Best cheap wet cat food

I asked you how much money you're spending on your cat's food per ounce, and more than half of you are spending more than 30 cents an ounce. And a lot of you are telling me that you have multiple mouths to feed, so I'm here to try to find a solution for everyone. Hey friends, it's Jess and Jericho, and there are certainly better quality wet foods out there than the ones that I'm talking about in this video, but in this video, we're focusing more on the price than the quality. So the best overall is this Nulo Freestyle Duck and Tuna Recipe. If you got the 12 and a half ounce cans, it comes out to about 26 cents an ounce. This video is not sponsored, but there are affiliate links in the description below. So the pros here are the product names. So it's Duck and Tuna Recipe. That word recipe, you're gonna have the most amount of duck and tuna in the product. And it's also great that it's duck and tuna instead of duck and peas or duck and rice. You wanna make sure that it's meat only that's named in the product's name. Then if we go down to the ingredients, we have duck, chicken, turkey liver, duck broth, tuna. So right there, we have four different proteins. That's really great because variety is key. I also like that it actually includes liver and it tells you which fish has used tuna. Later down the list, you see menhaden fish oil. So that's good. Instead of just saying fish oil, they tell you the exact fish that they're using and they preserve it with mixed tocopherols, which is vitamin E. Another pro is that it's roughly approximately 4% carbs on a dry matter basis. We use the guaranteed analysis numbers to get that approximate number. Again, approximate, because we don't actually know for sure. A guaranteed analysis only guarantees that the protein is minimum 11%. It could be higher than that. The fat is a minimum of 6%. It could be higher than that. You see for the 5.5 ounce cans, it says 6%, but for the 12 and a half ounce cans, it says 8%. So it's not guaranteed 8%, it's guaranteed minimum 8%. So whenever you're calculating carbs on a dry matter basis, it's a guess, unless you contact the company and they tell you directly, this is the amount that's in the product. Now, some cons. In the ingredients list, you're going to see some things that aren't really nutritional, but they are necessary because it's canned foods. So things like guar gum, agar agar, those are thickening agents and gelling agents. And that kind of gives it that pate texture, not appropriate for cats. And then you'll also see things like cranberries, pumpkin, tomato. There's some synthetic vitamins and minerals and yucca and rosemary extract to use as a preservative. So technically these aren't in the cat's natural diet. So those are a few of the cons there, but I think the pros override the cons, especially if you're looking to upgrade your cat's wet food, but price is an issue. Again, this is the best overall in this video. The next cheap wet cat food we'll talk about is Dave's Naturally Cat Food. And this one is around 21 cents per ounce. So this is the best cheapest overall in this video. So pro here, again, we have chicken formula is the product name. That word formula fits under the dinner rule, which means that's going to have the most amount of chicken. And instead of saying chicken and rice, chicken and peas, it just says chicken. That's great. You want to see meat only in the product name. Then when we look at the ingredients, chicken, chicken broth, chicken liver, turkey. So again, we have two different proteins, less than the previous one that we looked at, but at least this one includes more than one. And it also includes chicken liver. When you're looking at the ingredients, sometimes it's just says chicken, water, and then a bunch of vitamins and minerals. Ideally you would have, I mean, the more secreting organs the better, but with most of the cheaper foods, you're probably only going to find liver. So definitely you want to at least see liver. And instead of just saying liver, they say chicken liver. You want to make sure they tell you the byproduct, which is liver. And you want to make sure that they tell you the animal that's being used. Chicken. When we look at the guaranteed analysis, it's approximately 13% carbs on a dry matter basis. Definitely higher than what's ideal, but technically this is fewer than most dry foods. Most dry foods have an average of 30% carbs and some are all the way up to 50% carbs. Jericho's like, I'm out of here. And other cons here is, you know, there's agar agar. Again, that's the thickening agent. Then you'll see some carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, cranberries, blueberries, but all of this stuff here behind salt is likely less than 1%. So there's really not too much to worry about in terms of cranberries, squash, blueberries, zucchini. A lot of manufacturers use vegetables and fruits as a natural source of nutrients rather than relying on, you know, a list of 62 synthetic vitamins and minerals. So you'll have to decide which you prefer. Do you want to have whole foods, but maybe the carb amount is a little higher, or do you want to have synthetic nutrients with fewer carbs? So again, you have to decide which one you prefer. And then potentially another con here is that it's only suitable for adult cats. So if you're looking for a cheap food for your kitten, this would not apply to you. Nulo, the one that I just talked about, would be better. The next cheap wet cat food that we'll talk about is the best in terms of offering freshest food, and that's called Fresh Pet. And pro here, the product name is Chicken and Beef Recipe. Again, recipe is going to warrant the highest amount of meat. And it says chicken and beef instead of chicken and rice, chicken and peas, chicken and beef. So you want to see meat only in the product name. This one is suitable for all life stages. So adult cats and kittens can eat this product. And when we look at the ingredients, we have chicken, chicken broth, beef, chicken liver, natural flavors, which isn't very specific. So that's a little bit of a con. And then you have eggs. So we have three different types of protein. We have chicken, beef, and eggs, and it includes chicken liver. And the guaranteed analysis tells us that it's approximately 9% carbs on a dry matter basis. Some cons here, they aren't specific about the fish oil that they use. It just says fish oil, carrageenan, which is a thickening agent, pea fiber. So again, there's some inappropriate ingredients, but you'll notice that this ingredients list is much shorter. They have the ingredients here, and then the vitamins and minerals there. The next cheap wet cat food that we'll talk about is going to be the best for multiple cats. So if you were to buy the 12 and a half ounce cans and a case of 12 of them, this would come out to about 26 cents an ounce. So that's why I say it's good for multiple cats because you're buying the larger cans and you're buying a big case of them. So pros here, the product name is Turkey Dinner. Again, dinner, you're going to have the most amount of turkey. There's no non-meat ingredients named in the product name. Turkey Dinner, going to have more than 25% of the products is turkey. Then we look at the ingredients. We have turkey, chicken liver, chicken, chicken broth. I think that's it for meat ingredients. So again, we're seeing chicken liver instead of it saying poultry by-products. It tells you the animal, chicken, and it tells you the by-product, liver. And with the guaranteed analysis numbers, we figure that this product is around 8% carbs on a dry matter basis, which is lower than the average for dry food and most wet foods, quite frankly. Another pro is that this is available at Walmart. Now the cons here is that I don't see any type of fish oil here. So you have to wonder, you know, where's the EPA and DHA coming from? Maybe it might be coming from the meat, but typically that's not a valuable source. You want to have fish oil in the product somewhere. Other cons are guar gum, cashew gum, xanthan gum. All of these gums are thickening agents. That's what gives it that pate texture, and that's what kind of gels and keeps it together. And other cons, cranberries, flaxseed. Yes, of course, cats would not eat these things in the wild, but cranberries are a natural source of antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. Flaxseed, maybe that's what they're relying on for the omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, even though technically that's ALA and cats can't convert ALA to EPA and DHA, but typically you'll see flaxseed in foods for this reason. The next cheap wet cat food we'll talk about is American Journey. This one is produced specifically for Chewy, and I'm considering this the best for kittens. Comes out to about 23 cents an ounce. So this product's name is Chicken Recipe. Again, recipe fits under the dinner rule, so you're gonna have between 25 to 94.9% chicken, and chicken is the only highlighted ingredient in the product name. There's no chicken and rice, chicken and peas, chicken and potato. Chicken Recipe, that's what you wanna see. Looking at the ingredients, we have chicken, chicken broth, turkey broth, chicken liver, dried egg whites, dried egg products later down the line, and I think that's it for meat products. So we have chicken and turkey, that's great. Two different proteins. Chicken liver is included. Well, actually three different proteins because we have the eggs as well. Chicken liver is included. And if we use the guaranteed analysis to approximate the carb amount, it's about 5% on a dry matter basis. Very low compared to most cat foods on the market today. And this is also suitable for adults and kittens. Even though this is the best overall for kittens, it is suitable for adult cats as well. So if this one works best for you and you have an adult cat, you can still feed this food. The cons here is it's only available on Chewy. So if that doesn't work for you, if you can't order from them for some reason, then that would be a con for you. Another con is this fish oil here. It's not specifically named, just says fish oil. So I hope you see the difference when you're looking at ingredients. Instead of saying salmon oil or sardine oil, it says just fish oil. So you kind of have to question that. Well, what kind of fish are they using? Do they not know? Is that why they didn't tell us? These are the things that you have to kind of go through when you're reading the ingredients. And then you see some gums, guar gum here. Again, that's a thickening agent. And the same cons as other products that we looked at, some inappropriate ingredients. Flaxseed is technically inappropriate, cranberries, blueberries. But again, cat food companies use these ingredients to give antioxidants to the product so that it can help keep a shelf life. And sunflower oil, they're probably adding for the omega fatty acids, rosemary extract. Again, that's a preservative. Again, technically not suitable for cats, but unfortunately these types of inappropriate ingredients are found in all types of commercial cat food. But these brands in this video are the best that I could find that don't include a big variety of inappropriate ingredients. These ones have minimal amount of inappropriate ingredients. And again, we're focusing on the price more than the quality in this video. The next cheap wet cat food we'll talk about is called Natural Balance. And this one is the best for kibble junkies. If your cat's addicted to kibble, this one comes out to 28 cents an ounce. And the pro here is the product name. Again, Chicken Formula. Formula fits under the dinner rule. So you're going to have the most amount of chicken. Same as the other ones, there's no non-meat ingredients named in the product's name. It just says Chicken Formula. So we'll look at the ingredients. We have chicken, chicken broth, chicken liver, salmon. I think that's it for meat ingredients. So they tell you chicken liver instead of saying poultry byproducts. And they also tell you salmon instead of just saying fish oil. So those are good specific ingredients to look for. Now there are slightly more cons for this one. The proximate carb amount is around 21% on a dry matter basis, which is very high compared to the cat's natural diet, which would be around 2%. But again, 21% is still way less than the average of dry food. So if you're feeding dry food now and you want to get your cat onto wet food, this is still a much better option, even though it doesn't fit ideal ranges compared to the cat's natural diet. The carbs are probably coming from maybe oat bran and brown rice. And since those are very high up on the ingredients list, plus we use the guaranteed analysis numbers to come up with the approximate carb amount, I'd say that's fairly accurate. And that's exactly why this one gets the best for kibble junkies, because it does contain higher amounts of carbohydrate. So if your cat's already eating kibble, then he's already eating very high-carbohydrate food. So if you transition to a wet food that has similar brown rice, oats, like these ingredients are probably in the kibble that you're feeding or something similar. So I think that'll make a smoother transition if you've struggled in the past getting your cat from dry food to wet food. Same cons as the other one, carrageenan, which is a thickening agent, and then some technically not suitable for cat's ingredients. But again, we're focusing on the price, not the quality in this video. The next cheap wet cat food we'll talk about is called Authority. And this is the category cheapest at PetSmart. It's around 22 cents an ounce. This is a brand that's specifically made for PetSmart. So the product name here is chicken and liver entree. That word entree also fits under the dinner rule. So you're going to have the most amount of chicken and liver in this product. So now if we look at the ingredients, we have chicken broth, chicken, chicken liver, dried egg product. So again, we see chicken liver instead of seeing chicken by-products. They tell us the animal and the by-products that's used. Dried egg product, always nice to throw in some eggs there. And the approximate carb amount is around 10% on a dry matter basis. Again, that's approximate. Now some cons here, weak gluten, potato starch, natural flavor, that's not very specific. Crown flaxseed, guar gum. You know, basically the same cons as the other products that we looked at. Another con perhaps is that this is suitable for adults only. So if you're at PetSmart looking for kitten food, unfortunately this one does not work for you. But perhaps Authority has separate products that says it's for kittens. Just look on the label. It'll tell you adults, or it'll say all life stages. And another con is that this is only available PetSmart. So if you can't buy from PetSmart, then unfortunately this one doesn't work for you. The next cheap wet cat food that we'll look at is called Wholehearted. And this is the category of best at Petco. This one's around 23 cents an ounce, and it's a variety pack. So you get turkey recipe, chicken recipe, and beef recipe. Recipe means the most amount of meat. And again, there are only meat ingredients highlighted in the product. So those are great pros. It's what you want to look for. So when we look at the ingredients for turkey recipe, it's turkey broth, turkey, chicken, dried egg product, turkey powder, and then they add fish oil. So we have turkey and chicken and egg. That's great. The approximate carb amount is around 10% on a dry matter basis. A con here is that there's no liver in the product. So it's essentially just muscle meat and vitamins and minerals. Ideally, you want to have at least one screening organ. And the most common one that you'll find in these types of pet foods is liver. There's thickening agents. The same cons as the other ones. Another con here is the fish oil is not specific. It just says fish oil. Previous ones that we looked at, they said salmon or Manhattan fish oil. This one just says fish oil. So we have no idea what type of fish. I don't even know if they know what type of fish they use. This one is only suitable for adult cats. So that might be another con. And I just want to mention that Fresh Pet, the other one that we looked at, is also available at Petco. So if your option is between Fresh Pet and Wholehearted, I say Fresh Pet would be the better option of the two. But at the end of the day, any wet food that says complete imbalance is going to be better than any type of dry food, simply because cats rely on food for moisture. Dry food is dry. It's only 10% moisture, and the cat's used to eating 70 to 80% moisture. So if these products still don't work for you, just buy whatever wet cat food that you can afford that says complete imbalance. And then you can check out this video right over meow to upgrade your cat's wet food very easily with fresh food that you can buy at your local farm or grocery store. Thanks for watching.