Need new canned cat food: best quality/value ???

[Pegasus]

I'm so disappointed that Drs. Foster & Smith have sold out to Petco.  I have been buying their brand of canned cat food for years, finding it to be a pretty good quality for the price.  I did manage to stock up a bit when they were clearing out the last of the stock at a significant discount, so I am good for about the next 4 months.  

But, I will need to find a new source.  Where have you found the best combination of food quality and price for canned cat food?  I've heard good things about Trader Joe's but my local store always seems to be out of stock or only have the fish flavor, which I try to avoid.

Thanks,

Peggy

[goldberry]

I'm interested too.  I have one cat who will only eat a very expensive brand, and another who will eat anything.  I've been buying the expensive brand for both and cannot continue!  But I still want chow-hound-kitty to get good nutrition...and no smelly poop! 😖

[ktgrok]

Fancy feast pate style is really good as far as results go, it is low carb and high protein and of course cats love it. Friskies pate isn't terrible, but not quite as good. Stick to pate, as the chunky styles usually use wheat gluten to make the chunks, diluting thea mount of meat in the product. 

[Mergath]

Just out of curiosity, why does the fact that the brand was sold to Petco mean you can't buy it now? Did they change the ingredients? 

My cats get fancy grain-free dry food but cheap canned food, so I'm probably not the best person to recommend a new brand.

[Pegasus]

7 minutes ago, Mergath said:

Just out of curiosity, why does the fact that the brand was sold to Petco mean you can't buy it now? Did they change the ingredients? 

 

 

Sadly, even though some Foster & Smith brand products are still available through Petco, the canned cat food is not.  I did find the F&S joint care product that I buy for my dog on the Petco website but it has been repriced from $45 to $60.  *ouch*

[Pegasus]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

Fancy feast pate style is really good as far as results go, it is low carb and high protein and of course cats love it. Friskies pate isn't terrible, but not quite as good. Stick to pate, as the chunky styles usually use wheat gluten to make the chunks, diluting thea mount of meat in the product. 

 

This is very helpful. Thank you. I remember doing quite a bit of research years ago when I was choosing a regular cat food and this guidance rings a bell.  An added bonus is that Fancy Feast and Friskies are both so easy to find in local stores.

[Pawz4me]

I've never met a cat who didn't do well on Fancy Feast and Friskies. Ditto what Katie said about pate. 

[AmandaVT]

We've had good luck with Applaws food: https://www.amazon.com/Applaws-Juicy-Chicken-Breast-2-12oz/dp/B00EF5V9CY/ref=pd_bxgy_2/136-6227591-4729606?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00EF5V9CY&pd_rd_r=4ccaf358-4079-11e9-982f-6fea4be7bb3a&pd_rd_w=Toe6k&pd_rd_wg=SVg6F&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=GHWTY4620ZWJ6QK358PH&psc=1&refRID=GHWTY4620ZWJ6QK358PH

 

[AbcdeDooDah]

Watching. I've been trying to figure this out, too. I've been feeding the American Journey cat food but my cats are not thrilled.  I end up throwing a lot away. I bought the trial of Darwin's and they absolutely love it, but the shipping costs put this out of reach. I just spent $35 on a BAG OF AIR(Stella and Chewys) that would be 1/3 of a month for one cat. Not doable. Of course, they like Fancy Feast but I prefer large cans for cost and waste. 

Plus, they stink with Fancy Feast. I spend too much time brainstorming cat food! I would prefer to spend less than $100/month, if possible. 

Right now they are are also getting 1/4 each if Wilderness Hairball dry. I would like to eliminate kibble altogether.

Edited March 7, 2019 by AbcdeDooDah

[lynn]

Sheba, my cat only eats salmon cuts $.70 for two portions.

[umsami]

Because we have two cats.... who each want their own food.... we buy the Sheba perfect portions that break into two sides.  Our kitties like the pate.    They each get one of those plus have access to dry kibble (Iams or Purina One.)   Easily found at Target, Walmart, grocery store, etc.

On special occasions, they get a can of tuna.  Trader Joe's has cans of tuna with vitamins added for cats that I've been meaning to try.

 

[AbcdeDooDah]

One of my cats is 15 lbs. I think that's 5 or so Fancy Feasts and it looks like 9 Shebas. 😱 Hopefully I can find a food in 12oz cans.

 

[Pawz4me]

7 hours ago, AbcdeDooDah said:

One of my cats is 15 lbs. I think that's 5 or so Fancy Feasts and it looks like 9 Shebas. 😱 Hopefully I can find a food in 12oz cans.

 

That would be way too much food for most cats (despite what the label says) unless perhaps it's a very young, active one. Our last cat was a 16 pounder (good weight, not fat) and he never ate nearly that much. But he was a young adut when we adopted him and was lazy his entire life. Even though I say it would be too much for most cats, I don't doubt there are some out there who really do need that much. But you really need to compare pet food by calories rather than always sticking with the same amount from brand to brand. There can be a LOT of variation in the calories from one food to another, canned or kibble. Calorie information should be available on manufacturers' websites. Some dog kibble will have in the 300-400 calorie per cup range, and I've seen others hitting close to 600 calories per cup. Huge difference! It matters a lot for weight control. And contrary to popular belief that smaller amounts of higher calorie food are better (mostly because the humans like cleaning up less poop), I've known a lot of animals who seemed much more satisfied on a larger volume of a lower calorie food. They're just like humans--different in what works.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Pawz4me

[Paige]

My cats is almost 19lbs and probably a maine coon mix, but he even only eats at most 2 5oz cans a day. Usually he gets about 1.5.

Mine are so picky and eat Friskies, not pate because they hate pate. It's not high quality but because of one cat's issues, the vet thinks any wet is better for him than any dry. I really would like to feed them Tiki Cat. I think it's pretty high quality and they usually like it but they won't consistently chow into it like Friskies.

[AbcdeDooDah]

3 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

That would be way too much food for most cats (despite what the label says) unless perhaps it's a very young, active one. Our last cat was a 16 pounder (good weight, not fat) and he never ate nearly that much. But he was a young adut when we adopted him and was lazy his entire life. Even though I say it would be too much for most cats, I don't doubt there are some out there who really do need that much. But you really need to compare pet food by calories rather than always sticking with the same amount from brand to brand. There can be a LOT of variation in the calories from one food to another, canned or kibble. Calorie information should be available on manufacturers' websites. Some dog kibble will have in the 300-400 calorie per cup range, and I've seen others hitting close to 600 calories per cup. Huge difference! It matters a lot for weight control. And contrary to popular belief that smaller amounts of higher calorie food are better (mostly because the humans like cleaning up less poop), I've known a lot of animals who seemed much more satisfied on a larger volume of a lower calorie food. They're just like humans--different in what works.

Oh, yeah. I looked up a calorie counter and give them both an average of the recommended calories for both of their weights. Right now they get a little less than 100 of dry, 100 of canned, and less than 100 of the freeze-dried raw. 

They seem to do well with that and I never thought I would spend so much time thinking about cat food.

Edited March 7, 2019 by AbcdeDooDah