The best nutrition/cost value in *canned* cat foods?

I didnt mean to sound abrupt or disinterested.
I feed my cats Friskies or Nine Lives. They only get one can total a day
mixed in with a cup or so of dry food. Then I divvy it among the 7. They eat
dry food throughout the day.
"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
Barb wrote:

: With 7 cats and a fixed income, fancy feast is not my preferred choice.
But,
: to each his own.

So, what is your recommendation for the best value? That's what I came
here for.

I am not a FF fan. That was just a rhetorical statement meaning I know
it is outrageous but I will do anything you folks tell me I have to.

Barb wrote:
: I didnt mean to sound abrupt or disinterested.

You didn't. I am just eager to learn to learn what I can ASAP, that's
all.

: I feed my cats Friskies or Nine Lives. They only get one can total a day
: mixed in with a cup or so of dry food. Then I divvy it among the 7. They eat
: dry food throughout the day.

OK, so you mix one 1 cup dry food into 1 can of Friskies, divide it up
among 7 cats? I would assume that the portion is more like an appetizer
for them. Nice one too. Then they eat dry as much as they want.

Friskies is one brand I am interested in because their prices seem very
reasonable (35 c).

However, they too have so many varieties. Is one better nutrition than
others? I gave a Prime Filets to my cat and she liked it. Actually so
far she is not fussy, hope she remains that way.

"honeybunch" wrote
The reason Ive been feeding Beebe a raw diet is because he really
doesnt like canned cat food. I always have to throw part of it out
every morning. Of course, he loves and adores dry cat food. It must
taste like a big Mac and french fries to him but it is really not good
for his peepee.

lol

honeybunch wrote:

: The reason Ive been feeding Beebe a raw diet is because he really
: doesnt like canned cat food. I always have to throw part of it out
: every morning. Of course, he loves and adores dry cat food. It must
: taste like a big Mac and french fries to him but it is really not good
: for his peepee. He loves chicken, chicken hearts and beef if its cut
: into tiny cubes. Trader Joes has frozen boneless skinless chicken
: thighs which are the easiest thing in the world to cut up. When I buy
: the drumsticks i hack off a bit of the knuckle ending and include it
: much to his satisfaction. A farmers market sells chicken hearts for
: $1 a pound. He used to be a feral cat but now he is sleek and shiny
: and seems to be thriving on a raw diet. I dont know if it would work
: for all cats..

I would be most concerned. I don't know cat food brands, but I have
reasonable scientific grounding. In nature they eat most of the prey,
and of course various preys. Which is different from just one part like
leg muscle of one animal. Is he getting all his nutrients? Taurine etc?
You don't want to find out when it is too late. If I ate nothing but
drumsticks I might also get malnourished. I would certainly consider a
few supplements.

William Graham wrote:

: In the case of my cats, no matter what brand I buy, the cats are going to
: get tired of it pretty soon. So, I "mix it up", and buy different brands in
: different stores every week or two, just so the cats will stay
: interested.....I probably don't get the best nutrition/cost ratio by doing
: this, but my cats aren't starving, and they do like to eat......

This approach would work great, I can even imagine buying whatever is
on sale. :-) However, I have heard this leads to "personality issues"
or throwing.

I wonder if anyone else has experience with this approach, just "mixing
up" the food.

Do you feed the same kind for 1-2 weeks however?

Thanks.

CatNipped wrote:

: My five get canned Fancy Feast "pate" varieties for their two meals a day
: and can free feed on Science Diet Advanced Formula (Mature Adult for the
: adult cats and Kitten Formula for the kittens) dry left out all the time...

Is FF based on their taste preference or you chose it for nutrition?
Did you compare it with Iams, Nutro, Pro Plan, Science Diet canned,
etc., and also cheaper brands like Friskies and Whiskas?

As I wrote earlier, I would feed them FF if it is the best, but if all
else was equal I would prefer something that came in 5-6 oz cans.

Just by googling a little, I found this article on preparing raw based
cat food at home. She does mention supplements:

http://www.catinfo.org/index.htm#Home-Prepared_Diets

"honeybunch" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Oct 17, 4:34 pm, "Rene S." wrote:
On Oct 17, 10:43 am, RPSinha wrote:

In article .com,

honeybunch wrote:

: chicken drumsticks or thighs chopped up with a sharp knife;
occasional
: chicken hearts.

Yes I have thought about it, but feel afraid this won't be a complete
meal. I wish there was an inexpensive gravy to convert simple meat into
complete cat food but I am not ware of any.

There is some great (and detailed) information here on making your own
raw food:http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm

The reason Ive been feeding Beebe a raw diet is because he really
doesnt like canned cat food. I always have to throw part of it out
every morning. Of course, he loves and adores dry cat food. It must
taste like a big Mac and french fries to him but it is really not good
for his peepee. He loves chicken, chicken hearts and beef if its cut
into tiny cubes. Trader Joes has frozen boneless skinless chicken
thighs which are the easiest thing in the world to cut up. When I buy
the drumsticks i hack off a bit of the knuckle ending and include it
much to his satisfaction. A farmers market sells chicken hearts for
$1 a pound. He used to be a feral cat but now he is sleek and shiny
and seems to be thriving on a raw diet. I dont know if it would work
for all cats..

My feral cat loves roasted chicken, and in truth, if we shop the sales, we
can get it cheaper than most of the canned food we buy. It may not be the
best thing nutritionally, but fortunately, he is getting used to canned and
dry food now, and he cleans up the other cat's bowls at night, so we never
have to throw any cat food away. We do have one cat that eats dry food
exclusively, but I think that he will eventually come around and learn to
eat other food too........He spent his first year in a Burger King parking
lot, and so he hates human food.(I guess he had to eat a lot of French fries
and onion rings during that first year)

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
Barb wrote:
: I didnt mean to sound abrupt or disinterested.

You didn't. I am just eager to learn to learn what I can ASAP, that's
all.

: I feed my cats Friskies or Nine Lives. They only get one can total a day
: mixed in with a cup or so of dry food. Then I divvy it among the 7. They
eat
: dry food throughout the day.

OK, so you mix one 1 cup dry food into 1 can of Friskies, divide it up
among 7 cats? I would assume that the portion is more like an appetizer
for them. Nice one too. Then they eat dry as much as they want.

Friskies is one brand I am interested in because their prices seem very
reasonable (35 c).

However, they too have so many varieties. Is one better nutrition than
others? I gave a Prime Filets to my cat and she liked it. Actually so
far she is not fussy, hope she remains that way.

From reading the ingredients on the sides of the cans of cat food I buy, I
would say that they are all the same.....I would be willing to bet that they
all come from the same plant, but just have different labels on the cans. I
buy whatever Winco has on sale......Hopefully it's less than 30 cents a 6
oz. can.........

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:

: In the case of my cats, no matter what brand I buy, the cats are going
to
: get tired of it pretty soon. So, I "mix it up", and buy different brands
in
: different stores every week or two, just so the cats will stay
: interested.....I probably don't get the best nutrition/cost ratio by
doing
: this, but my cats aren't starving, and they do like to eat......

This approach would work great, I can even imagine buying whatever is
on sale. :-) However, I have heard this leads to "personality issues"
or throwing.

I wonder if anyone else has experience with this approach, just "mixing
up" the food.

Do you feed the same kind for 1-2 weeks however?

Thanks.

No. I go for the sales.....Trying to beat the 30 cents a can barrier. I do
feed them a variety of dry food and roasted chicken too.....Sometimes the
roasted chicken is cheaper than the canned food, if I can get it for under a
dollar a pound.......I have four cats, and they tend to clean up whatever
the others leave. They are gradually learning to eat what the others like to
eat, even though they all came from different backgrounds.....