how to prevent health problems for cats II?
I have already asked a question about this and would like to ask another question. Right now i am having financial problems and cannot afford expensive cat foods. I have looked into this company called Wellness and have decided that i will start buying there products when i get the money. right now i need help in what i can feed my cats for a cheap price for right now. Can i add water to dry food? can i get walmart grade wet food for now? You know these types of questions, please give me more info. As for right now i cannot afford high quality food.
The major grocery store brands, such as Purina, are quite good nutritionally and in every other way. The big pet food companies spend millions of dollars every year researching animal nutrition. A lot of the stuff promoting certain specialty brands is just advertising hype. Unless your cat has a very specific health problem (such as diabetes, for example) calling for a special diet, the tried and true, and cheap, major brands should be fine. Dry food is good for most cats provided they always have access to clean drinking water.
If you are struggling financially then maybe you need to think about finding a new home for your cat.
tinned cat food does contain lots of vitamins etc so it is a good thing to buy. one of my first cats used to adore kitekat, although it smelled disgusting…you can buy cheap white fish and microwave or boil it in a little water, then add some bread or cereal to the fish . cats love dry food too, although the cheaper ones contain a lot of cereal in it. cats love pilchards, tuna, sardines and chicken, and sometimes the large pet stores do these sort of things very cheap (minced white fish especially). cod liver oil is a good supplement for cats too.
Wellness brand is excellent. You could possibly make food for your cat on a shoestring. Yes that’s right…..make your own.
Smaller butcher shops have stuff they just toss… same thing with asian markets and their fresh fish. Begin thinking about using these meat scraps with some very cheap brown rice…
Make it in the crockpot.
I’m happy to hear that you’ve decided to go with Wellness when you’re able!
Look for foods that have meat as the first ingredient, preferably the first two. The higher the protein content, the better. Stay away from anything that lists corn in any form as an ingredient. The package should also have a statement somewhere on it that the food meets the AAFCO standards for nutritional requirements (details linked below). If this statement is not present, I don’t recommend purchasing the food at all. I’m not terribly familiar with the ingredients of store brands, so I’m afraid that I can’t recommend a specific brand… but the things I’ve mentioned are the major things to look out for. If you can, I do recommend giving your cat wet food at least once a day. If you’re also feeding dry food, you shouldn’t need to offer more than half a can or so each day, so the cost probably won’t be super high. The guidelines for reading the labels should be the same as with the dry. I don’t recommend adding water to dry food. When it’s moistened, it will be more likely to begin growing bacteria and won’t be healthy to leave out for an extended period.
You *can* add water to dry food but if you do this, don’t leave it sitting out if anything isn’t eaten. Getting dry food wet makes all the lovely bacteria thrive. It’s safe if it’s eaten right away though.
Yes, until you can feed better you can certainly buy less expensive, less good canned foods. The only one I would warn you strongly against is Whiskas.
I’m not crazy about Special Kitty (Wal-Mart brand food), but I know they sell other brands like Friskies. That’ll be just fine.
Outside of the Whiskas, I don’t have any particular concerns about any of them, nor can I suggest that one might be better than another.
Just make sure that whatever you choose has no BHA/BHT or Ethoxyquin. Try to find one that has actual meat listed somewhere.
One other word of advice - don’t get sucked in by clever marketing. Brands like Purina and Iams have come out with “healthy” or “natural” foods that look very appealing but aren’t necessarily any better than their usual stuff. So don’t think that just because Brand X has “natural” on the label and costs just a little bit more than it is worth the extra money.
Oh I can relate to money issues I have 3 cats one who is a diabetic who needs insulin 2 times daily. I have to feed her low carb low grain food, they didn’t take to it very well, I feed them the dry no grain CORE wellness, its pure protein so they eat MUCH LESS and for breaky and dinner they get fancy feast, ONLY THE NO GRAVY ones this is low carb and they eat less since its less fillers gravy is carbs and fillers.. I get them at walmart the chicken 24 in a box is a good deal at wallmart and they have coupons on the smaller cans right now too.. mixed grill green can is a great low carb one too.. GOOD LUCK