Cat Foods: You Get what you Pay for

Feeding your finicky (or not so finicky) feline should not drain your pocket book. Some simple suggestions will leave your kitty well fed and your cash intact.

Quality Ingredients in Dry Foods

While all foods meet the minimum standards for pet nutrition, very few exceed them. Low quality ingredients mean your cat simply must eat more food to get nutrition. Many foods use cheap filler such as corn and by-products. Cats are obligate carnivores, corn has no place in their diet. By-products are beaks, feet, feathers, and other bits that are not recognized as actual meat. To some extend they are non-digestible and offer little value, again this is a filler, of no real nutritional value. A cat who is eating a food containing a lot of corn or by-products simply must eat more food to get any nutrition. They will also poop more too as a result.

Most of these foods spend a lot of money on advertising, therefore the consumer should note that the cost of the food also reflects this, not a nutritional value.

People who feed these foods often think that because they are cheaper per bag, they are saving money. In fact they may be feeding more food than if they bought a better quality food. Sadly too, these lower priced foods are often preserved with cheap preservatives linked to health problems.

By selecting a food that uses only top ingredients, a person can save money, your kitty will actually eat less. Look for the first ingredient to be chicken meal, turkey meal, or lamb meal, never corn or by-products.

While buying the most expensive, holistic food, may be out of your budget, you should understand that buying the more expensive, better quality foods, actually is cheaper in the long run.

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Buy in Bulk

Buying a large bag of food is always cheaper than buying the equivalent in smaller bags. As long as the open bag can be kept in a sealed container it will remain fresh. A bag of food can be purchased to last as long as 30 to 60 days, which makes far more sense than buying a box of food to last only a week or two.

Look for Programs

Many of the better foods offer programs where after you buy 10 bags you get a free one, this represents a 10% savings over time. Sticking with the same kind of food may sound boring to us, but to pets it is easier on their stomach to remain consistent with a brand of food.

Where to Shop

The foods commonly sold in grocery stores and department type stores are generally the lower quality foods. The chain big box stores do not always sell quality foods either. Instead look for the better foods at independent stores or even groomers. You may find lower prices on pet food by shopping at livestock feed stores.

Canned Foods

The quality variations that exist in dry foods are far greater than in canned foods, as such you can shop a bit more by paying attention more to price than to ingredients. Still some people pay for things that their cat should not have. Avoid foods with gravy as these are fattening, and a waste of money. Remember vegetables are not meat, a canned food that advertises “vegetables you can see” is not going to be a food fit for a cat. Buying larger cans is cheaper than buying several small ones, they can be kept refrigerated with sealed lids for a few days. Young cats, pregnant and nursing cats, should always have canned food a few times throughout the day, however feeding a whole can is not necessary. Since canned food is more expensive, if a person wishes to reduce spending they are wise to leave the dry food out all day, and offer only a teaspoon of canned food per feeding. The canned food can be mixed with water to increase urinary tract health. Some owners may wish to do without feeding canned food altogether.

Coupons

Keep a look out for in store specials and coupons on the brand of cat food you buy. Again it is unwise to switch brands every time you buy food, particularly with dry food, but if you can find a savings on your regular brand why not take advantage of it?

Veterinary Care

Deworming will mean your pet is healthier and able to digest its food better. Keeping the cats teeth in good shape also will mean better fewer problems with eating. Proper veterinary care, and proper care in general will mean your cat will not need as much food. Neutered, and spayed cats, require fewer calories in a day.
Milk and Treats

Cats are actually lactose intolerant, if you have been feeding your cat milk, you can save money and stop this right away. Equally so, while they like treats, treats can consume your budget. Most cats will even accept a piece of dry food from your hand as a treat as much as they would an actual, more costly, cat treat.

Ultimately

Saving money on pet food is always good, but never at a health risk to your pet. Some people might think that feeding less food is a way to save money, but it may jeopardize your pets well being and result in higher veterinary bill. Feed dog food to a cat is also not a good way to save money, dog food does not meet a cats level of nutritional needs.

Litter Box

One other benefit by picking a quality food is that not only will you save money by not paying for things your cat cannot digest, you will also save money on cat litter, because cats who eat better foods actually poop less.

Mice

Letting a cat eat mice does not actually save you money on cat food. In fact cats who eat mice are exposed to a wide range of internal parasites who will actually make it so the cat needs to eat more food to stay alive and healthy.