I always substitute Purina ONe for Bootsie --we have to make a trip into the
city for "premium food"   and sometimes run out. She likes it and does well on
it--that is, there's no sign of digestive upset and the litterbox isn't stinky.
She also likes Pro Plan and Nutro. Purina One is around $5-6 for a 5 lb. bag,
and Pro Plan is around $7.99 for the 4-lb. plastic jug. She's pretty picky.
Sherry

I mentioned it (i.e. high costs) to the worker at the pet store and he said
the fuel prices have driven up the costs of pet food.  He hears people
complaining everyday about it.  Around here, people food prices have risen
too.

That always seems to be the answer.....  :o(

B~

Lyn wrote:
<snip complaint about prices and plan to feed grocery store food to save
money>

I don't see what the big deal is. It still cost considerably less to
feed a pet than it does to feed people, and considering a change to
lousy food just to save a few dollars is nonsensical. You're also not
making wise buying choices if you buy small bags of food as they are
always more expensive than larger sizes. You're also not taking into
consideration the fact that feeding your cats worse crap will result in
them having to eat more food to get the same benefit, so there is no
real savings in the end.

I would not sacrifice my cats when I could make adjustments in my
lifestyle and skimp where I could to make sure they get decent food, but
that's just me.

Megan

                                   

I apologize for being so late in this thread.  I hadn't noticed it earlier.

In my opinion, you could actually end up with more expense (not less) by
taking the route you described.  Remember the old slogan, "penny wise/pound
foolish"?  First, canned food would be much better for your cats than dry
cat.  Overall, there are likely to be more health issues (and, therefore,
veterinary bills) with dry than with premium canned.  Moreover, freefeeding
dry food can lead to obesity.  Second, premium canned does not cost as much
more as it sounds because cats need less of it.  My cats each get 1/3 can
twice a day of Wellness canned or Felidae canned.  (One cat weighs a little
more than 8 pounds and the other a little more than 9 pounds.)  Third,
canned food is more likely to avoid possible future problems with
dehydration because the cat ingests additional water in his or food.  And,
finally, you could easily save money by buying cat food in larger
containers/packages.  Smaller packaging almost always costs more per unit.

MaryL

We buy Nutro Max Cat dry food in 20-lb bags, ten bags at a time. Petco
matches the lowest competing price, and gives a 20-percent discount for
purchases of 200 lb or more. In addition, our purchases are logged on our
Petco Pals account, and we get a coupon for a free 20-lb bag each time we
accumulate ten of that item on our account. The bottom line is that we are
paying about $0.85 per lb for the Nutro Max Cat ... volume is everything!