Hi Kelly, were you able to find someone to feed them for you?? Just curious. Suzanne

I wouldn't buy it, purina is a bad brand in gen, and dry to boot, nope nope. Not unless you want to pay bi-yearly expensive $200/$170 dental cleanings at the vet I would try canned Innova EVO,Wellness grain free, instincts,or better yet a raw diet. www.Felinefuture.com is a god site to visit on pet food.

I am not really answering your subject question (sorry), but regarding buying pet food on a budget, I have found that buying in bulk online to be a tremendous money saver. Often websites will offer free shipping if you purchase over a certain dollar amount (usually $50 or $60), and the internet prices are lower than at stores, and you won't pay sales tax. I feed my cats both canned and dry food. I buy 2 cases of canned food (24 cans/case) and 3 4-lb. bags at a time. Although for dry food, I don't like to buy the bigger bags than 4 lbs., cause they'll get stale before they are finished. I am then set for months. While you may feel $50 or $60 is a lot, do the math on what a similar amount would cost at a brick-and-mortar store, and you'll see the savings. Since you will then be set for months, it's a time saver. Another advantage is that it would be shipped to your door, and since you don't have a car, that would make life easier for you. Foods like the the pouched Whiskas you mention are very expensive. You are paying for all that packaging, and there's an awful lot of dressing and filler, but not much meat. Your cat will need to eat more of it to meet nutritional needs. If you're on a budget, that is a poor choice. As to giving cats people food, I feel that any meat or fresh fish is great. Cats are carnivores, and should be eating meat. My vet feels that the astounding increase in cat diabetes in the last 30 years (diabetes was very rare in cats before that) is due to the large percentage of carbs in packaged cat food, and carbs is an unnatural diet for cats. I have a 16-year-old cat in great health, and my other cat lived to 17; they both had fresh meat added to their food their whole lives, so I can attest that it seems to be good for them. So, e.g. whenever I am making hamburger, chicken, or as you say, extra turkey, I give some to my cats. I just put it on a little plate, and they gobble it down; it's heaven for them. If your cat is unfamiliar with fresh cooked meat, it make take a few tries, and some wasted food, for him to enjoy it. Eventually, he'll "get it". If the meat is still warm, it'll be very much more attractive to him.

I have a dog that once had a UTI and was put on RX food for crystals. I wasn't happy about the ingredients (or the price!) and eventually snipped the tag off with the protein, moisture, fiber , etc percentages and checked EVERY food on the shelf in many stores. I eventually found one that was nearly identical and switched him (Biljac Reduced Fat). At his next vet visit I was asked-are you still feeding rx food? I replied no your food is cr@p, showed her both food labels and ingredients and she had no problem with me switching. Its been almost 4 years. The type of food he apparently needs ins lower in protein. His coat looked much shinier in just a couple of weeks, due to better food! As for the cat-I recently fired my vet after researching his kidney condition. I found some things questionable. I figured since he was doing well, all was well. But know I think-he was doing well in spite of some of the things in his treatment plan! Anyway-enough about him, thats off topic. What I meant to say is-you should be able to call any manufacturer to find out the magnesium content of their food. People do it all the time on the kidney board for phosphorus. See what it is in the rx food, then try to get as close as possible to it, and the percentages on the side panel.