# Best brand of canned from Grocery store?



## Calico (Feb 8, 2010)

I usually buy from Petsmart/Petco, but I really need to watch my costs right now and it would also be helpful if I can do a one-stop-shop. So I would like to know which are the better brands of canned food you recommend from the grocery store, since I've never even looked at grocery canned before. 

I'm sure many are from the same brands as dry food, which are really horrible. (I don't understand why food designed for a carnivore would not even have meat as a first ingredient.)

Suggestions of the best, cheapest canned from Petsmart/Petco would be useful as well. So would recommendations of which to stay away from.

Also, what is the general difference in feeding cost of canned vs dry (after you take in account of false economy)


Thanks, I appreciate your responses!


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## KittyMonster (Nov 8, 2009)

This is copied from a previous thread where I did this math:



> Sophisticat wet is sold at PetSmart for $0.74/10.5oz can. This is enough for 2 days food (actually probably a little more than that, but we'll assume your cat is big)
> Sophisticat dry is $12/18lbs bag (rounded up from $11.99 for easy math). Assuming you feed your cat 1/2C-1C (.5 to 1 lb of food), that's enough for 18-36 days.
> (prices obtained from the PetSmart website using cheapest of both types of foods I could find)
> 
> ...


Just for fun, and because I went shopping yesterday, here is the math for my raw food diet. Keeping in mind my cat is 13 lbs and eats 1/4 lbs of food a day (more than most cats!).

6 weeks worth of food: 6 quail ($7.49) + 4 pork heart ($5.90) + 1/2 pork liver ($0.68) + 3 whole chicken ($7.50) + 1 pkg chicken gizzard ($3.59) + 1 pork kidney ($1.00) = $26.16

$26.16 for 6 weeks = $4.36 for 1 week = $0.62 for one day. 

The cheapest cat food at my grocery store is store-brand ("Compliments Super Delight Dinner", featuring such delightful ingredients as "animal digest") and it's $0.59 for a 5oz can, and my cat needs 1-1.5 of those a day.


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## Calico (Feb 8, 2010)

So there is basically no difference in cost between wet and dry? Interesting, I thought wet would have been more expensive.

I do need to cut some costs, but I don't think I could go as far as buying cat food with any by-products or "animal digest" ick!

Also, how do you store the canned food portions after it's been opened? Fridge? Serve cold or warm?

Thanks


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## WhiteKitties (Dec 22, 2008)

Calico said:


> So there is basically no difference in cost between wet and dry? Interesting, I thought wet would have been more expensive.
> 
> I do need to cut some costs, but I don't think I could go as far as buying cat food with any by-products or "animal digest" ick!
> 
> ...


I buy the 13.5 ounce cans of Wellness and Evo, which make 5 meals for my girls. When I open a new can, I divide the food up into five portions - one to feed immediately, one to put in the fridge for the next meal, and three to freeze for future days. I've noticed that if wet food is in the fridge, thawed, for more than 24 hours the girls won't eat it. So I went out and bought an 8-pack of small Glad containers specifically for portioning out the food, and this system works beautifully. 

Wellness is available at Petco, and the big cans are usually a little over two dollars. I'm fortunate to have a healthy pet food store not too far away, so I head there for the bulk of my food, so I have more options as far as foods that come in a bigger can. You may want to check out the 'where to buy' links on the websites of Wellness, Evo, Merrick, etc - you might be surprised to find a small healthy pet food store pretty close to you, and just because they're small doesn't mean you'll pay a lot for the food. My small local store has nearly the same prices as the big store I usually buy from, AND they have two adorable store kitties who love the customers! And most stores will order food for you even if they don't normally stock it, as long as you buy it by the case. 

I think the cost of wet vs. dry really depends on what you're feeding and in what ratios. I feed my girls half wet and half dry, and for quite a while the costs were pretty close between the two. But a few months ago I switched their dry to Evo, which is higher in calories but about the same price as the comparable Wellness Core, and now the dry food lasts twice as long because I don't need to give them as much. SO my wet rotation costs between 25 and 30 bucks a month, depending on how much Weruva I give them (it's their favorite, but at 1.89 a 6 oz can they don't get it more than twice a week!) and dry is about 11-12 bucks a month.

I got a little frustrated as I was working on finding healthy foods that my girls would eat, but it's worth it to spend the extra time driving for food for a while. Once you get it figured out, you can pick up two or three months of food at once, and then it's really not a big deal to drive a little farther for their food. (My healthy pet food store is a half hour drive totally the opposite direction of any other place I go, but once every two months? Not a big deal!)


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## furryfriends251 (Jan 1, 2009)

Check the cat food isle - I was really suprised and found Natural Life, Newman's Own, and even some (really overpriced) Wellness!!! Honestly not what I expected  They also had Lick You Chops (which milo and mikey detested) and Pet Guard (Premium Feast seemed to have the best ingrediants).


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## Mrs. PBJ (Dec 29, 2009)

I spend 18 bucks a month to feed my cat.

I buy a 15 pound bag of Taste of The Wild. Feed store normally sell this. 
That last me threee months at 25 bucks 

So 8.33 on dry a month its either 13.5 or 13.9 ounces in each can
Then I buy a case of twelve cans of evo at 24 bucks. 

I feed a can a week right now. I break it up into 7 meals. 

So one case last me just under three months 

So 8 and 8 is 16 add tax and gas the the half of can i use that the end of the month. 

18 bucks. A month and that came after a lot of help from the forum I would like to be feeding boss more wet but almost 2 ounce a day is better then one wet meal a week and boss drink a lot of water.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Any of the traditional grocery brands are really low quality foods. But I've been noticing that some of the stores here have been carrying some better brands. Newman's Own is one. Another is Harmony Farms. But I believe both are pretty over priced, you'd have to check for yourself on that. 

Petco is carrying several good brands now....Wellness, Natural Balance, Spot's Stew, Wilderness, Blue Spa and Solid Gold. 

Petsmart has Blue Spa and by Nature.


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## cmw0829 (Nov 23, 2008)

As far as supermarket foods, we found Pet Promise which was reasonably priced. Has some grains in it, but they're down the list.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Pet Promise wet isn't bad except for the fact that it contains menadione sodium bisulfite complex which is an ingredient that the FDA has outlawed for use in human products, yet for some reason is still allowed in pet foods. It's use in pet foods is very controversial. I would avoid it. 

Pet Promise dry is a poor quality food...first ingredient is chicken but then followed by brewers rice, corn gluten meal and soy flour. Once the water is extracted from the chicken it leaves a small amount of protein as compared to the next 3 yucky ingredients.


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## cmw0829 (Nov 23, 2008)

Doodlebug, thanks for the info. We stopped feeding it b/c our cats weren't *crazy* about it. No point in feeding something they don't really like.

But I'll check our other foods for the ingredient you mentioned. There's so much to learn...


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