Suggestions on where to bulk-buy catfood/litter?

Tiglath

Hi everyone - we have 12 cats (added 3 this week) and I'm figuring out what we need monthly in terms of supplies. Currently we're looking at (for a typical 31 day month):

186 x 390 or 400g tins of Whiskas chunks in jelly (could consider Felix as an alternative)
9 x 3kg bags Purina One Sensitive
124 x pouches of Felix Sensations
9 x 25L Bio-Catolet

So far, it seems cheapest to order all the catfood from Sainsburys (cheapest across the supermarkets), and the litter from PetsAtHome, but I wondered if anyone had suggestions for cheaper options? Using the suppliers above we're looking at around £407/month at current prices, so any potential savings would be great.

Tyler_Du

Can you or anyone you know get a Costco membership ? A few years ago my father-in-law was able to buy goods from a local cash and carry wholesaler. Not sure how he got a membership (always paid cash)

Fen1

Zooplus or bitiba?

Are you a rescue centre?

Tiglath

Yes we've had Costco membership in the past and still qualify - back then they only did Felix (which is possible if they still do it). We'd have to get the other stuff separately though. Can anyone confirm what wet catfood Costco currently does?

No, not a rescue centre - we lost one of our old boys last weekend. I said we should get another cat, hubby didn't agree, so we compromised and got 3. In addition we emergency-fostered two kittens, and I've volunteered for a cat rescue charity. So I think we've gone over the cat-crazy threshold and are accelerating at a rate of knots!

Tiglath

Bitiba and Zooplus both work out more expensive than the Sainsburys/PetsAtHome combo, so maybe we've already found the cheapest option.

Tyler_Du

Fen1 wrote: »

Zooplus or bitiba?

Are you a rescue centre?

Zooplus is a good option, we actually use them for our cat / dog food. They do a scheme whereby you paid for a discount card and save (I think) 7% on all purchases. Actually just checked and its a 3% saving now, was 7% when we signed up.

gettingready

Not sure who you need 9x25 litres cat litter per month? For how many cats?

2 bags of this one were lasting my 4 cats for a whole month

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_litter/tigerino/tigerino_clumping/153208

Another excellent one is Golden Grey (any from that range) , again 2 bags for 4 cats for the whole month

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q=golden%20grey

Porta21 is a decent dry food - i but various flavours and mix them in a large container

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/esearch.htm#q%3Dporta%252021%26cats%3D2Cat%253EDry%2520Cat%2520Food%26catl%3D2Cat%253EDry%2520Cat%2520Food%26p%3D1%26ci%3DCategory_facet%253D1%253A2Cat%253EDry%2520Cat%2520Food

As for wet, they started doing 800 gram tins of Animonda - one tin 800 gram is enough for my 4 LARGE cats for a whole day and a bit (they also have dry, Porta 21)

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/rafine/animonda_carny_adult/559243

Both Felix and Whiskas are pretty bad quality food to be honest

Tiglath

12 cats, currently 5 litter trays as we have new cats in 2 of the bedrooms. Hubby says a 25L bag covers 5 litter trays, but obviously that won't be done indefinitely once the new cats are introduced; we can probably drop to 3 trays as some of the cats are old and don't go out much. Some of them can't manage dry food, so we're doing 3 x 400g tins between them in the morning and 3 in the evening, with additional dry food for those who can do it. One only really eats dry food, but he has to have glutenfree for big skin problems, so he's currently on Purina One Turkey & Rice. It's like planning rationing for a small army :rotfl: Animonda's looking interesting though - one of those a day might well do. I'll get a tray and see what they all think. Thanks for all the suggestions

borkid

Tiglath wrote: »

12 cats, currently 5 litter trays as we have new cats in 2 of the bedrooms. Hubby says a 25L bag covers 5 litter trays, but obviously that won't be done indefinitely once the new cats are introduced; we can probably drop to 3 trays as some of the cats are old and don't go out much. Some of them can't manage dry food, so we're doing 3 x 400g tins between them in the morning and 3 in the evening, with additional dry food for those who can do it. One only really eats dry food, but he has to have glutenfree for big skin problems, so he's currently on Purina One Turkey & Rice. It's like planning rationing for a small army :rotfl: Animonda's looking interesting though - one of those a day might well do. I'll get a tray and see what they all think. Thanks for all the suggestions

My daughter has a cat with grain allergies and she uses this on http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/dry_cat_food/porta_21/porta21_feline_finest/170885

I always use zooplus for wet and dry food. Sometimes the supermarkets or even my local corner shop have offers which beat zooplus for wet food but I've found zooplus very reliable and easy to use. My 4 cats are fed on a combination of wet and dry food. I usually place an order costing about £38 for the month, the dried porta 21 lasts longer but that covers the wet for a month. We use pouches which are more expensive than the tins but a long story as to why. The cats also supplement their diet with a succulent mouse or vole Luckily no litter trays!

gettingready

12 cats .....

.......
9 x 25L Bio-Catolet

I have 4 cats and used 2 bags of either Golden Grey or Tigerino (both linked in the post above) for the 4 per month of them when they were not going outside so all the toileting were done in the litter boxes. So it should be 6 bags (simple maths) saving of 3 bags per month - give it a try maybe?

Fen1

I can highly recommend "World's Best Cat Litter". It looks expensive, but clumps properly, so you can just lift out the clumps without having to change the entire tray every time.( Obviously clean the tray properly on a regular basis!)

I have extremely sensitive skin, so was allergic to most cat litters, especially the clay-based ones. If I was reacting to litter without even touching it ( just pouring from the bag ), imagine what it was doing to the poor cats' wibblies! I do believe this is why a lot of cats hate their trays: they are sensitive to the litter itself.

If you are an official fosterer with an official rescue centre, they can sign up for discounted food and litter from pet stores/ zooplus etc, and pass on the savings to you.