Is there cat food that has the qualities of high end food at a cheaper cost?

Question

I took my cat to the vet the other day because she seemed sick. It turned out she has some sort of infection of the urniary tract possibly due to crystals forming in her urine. Since this happened to her, she won't be able to eat regular food anymore (Friskies, Meow Mix etc.) because those types of foods caused the crystals to form.

For the next couple of weeks I have to feed her some perscription food to help break up the crystal formations. Then after that, the vet told me that I have to buy this certain cat food to prevent this from happening again and it's $20 bucks a 4 lb. bag!

I don't mind paying for more expensive food, but I was hoping if anyone had any information on places where you can buy special diet type foods for less than what you would pay at the vet.

Also, if anyone knew of a comparable food to buy in place of the expensive stuff that would be just as effective.

Thanks for the help.

Answer 1

There are lots of quality high-end foods that are much less than $20 for a 4 lb. bag. Just remember, a higher quality food will be more nutrient rich, which means the cat doesn't need as much of it to get full. Therefore, they will eat less per meal and poop less, and in theory the poop won't stink as bad. This makes an expensive bag of food more economical than a cheap bag.

That being said, some of the most popular brands among internet cat owners are:

Innova Evo
Candidae
Wellness
Natural Balance

After your first online order, you can get great discounts from http://www.petfooddirect.com up to 22% off on food.

Check http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/ for a list of foods NOT on the recall list. It also gives you lots of information about the different foods (like the brands the companies make, things like that).

I've never tried Candidae but lots of cat owners have and they love it. I know that any of the other foods should help prevent urinary crystals in the future.

My cat has Chronic Renal Failure. My vet wanted to put her on Science Diet k/d but it isn't nearly as healthy as the foods I've mentioned so I'm currently using a mix of Wellness and Innova Evo dry foods and I've started using Merrick wet food. That is a pretty good food and the cats love it. They have flavors like Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Dinner, Cowboy Cookout. Try to give wet food too as this is much healthier than dry for kidney kitties.

Even though your kitty may not have renal failure, this site gives a lot of good information on taking care of kitties with renal failure that you could apply to your kitty to prevent it.

http://www.felinecrf.org/

Good luck.

Answer 2

Good High Quality Dog Foods Innova Evo Wellness CORE Orijen Canidae All Life Stages Chicken Soup For The Puppy Lovers Soul Taste of The Wild Merrick

Answer 3

Misinformed vets strike again!

The good news is you do NOT need to give your cat that overpriced crap your vet is peddling (quite possibly in all innocence).

All you really need to do is keep your cat hydrated. The best way to do this is to feed moist food. You can investigate raw diets or you can switch him to canned food.

Unless your cat has serious issues, which it doesn't sound like, that should do the trick.

I can't tell you how many times I've answered questions like this! It's appalling how uninformed some vets are.

See the what to feed link for the best foods.

My Poppy had a similar problem. I also bought an expensive bag of food, but then switched to Purina's urinary tract health food. But because of all the other problems she's had, I started investigating cat nutrition, and learned a lot.

Since switching to a good quality canned food (she gets no dry food whatsoever), her urine is much less concentrated (and less smelly). She hasn't had a problem since!

Answer 4

You need to pay the extra money. Science Diet is probably the prescription she will be on if not ask your vet if it would be any cheaper going through them. Never switch her diet without consulting your Vet first. She needs to be on this diet in order to keep control over your cats crystals she needs to be on that specific diet for the rest of her life in order to keep her from getting sick. Crystals are formed by what is in their food and if they are calcium oxalate crystals they can be sooo severe that they will need surgery to remove them. They cause large crystals that have spiked edges and are very painful for the animal. Trust me switching food without your vets consent will only cause pain for the animal and $$$$$ for surgery to remove huge crystals that can form. Hydrating the animal is always a good thing but in this case it's really about the diet.

Vet tech student
Alicia

Answer 5

Yeah for Rune amok!!! That food your vet gave you is garbage and holds no value over commercial foods. CANNED foods that don't contain gravy are what is best for your cats overall and that includes the prevention of crystals as well as a host of other problems like diabetes and kidney disease. fancy feast is middle grade food, better then friskies for example but not as good as wellness.

Answer 6

My cat eats the Purina One for Urinary Tract health. Ever since I switched her to this she hasn't had a problem (knock on wood). Otherwise there is Iams which has a urinary formula I think or Eukanuba (i think that's how it's spelled). They are all high end grocery store brands. If you get it from the vet, expect to pay more per pound. Good luck with your cat!

Answer 7

We had this happen with our dog. Find out what's in the food that the cat can't have. My dog couldn't digest protein. Then you have to look at the ingredients on the bags to find out which one is either missing that ingredient or has the least, then cut the cat food with human food. What we did is find the brand that had the least amount of crude protein in it, then he would get one scope of dry dog food, then a cup of white rice with either cheese or chicken buillion in it for flavor. he really liked the cheese. Cats are a little bit more particular though. I hope this helps!!!

Answer 8

We're in the same situation you are.

Ask your vet about promotions, buy 4 get one free, etc, 20% off if you buy two,etc. .
It know, it's tough to lay out that kind of$$$, but it's a decision you make with your heart not with your head.