If you feed your cat(s) a high quality canned cat food. . .

[Pegasus]

Where have you found the best combination of quality/price?  

 

I've been using the Foster-Smith brand canned cat food, ordered online.  I'm not a cat nutrition expert but the ingredients list looks pretty good and by waiting for the regular 20% off promotions and ordering enough to get free shipping, I pay about 73 cents a can, which is much less than I would pay for Wellness or one of the other premium brands at local pet stores.

 

 

[Pawz4me]

I've not found that my cats do any better on "premium" canned foods than they do on brands like Fancy Feast and Friskies.  But I have no qualms at all with the use of some byproducts in cat or dog food.  Rather than focusing on brands, I look for canned foods that are lowest in carbs.  This list is a few years old so some of the data may have changed some.

[Carrie12345]

I hate the fact that I use Friskies, but my old man has turned down every single premium brand we've tried.  :glare:

 

ETA: My old man, as in my old, male cat.  Just to be clear!  :lol:

Edited May 1, 2016 by Carrie12345

[Dmmetler]

We use kitty junk food for my two seniors who tend to be underweight. They'll eat the Friskies, but decided that Nutro Natural was not up to their high standards.

[MyLittleBears]

 I have to feed one of ours sensitive stomach formula so both cats get it. If I don't the one get stinky bottom and leaves it on the stuff he sits on. I really quite gross so we're stuck paying for the more expensive brand. :tongue_smilie:

[Pegasus]

  This list is a few years old so some of the data may have changed some.

 

Thank you for the list!  Even if the data is a little old, it has some great general information on it regarding the nutritional needs of cats.

 

I'm still learning.  I had one cat that lived well into her 20s on a diet of primarily dry kibble from the grocery store.  In recent years, I lost a cat too early to kidney disease, and that is when I started learning that dry kibble is not the healthiest way to feed them.  

 

Fortunately, the two young cats that I currently have are not picky eaters.  I've yet to see them refuse to eat.  They do sometimes get store brand cat food like Friskies or Fancy Feast but I aim for most of their meals to be from a high quality brand.   

[texasmama]

I am currently feeding the cats Wellness from Amazon on Subscribe and Save (so I get a 15% discount), but I am paying over $50 a month for cat food.  I do have an old cat who has had some health issues (stomatitis) so I try to keep her diet quality.  The kitten (just turned one year) gets the same diet because they are here together and impossible to feed separately.  I think this is a lot of money for cat food, but I get overwhelmed with making decisions and looking at charts and trying to figure out the information.

[Allearia]

My cats are very picky in that one gets sick on dry food, and another gets sick on cheap canned food, even the grain free supermarket food. Now that I have found a variety that all three tolerate well I order from Petco using repeat delivery for free shipping and 15% off. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't have the specific kind we get. It costs a fortune.

 

A few of the supermarkets have the refrigerated cases with Fresh Pet cat food, which the cats love and it keeps them healthy, so it is nice to be able to grab it if we are low on the cans and I don't want to make a special trip. It is sort of a moist kibble, so a bit easier for the kids to measure and feed the cats.

 

We previously had cats for 17 years that we just fed dry food from the supermarket. I don't know how I ended up with three super high maintenance cats! We spend over $150 on cat food for three cats. It makes me sick.

[GailV]

We use Wellness.  This week I purchased from Whole Foods since they have it on sale plus I bought a lot so I got a case discount of 10% (24 cans per case).  Other times I purchase from a locally owned shop that gives a discount on 12 cans plus has reward points, plus are locally owned and very very big on customer service and community support.  Another place I occasionally shop for it is PetSmart.  (Dd doesn't like PetCo because she doesn't like the way they 

 

One of my cats is very picky -- trying to transition from junk food led us through the wonderful path of her trying to eat the poinsettias as a protest, getting constipated from the chicken baby food I was using to help her transition and then developing Fear of Litter Box for Poops because of that (which she's still not totally over).  I am torn between sympathy for anyone trying to transition a picky cat, and side eye for anyone who doesn't bother trying because it's hard.

 

It was worth it, though, because the digestion is better, no UTIs, and, frankly, the fur is so much better -- we have a long list of things that improved.

 

Decent food is expensive, but so are vet bills.

[Robin M]

My cats, the three kids (now 8) and mama (now 9) are all on a diet of some kind.  Weight loss and urinary wet and dry. We use Science Diet for the kids and mama gets fancy feast. She won't eat anything else.   The one who never turns his nose up at anything, turned his nose up at Nutro.  One of the gals at Petsmart recommended because her cats loved it.  Not a hit at our house.  

[Catalytic]

I believe 100% in Dr. Pierson.  I tried my best to switch my little brats to her raw recipe, but they weren't having it.  Read her site thoroughly and switched them to  Friskies Pate in 2013 (I believe that was her top recommendation at the time, not sure about now) and have ZERO regrets.  My 20lb cat (slowly) lost 7lbs and acts like a kitten at 14 years old now.  My 21lb Maine Coon is about 14lbs now, and my other two are good weights.  Their coats are shinier, their eyes are brighter, and they have loads more energy.  I took them off kitty crack (dry food) cold turkey, and we will never feed it again.  Wet food is the way to go imo.  My dog is on raw.

[kitten18]

I've not found that my cats do any better on "premium" canned foods than they do on brands like Fancy Feast and Friskies. But I have no qualms at all with the use of some byproducts in cat or dog food. Rather than focusing on brands, I look for canned foods that are lowest in carbs. This list is a few years old so some of the data may have changed some.

Do you know of a list like this for dog food? Our rescue Chi needs to have some teeth pulled and I don't know if he'll be able to eat dry food anymore.

[MistyMountain]

I've not found that my cats do any better on "premium" canned foods than they do on brands like Fancy Feast and Friskies. But I have no qualms at all with the use of some byproducts in cat or dog food. Rather than focusing on brands, I look for canned foods that are lowest in carbs. This list is a few years old so some of the data may have changed some.

I actually went by this list and wrote down all the quality brands with low carbs and tried them one by one in the textures he liked when he was recovered from fatty liver disease and interested in eating again and my cat wanted none of it. The punk will only eat friskies and a lot of it must be hard food which is completely terrible in terms of ingredients. In the end I wanted him to eat again on his own so he gets his kitty crack junk food.

[Pawz4me]

Do you know of a list like this for dog food? Our rescue Chi needs to have some teeth pulled and I don't know if he'll be able to eat dry food anymore.

 

Not really.  Maybe the best would be Dog Food Advisor.  You can look up individual foods and see the percentage of protein, fat and carbs in each.  I'm not crazy about the site, though.  I have issues with silly and very overly simplistic rating systems in general, and I think some of the things they consider good or bad are just flat out wrong.  But I assume the basic info on nutrient percentages is correct.  For dog foods I go to the manufacturers' websites and compare things myself.