Food (wet and dry) cheapest but good

[Karbea]

Hello,

I need to do some economising, so the cats will need to do some too! Can anyone recommend good but cheap food? I suspect tins are cheaper than pouches? Happy to order bulk online if it'll be cheaper overall, I've 4 cats so get through a lot of food, most of which they just spread around the floor rather than eat any way ;)

[MoaningMingeWhingesAgain]

looking out for a cheapish dry food my cat will actually eat too

[WinterWinds]

I feed my cats Butchers Classic (orange tins) which most supermarkets sell, Pets at Home also sell it.
It's approx. £2.75 for six tins but quite often on offer 2 x 6 packs for £5.

It is better quality than some of the other branded food like Felix, Kitekat and Whiskas, has a higher meat content but cheaper.
In fact its the only one my cats will eat and the only one that doesn't cause upset tummy's
I don't feed dry so cant help with that i'm afraid.

HTH!

[SummerRain]

Lidl cat food. The white tins. All five of mine love them and they normally reject cheap food. 55c a tin.

They do dry food as well which seems to go down really well with my lot, and again they usually leave cheap food so the fact that they'll eat it is a fair indication of quality.

[issey6cats]

i have four adult cats and two foster kittens and i feed mine butchers classic high meat low cereal £2.78 for six tins at asda feed mine 1/4 of a tin per day and at asda i get feline fayre dry biscuits £2.48 for 2kgs bag once again low cereal and they get a 1/4 of a mug each so six cats costs me around £7-8 a week

[thecatneuterer]

Another vote for Butchers Classic. All my cats seem to like it and its recommend by our vets. Apparently it doesn't contain most of the nasty additives of other wet foods and is positively helpful for mouth and gum problems.

However cheap dried food is to be avoided at all costs. If you can't afford quality dried (James Wellbeloved/Iams etc etc) then don't feed it at all, just stick to wet. 90% of the cases of blocked bladders/ crystals in urine are caused by cheap dry food. Blocked bladders kill cats (horribly), or if treated in time mean a very expensive operation and expensive rest of life care.

[thecatneuterer]

And the fact that they'll eat it is most certainly NOT an indication of quality. Whiskas dry, Go-cat etc all seem popular with cats (just as Big Macs are with some humans) but they are not good for them.

[WinterWinds]

Just been to Pound Stretchers today and they are doing the single tins of Butchers Classic, Chicken in jelly for 38p each.....Chicken is the favourite here so am going to stock up!!!!

[Rikalaily]

Butchers classic, it's one of the best (if not the best) wet foods you can get in a supermarket and is cheaper than some store brand foods. We buy two large trays in pets at home or get the twelve tins for a fiver at Morrisons when it's on offer. Dry food I'd recommend Burns, not the cheapest but you need to feed less than you would with a more rubbish quality dry and it's ingredients mean that your cats waterworks will be a lot healthier than they would with cheap dry food.

[MrsMarigold]

Crikey this is an eye-opener get them on Hill's Science Plan straight away, I buy it once ever six months for my cat and it is £51 for a 10kg bag on pet meds website plus look for voucher codes before you buy and go for free delivery. Usually I only pay about £45. Our cat was on wet food when we got her but we switched her over to Science Plan Light 0-6 years and she loves it and it's better for their teeth than wet food. Good luck!

[thecatneuterer]

That's very useful info about PoundStretchers. I'd never even heard of Poundstetchers but have just googled it and found there is one just round the corner! I'll be popping over there tomorrow to stock up on Classic (if they have it in mine of course)

[Karbea]

Mine have now had classic for dinner and breakfast, clean bowls all round! I got 24 tins from pets at home.

[kylesmybaby]

This is interesting I am going to try the butchers. Mine will only eat as good as it looks or Sheba. Anything else just dries out while they sit beside it. They also only eat James wellbeloved but as we are also having to cut back so are my cats. I do find if i don't have any dry they are always Hungry and eat wet food continuously.

[Lovethesea]

Mine have munched happily on Butchers for lunch, thanks for the tip.

They also love Aldi's tins of wet food which are even cheaper than Butchers. I got the Butchers today just to add some more flavours into the mix.

Because Tortiecat's skin is so itchy and raw still we are fish only til the steroids clear it up, in case it is food related. For the same reason we are meat only now, no dry food at all in case something is irritating her.

Poor Huntercat likes fish, but is giving me baleful stares when it is fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I remind him he supplements his own diet daily with furry and feathery squeaky things so I am deaf to his complaints.

[tb]

Our cat like Costco own brand - Kirkland - apparently it's Iams or very similar. A bag lasts us nearly a year.

[sunshineday]

Tb I was looking at that in costco yesterday they were giving free sample of it so tried my cat on it she ate it but was wondering wether to get some I was thinking of asking on here if any one used it.

[Sparklingbrook]

Sparkling Cat will only eat Felix As Good as it Looks in Fish. Would it be worth getting some Butchers Classic for her to try? Is it just in tins?

[itstooearly]

Five cats here, they all eat the Kirkland dry cat food.
They also have one wet meal a day, usually whatever's on special at sainsbo's. Will be giving Butchers Classic a go.

[Lovethesea]

Mine are loving tins when I thought they'd prefer pouches.

That said with Huntercat eating for his 5.75kg size and Tortiecat eating the same on steroids we are going through one tin in the morning and one at night, so it isn't down long!

[thesixteenthtry]

Buying in bulk on line is risky. The food they loved yesterday becomes totally rejected once you've got 24 tins of it.
I usually buy Classic but when Waitrose ran out I got their own brand and it seems good - no cereal and quite high meat content. Sixteenthpussy likes it today.

[NaturalBaby]

Waitrose own brand 6 tins for £2.79. They used to be on felix pouches and now get 1/2 tin at dinner time which is much cheaper. We had a cat who had teeth issues and the vet said to stop wet food so I'm reluctant to give them too much of it now.
One of my girls supplements her diet with fresh shrews from the garden, but still comes in to scoff a bowl full of wet food.

[Sparklingbrook]

I have 6 cans of Butchers Fish. it was £2.79 or 12 for £5 in Morrisons. I wasn't confident enough to buy 12. She has had a pouch for breakfast-next meal the tins!

[sittingpretty25]

Whatever you do don't you Go Cat - it is linked with renal failures / problems and then your cat is on vets diet which is mega money!!

With the cheaper brands, anyone been using them long term? Have you noticed any difference in coat quality for example since switching?

Ours get royal canin biscuits (which they beg for) and sometimes a felix pouch but only one of ours likes them, and the other licks the gravy and wanders off.

[catquestioner]

I give my 2 applaws complete dry food that I buy in bulk from petsupermarket.co.uk and they also have a pouch of highlife daily (60% meat/fish) which I have recently discovered is sold at discounted shops such as b&m's for 29p a pouch.

[BinarySolo]

CSJ does really good quality, good value animal feeds. Unfortunately my cat didn't like it, but Ceri who runs the company is ace and sends out generous free samples.

CSJ

I highly recommend the dog food too.

[livinginwonderland]

Butchers Classic at the moment, but they love Tesco Kitten food too (they're nine months).

For biscuits, they get either Tesco's own or Go-Cat for indoor cats.