OK now I'm officially pissed. Cat food price up EIGHTY PERCENT this month!???!!

[exothermic]

Spot demands Friskies "Turkey and Giblets Dinner"...there are a couple other kinds he will make one meal of as a temporary emergency measure but failure to give him his fave pretty damn soon will result in...well, let's just say it can get ugly.


So today I'm at the store resupplying and what do I find...this product has a new LABEL - it is now called Turkey and Giblets CLASSIC PATE' and costs 98 cents a can instead of 56 cents which is what it cost before it became pate'.

:grr: :mad: :grr:

He still likes it...and why not? It's the exact same stuff!

[eleny]

1. We had to switch food for one cat years ago

He refused to eat for three days and on the forth day he ate what we set down like it was the greatest thing he'd ever eaten.

The last thing a cat will do is twofold
1) Hold their breath till they pass out
2) Starve

Hang in there!!!

[exothermic]

4. LOL! Well I guess we could stick with fresh-caught fish which he gets now and then

but dammit, I don't think I can stand fishing -every day-. :silly:

[eleny]

8. Snort!

[TomInTib]

14. Exactly.

Finicky cats are not born, they are raised that way.

There is not a single mammal (except for idiot erectus {humans}) that will voluntarily starve.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. My ferocious beast will only eat Salmon.

It's salmon or bloody legs. Nothing in between.

[tridim]

3. Now the poor can't even afford to eat cat food.

What's next on the menu? Dirt?

Last time I bought cat food it was 65 cents for a 12oz can. I can hardly wait to find out what it costs next time.

[Gato Moteado]

18. they can start eating cats now.

nt

[spin]

50. When I took my new kitten to the vet to be nuetered...

I mentioned how many stray cats were having kittens in our small town. The vet mentioned that years ago cat food companies developed a cat food that would sterilize cats. The FDA would not allow it on the market because many poor people ate cat food.

[hisownpetard]

5. WHY DOES BUSH HATE TEH KITTEHS??!!!!!!!?!?!

:nuke:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. There is a reason for that:

Formerly inexpensive soy beans and meal now have skyrocketed, once again due to speculation in the market. People want to make biodiesel from soy.

[Submariner]

7. Patriot Cat says: Suck it up and pay

The diesel costs to haul that pate have gone up. You're paying a war tax on muffins kibbles.

[eleny]

11. I can only imagine how much it costs to keep that baby in smokes!

[elocs]

9. In the many years that I have had cats, or they had me, I have maintained my philosophy

that no cat ever starved with food in its bowl. Cats are smart and they soon learned that there is no magic food bowl that gets filled for their pleasure. It does not take them long to realize that I am the source of their food. My cat gets 1 handful of Purina One dry food in the morning and 1 at night and has for many years. The exact same thing day after day, but she is excited and screams to get it.

[noamnety]

23. Some cats are smarter than others.

Mine, for instance, put us through hell when I switched her from dry food in the laundry room to the same dry food in the kitchen. She would sniff the food in the kitchen, then go to the laundry room and cry.

(Same cat that thinks weather is different at different doors. Cries to go out, we open the door, it's raining. She runs to another door and cries there. We have to show her that it's raining at each of the doors. You would think after 18 years she would have figured out how this works.)

[EFerrari]

45. LOL!

I have one that doesn't see food in the bowl unless the bowl is full. She follows me screaming all over the house until the 9/10s full bowl is topped off. You'd think she'd never eaten in her whole life. Five times a day.

[MaryEllen71]

47. omg

our cat does the same thing..if there is an empty spot in her bowl...she will follow you around until you fill her bowl.

[Beausoleil]

48. One of ours is like that

If she can see any of the bottom of the bowl, it's as good as empty.

[librechik]

10. good lord--NOW what is my gramma going to eat???

heh

[eleny]

12. "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

snort.

[tbyg52]

17. Let 'im eat cake! (Just kidding.....!) nt

[CatWoman]

21. Eleny

:rofl:

[eleny]

22. _

:hi:

[chapel hill dem]

13. Try home-made pet food. Follow these links and google others:

http://www.i-love-cats.com/cat-food-recipes.html

http://www.catfoodrecipesonline.com/
"Who else would rather feed their cat 100% homemade, natural, fresh food that is simple, quick, easy, preservative, chemical and toxin-free"
AND
"Slash the cost of pet food, save up to $50 a month? Follow this proven system and extend YOUR cat's life by an average 8.3 years"

Some of the recipes actually look good as people food.

[exothermic]

29. Thanks, I may just try some of those!

:D

[elocs]

34. I feed my cat for about $1 a week with Purina One Senior Cat Hairball formula.

My cat likes and and I like it because it is simple and inexpensive. My cat is not fat or skinny, but just right. If she gets anything from the table her reaction is always the same--she pukes.

[carlyhippy]

35. I feed that to my cats, too

it's kinda expensive, but my cats like it and they don't cough up as many hairballs, so it's worth the price for me.

[islandmkl]

15. my buddy, a local charter boat captain, has a cat named Mullet..

that hangs around the house and dock and loves when the boat comes in and the fish get cleaned. A couple of years ago, my friend remarked, "Mullets looking fat and I saw a rat on the dock this morning. Looks like I'll cut out her cat food for a while."...

Mullet still ate...but there weren't any more rats being seen.

Cats adapt VERY quickly.

[CatWoman]

25. i just LOVE that picture

:hi:

[roseBudd]

16. Be glad your cat isn't a Fancy Feast fanatic, teeny can was $0.59 now $0.79

[kestrel91316]

19. Canned cat food is a very expensive way to get calories into your cat -

plus, it increases the risk of upset tummy, dental disease, hyperthyroidism, and oral squamous cell carcinoma.

So, the real question here is: Do your cats really need canned food in the first place?

[emilyg]

24. Yes they do.

Mine told me so. ;)

[noamnety]

27. The environmental impact is also an issue

Every time they eat, a tin can goes to a landfill. That's really pretty insane - up to 7,000 cans in a landfill over the lifetime of a cat if they eat one can a day.

Even if the cans are recycled, it's still a use energy drain and waste of resources.

[exothermic]

30. This is the only cat I have ever had, I don't know that much about their eating habits.

I just know he seems to like this particular kind and he's almost disgustingly healthy...according to the vet. I'm pretty sure he's better off than he would have been if we hadn't adopted him as a tiny abandoned & sick kitty. :-)
edit for spelling

[Madrone]

38. I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

As someone that believed the "hype" about dry food being better I have put one cat down recently due to kidney disease and have another insulin 2x per day. Dry food is NOT better than canned. As for hyperthyroidism, there is some information that seems to point to a rise in that condition due to canned diets, but I haven't seen anything definitive on that yet. My diabetic cat ALSO has hyperthyroid - and he grew up on dry food exclusively. The vet bills that I've paid in the last 5 years have more than made up for any money I may have saved having them on dry food.

Dry cat food can also contribute or be directly related to certain health conditions:

* Feline Diabetes
Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM, does not mince words about the connection between dry cat food and feline diabetes. On her web site at www.yourdiabeticcat.com, she states, "Without the constant feeding of highly processed, high carbohydrate dry foods, better suited to cattle than cats, adult-onset feline diabetes would be a rare disease, if it occured at all."
* IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)
Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM, states, "Too often these cats are treated with a high level of steroids and a so-called 'prescription' DRY diet. I feel very strongly that this common therapeutic regimen needs to be re-evaluated. There are an impressive number of anecdotal reports of cats that were terribly ill with IBD exhibiting dramatic improvement when ALL dry food was removed from their diet."
* CRF (Chronic Renal Failure)
Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM, states, "It is troubling to think about the role that chronic dehydration plays in feline kidney failure. And remember, cats are chronically dehydrated when they are on a diet of predominantly dry food."
* Urinary crystals and cystitus
The chances of bladder crystals or bladder inflammation are greatly reduced with a canned or raw food diet, which both give the essential hydration needed for a healthy urinary tract.
* Diarrhea
Diarrhea and other allergy-related conditions are often caused by corn or wheat fillers in dry cat food. After eliminating other potential medical causes, switching to canned or raw food can make the diarrhea go away almost overnight.
* Dehydration
Cats on canned food diets or raw food get sufficient water in their food. Cats on dry food alone must be given plenty of water, especially during hot summer months.


http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth

[Withywindle]

42. Thank you!

Cats are obligate carnivores. They are not omnivores like us, or even meat-preferential scavengers like dogs.

Dry food is full of grains and carbs, which cats would NEVER eat in the wild. It's good for them to have a little crunch for their teeth, but their main diet should really be meatmeatmeat or whatever's closest.

I had a diabetic cat. Gave him insulin twice a day until he crashed and passed away at age 14.

Now I'm inclined to think the best nutrition deal available in this economy is to buy a bunch of cheap beef stew meat and a bunch of cheap catfish and share them both with my kitty.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

43. My Koda passed away in May from kidney failure.

I had the cats on an all dry diet at the urging of their vet. It was a really good food too. After Koda's death I switched vets and this new vet recommends a wet food diet only supplemented with small amounts of dry food if any dry food at all.

Two vets, both telling me that if I don't follow their completely different advice my cats are going to suffer for it.

:shrug:

[Madrone]

46. I know.

All I can tell you is to start doing your own research, and when doing so weigh everything against your common sense.

[CatWoman]

20. Not to change the subject

but can I see a pic of Spot? :)

[exothermic]

33. Yes, I had to scare one up...it isn't a very good picture but it's what I have handy

:D

[MikeE]

26. Mine only likes the Wellness brand

and it's $1.29 a can. He eats 2 a day, but then, I don't have any kids, so I can spoil the little man.

[exothermic]

31. Actually I'm less concerned with the price as them raising it so much for a name change.

grrr

Like you we have no kids (but do have 3 doggies who are pretty pricey)
:-)

[SheilaT]

28. some cats are very finicky and stubborn.

I recently went through a bout of kidney infection with one of my cats. After two days at the vets, where they fed her canned food (she only got dry at home) and cooperatively taking antibiotic crushed and mixed up in baby food, she refused to eat any canned food at all at home for twenty-four hours. So I had to go back to the vet and learn how to give her injections. And put her back on the dry food.

This is the same cat who didn't eat at all for four days when I was trying to switch her to a new food, so I went back to the old one. Maybe it was just a matter of letting her be hungry for a few more days, but it is Very Bad for cats not to eat for several days, even when they are chubby (as this cat is).

The real trick on switching a cat to a new food is to mix it in with the old, and change the proportions for several days in a row until it's 100% the new food.

But I do love all my kitties.

[Jack Rabbit]

32. I go for El Cheapo

My rescued ferals appreciate it.

[Warpy]

36. I'm so lucky with my rescued beasties

None of them has been a particularly picky eater, although an experiment with canned food did turn out badly---diarrhea in long haired cats is not nice.

They love a nice cheap dry brand from Purina. It was never recalled for Melamine and it keeps their teeth nice and clean.

I've tried more expensive brands and they do the "bury it" dance---but they will eat it when they get good and ready.

[TroglodyteScholar]

37. Mao Mao gets a bowl of dry Purina Indoor formula each day

He occasionally throws it up, but much less than with canned food. I think because he was a stray early in life, he sometimes regresses and eats really fast as though he may not see food again for awhile.

Anyway, he's a healthy cat, he loves the dry food, and anything moist or originating from my plate is almost certain to upset his stomach.

I believe any cat can be adjusted to dry food, because a cat would rather eat *something* than eat nothing at all. Let's not kid ourselves, the fact that you provide food (of whatever variety) is the primary reason that any cat loves a human. All the cuddle & petting time doesn't hurt, of course... :D

[dysfunctional press]

39. talk to your grocer- it's the same price as the regular friskies at our store...

:shrug:

our cats turn their noses up at the shredded stuff...

sea captains choice and mariner's catch are their favorites.

btw- has your cat ever tried the friskies 'mixed grill' flavor...? i don't know what's in it, but i don't know a single person who has a cat that will eat it.

[Cleita]

40. Well, I'm thinking when it comes time that either the kitty eats or I eat, the

kitty probably will become dinner solving two problems.
:evilgrin:
For those of you who are reeling in horror, I am kidding. I love gallows humor. Kitty will always get his favorite even when I'm eating beans. However, I don't know how much more we can be squeezed in all our expenses.

[Canuckistanian]

41. My kitties will always eat

All I have to do is set them free at night.

The carnage on our front porch in the morning would be a problem, but they wouldn't go hungry.

[Cleita]

44. I can't do that or kitty becomes dinner for the coyotes and other

predators. So kitty has to stay in between sunset and sunrise.

[RebelOne]

49. I would keep kitty inside from sunrise to sunset.

Coyotes and other predators also hunt in the daytime.

[Cleita]

51. Not around here they don't.

There are too many big dogs running around loose and cars on the roads that keep them in hiding. They aren't hungry enough to come out in the day because there is still plenty of wild game for them to nab at night. Also, we have bears and mountain lions, whom I believe keep the coyote population down and they also pretty much hunt at night although I have seen mountain lions briefly hiding in the brush during the day.