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so many food choices...my head is spinning

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2.7K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  katrina89  
#1 ·
So since ive gotten my cat last June, i have become more aware of what exactly is in pet food. i always knew cat chow was junk and thought that Iams and Purina One was pretty good....until i read the ingredients. i know cats are obligate carnivores so i started trying different foods.

Right now my cat is eating Blue Wilderness dry food and she likes it. She also gets a can of wet food a day (half in the morning and half at night) of the Iams Purrfect delights brand- i choose that because it is the only wet food i can find that i can buy a big box of that is free of corn, wheat, soy, and fillers that she will actually eat. (she also loves the chicken soup for the cat lovers soul but only one farm store in my town carries it and theyre usually out)

Anyways, when my husband saw how much a bag of the Blue Buffalo food was, he about had a heart attack. its too expensive. i dont blame him! $22 for a 5 pound bag. now i understand that since its more nutrient dense, she eats less of it and the cost will sort of even out eventually, but its something that i really dont want to be buying (especially since my husband wants to get a dog...yah for more pets)

so i went to a few different feed stores and my head was spinning. SO MANY CHOICES! Wellness, Hills, Blue buffalo, taste of the wild, purina pro plan....

so im curious. what do my fellow cat parents recommend? what is a good cat food at a price? someone told me TOTW is good...thanks!

(Oh and PLEASE dont tell me to feed RAW. i dont have the time or energy for that. thanks)
 
#4 · (Edited)
The price reflects on the quality of ingredients, and Taste of the Wild is one of the least expensive higher end brands of kibble. Out of the brands you listed, Wellness CORE original formula is the best, and least in carbs. Another good one is EVO chicken/turkey. A middle-quality option would be Kirkland brand from Costco. Before jumping into any kibble however, it might be best to read on the benefits of wet food:
The Benefits of Canned (Wet) Cat Food

My main concern with dry food is that it leaves cats chronically dehydrated, they were designed to eat moist prey in the wild and have a low thirst drive, they do not make up the difference by drinking water.

If you can't afford to feed your cat the food you're currently feeding, and the only way to make up for it is to cut down on their food quality instead of finding some other item to cut down on in your life, I would seriously reevaluate getting a dog.

They cost much more than a cat. Poop bags, more food (especially if a larger dog), toys (which also cost more if they're for a larger dog), larger vet bills (again especially if it's a larger breed; like 5x more money in some instances), leashes, collars, yearly vaccinations and yearly dog tags. If getting a puppy, then add on puppy pads, replacements for all things you've already bought as they'll grow out of them, and an acknowledgment that a puppy can easily destroy lots of stuff in your house... in our case, there are usually chair arms, carpeting on the stairs, and a few toilet paper rolls that don't survive the first year. They may also need obedience classes. :p
 
#5 ·
Hills and Pro Plan are low quality foods. Wellness isn't going to be any cheaper than Wilderness. Taste of the Wild is a good food for the price, but it is definitely a step down from Wilderness due to the pea protein in it. Basically, anything of similar quality to Wilderness is going to have a similar price (within a couple bucks). So a less expensive food will mean a compromise in quality.

As others have said...if you have to save a few bucks on cat food in order to get a dog, then you can't afford a dog. Or maybe your BF is just not much of a cat guy so he thinks it's stupid to spend a lot of money on her?
 
#6 ·
Oh we ain't getting a dog for another year...I was just trying to find a more budget friendly cat food that's still of decent quality. We are moving out to a nice house and need to be very conservative to make it work... so I wanted to see what y'all's opinion was.

And Carmel .if you didn't see, my car gets a full can of wet food a day because I know cats get most of their moisture from prey. I also invested in a pet water fountain and she drinks from that a lot more than she did from the stale water bowl! Lol
 
#7 ·
Lol, I disagree and think dogs are much cheaper to feed than cats (if you feed wet).

I just copied and pasted this from another similar thread. She was looking for a food for around $15/ 5 lb bag.

Natural Balance Ultra, Fromm four star, taste of the wild, canidae Pure. All of these are grain free and in your price range. I like EVO Cat & Kitten, Blue Buffalo wilderness, Innova Natures Table, and Natures Variety Instinct chicken. However, those are over $15 a bag for 6 lb.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Doodlebug wilderness has pea protein in it too
Yeah, but Wilderness still has way more meat...4 of the first 5 ingredients are meat. The potato protein is ingredient #12. Taste of the Wild has one meat ingredient with both pea and potato protein at ingredients 4 and 5. It also has peas as ingredient #2. This is the reason it's so cheap. The first 5 ingredients usually make up the vast majority of the food. In the case of TOTW, 3 of those 5 ingredients are sources of high levels of vegetable protein. The potato protein and peas in Wilderness are fairly negligible.
 
#11 ·
Unfortunately you dont know how much of that meat is actually in the food all we know is that the first ingredients are more... so for example there could be triple the first ingredient than the rest or the first 4 ingredients of one food could equal the amount of the first ingredient in another food. I know it has alot of meat because my dog does amazing on it.. that being said I like the dog formulas better than the cat options

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