Looking for Wet Food that is good, but inexpensive

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MisMelzy

MisMelzy

Member Since 2013
So in going over the fristkies guaranteed analysis. Even the pate which is their lowest carb food is still at 13 according to a carb calculator I found online. Which means I need to find another food. I was looking at 9 lives because they had many more flavors which are low in carbs. But then I also found a website where people experienced horrible things when they were eating 9 lives. So I'm leery of that brand. My budget is $.40 or less per can and must be at least 5.5oz and under 6 grams of carbs preferably. I see the better quality wet foods and I wish I could afford them but they are too expensive for one can. So looking for what everyone else feeds their cats who has a tight budget.
 
Unfortunately, you can't accurately go by the guaranteed analysis and need to go by the "as fed," which you can only get directly from the pet food companies. Luckily, Dr. Lisa Pierson has already gone to the trouble of contacting the pet food companies and compiled this list for us (you want anything in column C to be less than 10, the lower the better).

Friskies Pâtés are around 8% carbs and the Friskies Special Diet pâtés (what I feed my cats) are lower at around 5% carbs.
 
The Friskees pates shouldn't be that high. There might be an issue with the calculator? I'd go with the values listed on Dr. Lisa's charts at catinfo.org.
The "store brand" foods at Walmart (special kitty?) Pate styles are low carb, along with Petsmart's store brand pate styles. I think the Special Kitty comes in 13oz cans too, which usually saves you on a "per ounce" cost.
 
Okay I was given a link to the calculator. But it also listed the Dry Carbs and Wet Carbs. What is that? Is that if it's a dry food? Or is that the Dry matter that's in it? Here's a link so you can download the calculator and try it for yourself.

http://www.sweetkitties.net/Downloads.aspx

Is there anyone who is giving the friskies pate brands to their diabetic cat that is completely controlled on it, and does not need insulin?
 
Bob ate only Friskies Pates and Fancy Feast classics while on insulin, and still eats only those brands. He's been off the juice for just over two years.
 
Are any of the Friskies or Fancy Feast foods without gluten? All the ones I looked at listed wheat gluten. I guess it must be a cheap source of carbs. My Ozy gets asthma attacks with grain foods.
 
Also have a link on the FDA website about Gauranteed Analysis info about what's in pet food:

http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/res ... 047113.htm

Guarantees are declared on an "as fed" or "as is" basis, that is, the amounts present in the product as it is found in the can or bag. This doesn't have much bearing when the guarantees of two products of similar moisture content are compared (for example, a dry dog food versus another dry dog food). However, when comparing the guaranteed analyses between dry and canned products, one will note that the levels of crude protein and most other nutrients are much lower for the canned product. This can be explained by looking at the relative moisture contents. Canned foods typically contain 75-78% moisture, whereas dry foods contain only 10-12% moisture. To make meaningful comparisons of nutrient levels between a canned and dry product, they should be expressed on the same moisture basis.

The most accurate means of doing this is to convert the guarantees for both products to a moisture-free or dry matter basis. The percentage of dry matter of the product is equal to 100% minus the percentage of moisture guaranteed on the label. A dry food is approximately 88-90% dry matter, while a canned food is only about 22-25% dry matter. To convert a nutrient guarantee to a dry matter basis, the percent guarantee should be divided by the percentage of the dry matter, then multiplied by 100. For example, a canned food guarantees 8% crude protein and 75% moisture (or 25% dry matter), while a dry food contains 27% crude protein and 10% moisture (or 90% dry matter). Which has more protein, the dry or canned? Calculating the dry matter protein of both, the canned contains 32% crude protein on a dry matter basis (8/25 X 100 = 32), while the dry has only 30% on a dry matter basis (27/90 X 100 = 30). Thus, although it looks like the dry has a lot more protein, when the water is counted out, the canned actually has a little more. An easier way is to remember that the amount of dry matter in the dry food is about four times the amount in a canned product. To compare guarantees between a dry and canned food, multiply the guarantees for the canned food times four first.

It is especially important to look at the moisture guarantee for canned foods, even when comparing a canned food with another canned. Under AAFCO regulations, the maximum percentage moisture content for a pet food is 78%, except for products labeled as a "stew," "in sauce," "in gravy," or similar terms. The extra water gives the product the qualities needed to have the appropriate texture and fluidity. Some of these exempted products have been found to contain as much as 87.5% moisture. This doesn't sound like much difference until the dry matter contents are compared. For example, a product with a guarantee of 87.5% moisture contains 12.5% dry matter, only half as much as a product with a 75% moisture guarantee (25% dry matter).

After reading this I'm more confused. lol
 
donaleen and Ozy said:
Are any of the Friskies or Fancy Feast foods without gluten? All the ones I looked at listed wheat gluten. I guess it must be a cheap source of carbs. My Ozy gets asthma attacks with grain foods.
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The Friskies Special Diet contain "brewer's rice" instead, so that may be a better option.
 
Wink is diet controlled, off insulin for 5 months now and eats the Fancy Feast classic pates, Friskies pates, and Special Kitty pates.
 
Talking with someone else who is very familiar with diabetic cats and food, she said most lists that include friskies that say there are 5 carbs in there is under the dry measure or DM. Here is what she told me :

The Friskies is around 7 on the DRY measure, NOT the GA. (This would make the GA around 14). A GA of 10 will give you approximately 5 on the DM. I am more than familiar with Blinky's chart. The problem here is that any 'chart' I have seen tells you specifically to stay under 10 on the GA and then they give you the DM on the chart , which is going to be around half of the GA. Special kitty from Walmart only has one flavor that was under 10 on the GA and they no longer make it. Dr. Lisa Pierson's site also has a chart that does the same thing. See below for her explanation.

Q. Why do you correct people when they refer to a food as having "7 carbs"?A. Because it's inaccurate, and, further, it may inspire other people to make the same mistake. If you see a "7" in the carbohydrate column, it means that food has 7 percent of calories from carbohydrate; it does not mean it contains 7 grams of carbohydrate."


She was telling me about another board for people with diabetic cats, and they actually reccomend that you stay under 6 carbs, not under 10. Right now I'm staying with friskies because I don't have a choice. I can't afford anything else. I wish companies listed the exact amount of carbs in their food per serving. They have to do that on our food products. It would be so much easier!
 
Well ... we could always start a petition on Change.org or a similar web site.
 
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