The Cost of Feeding Our Cats

by Michael
(London, UK)

This is a short post on what may be obvious but it is something that I sometimes forget.

Cats have preferences with respect to cat food. In general I think it far to say that domestic cats will usually prefer better quality cat food. If that is the case they will in general eat more of the portion that is put down for them. In short there is less waste if we feed good quality cat food.

Accordingly, although good quality cat food is more expensive, sometimes considerably more expensive, it may in fact be no more expensive at the end of the day than cheaper cat food as there will be less waste.

So, although expensive cat food costs more per unit weight the cost of feeding the food is cheaper or similar in the long run.

Plus the cat gets the benefit of better quality ingredients, which also translates into better digestibility. High quality cat food "usually have slightly higher digestibility coefficients.."¹ This means our cat receives more nutrients from higher quality food that should have better ingredients as well.

There is another happy spin off in buying high quality cat food. Cat food waste particularly during the summer is a problem. It starts to smell bad, quickly. You have to throw it away if you don't have a waste disposal. And with the flies etc. maggots can quickly grow in waste cat food - sounds foul I know but the waste removal people complain about waste cat food!

I actually feed the foxes with waste cat food. This I hope and feel that this is a sensible recycling of waste.

In conclusion, the cost per serving of a high quality cat food if often less than that of a poorer quality food.

The trick though is to find out what our cat prefers and then to provide that with variety. I believe that variety also encourages our cat to eat more of the portion as it is more interesting. That means finding a few different types of high quality foods and rotating them plus add a bit of raw into the diet from time to time.

Best canned cat food - by popularity not necessarily (but probably) the best quality.

Best dry cat food - by popularity not necessarily (but probably) the best quality.

Note:

1. The Cat, Its Behavior, Nutrition & Health by Linda P Case - page 323.