I do a lot of my grocery shopping at little stores like those you can find
all over the Ozarks that sell "discount" foods - e.i. dented cans, off
brands, stuff that's almost past its "sell by" date, etc. Amazing how much
it saves me.

Sometimes they have premium pet foods like Iams for way less that you'd
expect, and I always grab them. Same with clumping litter. (BTW did you know
you can buy a 50-lb. sack of fine clay gravel at Auto-Zone - garages use it
to absorb oil spilled on the floor - for about $5? Mixed 50/50 with regular
clumping litter it does not spoil the clumping action!)

So my cats are always getting new food (and litter) brands. I usually have
some Purina Indoor Cat formula on hand, along with at least 2-3 other brands
of kibble, and mix them all together in a big plastic tub prior to filling
to food bowls. Since the brands and types of food I have on hand always
changes, this procedure keeps them from noticing the changes so much.

Once in a while I will find a sack of premium puppy food, too, and buy it if
the cat food is sold out. The premium brands of puppy food mostly have 30%
or more of protein and are high in fat like the premium cat foods, plus the
bits are about the same size as cat food. And dog food is usually cheaper
overall than catfood. Mixed in with the other cat foods, they never notice,
but if I try serving puppy kibble by itself, the cats usually don't like it
very much.

This morning I did fill their bowls with puppy food because I ran out of cat
kibble and have this bag of puppy food on hand. When I first acquired this
particular bag of puppy food, I tested to see if the cats enjoy straight,
and they would hardly touch it, hence it has been getting used up very
slowly.

The oddball thing today is that everyone loves this puppy food! And it's not
like they're starving.... they just finished off the last of the catfood
late last night.

I'll never understand cats....