Fancy Feast vs Friskies pates, or something else?

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Gracie85, Aug 22, 2019.

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  1. Gracie85

    Gracie85 Member

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    Oct 20, 2018
    We have a big 13 year old cat who was diagnosed hyperthyroid last fall, and "possibly diabetic" based on some consistently somewhat high readings (nearly 300's) at the vet. We got him on thyroid medication, and he's doing well, and put him on FF classic pates, eliminating dry food completely, and his blood sugar numbers are now good, even with the stress of being at the vet's for testing. So, we are continuing to feed him as if he is diabetic, because obviously he is at risk and the thyroid condition makes him at higher risk of all kinds of things.
    We also have two young cats, just about a year old, who also now get fed just FF classic pates, since there is no way to feed them differently than the big cat. Which would be fine, but we are using 9-10 cans of FF a day! (Big cat is 13 pounds, not overweight, and two youngsters are very active even tho only 8-9 pounds each).
    Considering changing to Friskies pates, to cut the cost down a bit, but I notice that while the carbs are still very low, the protein amount is a bit lower, and therefore the fat a bit higher. Is this going to make much difference to the Big guy's health? I'd hate to mess things up for him, since we have managed to head off his becoming an insulin-dependent diabetic by the diet change. FF is not cheap when you use 10 cans a day, the Friskies would cut a few dollars a day off the price, and when you add that up over a year it makes a real difference.
    (not to be being cheap about my cat's health, but we now also spend over $50 a month for his thyroid med, $30 per month for the zobaline (he got really weak with the weight loss before being diagnosed, so the vet suggested this), then there are two dogs, the older one on meds also, so if I can save a few dollars a day, so much the better...)
     
  2. Larry and Kitties

    Larry and Kitties Well-Known Member

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    Dec 28, 2009
    I feed mostly Friskies with one can of FF in the morning for my cats.
     
  3. Gracie85

    Gracie85 Member

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    Oct 20, 2018
    Thank you! That is much cheaper, and capsules will be easier to deal with. Right now hubby just shoves the pill down the cat's mouth, he's a very mellow cat and doesn't object much, but at times when hubby is away, I am not about to go shoving my fingers in any cat's mouth, so i crush or dissolve it and then hope he eats his bowl of food, and doesn't wander away to eat the young cat's food, who then wander over to eat his....(bowls are in separate rooms, but they all seem to think someone else's food is better, even tho it's all identical, cats, go figure).
     
  4. Diane Tyler's Mom

    Diane Tyler's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Sep 21, 2018
    You are welcome, I used to buy the Zobaline until someone here told me about the Vitacost brand. As a matter of fact I just ordered some tonight. All the best to all your kitties
     
  5. CandyH & Catcat

    CandyH & Catcat Well-Known Member

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    Apr 23, 2019
    one suggestion might be to invest in a microchip-activated cat feeder for your big cat, and deploy that at the same time you feed the rest of the crew from their own feed bowls ..

    on the financial end -- if you have a Dollar Tree in the area, the ones around here are currently stocking Friskies pate (unfortunately also Meaty Bits) in larger cans for $1; Walmart's Special Kitty turkey and giblets pate (only that flavor) is not far off Friskies and comes in large cans; Tractor Supply's Paws&Claws pate comes in larger cans, and for diabetics, their small cans of Kitchen Selects are a reasonable alternative to FF at a few cents less a can (get on their preferred customer list and you can get discounts) -- Tractor Supply's 4Health grain free pate (get the variety pack it's cheaper) is slightly less expensive and Catcat is doing well on that
     
  6. (GA) Gypsy's Parent

    (GA) Gypsy's Parent Member

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    Jul 24, 2019
    The SureFeed micrcochip activated feeder works great, but at $150, it's not cheap. There's not much choice out there for access control feeders and the other two that I found were half the price but had terrible ratings. You can do the math and see how long it takes in savings to pay for the SureFeed.
     
  7. Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA)

    Sandi&Maxine&Whispy(GA) Well-Known Member

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    Oct 2, 2015
    Are you in the States? We switched from FF to Friskies a while back, mostly because we found a good deal on a 48-can pate variety pack (4 flavors) at a warehouse club that they are liking right now, plus there have been coupons in the paper lately for $2 off a variety case. I think you can get a coupon here too:

    https://www.purina.com/friskies/cat...Rvh7f1DViWwcBygdWJhoC4WcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

    Otherwise, I am also a fan of the 13oz "soup can" size of Friskies pate for $1 at Dollar Tree.

    I've heard that higher fat content can affect cats with pancreatitis (not sure if that is factual or not since we've never had a cat with pancreatitis, knock on wood), but other than that I wouldn't be concerned. With any change, just make it and test after to see how he's doing :). Good luck!
     
  8. CandyH & Catcat

    CandyH & Catcat Well-Known Member

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    Apr 23, 2019
    Tractor Supply is currently advertising 20 5.5 oz cans of Friskies for $11 -- comes out to 55 cents a can; the Dollar Tree deal is of course even better since that's a 13 oz can
     
  9. (GA) Gypsy's Parent

    (GA) Gypsy's Parent Member

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    Jul 24, 2019
    I saw in another thread someone mentioned the 13 oz $1 can of Special Kitty wet cat food might be an option. I don't see it listed in in Dr. Pierson's cat food list. Dr Pierson's web site says Friskies wet food is preferable to any dry food. My local pet store chain has 5.5 oz cans of 9 Lives on sale for 37 cents a can and I supplement the food of three ferals with two cans per day M-F on my way home from work.
     
  10. CandyH & Catcat

    CandyH & Catcat Well-Known Member

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    Apr 23, 2019
    Walmart apparently never answered Dr Pierson about the carb content for Special Kitty -- given the ingredients, and the way Catcat responds to it, I'd say it is slightly higher in carbs than Friskies -- say 6 to 7% -- this is the turkey&giblets variety, the only supergiant size SK pate that our Walmart has -- everything else is in a smaller can ..

    the 13 oz can we mentioned is Friskies pate, available at Dollar Tree, don't know whether any other dollar-type stores carries it

    only a guess, but Purina may have cleared a bunch of cases out of a warehouse, put it up for bids, and the Dollar Tree stores won the bid
     
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