on a mixture of 2 different foods.
One is Blue Wilderness, the duck formula. $18.95/12lb bag
http://www.bluebuff.com/products/cats/wilderness-cat-duck.shtml

The other is Feline Holistic Select Duck formula. $11.99/12lb bag

http://www.onlinepetdepot.com/holistic-select-feline-radiant-adult-health-duck-meal-recipe-12lb-p-3589.html


The Blue Wilderness is grain free and my cats love it.
The Feline Holistic Select has some brown rice and oatmeal and assorted fruits and veggies in it and the cats like it too. I mix them both together for feeding in a feeder. They have free access to food and water at all times.

I do feed them 2 cans of Blue Wilderness duck formula per day but the three of them split one can in the morning and one can at night.

I used to feed them Iams but my male cats kept getting urinary tract infections and along with vet bills I was cleaning up pee all the time in various places. I should have bought stock in Nature's Miracle just so I could get some money back with all of the gallons I was buying.

Since they've been on the new diet, for 3 months now, no one has peed on anything and there's been no visit to the vet for UTI. Granted that's not all that long but for the past year I've been to the vet almost every month for UTIs in one of the cats. Also I notice that their litter box isn't as stinky. Their poop is firm and not runny or excessively smelly. The urine doesn't smell as strong.

My 16 yr old likes to even nibble at the dry Blue Wilderness every so often.

The only downside is expense but if I can keep from spending so much on vet bills it's worth it.