What is a good brand of cat food that won’t break the bank?

Sweet n Sour: What is a good brand of cat food that won’t break the bank?
I have 2 cats just under a year old, I buy dry cat food for them – Friskies, Kit N Kaboodle, Meow Mix, etc. I’ve heard that dry cat food can cause urinary troubles, and I’m wondering what you all feed your cats that you consider good and not as expensive as canned food for 2 growing cats.

Answers and Views:

Answer by JesseDawg
just buy the cheapest stuff possible, im sure it works just fine

Answer by soclove
cats are gross
but if you insist on one, feed it something with meat as the first ingrediant (what ive always heard)

Answer by morgan t
go to the store~~~~~~ AND LOOK!

Answer by Kita
whiskas makes a cheap pack of wet food u can feed for one meal a day. it’s about .50 cents per pack. i use it as my cats supper, and let her dine free on dry cat food throughout the rest of the day

Answer by beebee
i give them the Costco brand, and if thats not good well thats all i can afford, its worst for them to livein the shelter, i’m sure the food its pretty safe or the fda wouldnt aprove it…

Answer by Jeff L
Dead mice, birds he finds on the porch… otherwise I just feed him some slim jims and snickers bars.

Answer by rick46mpa
meow mix n 9lives n special kitty(cans)—i got 6 cats n they eat better than me—lol

Answer by Dashing Geek
The major brands are all fine – they are all safe to feed to the munchkins. If they do develop urinary problems the vet will prescribe a special low magnesium/ash diet, but the vast majority of cats live great, healthy lives eating the major brands.

Answer by Tammy73
I feed mine the 9-lives in a can, I think I normally pay .98-$ 1.09 for a 4 pack at Wal-Mart.

Answer by My Evil Twin
Purina Indoor Formula (dry) is great and not too expensive. We feed or cats a mix of that and 9-Lives wet food, the quality is good and the price is fair even compared to lesser-quality brands.

Answer by Stuart
Cats don’t like to have their food changed around.

Start with one brand and stay with it. Purina Cat Chow is dry, and is as good a cat food as any other. Just make sure they have plenty of clean water, and feed them twice a day.

Answer by Dr. Tough Love
Well for my 2 cats i give small amounts of dry and can cat food to them.I have found there is a BIG difference between the cheap crap, like 9 lives and what i use which is fancy feast. econmically I buy the large box of varity at wal-mart and don’t mind the about 2-4 dollars more a week extra i pay for a better product. your pal, dr. tough love

Answer by jpiglet86
I’d hate to break it to you, but any dry food is going to break the bank at some point. Usually in the form of diabetes and/or renal failure once they’re older. You really should seriously consider putting them on a canned food diet.

Both my cats get canned Science Diet 3 times a day (one whole can per day divided into 3 feedings).

They are of perfect weight and health and have been for several years.

I don’t consider the $ 40 I spend on food for them every 5 weeks to be breaking the bank. It provides the nutrition that they need and keeps them happy and active.

I will admit though that I am looking for a better food for them since Science Diet just changed the recipe for the food they were eating and I’m not happy with it now. We’re probably going the more organic route here very soon.

Here are a couple of articles that should help you decide what the best options for your kitties are.

https://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood

https://cats.about.com/od/catfoo1/tp/tpcannedadult.htm

and

https://www.catinfo.org/

All have a wealth of very good information and will really help you decide on what to do.

Answer by Lyn
I have 7 cats.
Had two of them with urinary track problems.It seems to be doing the trick.
Let me tell you in cost a lot to fix them when they get sick!

I feed my cats the indoor cat food, from friskies.
The kittens I would recommend friskies kitten food. It’s especially formulated for what they need to grow on.

Everyone says Iams is better but for the price you can’t beat friskies. check this link:
https://voices.yahoo.com/cat-food-friskies-vs-iams-340082.html

I also found a page for free samples from Walmart, one is for Friskies.
https://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-Free-Samples-and-Savings.aspx

enjoy!

Answer by tazzmainiandevils
Wellness brand cat food from Complete Petmart or Whole Foods. It’s not cheap. BUT…ever since I started with it I have never needed another vet visit since. I have cleared up the health of pets with various illnesses, and turned malnourished stray cats into healthy pets with it. Before this my cats got infections all the time.
You’re right, dry food causes illness because it drys out the cats body. Plus, many good intending people spend money on “good” canned brands like Science Diet and Iams, without realizing they use things like roadkill, euthanized animals, and diseased parts for their meat. There isn’t good regulations for petfood makers, and spending a wee bit more on your pet food can make all the difference. You can even smell how fresh and nutrious Wellness brand canned food is, because they only use human grade meats, and no chemicals or preservatives. You’ll save money in the long run, and the lives of your cats. You’re cats should love it!

Answer by kassie
I am a certified pet nutritionist and I can tell you that buying food that is a bit more expensive is far more beneficial to your cat and to you. Feeding the cheaper, grocery brands can lead to a lot of problems for your cat. It doesn’t always have all the nutrients your pet needs. It can lead to obesity, diabetes, and earlier deaths in the long run.

Although the other brands may be more expensive, they tend to even out in overall costs. You will have less vet bills, because your pet will be healthier and will not have to go in as much.

Also, the better foods contain more nutrients and less filler, so the cat gets more of what it needs in each serving. If you look on the bags, the serving size is smaller for the premium brands because they are getting what they need in smaller doses. This will cut down on how much you serve and therefore lower the cost.

It will also cut down on how often you have to change their litter box, which will cut down on costs for litter. When the food contains what they need, they will digest it instead of the other foods which they will just pass.

I would highly recommend Science Diet foods. They spend a lot of time researching what animals need and put a lot of effort and money into their products. Make sure you are also getting the food for the correct lifestage. Kittens have different dietary needs than adult cats and senior cats. Check the bags to make sure you’re getting the right one.

Answer by a c
as a mother of a kitty with FLUTD, i’m begging you – PLEASE get a good urinary tract formula (especially if your kitties are males). my guy Little had 2 back-to-back blockages a year ago – cost about 3 grand to get him a-ok. i’ve been feeding both of my cats prescription diet since, but i’ve heard good things about purina pro-plan urinary tract health – just be careful of the magnesium content on your food – my vet mentioned there is evidence that foods high in magnesium can lead to blockages. the wet/dry food combo is good, and vet recommended – my cats get a little treat of a pouch of wellness brand every few days – not totally cheap, but far cheaper than a huge emergency vet bill, for sure.

Answer by punk_rawk_grrl
I just want to totally applaud Kassie for the answer given. As for most of the rest of you – yikes – how sad that so many of you are feeding your cats dry grocery store cat kibble that’s made mostly of corn!

Cats are CARNIVORES and need a quality diet with MEAT as the main ingredient. And like Kassie says – the better you feed them, the healthier they’ll be. And the healthier the food, the less cats needs to eat to be satisfied – so a cat will actually eat LESS of the quality foods. Less fillers in the food – less poop. Less poop – less scooping/litter box changes. So how are you really saving money giving them garbage?

Feeding your pet shouldn’t be about what is cheapest it should be “what is the best food I can afford to feed my cat”. So maybe it means less Playstation games and less Starbucks coffees or one less purse you really don’t need but skimping on the quality of food you put in your pet shouldn’t be where you save the most money! If that’s how you think, then you really shouldn’t own pets.

For help on selecting a food to feed your pet go here – https://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=004

If you think it’s ok to just feed your cat dry food please read this – https://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood

And if you think dry food “cleans the teeth” read this – https://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=library&act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth

Another good article about picking a cat food – https://www.consumersearch.com/cat-food/review

Answer by princessfifi12
Purina One for Urinary Tract Health…also plenty of water will help to prevent urinary tract problems…the food runs about $ 10 for 7lb bag

Answer by Slug
Variety is the spice of life!
Feeding only dry food can harm your cat. Feeding only pouches gives the water required but can cause diabetes if it contains too much sugar.
Working with a local cat charity we have found many more cats being diagnosed with diabetes recently.
Buying cheap food now may well cost you later on.
My cats all have a little of both good quality dry and pouches and sometimes they are given coley fish and steak mince.
The cost of good cat food is so expensive it is often cheaper to feed them occasionally with chicken, mince and fish. They love it and it is good for them.

Answer by Cat-Lady08
Ive been using Kit and Kabboodle since my cats were a year old and I also feed them Friskes can food and cat treats at night before I go to bed. And they are 6 years old now and Ive had no trouble with the food and my vet knows what I feed them, She says they are spoiled but other than that all 3 are in top shape. I spend about $ 30.00 a week in cat food, plus I feed stray cats outside. Thats not alot of money for someone you love. And I love my cats as if they were my own kids. I go to Petsmart to buy my food, sometimes Wallmart is good too!
Hope this helps you out with your question. Good Luck !!!

Answer by LadyAvatar
Our cat is 11 years old and very healthy.
My husband feeds her the same dry cat food you use but once a week he will give her a can of tuna or chicken.
We buy it at Alldies Food stores because you can get it so cheap there. She gets mice and birds and fresh water.
Our cat is doing great. Since she is getting older we have made her a bed with a pillow and also have a box with a blanket in it just for her. Every morning she lets us know when she is ready to go outside. For about an hour she is outside then we let her back in. Then in the afternoon she will let us know again that she needs to go outside and in an hour we let her back in.
Hope this helped you.

Answer by fdcatmom
Dry food will break the bank in the future. As stated earlier it can lead to a variety of health issues.

Cats have a small intestinal track. They are not designed like dogs are humans. They need a carnivore diet.

In the wild the only veggies/fruit a cat would get would be from the belly of the prey, already partially digested.

We feed Fancy Feast Wheat Gluten free varieties, the Gourmet Feast types. They gravy foods have too high carbohydrate for my kitties.

I also supplement with Nature’s Variety Raw Chicken medallions.

As treats we use freeze dried chicken or raw chicken livers from the grocery.

You will save yourself a lot of heart ache and money if you feed the proper diet.

You can fancy feast pretty cheap at petfooddirect.com. The attached link offers coupon codes for up to 20% off. After shipping and the 20% discount the Fancy Feast is often only $ .40 per can. Much cheaper than at the store, no tax and you save gas money.

Answer by Elaine M
It depends on what you think is breaking the bank.

A bag of Wysong Vitality is $ 8, which will feed two cats for three weeks. A bag of Royal Canin Siamese 38 is $ 11 and is excellent, will last a little longer as you get more in it, and that’s what we feed our group with. Evo is $ 17 a bag, excellent food but some cats get diarhea from that so introduce that gradually.

Wellness Core is $ 8, Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers’ Soul is $ 9, Instinct is also good, as are several others. Look for protein levels above 35%.

For canned, I get EVO at $ 1.50 occasionally, and MaxiCat or NutroMax at $ 1.09–both those are the big cans and each of those will feed 3 cats for one day plus a little dry. We schluck it onto a plate, it’s known as the ‘tower of food’, they all dig in.

The smaller cans aren’t as efficient for all three of them, but I do get the occasional 9-Lives Super Supper for the diabetic cat as it’s very low in carbs. He gets a quarter of a can of that at a feeding. There’s 6 carbs in the whole can.

Check with pet supply stores, you’ll find all sorts of good choices. Look for anything without by-products in the first five ingredients, and that doesn’t list corn in the first 4. The more meat sources in the first 4 the better. Balance that against the protien level and you can find better choices than what the grocery store offers. There’ll also be far less dyes in the food–all grocery store cat foods are loaded up with dyes to make them look better to the owners.

Answer by sherryremy39
I get my cat Ia ms cat food it is only 7 bucks at store where i get it and it is with Lam and Rice it is in a Pink bag