Once you understand what the four basic types of cat food companies can offer you will have all the knowledge you need to discover the unique needs of cats. Combine this with our ingenious negotiation skills and you can start shopping.
Most cat owners can use the following four sources of cat food: vet office, pet store, health food store, and traditional grocery store. Let’s take a look at the available features of these tools so that you understand all the options.
1. Veterinary Office
Your vet carries a variety of formula foods that can help pets with special health conditions, such as kidney disease or arthritis. For example, the protein content of the kidney diet may be low, and arthritis foods may contain minerals that are beneficial for feline joints. If the cat’s vet prescribes any of these special cat foods, you will need to purchase them from him or another vet. These specialty products are only sold through the veterinary practice.
If you really need this special food, call your local vet’s office and shop everywhere for the best price. You don’t need a real prescription to buy it, and you can get it for free where available. You may find a significantly higher price at another local clinic. While these prescription foods are often expensive, hope this food will help your cat live longer, become healthier and happier.
2. Pet shop
Here you will find the most suitable cat food. They have the widest range of prices and types. You may find fairly common and cheaper foods, as well as quite exotic and expensive options, that sound appealing to your own plate.
Just as humans can be sensitive to food, so are some cats. Here you will find unique products such as grain-free, gluten-free and all types of meat. Their formulations can meet these individual needs. If your cat is not vigorous or appears to have digestive issues, ask your vet to see if any of the special diets are worth trying.
Under normal circumstances, buying tinned canned food or large bags of dry food will earn you significant discounts; if they have a loyalty card, they can eventually earn extra price concessions and even get items for free. In the unlikely event that you can’t find the specialty food you need, these stores will usually be happy to accommodate your special order, provided the special order can be obtained from one of the many suppliers. This is especially true for smaller non-retail chains.
Besides, pet stores, brick-and-mortar stores, or online stores will be the best source of all the other good things you pamper your cat with. Here you will find a large number of furry mice, comfortable beds, different sizes of litter boxes, special treatments and beauty tools.
3. Health food store
Health food stores usually choose relatively little cat food, but they are almost always on the high end of the quality level. These cat food manufacturers emphasize complete, natural and high-quality ingredients. The following is an example of a popular brand: chicken, chicken stock, mackerel, sea fish, chicken liver, and wheat germ. In general, they avoid using cheap filler ingredients, by-products, artificial flavors, artificial colors, preservatives and sugar. Some ingredients can even be organic, which means they grow without toxic chemicals.
If you want dry cat food, it’s worth checking to see if it comes in bulk in the bulk pet food section and in stores with dry cat food. It may be cheaper than prepackaged, you just need to buy something that can be used in a week or two, so it should stay fresh. Depending on the situation, check here whether you can order cat food here and save money in this way. At some health food cooperatives you can even order according to the situation, if you are a member you only have to pay a small part of the wholesale price.
The price of cat food in health food stores is higher, sometimes two or even three times the price of other animals. It’s well worth buying a product of this quality, but make sure you read the ingredients on the can or bag to make sure you’re getting the quality ingredients you expect.
4. Traditional grocery store
This is the cat food that everyone knows the most. The brand’s name is widely promoted, and food can be found everywhere from fast-parking shops to supermarkets and large warehouses. The bad news is, with a few exceptions, this food is at the mid and low end of the quality range.
c) Is more than one of these ingredients by-products, cheap filler, or other questionable substances?
d) Is the first or second ingredient a form of by-products?
If “yes” is the answer to either c or d above, forget that product and keep looking.
(Note: The order in which ingredients are listed reflects the relative amount present in that product. They are listed from greatest to least.)
Here’s a real world example comparing two varieties from a line of canned cat food that is the “house brand” at a major supermarket. All varieties in this line were on sale for about 45 cents each so a quality product, if found, would be worth stocking up on.
Variety # 1, Country Style Chicken Dinner
Ingredients: meat by-products, water, chicken, poultry by-products, animal digest
Variety # 2, Ocean Fish and Rice Entrance
Ingredients: water, ocean fish, chicken, meat by-products, liver
We can see variety # 1 has only one quality ingredient out of the first five! This is a particularly bad selection. On the other hand, variety # 2 has only a single undesirable ingredient and that’s listed fourth, not first or second, making this the clear winner and worth buying. Once you do your research, make a note of the results and next time you’ll know exactly what to buy. Use this technique whenever you are choosing a new cat food, no matter where you shop and the process will be a breeze.
