Caloric intake?

[KelticAngel]

Hey all,

Looking for a higher calorie soft food for my kitties.

Blue is my diabetic Russian blue, and at 15 lbs is his ideal weight. He has a civilian "sister" that he helped raise (they were both street rescues, feral) named Frisky. She's a domestic shorthair and at 10 lbs is overweight.

According to my calculations, Blue needs somewhere around 360 kcal a day, and Frisky around 240 kcal.

They love their Fancy Feast, and I'm grateful that I've found the Creamy Delights variation (higher calories per can) because I really can't financially afford to be giving these cats a total of 8 cans a day. The 8 cans is what most Fancy Feast variations end up being. With the Creamy Delights I only need to give them a total of 5 cans per day.

Are there other high calorie options out there (available in Canada)?

 

[KelticAngel]

Am I thinking in the wrong direction? (This "silence" is confusing me...)

I've never had to switch a cat to soft food before, so I have no clue what is even normal practice or what's available. Soft food is not something I ever bought except for the occasional single can of Fancy Feast as a treat once in a while.

I found out today, at PetSmart, that you can get larger cans of some brands. So... that's kind of helpful, I guess? I don't know if it's actually cheaper, though.

 

[AliceMeowliss (GA)]

I think some kitten foods are higher in calories.

Can you supplement their FF with something cheaper as well? Do they have friskies there? Would it be any cheaper to buy a bit of fresh proper meat and give a bit extra of that? Also for treats, the freeze-dried pet store cat treats are super expensive but if you google around you may find a bulk online store.

I've noticed some friskies flavors come in larger cans but not the flavor I've been using. And I have two big ginger boys, a 7.5lb girl, and my diabetic girl who is constantly hungry but barely clears 2 kilograms right now. I understand the struggle when you have multiple cats!

Good luck.

 

[AmandaE]

I'm not sure if you've seen the post I left on your intro thread but I had noticed that you can get a Presidents Choice pate style wet food with nutritional data similar to FF at Superstore. It comes in 375g cans for $1.28 each. That would equal out to about $0.30 / 85g of food or $1.60/ day if you were serving 5 cans of FF a day (@85g/can). Seems like it could be an affordable option. I plan to check it out tonight or tomorrow when I start phasing Mowgli onto wet food. Superstore is usually pretty good for selling pallets as well so it could be possible to buy more at a discount or something.

 

[KelticAngel]

I'll take a look again next week, thanks!

Unfortunately, I'm way up north. Fresh meat is super expensive, so I'm not able to supplement that way. Also, I know I don't have the time to do all the nutritional balancing that a proper raw food diet would require. I'll keep an eye out.

I did see your response, AmandaE! Thank you!!

I think some kitten foods are higher in calories.

Can you supplement their FF with something cheaper as well? Do they have friskies there? Would it be any cheaper to buy a bit of fresh proper meat and give a bit extra of that? Also for treats, the freeze-dried pet store cat treats are super expensive but if you google around you may find a bulk online store.

I've noticed some friskies flavors come in larger cans but not the flavor I've been using. And I have two big ginger boys, a 7.5lb girl, and my diabetic girl who is constantly hungry but barely clears 2 kilograms right now. I understand the struggle when you have multiple cats!

Good luck.