How to save money on cat food?

[Auroras mom]

My cats eat canned food, which has increased over 100% in price in the past few years (from 0.25/can to 0.50/can). They also eat about 1/2 bag of hard food per month, and use maybe 1 - 1.5 containers of litter per month. This totals about $60/month.

Is there anything I can to save money on these kitties?

[J3K]

My five cats cat Whiskas Indoor Cat food. (dry food) I buy Sam's Choice litter. (regular litter...not special in anyway. A 25lb bag is less than $3 )

For treats they get people food they can have. (chicken , a sip of milk , etc..)

I've noticed with Whiskas food my cats don't smell , their poopy smells normal and their urine isn't horribly acidic.

[Macky]

Do you use clumping litter. Clay costs much less here and there isn't the danger of them ingesting that wretched concrete when they groom.

We've got seven cats – five inside and two (strays that call our place home) outside. We found that by spending a little more on better food, they actually ate less (voluntarily, they eat free choice), pooped less and it cost us less. Hard to wrap your brain around until you actually have it happen, though.

Do you need to feed them canned food for some sort of health issue? I know very few people around here who feed their cats soft food, including my neighbour, a vet tech. Kibble is cheaper than moist food. Ours get tins as a treat in their Christmas stocking.

ETA: If you're asking brands, we buy Nutro because it's the best in our price range. I know there are better and worse brands out there.

[J3K]

I found the same thing. We were buying ultra cheap kibble (the animals are self fed) and they were eating 50lbs of food every ten days. Truly ridiculous. And they smelled bad , their skin was gross , their hair matted and dull.

Granted , Whiskas isn't exactly primo cat food :giggle , but it's got better nutritional quality. They eat less , and all the other issues went away. Our kitties also get a special can of food on xmas (or sporadically throughout the year)

[Rabbit]

We pay $40 for a bag of California Natural, a premium cat "health food" that's all we can find that is fish and corn free for our stupidly allergic Siamese. Feeds four cats for a full month. They rarely get anything else. Like, they could have the jars of meat baby food sometimes, that came with Seth's WIC last year.

[Auroras mom]

Hmm, how do you think two cats will respond to having their soft food taken away at this stage of the game? They both turn 8 this month (in fact, I just realized I missed their birthday!).

Our vet when we got them said cats need moist food for their coats and digestive systems to work properly (more moist, more fat content). I don't know that to be true, but they are sure used to it.

Maybe I could cut them down to one can per day for a while (instead of one morning and one night), and see how that goes? Their hard food is Iams.

We do use clumping litter. We can look for something cheaper, good idea.

I wish there was some cheap way to just buy what they are used to having. These cats fear change, LoL. Mommy doesn't like to let them cry it out either. :P

Anyone want two ornery cats that hate each other? Both beautiful!

[WanderingJuniper]

Our cat will harass us if we don't give her wet food each day at roughly the same time. I forgot one night and she bugged me while I slept enough to wake me up and feed her. :shrug Not something I'm willing to do. How much canned food do you give them each day? We don't do a whole can. We cut it in quarters so 1 can of 50 cent catfood lasts 4 days. She can eat her dry food whenever she likes then.

[Rabbit]

I might try cutting the amount before changing the schedule, too.

It took me a full year to teach my little beasts that the Daddy and only the Daddy will be serving them food from now on, because they were so obnoxious in their demands, and I had nursing babies to tend to who did not need clawed cats yowling for food climbing about us during nap time or nursings. Now they're quiet all day until he gets home, and then they'll complain to him if their bowl got low while he was gone.

[Macky]

At 8 years old, they probably won't like it one little bit. ;)

Iams is touted as a high quality food, but looking at the ingredient label, it really isn't. They do have foods that seem to help animals with medical issues, though, so I can't say it's necessarily bad. There's just a lot of filler in that brand compared to others (which makes more poop).

Moist foods are advantageous for very young and very old cats as well as those that are poorly (attracted by the smell to eat more) or need to lose weight (higher water content makes them feel more full with less calories). A healthy adult cat, however, will do perfectly fine on a good quality kibble. If your vet worries about fat content, there are supplements that you can get in a tube that have additional oils in them; you put a bit on your finger and they lick it off. If they'll go for it, you can also pour or spray a bit of healthy oil on the kibble... as long as it's a type that won't go rancid quickly and the cats finish the kibble every day. Both options would be cheaper than tinned food in the long run.

If you're going to make the switch to kibble, do it slowly. Changing any pet's diet should take place over the course of at least two to three weeks.

In your case, I would buy some sort of new, good quality kibble and treat it as though it's a treat at first. Ask a proper pet food shop for some samples (box stores don't usually have them, though they might) or ask them how to contact the company for samples so you don't buy a bag of something they won't eat. Cut the soft food down by, oh, half a can at first (not so drastic) and add some of the new kibble to their dishes. Decrease the tinned food and increase the new kibble until you've gotten down to either no canned food or maybe half a can, once a day for them to share (if they're really upset having it totally gone). Then gradually increase the new kibble while decreasing the old kibble until you're feeding all new kibble. That's just me, though... you know their personalities best.

If you're going to switch to clay litter, remember to scoop and stir it as often as you can throughout the day. If it's stirred up regularly, it lasts longer between changes as the dry pieces can soak up from the wetter pieces and everything gets dirty more evenly.

[Rabbit]

I have a very healthy, playful, lushly coated, deliciously heavy 13 year old, missing half his teeth, eating only dry California Natural. The other cats are 11, 8 and 6.

[itzj]

We have always fed both wet and dry. We have 9 cats. They get a small amount of wet 2x a day (1.5 cans split amongst them) and dry is out all the time. I do not like to take the option wet away because to me that is not their natural food. A dead animal is moist meat, crunchy bones and digested grain in the belly.

I sale watch. Ours like friskies wet. When the cans are on sale for 40 cents I buy a ton. For chow we mix a high end purina with a mid range purina. I am constantly sale watching.

[Zooey]

Our cat will harass us if we don't give her wet food each day at roughly the same time. I forgot one night and she bugged me while I slept enough to wake me up and feed her. :shrug Not something I'm willing to do. How much canned food do you give them each day? We don't do a whole can. We cut it in quarters so 1 can of 50 cent catfood lasts 4 days. She can eat her dry food whenever she likes then.
This is what I do, too.:yes
I agree also with those who said, that it is false economy to use the super cheap dry food. Cats will just eat constantly, so you end up buying more food. Better to have a quality (not necessarily most expensive) kibble as a basic food that is always available, & give small portions of canned food at the time your kitties are used to being fed.

[Aerynne]

Can you mix water with the dry food to make it wet? Maybe that's totally strange but it might work.

How about mixing dry and wet food, then gradually adding more dry. You could mix it in the blender if necessary, too, instead of just by hand. Maybe let it sit awhile so the dry food gets more moist.

There's a store near enough to us (well, 20 miles away) that sells slightly expired stuff and things in damaged boxes and stuff like that, including household goods and pet food and litter. Ours is called NPS Market Square. Do you have anything like that?

[Zoesmama]

Our 2 cats eat Iams. The seem to eat the small bag in 2 weeks time or the larger one will last them almost a month. I get the ones that list chicken as the first ingredient NOT chicken by-products. The do occasionally get canned food. The small sized ones are easily split between the two. That is all they will eat in a sitting usually. The kitten WILL(if allowed) eat a little more than my brother's elder cat.

They don't need or require the corn fillers that are put in dry foods. So honestly I think your can food regimen is best(if its got few ingredients that start with chicken,salamon or what not) if you can afford it.

Vets seem to be trying to start a wave of cats doing best with raw ground meat(including the bone) rabbit and chicken are good. But they need supplements and I haven't tried or even priced what the "supplements" taurine etc. would cost to see if cost would improve cost or make it way more. This is why cats eat cheap filler cat food in huge quantities it doesn't fill their hunger for meat. They need meat nothing else. And its shown to cause diabetes in cats that do eat that much. Its sad really that commercial pet food makers aren't looking out for the best interest of our cats. :( Just fill it with cheap corn, same that is happening with packaged processed human food.
Also raw food or wet canned food helps them get water since they are not naturally big water drinkers

You can maybe play with litter cost too. Target brand clay scoopable litter is pretty cheap. I find the scoopables last longer scoop daily if possible and add when needed with full changes every month. I just can't stand the old style litter that is much cheaper. I prefer Fresh Step though as it never smells. We get by on a box of litter every couple months with 2 litter boxes going.

[Rabbit]

Costco has giant bags of Tidy Cats for under $10. Fills four boxes. We have super deep covered boxes, so I double the amount.

[Zoesmama]

Costco has giant bags of Tidy Cats for under $10. Fills four boxes. We have super deep covered boxes, so I double the amount.

Is that scoopable clumping litter? I have used and like Tidy Cat alright.

[Rabbit]

I think I've mixed everything up. They have Tidy Cats scoopable (and a coupon this month). But what I'm buying is Fresh Step non-clumping, and that's 40lbs for about $9.50.

[Zoesmama]

I think I've mixed everything up. They have Tidy Cats scoopable (and a coupon this month). But what I'm buying is Fresh Step non-clumping, and that's 40lbs for about $9.50.

oh okay. Yeah non-clumping and I are not friends. :giggle

[Zooey]

I wanted to add my (:shiftysomewhat gruesome:shifty) system of "how much canned food is enough for one day".
I put out a portion the approximate size of the (:shifty:sickmostly dead:shifty) rodents that my cat brings me. On the grounds, you see, that if she were to feed herself what she (:shifty:sickpartially) kills, that is how much meat she would get.
The dry food is out at all times, to eat as she desires. The mouse-size bit of canned is set out twice a day. (If your cats are better behaved than mine,(:blushwhich ;)wouldn't be hard:giggle) once would be enough).

[Apple-Saucy]

Our cats always enjoyed chicken innards. :bag

[Zooey]

Our cats always enjoyed chicken innards. :bag
I never met a cat who didn't!!
My grandmother used to cook up the neck, & the innards to feed her cats. (This was a long time ago). She said they would pretty much eat anything, if it had some chicken parts added.

[Quiteria]

My mom used to pour meat juices over the kibble when transitioning to a new brand or less canned.

[Zoesmama]

I never met a cat who didn't!!
My grandmother used to cook up the neck, & the innards to feed her cats. (This was a long time ago). She said they would pretty much eat anything, if it had some chicken parts added.

You should meet ours they probably would not touch it. Both turn their nose up at "human" food. I guess in a way its nice to not have begging cats. I know they would not dig into those because once we ran out of food for a day and half they had no dry down. I offered cut up meat and it sat there. :shrug3 :lol

[Tiquatoo]

Hmm, how do you think two cats will respond to having their soft food taken away at this stage of the game? They both turn 8 this month (in fact, I just realized I missed their birthday!).

Our vet when we got them said cats need moist food for their coats and digestive systems to work properly (more moist, more fat content). I don't know that to be true, but they are sure used to it.

Maybe I could cut them down to one can per day for a while (instead of one morning and one night), and see how that goes? Their hard food is Iams.

We do use clumping litter. We can look for something cheaper, good idea.

I wish there was some cheap way to just buy what they are used to having. These cats fear change, LoL. Mommy doesn't like to let them cry it out either. :P

Anyone want two ornery cats that hate each other? Both beautiful!

Cutting back to one can a day is good. We did that recently with our cats and found that they ate more when there was just the one. Also, do you feed each cat a whole can? We split our cans of cat food up to accommodate however many cats we have (currently three). So, if you only have two cats, you could easily split the cans up into halves or - depending on the size of the can - split it up into fourths and give them a portion in the morning and a portion at night (refrigerate the second half of the can, then just warm it up a tad in the microwave so it's at room temp, like the first portion was).

Definitely look for coupons and sales, too. Stock up then.