[RachelsaurusRexU]

Hi all, Looks like I'm going to be caring for a couple of feral cats, and I'm going nutso trying to figure out what to feed them. I'd like to feed them something as decent as possible, but I really can't afford to feed canned EVO and raw to two more cats. I'm looking for a dry food that isn't terribly carb heavy, and they'll also get cheaper wet food as I can get a limited amount of that for free. My goal is to feed them as much wet food as possible, but there will be times that I won't have access to the free wet food and so they'll have to eat solely dry food. It pains me to not be able to feed them like my indoor cats, but I'm going to have to do the best that I can and be content that they're at least safe and cared for. Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

 

[Sinatra-Butters]

Taste of the wild. It is one of the most affordable higher end foods and my cats love it.

 

[Kittylover230]

I know it isn't the good stuff, and normally I think dry food for cats is a no no (high in carbohydrates, meals and all that junk and low in moisture content) but when it comes to ferals, it is great to have a bowl of dry food you can leave out all day so the kitties can come back and nibble should they have missed breakfast. I feed Taste Of The Wild dry food, but when it comes to wet food I strongly believe that even the lowest quality wet food is better than the highest quality dry food, and I go through about 5-6 cans per day so I end up feeding the ferals Friskies Pate. Avoid the shredded stuff, though, because that is loaded with wheat gluten!

 

[Pandoragem]

Chicken Soup for the cat lover's soul canned is a good cheap wet food, pet food direct sells it for $17.99 a 24 can case. For roughly $40 a month you can feed two cats.

 

[Kittylover230]

Chicken Soup for the cat lover's soul canned is a good cheap wet food, pet food direct sells it for $17.99 a 24 can case. For roughly $40 a month you can feed two cats.

Oh wow, that's a good deal! Do you by any chance know if they ship to Canada?

 

[scottd]

You can get the 12 pack of 13.2oz cans of EVO 95% for about the same price per ounce.

 

[Carmel]

Oh wow, that's a good deal! Do you by any chance know if they ship to Canada?

Silly, no one ships to Canada. If they do it'll cost more in shipping than the food ever could.

You can find it in pet stores for about 1.80 a tin. I haven't looked around for it much, that's the price I recorded at Bosley's (Pet Valu) around 8 months ago. Might've become cheaper since then (by around 20-30 cents), they've dropped a few product prices as they're more expensive than most pet stores I visit. Considering I can get EVO and Felidae at 1.89 and 1.79 for a 13 oz a tin I buy them instead.

 

[Carmel]

Oh, sorry. About the actually topic... Maintenance Cat (Kirkland/Costco brand) kibble and Chicken Soup for the Cat kibble you may want to look into. You can buy them both in large bags (Costco's only comes in large bags), saves money that way too. It isn't the very top food out there, but still decent.

 

[LadyK]

I currently feed my ferals Taste of the Wild kibble. They sometimes come on schedule, but usually they don't, so I've been hesitant to put canned food out on the porch since I never know when they'll be there to eat it.

 

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

I'm going to give them as much wet as possible. Kittylover, I agree that the cheap pâté wet foods are better than expensive, grain free dry foods! My plan is the same, to free feed dry and then give them as much wet food as I can.

For the people who feed TOTW, do the Diamond issues concern you? (Is Kirkland a Diamond food too?) Before this last recall, TOTW would have been my first choice in this situation, but I must admit that now it makes me nervous. :-/

 

[LadyK]

For the people who feed TOTW, do the Diamond issues concern you? (Is Kirkland a Diamond food too?) Before this last recall, TOTW would have been my first choice in this situation, but I must admit that now it makes me nervous. :-/

It does make me a little nervous, but I figure it's a rare occurrence, and I think the quality of the food balances out the few recalls. Perhaps they are being extra cautious with the manufacturing now, too. I still buy Peter Pan peanut butter and don't worry about cantalopes or leaf spinach for myself, though those products have had recalls in the past, as well. I don't feed my dogs or my indoor cat these brands, but I find TOTW an economical, good grain-free kibble for the ferals. Of course, if the cats or I ever got sick, I might change my opinion on this, but I think the odds of being affected by contaminated foods are pretty small. I guess it's whatever you feel comfortable with.

 

[scottd]

For the people who feed TOTW, do the Diamond issues concern you? (Is Kirkland a Diamond food too?) Before this last recall, TOTW would have been my first choice in this situation, but I must admit that now it makes me nervous. :-/

While I don't feed TOTW, I did take into consideration past recalls when choosing a food. The food I ended up deciding on doesn't use a manufacturing plant that has ever been involved in a recall. It's a smaller plant so I think that might have something to do with it.

And yes, Kirkland is made by Diamond.

 

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Anyone use Earthborn Holistic grain free dry foods? They seem similar to TOTW in ingredients and it's just a bit more expensive.

 

[scottd]

I looked at the Primitive Feline variety. It's above average but not the best. It doesn't have any fresh meats and it uses pea protein to boost it's protein analysis. Pea protein is actually the third ingredient after 2 meals.

 

[doodlebug]

Anyone use Earthborn Holistic grain free dry foods? They seem similar to TOTW in ingredients and it's just a bit more expensive.

While, as Scottd says, it's not the best food out there...it fits the bill for what you're looking for. It's definitely above average and the price is decent. Check your local independent stores...they may have a buy 10 get the 11th free program.

 

[kty78]

My cats love Taste of the Wild. They liked earthborn for like 2 days and then didn't want to eat it anymore. I have also used 4 Health which is the Tractor Supply version of Kirkland's. They ate it just fine too but Taste of the wild has higher protein. You could probably mix the two to save money if need be.

 

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Hmm... Okay, well it looks like I've got some good options here. Thank you, everyone, for the input!

 

[Leivies_Lavish_Cat_Lounge]

I dont consider TOTW cheap lol.