What should I feed these hungry cats?
February 11, 2019 2:06 PM Subscribe
I've been feeding 4 cats 3-4 5.5oz cans of Authority wet food a day, and I free-feed Authority grain-free dry as well. Cats are in great shape but I'm wondering if there is a better food out there for these guys that isn't PetSmart-exclusive...
Authority recently rebranded and now their cans are smaller (went from 6oz to 5.5oz). So that annoyed me, and that combined with CatInfo.org's complaints about being unable to figure out what is in the food made me wary about continuing to feed it. Problem is, it seems like a nice quality food I can get for pretty cheap!
My ideal wet cat food would come in 5.5oz cans or larger and cost less than $1.25 per 5.5oz (Authority is 89-99 cents per can). It would also be available at other retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, or Chewy, rather than being a PetSmart exclusive, because that gives me more room to find sales. But of course I want to feed my babies good quality wet food. When I switched over from buying Friskies to buying Authority, I noticed an improvement immediately in their coats and body shape. There are no dietary restrictions in the family, thankfully, but one of the cats will only eat wet food so I want to make sure she's getting everything she needs in her diet. None of the cats seem to be picky about flavors but they like fishy stuff the best. Due to cost and time constraints, raw food is out as an option.
Does this unicorn of a cat food exist? It feels like all of the nice-quality stuff comes in 3oz cans. I would be murdered for dinner in the time it took me to open 4 cans in the evening, plus that feels so wasteful.
Cat tax! (Yes there are six, two of them eat their own special diets because cats are difficult and are exempt from this question)
Authority recently rebranded and now their cans are smaller (went from 6oz to 5.5oz). So that annoyed me, and that combined with CatInfo.org's complaints about being unable to figure out what is in the food made me wary about continuing to feed it. Problem is, it seems like a nice quality food I can get for pretty cheap!
My ideal wet cat food would come in 5.5oz cans or larger and cost less than $1.25 per 5.5oz (Authority is 89-99 cents per can). It would also be available at other retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, or Chewy, rather than being a PetSmart exclusive, because that gives me more room to find sales. But of course I want to feed my babies good quality wet food. When I switched over from buying Friskies to buying Authority, I noticed an improvement immediately in their coats and body shape. There are no dietary restrictions in the family, thankfully, but one of the cats will only eat wet food so I want to make sure she's getting everything she needs in her diet. None of the cats seem to be picky about flavors but they like fishy stuff the best. Due to cost and time constraints, raw food is out as an option.
Does this unicorn of a cat food exist? It feels like all of the nice-quality stuff comes in 3oz cans. I would be murdered for dinner in the time it took me to open 4 cans in the evening, plus that feels so wasteful.
Cat tax! (Yes there are six, two of them eat their own special diets because cats are difficult and are exempt from this question)
Nthing Wellness brand, which I'm pretty sure I found from searching askme for cat food recommendations. My cat loves it.
posted by blueberrypuffin at 3:54 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by blueberrypuffin at 3:54 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love your goofballs! A little bit exclusive to Petco and drsfosterandsmith.... but I found a happy medium with soulistic brand canned (my monsters love it better than fancy feast and such); and I alternate with better and more expensive Primal Raw dehydrated (mixed with lots of water. ) Duck is a favorite flavor.
posted by mightshould at 5:04 PM on February 11, 2019
posted by mightshould at 5:04 PM on February 11, 2019
(Wellness is good (not great), guys, but it's $1.75-$2.50 per 5.5oz).
I'd suggest trying to get out to some smaller indie pet stores and look around. I do occasionally see brands that meet those specs show up at my local, but they're generally small things that I haven't heard of and don't stick in my mind. There's really nothing national that comes to mind anymore, as inflation has pushed my average up toward $1.60/can or so for reasonable quality.
posted by wotsac at 7:31 AM on February 12, 2019
I'd suggest trying to get out to some smaller indie pet stores and look around. I do occasionally see brands that meet those specs show up at my local, but they're generally small things that I haven't heard of and don't stick in my mind. There's really nothing national that comes to mind anymore, as inflation has pushed my average up toward $1.60/can or so for reasonable quality.
posted by wotsac at 7:31 AM on February 12, 2019
Best answer: I like to mix it up with my animals. Chewy's brand American Journey and another brand they carry Triumph come in big cans and are $2 or less each. My cats enjoyed both and we rotate flavors. I usually feed a different brand of dry than what I'm feeding wet. At a glance, the reviews seem better than Authority.
Wellness has been rejected by my crew before, but I would otherwise like that it came in big cans too.
posted by rawralphadawg at 6:15 AM on February 13, 2019
Wellness has been rejected by my crew before, but I would otherwise like that it came in big cans too.
posted by rawralphadawg at 6:15 AM on February 13, 2019
Response by poster: Well, they are Chewy-exclusive, but American Journey and Triumph were a big hit in my house, so thank you, rawralphadawg. We also tried Wellness and they enjoy it so I'll just watch for sales and pick it up when I can. I feel like I have a bunch of options now and I'm not going to PetSmart twice a month, so this has been a major win.
I was definitely intrigued by wotsac's suggestion to try indie pet stores but there are none near where I live, PetCo/PetSmart has cornered the market. Great suggestion for someone who lives in a bigger metro area though, I bet.
Xena says thank you!
posted by possibilityleft at 11:17 AM on March 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
I was definitely intrigued by wotsac's suggestion to try indie pet stores but there are none near where I live, PetCo/PetSmart has cornered the market. Great suggestion for someone who lives in a bigger metro area though, I bet.
Xena says thank you!
posted by possibilityleft at 11:17 AM on March 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:29 PM on February 11, 2019 [2 favorites]