Which is more important: me saving money or flavor variety in a cat's diet?
I purchase Wellness canned food for my foster, Dani. My options are:
Buy a 24-case of 5.5oz food for $26.45 but it can only be one flavor OR Buy 24 cans with all varieties of flavor but it costs $34.
I will only be able to purchase no more than 24 cans.
For option 1, I end up saving $10 but she may grow tired of eating the same flavor everyday and may begin not eating it since she's bored. I could always incorporate some raw food for variety (I'm not sure if she'll take to raw) and she does eat a handful of dry every night. This store is only a 20 min drive.
Option 2, she has variety and will have no problem eating all food. But that's $10 I could have put in my gas tank or towards some other important thing. This store is an hour drive.
2009-10-22T19:52:18Z
Ahh Susan, I was already confused coming up with these numbers for 5.5oz cans. I'll see about the 12oz cans. Darn!
J C2009-10-22T19:51:50Z
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What if you got a case of all chicken this time, and a case of a different flavor before this one runs out? Cats really do better on a variety of similar quality foods (or different flavors of the same food). I rotate among several different brands - Wellness chicken is the staple food, followed by Merrick, Natural Balance, and some Blue Buffalo and Weruva. This gives the cat variety, and protects you if the store happens to be out of the one brand/flavor she is used to eating.
BTW - feeding canned of equal quality but different brands/flavors will NOT upset a cat's stomach any more than eating turkey one night and chicken the next will upset ours.
I think variety is important. It seems unnatural for a cat to eat just one thing. A wild cat would eat what it could catch and that might mean something different for every meal. Also, the cat could get "stuck" on the one variety and what would happen if it were suddenly unavailable?
The $10.00 is significant though plus you'll use more gas geting there so why don't I complicate matters by suggesting the 12 ounce cans... Those should be about $2.00 each so if you buy only 12 it'll work out about the same as option 1.
Another idea is to buy it online, you might find a good deal. Figure out how much shipping costs versus gas and your time.
Well I plan on vaccinating every 3 yrs from info I've read stating that vaccinations aren't necessary every year. My vet only charges for 1 cat when I bring the both of them in so that saves; I only pay 1 office visit for the both. Raw starts out expensive but significantly goes down in monthly costs. 7 mos later after first feeding raw, I pay $35-$45 per month. I feel this cost will go down to a steady $30 per month as they continually consume less. So if you have 1 cat, after 6 mos, you should only be paying $15 per month. I just started buying Exquisicat (spelling) which is Petsmart's version of World's Best litter and I saved about $7 and this litter lasts 4 weeks.
Save yourself some money, girl! Seriously because, believe it or not, the more variety a cat gets the more their tummys become and stay upset. Ive never encountered a cat yet that has gotten bored with their food. Cats will continue to eat the same food, as long as the like the particuliar brand, (You know, theres always going to be your fincky ones!) and as long as you keep feeding them. If your heart is set on variety for your cat, I would recommend buying a bag of treats every once in awhile.Thats all the variety she needs, not to mention, she will love them! Hope this helps u
I think you should stick with the first option, but when she starts to look or act bored around the food, or refuse to eat, then you should change to the other option. We all know that cats need the nutrition, but they also need the variety. Imagine you have to eat the same thing every meal, everyday, for the rest of your life. You'd definitely get bored with it and even start to dislike it after a while.