# Good dry food to go with wet food



## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Okay so I give my baby Wellness canned Chicken and Beef. I buy a case of it each month from Amazon, the 12.5 oz cans and it costs me about $27 for those 12 cans. But it doesn't quite last him a full month. And I can't afford another $27 for another full case. So I was thinking if I could get a small bag of dry food to supplement what we have, but not something cheap like at the grocery store yet not as expensive as that case of Wellness, we could make it through each month without his nutrition taking too much of a dive, I hope.

The #1 consideration is that it be good food with good meat products at the top of the list, you know the stuff that makes up good cat food... so no need to recite all that here. But a very close #2 consideration is financial, unfortunately. I live on a very pitiful SSI disability check each month and it strains my finances to the hilt just to get him the Wellness food but I wanted him to eat healthy, he needed to lose weight, and I wanted to hopefully prevent health problems in the future which would be much more costly than expensive food now.

ANYway, the #3 consideration is that I'm disabled and some of Kira's feedings happen when me and my son are sleeping and it's hard for me to get up and prepare wet food for Kira because I'm usually in a great deal of pain when I'm sleeping. So having some dry food by my bed to scoop out for him would also be helpful for me.

So, I freed up a small amount of money, about $15 per month. Is that enough to get a good quality bag of dry food to supplement his wet food. It wouldn't have to be a LOT of dry food either. Probably a 5 lb or 7 lb bag would be plenty. Maybe less. The wet food will still be 75-80% of his diet. I'm just guesstimating the numbers here. 

Finally, to the questions. So, with that information, what food would you guys recommend given that money restraint? Also, is there a better, cheaper place online to buy my kitty food than Amazon? (keeping in mind that I want to keep my whole kitty budget to under $45)
:kittyball


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## larsan (May 3, 2014)

I don't really have an answer for you but I understand wanting to feed the best you can fir the money you have. I'm guessing you're going to get some good information. Good luck and I'm sorry about your pain.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Aww, thank you Larsan. You're very sweet. I appreciate it. =)


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## Chloe92us (Mar 16, 2014)

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.

Instead of ordering your Wellness you could order from Chewy.Com- Fast delivery and cheaper!!! A 12 PK of the wellness wet you're feeding now is $23.40, so you would save $5 there and could buy a better dry food to supplement.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

How about the shipping cost, Chloe? Does that $23.40 include the shipping?


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Yeah, just checked. That doesn't include shipping. And they want over $49 for free shipping. I want to pay under $45 total. I had free shipping on Amazon because what I was buying was over $25. Is there maybe a site with free shipping over $25 or even over $40... but where the prices are cheaper than on Amazon for cat food? =)

OH, and sorry for forgetting this part... but Thank you so much for the info Chloe! You gave me a lot of names of foods to look into. I will look into them definitely. I tried Innova dry and wet with Kira (and my other kitty that I had before I had to give her up) and they just didn't like it at all. But I'll get started on the research on the others. Thank you. =)


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Anjalena, chewy gives free shipping if you sign up for autoship. I think wag.com might also. And the autoship doesn't have to be once a month - you can make it however frequently you like. It took me a long time to figure out how long before I ran out of food or litter, and I calculated wrong at first - ended up with 5 bags of litter at once.  But you can adjust the frequency after you sign up, and you can keep adjusting it - I've changed mine three times already.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Well that's incredibly helpful then! Cuz I was doing autoship on Amazon anyway. So I don't have a problem with that feature. And being able to set the frequency is really, really incredible! Thanks muchly! I'm going to go look into that now. =) I had to go to bed last night so I haven't done much of the research stuff yet but I'm getting to it. Got a bunch of other stuff I have to do too plus I'm not feeling well so having to do things as I can. But you guys have given me great info.

If I remember right, these are more expensive than even then regular dry and wet food than the stuff we find in the usual stores, but you don't know if you don't ask... how about any of the alternative dry foods, like the ones that derive from raw foods? I think those are really expensive but how about their 3 lb bags or so? Just curious.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Yeah, on both Chewy and Wag, you still have to buy over $49. *sigh* I'll have to try to find that extra $4. Doesn't sound like much but I was stretching really hard for the $45 as it was. I dunno. =( I know he's definitely worth it. I just hate my low fixed income.


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

Wag prices, in my humble opinion, have gotten horribly high. I called once when ordering litter and they were DOUBLE the price of 3 other websites and they refused to price match. I went with chewy. 
If your cat is willing to eat canned, can you buy cheaper canned food rather than going the dry route. Once my cats got started on dry it has been nearly impossible to get them to eat only canned.
EVO sells canned in the big cans similar to wellness.
Good luck.
I hate prices going up on everything---even human food!


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## bellvillamor (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm on a budget as well and the Natural Balance Ultra has worked for me as a dry food, give it a try!


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Anjalena said:


> Yeah, on both Chewy and Wag, you still have to buy over $49. *sigh* I'll have to try to find that extra $4. Doesn't sound like much but I was stretching really hard for the $45 as it was. I dunno. =( I know he's definitely worth it. I just hate my low fixed income.


Oh bummer! I'm pretty sure that they changed their policies then. I noticed when I went to the sites just now that they no longer advertise free shipping with autoship.  

I don't know if you can swing it; I know it's hard on a fixed income to find any extra cash in a month, but if you could lay out $90 the first month and then do autoship every 8 weeks, you could get the free shipping that way.


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

I wonder if one is a "Prime" member on Amazon, if that makes a difference on the shipping...?
A Prime membership costs around 79.00 US dollars a year.


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## larsan (May 3, 2014)

10cats2dogs said:


> I wonder if one is a "Prime" member on Amazon, if that makes a difference on the shipping...?
> A Prime membership costs around 79.00 US dollars a year.



Amazon prime is now $99.00 per year but if you use it enough, it might work for the free shipping.


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

larsan said:


> Amazon prime is now $99.00 per year but if you use it enough, it might work for the free shipping.


Thanks Larsan! 
OK-WOW! It's gone up! Good to know!
If you do a lot of ordering, it might be worth it...it breaks down to about $8.35 per month, and includes a bunch of other stuff as well, that could be added perks!


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

The problem is I don't ever have more than $20 extra, at most, after paying my bills and budgeting for everything including cat food, litter, non-food stuff, over-the-counter meds, laundry, etc. So finding an extra $80 - $100 is like finding a little gold mine or a money tree. I just don't ever have that kind of money to spend, cash wise. I have a few credit accounts online that I use. I have Best Buy for my electronic needs since we're computer and game people here. Care Credit is for when I need to take Kira to the vet. and BillMeLater is my extended non-food budget each month. It helps me buy a few more things that I wouldn't be able to buy if I didn't have it. But it already covers things each month and I never have $80-$100 of credit on it anyway. So I just don't know how to do those things. *sigh* Financial restrains are so difficult. Normally I don't mind being poor. So long as I have enough money to pay my bills and buy what I need, I'm fine the way I am financially. But it's times like these that it's frustrating... especially when nice people like you guys are trying to help me come up with a solution and all I can say is "I can't. I don't have enough money." I'm really sorry. =(

wallycat, Kira ate dry food most of his life and it took a bit of persuading to move him to canned, especially since the canned I was moving him to, Innova, he didn't like the taste of. But when I offered him the Wellness, he was all good with it. Kira is an easy to please kitty. And he loves almost any kind of food, including just about any kind of people food. So I'm not worried about supplementing with dry food. I've actually been doing it a little out of necessity with cheapo grocery store crap because that's all I had access to and all I had the money for when I ran out of his canned unexpectedly. But the bigger issue that having some dry will help with is feeding him in the middle of the night when I have to sit up to feed him. Laying down/sleeping causes me a WHOLE lot more pain than even during the day so I can barely move without hollering. Having to get up to get wet food for him is just almost impossible for me. So having dry food beside the bed and keeping a bowl for him by me has REALLY been a huge help for me. My alarm wakes me up for his feeding times, I get the appropriate amount in the scoop, pour it in the bowl, all without causing myself too much excruciating pain. So that was the other big reason for getting some dry food, besides financial... was to help me be able to feed him at night. Sorry, I have a hard time putting my thoughts together properly. =(


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## larsan (May 3, 2014)

So sorry fir your physical problems. At night can you fill his bowl and simply let him graze on his dry all night and not have to waken you?


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## Tabbylove (Aug 14, 2011)

Have you tried Dave's canned instead of the wellness? It's 21.99 for the 12 big cans. I feed it and my cats are doing wonderful. Even when I don't buy it on Chewy, my local stores have it for the same price 
http://www.chewy.com/cat/daves-pet-food-naturally-healthy/dp/51679

I'm on a tight budget as well and I rotate Dave's with Friskies classic turkey and giblets. So ill do 2 days Dave's then a day of friskies. Don't feel bad about mixing in to save money  at least kitty is in a loving forever home

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Anjalena, no need to apologize! I only wish there was a way to make things easier for you - both financially and physically.  

It's pretty incredible that you're willing to spend as much as you on good quality wet food for Kira, given your tight budget. He's a very lucky kitty! It's also amazing that you wake up in the middle of the night to give him his food. OMG! My girls get their food when I get up - doesn't matter how many times I get walked on. Could you do as Larsan suggested and just measure out his food before you go to bed? 

I'll keep trying to think of ways that you can make things work!


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Thank you guys. You've been so kind and helpful. =) Yeah, I didn't think about measuring out some dry food for him before bed. I was so used to trying to get up and portion out wet food for him. But my health has just gotten to the point that I just can't do it anymore. And if my son is asleep too, da kitteh sleep needed some noms. But yeah, I think I'll try portioning out some dry for him at night. Thanks for that idea guys! =)

Thank you Spirite! I appreciate you continuing to try to think of things for me. I just need to make a decision on which dry food to pick. I just haven't had time and felt well enough to sit down and look through the different foods in my price bracket. I'm getting there. I've got until the end of the last week of the month though at least, so I'm not racing the clock, thankfully. =)


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I buy Pure Vita chicken entre. My cats love it. It's grain free.


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

Marcia, is that the one with lots of pea flour? Or am I thinking of a different dry ??

Another suggestion for you with the dry, especially if your cat is not fussy. Can you phone some of the better brands of cat food...Nature's VAriety, EVO, and Wellness...explain your situation and they may offer you a coupon for a free bag. The bag should last a while if you are supplementing. The only bad thing with coupons is you can't use them on line that I am aware of.
Before I started buying EVO, I asked for a free sample because my cats are VERY fussy and they had no issue with sending me a coupon for a small bag. If you call several companies and each get you a free bag, that should carry you over. You can also ask if they offer coupons on the canned you use. I joined Wellness (my cats have refused every can I have tried) ...the money you can take off the canned can be applied to your dry purchases. 
Have you checked food banks? DH and I regularly drop off pet food at the food banks for people who get their groceries there; no one ever thinks of the pets.
Also, you mentioned games/computer stuff; if you have older items that you are no longer using, can you sell them? Probably won't get a lot but worth a try.

And I agree...my cats sleep through the night; I have never gotten up to feed them.
At most, I make sure there is food available before I go to bed; then they are on their own. Cats are predator type animals and do not eat on a schedule. May save yourself some stress that way.
Good luck.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

wallycat said:


> Marcia, is that the one with lots of pea flour? Or am I thinking of a different dry ??


 Probably. My cats love it. Pure Vita Chicken Dry Food Entre' ingredients. I like that it is made in the USA:

Chicken, chicken meal, peas, pea flour, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried egg product, natural flavor, yeast extract, pea protein, pea starch, pea fiber, dried brewers yeast, tomato pomace, phosphoric acid, salt,potassium chloride, DL methionine, carrots, sunflower oil, minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate), cranberries, apricots, cherries, taurine, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium carbonate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, mineral oil, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate), turmeric, dried chicory root, vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), choline chloride, inositol, yucca schidigera extract, glutamic acid, rosemary extract, yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Aspergillus niger fermentation product, dried Bacillus subtillis fermentation product


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

If your cat does not like the food you buy from Petsmart they will refund your $$$. Try different, better quality foods with no fear of losing $$$. Gotta love that!


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

A thought: Do you (or your son) know anyone with a cat or a dog - or another pet, for that matter - who you could convince to get their supplies online? That way, you could put in a combined order, and it should get you to the free shipping point.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Wow... lots of great suggestions! And wallycat, you are a god/dess!! Raise the roof! Get the partay started! Put up the streamers, shoot the confetti.

Anyway, yeah, I think calling the companies is a fantastic idea! And if they send me a coupon, I can always call Petsmart and see if they'll take it online. Sometimes they do. If not, my PCA might be able to take me by there to pick some food up. What I hate is that the cat food section is near the back of the store and they don't have those scooter carts there! 

On getting up to put food down for Kira, I'm just so used to that because of feeding him only wet food. The vet tells us to only feed him twice a day, once every 12 hours. Buuuut, this doofus won't finish it. It'll sit there and dry out and grow bacteria. And we'll forget to go put it away, or I won't be able to, or my son will be sleeping/not here, etc etc. So, to keep the wet from going bad, I broke his meals into 3 parts. So every 4 hours, I would give him 1/3rd of his meal. But yeah, if I'm giving him dry, that shouldn't be a problem. I can give him some before going to bed, more than usual, and let him graze. He tends to nom all the dry within the first 20 minutes, though, and has none left for later. (sometimes he'll do that too with wet if you give him extra but not always) But, oh well. He'll learn. *laugh*

Sorry I've been away so long (and will be sporadic for a while). Been sick. Cellulitis making my life miserable. Yay! Loads of fun. It's taking its sweet time this time but eventually I'll probably have to go live in the dungeon for a while (hospital). I'm already packing and waiting. Blargh. Yesterday, I felt like I had a virus.. like a cold or flu or something. But the cellulitis doesn't look all that bad. I dunno. *shrug* Getting ready to go schedule my bill payments for June in case I'm not here on the 1st. Gotta make sure that gets done.

Anyway, thank you guys for all the help and suggestions! =)


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Really quick question before I set up this autoship on Chewy (I chose to go with the Evo grain free dry food, by the way.), I wanted to ask a quick question about a problem we're having with Kira. Or more correctly, a problem he's having.

He's having trouble finishing all of his wet food because it seems to either get smooshed into the corners or along the sides. OR, he nudges it out of the bowl trying to get at all of it. I've done everything I can think of. I've tried the 3 different bowl types we have here. And I've tried souping up the food a bit so it will slide back down, but once the liquid is lapped up, the thick matter remains. I thought maybe it's a problem with the shape of the bowl we're using. So I wanted to ask you guys and see if you had any ideas.

Here are links to bowls that are shaped basically like the ones we have here.

1. His primary bowl. The walls are taller and fairly steep. This one sits by my bed. He has an easier time with this one but still has trouble once the food pushes over toward the corners and sides. He tries for a minute or so then gives up.
PetRageous Designs Antigua Stainless Steel Non-Skid Water Pet Bowl
(it's actually a little closer to bowl #2 in style, but the capacity is larger and the sides are steeper. but it's that steel bowl with the rubber, non-skid base on it)

2. His secondary bowl. This one sits in the livingroom. This one I would call a 1-cup bowl. Maybe 1-1/2 cups. It's the bowl my son uses to feed him. But he eats even less out of that bowl and makes more of a mess with it on the floor.
Loving Pets Stainless Steel No Tip Bowl

3. The last choice bowl. Got it at Walmart, like the others. I don't use the auto-waterer side of this. I just take out the removable dish side and use that as a portable food bowl. It's about a 1 to a 1-1/2 cup bowl, shallow squarish/parallelogramesque-shaped. He definitely has a hard time with that one! And it doesn't have a rubber base so it slides everywhere when he tries to eat out of it. =(
Mini Food 'N Fountain: Food & Self-Watering Pet Bowl, 1 Ct: Cats : Walmart.com

So would he be better off with one of those very shallow but very round/ovalish kitty bowls that doesn't have corners or sharp/steep sides at all? Or would that make his mushing it over the side problem even worse?

EDIT:
For those wondering, this is the Evo dry food I chose: http://www.chewy.com/cat/evo-turkey-chicken-cat-kitten/dp/47465


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

I use a very shallow dish for Mr. Casper - this one: Whisker City® Cat Bowl | Food & Water Bowls | PetSmart. 

For my girls, I use dishes. They're almost flat, just curve up at the ends a little. I got them at Petsmart years ago, but I don't see them on the website. The closest I can find in terms of how shallow it is: PetRageous Designs Cayman Classic Stainless Steel Non-Skid Oval Pet Dish 

It might seem counterintuitive that a shallow dish would keep wet food from spilling over better than a deeper bowl, but they seem to work, at least for my 3 kitties.


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

I like the Durapet low profile stainless steel bowls with the rubber bottoms: Cat Bowls & Dishes: Durapet Stainless Steel Bowls at Drs. Foster & Smith

Like spirite, my kitties like shallow dishes too, probably because deeper bowls mean their whiskers would touch the sides which cats do not like when eating. If food does stick to them (sometimes happens), they'll shake their head and bodies, lol. Sometimes mine are messy eaters too, but if they truly love thier meal, they end up licking the bowl clean.

Hopefully you've read another member's recent thread about EVO before you placed an order. Their wet didn't agree with my kitties, so hopefully the dry is better. Good luck!


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

Amazon.com : Wetnoz Ultra Fat Cat Luxury Cat Dish : Pet Bowls : PlumStruck

mine have this food bowl. i love it. its stylish. the food doest get stuck making it easier for them to eat....if anything it will fall off the side...and they get from floor...but RARELY does that happen

you can get it cheaper!!

i recommend


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Anjalena, even with the nearly flat dishes, my girls will sometimes just lick the food so that they get all the mositure and leave the rest, like Kira does. But I add some more water and even if there's not a lot of food left, it's easy for them to reach because the dish is so shallow. 

gizmo, I just saw that on one of the pet store websites and was wondering if it would really work. I have a funky Alessi dish that's very stylish and completely impractical. I've been looking for new dishes for a while, to replace these old, cheap ceramic ones - mostly on etsy, but I might consider this one! Though...$50 for 2 dishes then.


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

i love it.....and its stainless. you can get it cheaper...like 15 or 19 bucks...i think. and free ship. but YES...it is pricey as cat food dishes go. its supposed to be easier on them because their whiskers dont touch edges??


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Yes, a lot of cats don't like their whiskers to touch the sides of their food bowls. I don't know if my girls will eat off stainless though. I tried to put their kibble in a stainless bowl and they wouldn't go near it.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

So the problem could be whisker stress then? Not for sure but something to rule out maybe? So I can try to buy a cheap shallow bowl then and see if that helps, right?

What's wrong with Evo? I've see it on the top of lists for a while now. Not the Innova, my kitty didn't like that anyway. But the Evo. I wasn't planning to buy anything from that company again but figured I'd try the Evo dry. But what's wrong with it?


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Okay, found the Evo post. (amazing since I suck at searching) And yeah, that's the reason I stopped feeding him Innova. I didn't know they went back and recalled the other things too! I thought maybe the Evo was a cut better, I dunno. Well, okay. Back to the drawing board.


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## Chloe92us (Mar 16, 2014)

About dishes: I use round glass dessert/fruit dishes I've had for years, or this oval soap dish I found at Walmart. Both are very shallow, maybe 1.5" tall on the sides. I have 4 of each so I don't have to worry about washing the same bowl for every meal. The soap dishes were around $2/ea at Walmart.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

I found these 2 bowls. They're thin plastic but they're low cost and that's what I need. And they seem to be well received by customers.

Petco Food Bowl For Cats in Cream - Cat Food Bowl and Plastic Cat Bowls from petco.com

Petco Water Bowl For Cats in Cream at PETCO


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

Just fyi, plastic bowls tend to cause chin acne in cats...so I'd stick to stainless steel, glass, or ceramic. I did go to Target and see stainless bowls that were flat like the Durapet bowls but made by "Boots and Barkley" brand. They were super cheap, like $4 each with colored rubber bottoms! Cute! :wink:


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

I agree. Anjalena, I'd avoid the plastic if you can. My kitties just had a hideous infection from their acne. Maybe you could try a plain paper plate (uncoated) first to see if that works?


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

If you're looking for something cheap, go to a dollar store and buy a glass dish.


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## Anjalena (Jul 13, 2009)

Is Blue Wilderness Chicken a good dry food? I bought a bag of Natural Balance Fat Cats and he doesn't really like it much. I'm seeing really good ratings for the Blue Wilderness Chicken though. I thought I'd ask you guys what you think.

This is what I'm looking at... though I'll have to find it on another site because the small bag is out of stock. =(


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## squeekers (Jun 17, 2009)

I recommend Acana. Earthborn Holistic is another good one a 6lb bag right now sells for $14.99 on Chewys and its grain free.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Some people don't like Blue (the company) because it won't provide some nutritional information that other companies will.

It doesn't bother me, because my girls like it, and it's been a hard fight to get them off the bad stuff I'd been giving them (without knowing it) for years!  

It's got good ingredients, and it's grain-free, so I'm happy with it.


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