Pet owners, it pays to shop around.
I don't know about dog food prices but check this out if you have a kitty.
Today I went to buy my furry beast*(spoiled shelter kitty) more food. We are due for a storm and I had only 2 cans left. Panic!
This is what I found: may not be the same in your area. but I was shocked at the difference in prices ion the stores that sell Fancy Feast Select. Since my kitty is an abandoned barn cat, I don't know why she will eat only Shredded White Meat Chicken Fare with Garden greens. Took me ages to find what she would eat.
Check these prices today: 3 ounce can
PetcCo: 94
Petsmart
0
Market Basket 80
Target 74
These prices are for the tiny can--3 ounces. If she would eat it, I could give her a steak at a better price.
Buying on line is even more expensive.
Love my kitty, cringe at the cost of feeding her.
= new reply since forum marked as read
or bags. He eats it because of his teeth and because it is incredibly good for him. It costs about $15 a 3 pound tube and lasts about two weeks. I feed him three times a day to keep his insulin level and his weight down. He thrives on it. 
It comes to just about $1 a day for my dachshund who is 18. It has measure marks for slicing. I chop it up and he devours it.
when they get established in our households? I had this same problem with cats who had been outdoor scrap-eating cats before they got to my house. Then all of a sudden, they get uppity.
I am just lucky (or maybe not) that my little one is not the least bit particular. He scarfs down any food I give him and he does not like canned food. 
The "maybe not" part is that he has serious problems with loose bowel movements with most foods, so I have to give him prescription foods. But at least I am not stuck with a case of canned food that he decides he doesn't like anymore as soon as I buy the case.
but do you think that they really KNOW that we will go through hell and back to make them happy---or as in your cousin's case, will not? 
Cats can be downright scary sometimes.
She likes two kinds of meat.
1. Lamb chops -- well done
2. Buffalo meat -- costs about $20.00+
I'll tell ya, these cats got 'cha! 
Slaves, all of us ... 
Broken tail and looked like a horrible mess (and she was ...).
Now that her two rivals are gone, she rules the household.
She gets everyone up at 7:30 a.m. sharp and hates it if everyone is not in bed by 10:00 p.m. sharp.
She's gone from the poor little feeble little nothing to Queen Jules.
I'll have to post before/after pictures if I can find them. It is quite the transformation!
As for the buffalo meat, the butcher gave me a free sample of it. I didn't care for it but she sure chomped it down.
Otherwise she eats nothing but Spot's Stew these days and that is not cheap food -- about $12.00+ for a 3 lb. bag.
Oh well, only one cat now, not three of them to feed. I guess that is the good part about not having so many of them. *sigh*
She got you!!! 
Somehow, out of five cats that I have had, two had broken tails. One you didn't notice since he had such long hair, until you felt the tail. Poor babies. But they all had a great life once they got to my house.
My Sammy's food is not cheap either, since it is prescription Hill's, but I have been through too much with this poor cat to try any more chances. I will pay. But that does cause me to hesitate about adopting another cat to join us. Well, that and his eating habits, where he eats all food as soon as it hits the bowl. There can be no nibbling cat in this house, or it will starve.
