Rachael I just wanted to send you a (hug) as I know this must have been such a hard decision for you. You are a wonderful cat Meowmie and that will never change, regardless of what you feed the furries.

 

I expect your cats will do just fine on SD canned, though you might want to consider a raw diet. I don't know where you live, other than TX, but I can tell you that in my area, I feed my crew very, very cheaply on raw prey model. In fact, the only meat I have to buy is the edible bone (40# boxes of chicken backs [for the dogs] and necks [for the cats]). I live in a rural farming/hunting area. I get all of my organ meats for free from a local slaughterer, and I get all of my muscle meat either free or cheap ($.30/lb) from folks cleaning out their freezers. You'd need a large freezer to store all of the meat/organs/bones.

I never would have believed that I could feed my large 4-legged family such a high quality diet for so little cost, but in a farming/hunting area, you'd be amazed how much old meat gets tossed into the local landfill when folks clean out their freezers. They're more than happy to let me have it rather than see it all go to waste.

Just another option for you to consider, but as I said, I expect your cats will do fine on any canned diet you want to feed, even if it isn't Wellness.

Laurie

 

Financial harships (AKA, Student loans) have forced me to make cutbacks in my budget. I've fought it for as long as I could, but I can't afford to continue to feed three cats canned wellness. I'm spending about $190 a month in cat food as it stands now. I just can't continue on this way, as much as it pains me. They look SO GOOD right now. This diet has truly done well by all three of them.

I just can't bring myself to go back to kibble. So I've made the hard decision to switch to a lower grade canned diet. Because I work at a vet clinic, I've gone with Science diet because I can get a pretty deep discount. Its not a bad food, I know, its just not on par with wellness as far as I'm concerned. I really hope they continue to do well on it.

Anyone have any experience with science diet canned diets? How have your cats done? Anyone have any experience with switching from a higher quality food to a mid grade food like SD? Tell me I'm not a bad mom for doing this. There is just no where else to cut the budget.

If I could rewind the clock and undo grad school, I would do it in a heart beat!

you would undo grad school? really? no way. (i know the paying back student loans and yeah. but now that i'm old and they're paid off, i don't regret any of it.)

fifteen years ago i might have been stupid or just too busy and trusted my vet but i fed both my cats SD and they were fine. to be honest, they thought it was a little bland and sometimes the main one who was supposed to eat it (the cat with no teeth) (whose teeth had to be removed because of SEVERE and disgusting gum disease that had already manifested when i adopted him) (but didn't know about lol) wouldn't so i bought a cheap little food processor and i would grind up the chunks one and then he'd eat it.

he died about six years ago but he never had health or kidney problems or any kind of cancer, no IBD, no vomiting or diarrhea, and he looked good, actually he looked beautiful until maybe a year before he passed. the one who was a baby then is now quite healthy except for hyperthyroidism. that's actually what i think coda died from, but to the best of my knowledge that isn't diet related.

maybe you could consider what laurie said about raw. i mean, there's a lot of meat in texas, isn't there? and don't people there like to shoot and hunt, so maybe you could even get free venison or duck. who knows?

 

fifteen years ago i might have been stupid or just too busy and trusted my vet but i fed both my cats SD ... the one who was a baby then is now quite healthy except for hyperthyroidism. that's actually what i think coda died from, but to the best of my knowledge that isn't diet related.

Actually, there is a link between canned cat foods (not SD exclusively) and hyperthyroidism. It has to do with the chemicals in the lining of most cat food cans.

maybe you could consider what laurie said about raw. i mean, there's a lot of meat in texas, isn't there? and don't people there like to shoot and hunt, so maybe you could even get free venison or duck. who knows?

The majority of the food I get from freezer-cleaning folks is venison. I also have some duck in my freezer right now, too, along with rabbit, pork, beef, chicken, and various game birds - all free or very, very cheap.

Laurie

 

I know this is a tough decision...but an idea for you...

Most vets get their food through a distributor, not directly from Hills. Those distributors have many brands of food. Maybe you could talk with the person who orders the food for your office and see if they might be able to order other brands for you at the same discount. If you order several cases at a time it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

 

I'm not sure how much your budget is, how many meals you're feeding and what the prices are in your area, but here's what I get:

Authority - Petsmart. It's about 80 cents a can. Not the best food, but way better than others.
Nutro Max - Petsmart and Petco. It's about 90cents to a dollar a can. I like it because it's virtually grain free (I think it has rice in it), and one of the few Paizly can keep down most of the time.

Only when it's on sale and only when I have enough to splurge, I really like Holistic Select. But even on sale it's about $2 for a 13 ounce can so that's really more for a treat than a daily menu.

Right now I'm transitioning to raw, so they're getting that and some canned alternatingly. This last batch of food has been ground, but I plan on going to the store next week for some chicken, cornish game hens and I may order a LITTLE bit (most to see if they like it) off one of the raw sites in the links of the raw diet site. Quail and mice, maybe rabbit.
I like the ground stuff, cuz I'm lazy... but I guess I'll sacrifice some work of the whole prey for my kitties to be healthier!

 

Kobster,

I completely understand your feelings and the tight budget dilemma. Im in the same boat. Please try and not to feel guilty.
You love your animals deeply and are doing the best you can with the resources you have.

Some people have the priviledge to feed their animals high end quality food. Others, like us, do the best we can.
Your animals know that you love them.

 

Kobster,

I completely understand your feelings and the tight budget dilemma. Im in the same boat. Please try and not to feel guilty.
You love your animals deeply and are doing the best you can with the resources you have.

Some people have the priviledge to feed their animals high end quality food. Others, like us, do the best we can.
Your animals know that you love them.

So true!

 

Lots of people are in the same boat you are esp in this economy. You arent abandoning your cats in an empty house. You are trying to do what is wise in your situation. One day you will be back on your feet when the loans are paid off. Switching food is a tempory measure. Dont beat yourself up. Your a great cat mom!

 

Wow, yeah, $190/month is very steep! I have 4 cats and I spend less than half of that on their food, but now I feed exclusively raw (frankenprey in the morning, and ground raw patties I make myself at night). It requires prepping food once per month, and as was mentioned before, ample freezer space. Once you get into the swing of it, it's pretty routine and easy.

I know canned is much more convenient, but if you are on a tight budget, the trade-off of still maintaining or even improving their diet and saving yourself a substantial amount seems like a win-win.

Whatever you decide, I don't think you are doing wrong by your cats, either. Hang in there

 

I'm not sure why your food cost is so high? I have 2 cats and the cost on food is about 60CAD a month. Even if I go all can (now it's 2/3 can and 1/3 raw), it will stay within 100.

13oz canned Wellness is 3.20CAD here in Toronto. My cat each eat 5.5oz per day. If you do the math (factor in the 14% tax), that's 46CAD for each cat per month. I see you are at Texas, so you will definitely find better deals and you pay lower tax. So unless your cats eat a LOT, there is no way it would cost you 190$ for 3 cats.

I think before you switch food, maybe monitor your spending closely and see where the money really went? It may not be the food that is hurting your wallet.

 

13oz canned Wellness is 3.20CAD here in Toronto. My cat each eat 5.5oz per day. If you do the math (factor in the 14% tax), that's 46CAD for each cat per month.

I'd love to switch to the bigger cans, but with only one cat everything says the food can't keep in fridge for the 2.5 days she'd need to eat 13oz.

Did you ever find a decent online site with delivery in Canada? I found one that only delivered free in Ontario (I'm in Alberta). I wouldn't even mind paying a few dollars for shipping, but I find it nuts that I can get ridiculously large/cumbersome things like K-cups delivered free/cheap but not cat food.

We already have spud for produce delivery, but their cat products are severely lacking (by which I mean they sell one type of dry food, that's organic but the ingredients like doesn't look that impressive).

(sorry to hijack!)

 

That's not far from a car loan cost.

 

The way you started your thread, I was waiting for you to say you were giving up some or all of the animals. Say it ain't so, I was thinking! Then you said it was about the food they eat .. PHEW!

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They have 5 different flavors of canned food, two of which I get for Murphy, and the cans are only 69 cents each. Resident Expert Lisa looked over the ingredients and said it's a good food, although not really premium, but in the "good enough" sort of category. The problem is that you can't order online from Trader Joe's, so you need to have a store near you.

 

Not a bad meowmie at all! You are doing the very best you can for them within your means. I second the suggestion to consider supplementing with raw. I've dropped my food costs for my 2 by about 20-30% by substituting about 10 of Pedro's meals a week and 2 of Apple's meals a week (mostly she doesn't think raw is real food lol). Combine that drop with the cost reduction from changing their canned food and you really could slash your food budget for the kitties.

 

(mostly she doesn't think raw is real food lol).

This is why I still keep a few cans around. Nebbie just can't figure out that all that pink goop on her plate is supposed to go in her mouth (rather than batted around like she did the first couple times I gave it!).
I can't have her starve, so I finally give in and give her half a can at night before bed, and they all get half a can in the morning (because I'm still not in a routine of getting up just a -bit- earlier to soak their breakfast in a bowl of warm water)
Lunch and dinner is raw. Whoever doesn't eat (usually Nebbie, sometimes Zinny) gets canned food at bedtime.

Their kibble bowl has been completely empty for nearly a week now. YAY!

 

I hope so. It would save a lot of money to go to the big cans. I just never thought of it before - not to find a big can of something shredded! (Her highness turns up her nose and 'buries' anything paté).

You can certainly give it a try. Cats have really sensitive nose, so if the food is not fresh enough to her like, she will let you know

The only big cans with shreds that I know is Performatrin Ultra (at least the beef and turkey flavors are). It's sold in PetValu. The ingredients are quite decent and price a bit lower than Wellness.

No, it was petonly.ca. Online Pet Store Canada | Cat Toys,Pet Treats,Dog Boots,Dog Clothes Beds

Interesting. Thanks for letting me know! Unfortunately their price is not good. They ask $3.25 for Wellness 13oz, and $1.875 for Merric BG. I can get better deals at my local store. But still useful info

 

Feeding kibble isn't all that bad. I spend maybe $50 a month on food for 3 cats. I feed blue wilderness kibble and they all do great on it. I also feed canned with each meal but not as much as if they were on it exclusively. At one point I didn't think I could afford canned period but now I am able to feed a good quality... just not excluesively(one cat doesn't like it much anyways).

I would keep checking in your local pet store and stocking up on canned when it's on sale. Pet smart always has sales on canned.

 

I also thought you were going to say one of the cats had to go! I thinking it would HAVE to be Ninja since he can be so challenging. I was shuddering at the thought but was going to offer to foster him until you could take him back

ALl the while thinking "I'm freaking crazy! The two of them (He and Book) will combine forces and take over the world!!"

Oh, and Mitts&Tess is right. You're a great cat mom. This isn't a perm thing, just to get back on your feet and those silly loans paid off. I bet the cats could care less as long as you have thumbs and can still open those cans!

 

LOL! I'd starve myself down to half my current weight before I would give up my kiddos. But you really WOULD be crazy to take on Ninja with Book. First, MowMow would put on add on Craigslist looking for a free human. Then Ninja and Book would have World War Three started in under a week.

 

I had to feed kibble today (my last cup, too!). I've been sick this last week, so couldn't go shopping on my usual schedule. Gave the last can of food last night, and this morning I found out my last serving of meat went bad because I didn't shut the container lid all the way (but it was still in the fridge...stinks horrible, though!)

Today I'm going to the pet store to get a week's worth of cans, and the grocery store to get a week and a half worth of raw meat. Maybe I'll get some more kibble...just for an emergency supply.

 

You are far from a bad kitty mom!! I know how you feel with school, sometimes I wish I could undo my bachelor's degree since I can only get minimum wage jobs with it.

 

You are a great mommy. I was looking at Agway and saw some raw food that was fresh and some frozen. I also saw online 4 pounds of raw food for $20.00 at onlynaturalpet.com and it has everything a cat needs in his diet. That doesn't sound like a bad price. I have 2 cats so i think it would last a long time but I would supplement with some quality canned food so they don't become picky eatters.
My cats have been eatting Friskies and Fancy Feast and I think that is what caused their kidney disease and probably also due to not having their teeth cleaned on a regular basis because i didn't have the money. I hate being poor and not being able to give my cats the quality food they need and the vet care. I do have a local slaughterhouse nearby and might make my own raw food. Trouble is i don't have a lot of freezer space-small frig but I'm home all day so i could make it every week.


Kathy

 

I will look into the raw diet. Meanwhile they started the SD this week. Ninja and Thurston didn't even notice. Sully didn't even recognize it as food! I had to sit on the floor with him and spoon feed him. Thankfully this morning (day 3) he didn't need any encouragement. So far so good.

YingYing, I'm sure you don't mean to be so incredibly rude, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt and spell this out for you. I'm an all grown up, Grad school educated 30 year old women. I know where my money is going. Sully and Ninja both eat one 5 oz can per day, at $1.58 per can. And Thurston eats 2 3oz cans a day at $1.28 per can. Thats $95.80 for the large cans and $76.80 for the small cans, totalling $172.60 plus sales tax at 14% is $192.00 for a 30 day supply of Wellness cans for my three cats. You follow?

 

I'm an all grown up, Grad school educated 30 year old women.

And English is not your major! LOL singular of that is womAn
*playfully nudges you*

Unless you were typing this on a "smart" phone, which always seems to know just what is the right spelling of stuff (which of course is always wrong!)

 

You're one of the best cat moms here, Rachael. Sounds like the food switch is going well.

I'm having money problems, too. My cats are eating Top Ramen and Mac & Cheese.

 

LOL! Thanks Marie! Funny thing is, Sully would LOVE it if I fed him mac n cheese. It was truly amusing to see Ninja and Thurston dive in as in, "hey, its in a bowl, it must be food" but Sully was like, "What is THIS? Where is my dinner?" It was kind of heart breaking at first. But he's decided its not so bad. My sensitive little soul. Bless him.

 

I was trying to be funny, vivid dawn. Contemplated writing grad skool edumacated, but decided it was overkill.

 

When I fed the barn cats canned (prior to their coming inside and getting switched over to raw), that cost me approximately $60 a month. A large can of Evo 95% meat (best canned cat food on the market) is $2.00 or so and the 3 cats went through 1 can a day. They were also killing occasional mice in the barn, but I would think that 2 cats would do well on 1 can a day. I can't see how it would cost $180 to feed 3 cats. ???

 

Thurston needs at least 6oz of food a day, he does not keep weight on 5 oz. I've tried it. He's a larger cat and needs more food than the other two. Tax rate here is 7.5% state rate plus 6% local. Now, I do tire of having to fight over this. I know how much it costs to feed my cats! I'm the one paying for it! Sheesh!

 

You possibly have your reason but I think you really shouldn't pay almost double the price just to get 6oz on dot. Yeah open a 5.5oz can to just get that extra 0.5oz is rediculous. But I think you can get a digital kitchen scale (around 30$ I think?), and go with a 13oz can. Since your cats eat 17oz in total, a can never stay in fridge longer than one day. It will save a LOT. Possbly even less than feeding the lower priced food

PS: I didn't know Texas ppl pay such high tax! When I was visiting friends there everything looks so cheap (of course the salary range is low, too). Now I feel much better as a Canadian :lol:

 

Since your cats eat 17oz in total, a can never stay in fridge longer than one day.

Maybe her cats aren't thrilled with refrigerated foods. I know mine aren't, even if I nuke it, add some warm water or let it sit on the counter to come up to room temp..they definitely approach it with less gusto.