Saving money on cat food

You may think it sounds a little crazy at first, but the best way to save money, is to buy the expensive stuff. I'll give you a few reasons why this is true. The first, is that the high quality foods like Wellness have a much higher nutritional value than something like Iams. This means the cat doesn't need to eat as much to maintain enough calories and vitamins. You can actually feed your cat less, and they will be healthier all around because of it when feeding them a high quality food. There is a trickle down effect of this decision. The next thing you're going to cut down on is litter costs, because a cat that eats less, poops less. Finally, you will save the biggest amount of money on vet bills down the line, because the number one cause of illness in cats is poor diet.

I hope this is helpful

 

That's a good point about the trickle effect actually. While none of us actually want to think about the food-to-litter conversion necessarily, it's true, and the health benefits are an obvious one. If you're keeping your cats healthier, you're less likely to have to spend a small fortune on vet bills later on.

 

I've never really thought about this. Sometimes I'm just thinking "I need to grab some cheap food because the cats are out".
At that moment I'd rather spend $3 on something than $6-$10 when mom will get some a little later.
Also, my cats are very picky about stale food. I've noticed the cheap food gets stale faster.
So they'll beg and cry for new food until you give them some.

 

I buy the healthier stuff for my cats too. I find the best way to save money is by buying the very large bags. It's equal to buying 5 smaller bags and getting 2 free. You have to make sure you can save the food in an airtight container though so it stays fresh as you work your way through the bigger bag.

 

I agree with the original poster, in the long run it's better to do everything you can to give your cat the best chance at being healthy, as it does cost a lot more in the long run to treat illnesses and diseases.Plus I'm sure no one wants to see their pet get sick.

However if someone can't always afford the expensive nutritious brands theres nothing wrong with buying brands like Iams. I wouldn't touch some of the real budget brands though as I once read the ingredients and nothing looked to be natural, it was all preservatives and flavoring.

 

You can also save money by cooking your own cat food! There are lots of recipes online and even some on this site. I have a roommate that cooks Salmon for himself and his cat, and he says in the end, it's about the same price, if not cheaper, than quality cat food. Remember that there are some special things to consider, like cats not taking vegetables or pork very well. I would suggest sticking to fish, chicken, or beef. There are lots of cheap chicken and beef parts that you can buy at the store which may not look appetizing to you, but your cat would love.

Consider it!

 

I have done a little research online on the raw food diet and will just say that you need to be careful with it. It isn't as easy as simply preparing a dish and feeding it. You have to take into consideration the vitamins and minerals you need to provide so you have to keep that in mind each week. It is also a scheduled feeding instead of a free form feeding because the food cannot sit out all day. I agree that is has its benefits though. I am just not sure I would be able to do it at this point. Maybe later down the road when I can really research it.

I agree that higher quality food is better for your cats but make sure you do the research. Some of the foods that are supposed to be quality actually rate just as low as the national brands. Take Science Diet for instance. It started out really well but when you look at the ingredients now, they aren't much different from 9Lives or MeowMix. There are some good quality foods out there but you need to look at the ingredients to really decide if it is worth the extra money.