[Galathiel]

I was wondering if anyone knew of any large (13 oz) cans of cat food that are NOT pate. Sienna, after refusing to eat any canned before I got her, then transitioning to eating all canned happily, has decided the past couple of weeks that she really would prefer to not have pate. The only large cans I can get locally are Innova Cat & Kitten, which are, of course, pate. Economically speaking, I was using the Innova as my good (decent) quality base (1/2 her daily food) and adding other brands of food to it for the other half, mainly Authority and Newman's Own (another pate 'sigh'). I also tried a can of Nutromax Cat as well, only to find it is also pate (at the time I bought it, she was still eating pate and I didn't even think about it).

I can hardly find any cat food that I can afford that is decent quality and isn't pate. I can't afford to spend 1.25 for a 3 oz can, particularly since some of the higher quality foods seem to be lower in calorie, so she would probably have to eat 3 a day since she's an active 1 year old.

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[shan841]

I have never seen non-pate in the 13 oz cans, but weruva and soulistic come in the 5.5 oz, and they are shredded /chunks in gravy.

Unfortunately, they don't fill up my cat as much as his other foods. I am not sure if it is because a lower calorie content or higher water content.

 

[Gummers]

Galathiel, I am in the same boat as you! My guys LOVE shreds in gravy but it's costing too much to give them the higher quality ones in the small cans. I WILL say that Weruva has come out with a new 10 ounce Paw Lickin' Chicken, but the savings don't appear to be all that significant per ounce.

Have you tried the big cans of EVO? It's a pate, for sure but it's one of the few the boys will eat.

 

[yingying]

Performatrin Ultra has 13oz cans, and at least the beef and turkey flavors (I never bought other flavors) are shreds in gravy. My girls like them. The brand is sold in PetValu. The ingredients are quite decent.

 

[yingying]

PS: You can give your cat some raw chicken pieces everyday. It's the healthest you can get for a cat, definitely cheaper than canned food, and, obviously, not pate

 

[Gummers]

Performatrin Ultra has 13oz cans, and at least the beef and turkey flavors (I never bought other flavors) are shreds in gravy. My girls like them. The brand is sold in PetValu. The ingredients are quite decent.

D: It sounds perfect! But there's no PetValu near me and it doesn't look like I can get it online.

 

[LadyK]

Performatrin Ultra has 13oz cans, and at least the beef and turkey flavors (I never bought other flavors) are shreds in gravy. My girls like them. The brand is sold in PetValu. The ingredients are quite decent.

This is good to know! My Josie also prefers the shreds in gravy, like Weruva and Soulistic. She's such a finicky little thing and lately has been refusing to eat much of the pate kinds she used to reluctantly eat. We have a PetValu here so I will have to try this brand.

Any pet food company people reading this? Please make larger, more economical cans of gravy style foods.

 

[Galathiel]

I've looked at some of the higher end foods like Evo 95 percent. Considering it is 95 percent meat, it is remarkably low on protein (26-31 percent) and remarkably high in fat (68-71 percent). I've noticed that with a lot of the higher end foods. They same to be lower in protein and higher in fat than some of the mid-range foods.

I have been considering doing one meal of canned and one meal of raw, but haven't quite worked up to it yet. I need to do some more research first. However, if I am still doing some canned do I need to worry about percentages (i.e., meat to organ to bone ratios)? Should I just feed some boned meat once or twice a week or some such?

and amen, LadyK! Living where I do in Texas, we don't have a Costco or a PetValu here. We only have Petsmart, not even a Petco that isn't an hour away!

 

[yingying]

If you are feeding more than 30% of raw for your cats total food amount, then you need to start worrying about percentages. I think the general rule is 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organs like kidney (heart & gizzard are counted as meat, not organ).

 

[yingying]

Another thought:

Nature's Variety Instinct uses exactly the same formula for cat food and dog food. Everything including taurine amount is identical. So you can actually by the dog food version, which has 13oz cans. It's not exactly shreds in gravy, but not like the Innova/Wellness pate either. Kind of in-between. And it has excellent ingredients. Maybe you can buy a small can and let your cat try it out?

But I don't think PetsMart sells that, at least not in Toronto...

 

[saturdaybell]

I use the cheapest name brand pouch food. economically it is the best option for me. My cats have never had the canned kind but was thinking of trying it!

 

[Galathiel]

I'll look into that, yingying. Thanks. I 'think' our Petsmart may carry that brand and I'm actually going there today anyways. I'll add it to my list of things to look for (I'm always poking through the cat food to see if there are any good deals, new items).

 

[LadyK]

Galathiel, have you looked at Natural Balance pouches? They are the 3 ounce size so not the larger size you were looking for, but Josie likes them -- chunks in gravy -- and I just ordered a couple of cases at wag.com. With the website discount, each pouch ended up being like 60-70 cents, including free next-day shipping.

 

[Galathiel]

I'll look into that too .. thanks! I'm always looking for some variety for her. Since her appetite has come back a bit, she is now finishing her meal, with half of it being pate and the other half being something with more 'substance'. That's a relief since I still have quite a bit of pate to get through!

 

[LadyK]

Performatrin Ultra has 13oz cans, and at least the beef and turkey flavors (I never bought other flavors) are shreds in gravy. My girls like them. The brand is sold in PetValu. The ingredients are quite decent.

yingying - thank you for this tip! After you posted this, I went to PetValu and picked up a can of each flavor. Josie loves them! They are very reasonably priced, too.... I'm going to buy more to add to her rotation. The texture reminds me a little of Merrick's foods but she seems to like the Performatrin more than Merrick's.