Two cans a day is 730 cans a year, and that one number decides most of the bill. For a 4–4.5 kg cat on 100 g cans, at USD 0.70–2.20 a can, a year of prescription wet food lands between USD 500 and USD 1,800: GBP 440–1,540 in the UK and CNY 4,700–13,100 in China. The tier alone moves the year 1.5–3× — USD 511–840 for urinary against USD 1,241–1,606 for hydrolyzed. Can size and cans per day move it another 20–45%, which is why two owners feeding the same brand can differ by USD 600 over 12 months.
730 Cans, Not 12 Bags
Wet prescription diets ship in 85 g, 100 g, 156 g and 195 g cans and in 400 g trays, and the per-kilo price rises as the can gets smaller. A 4–4.5 kg indoor cat needs roughly 200–240 kcal a day. Wet diets run 1.0–1.3 kcal per gram, so the daily portion is 170–230 g: 2 cans of 100 g, 1.2–1.6 cans of 156 g, or 2.5 cans of 85 g. The 730-can schedule belongs to the 100 g format. Everything else in this article is priced on that format, and the arithmetic is 2 × 365.
Bags and trays change the unit but not the logic. A 400 g tray is 2 days for most cats, so a year is 180 trays; at USD 2.60–4.20 a tray that is USD 470–760, which lands inside the same band. What breaks budgets is not the format but the waste: an opened 156 g can kept 24 hours in the fridge and then refused is USD 1.20 in the bin, 3 times a week, for 12 months.
What a Can Costs, Tier by Tier
Four tiers cover almost every prescription, and the price order is stable across markets.
The per-can arithmetic behind the first two tiers, with the dry-food weights and the grams-per-day numbers, sits in prescription food cost per month.
Urinary. Struvite and oxalate prevention, USD 0.70–1.15 per 100 g can. A 730-can year runs USD 511–840. Most cats after a first blockage stay on it for life, not for 3 months, so this is the tier that gets renewed.
Renal. Phosphate-restricted, USD 1.20–1.80 a can, or USD 876–1,314 a year. Cats are usually switched at IRIS stage 2, roughly creatinine 1.6–2.8 mg/dL, and the diet then runs for the rest of their life.
Hydrolyzed. USD 1.70–2.20 a can, or USD 1,241–1,606 a year. The 8–12 week elimination trial is the expensive part, because a failed trial means paying twice.
Low-carbohydrate. For diabetic cats, USD 1.00–1.60 a can, USD 730–1,168 a year. In some cats insulin needs fall within 8–16 weeks on this tier, which makes it the only one of the 4 that can shift another line of the bill.
The Year in Three Currencies
The band is USD 500–1,800, GBP 440–1,540 and CNY 4,700–13,100 for the same 730 cans. The UK sits at roughly 0.75–0.86 of the US price per can, because 20% VAT is already inside the shelf price and the import share is lower. China sits at CNY 6.5–17 a can, about USD 0.90–2.35, and the top of that range is imported renal and hydrolyzed diets sold through clinics rather than online. Between the cheapest and the dearest market the same can moves 1.5–3×, and most of that is distribution, not manufacturing.
The Can-Size Trap
Two cans of 85 g is 170 g, which feeds a 3.5 kg cat and leaves a 5 kg cat 40–60 kcal short. Owners who switch from 100 g to 85 g cans to save 15% per can end up feeding 2.5–3 cans a day, and the year goes from 730 cans to 912–1,095: a 25–50% increase against a 15% saving. The reverse also happens. A 156 g can looks 40% dearer per can and is 25–30% cheaper per 100 g, so a cat that eats 1.4 cans a day finishes the year on 511 cans and pays 15–20% less than the 730-can schedule.
The only number that compares fairly is cost per 100 g, and then cost per day. Multiply by 365 and the year is settled before the first order; the dry-food version of the same calculation, with bag weights and shelf life, is in the prescription diet annual cost breakdown.
What Else Lands on the Year
The cans are 95–100% of the bill. The other 2 lines are small but they are the ones that surprise people at month 11.
| Item | What it covers | USD low | USD high | GBP low | GBP high | CNY low | CNY high |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Cans | 730 cans of 100 g, 2 a day for 365 days, at USD 0.70–2.20 each | 511 | 1606 | 438 | 1387 | 4745 | 12410 |
| 2. Delivery | 0–12 orders a year; 0 if collected at the clinic, USD 8 a box if shipped | 0 | 96 | 0 | 72 | 0 | 240 |
| 3. Annual recheck | 0–1 visit with urine strip and renal panel, 6–12 months apart | 0 | 95 | 0 | 80 | 0 | 450 |
| Year total | 511–1797 USD / 438–1539 GBP / 4745–13100 CNY | 511 | 1797 | 438 | 1539 | 4745 | 13100 |
Run the 3 lines through the cost calculator before setting a monthly budget. Delivery shows up in most cities: 6–12 orders a year at USD 8 a box is USD 48–96, and clinics that stock the diet often charge nothing for it. The recheck is not avoidable on a renal or diabetic diet — 1 visit with a urine strip and a renal panel at USD 60–95 confirms the diet is being eaten and the values are moving in the right direction.
Why One City Charges 1.5–3×
Prescription wet food is the one category where the clinic price and the online price can differ by 2× for an identical can, and the gap is widest in China, where imported renal diets carry 10–14% duty plus cold-chain shipping. In the US the same can is USD 0.70–2.20 in a clinic and USD 0.60–1.85 online; in the UK, GBP 0.60–1.90 against GBP 0.55–1.60. None of that changes the yearly arithmetic, which is why the 730-can figure matters more than the shelf it comes from.
How Often the Diet Changes in 12 Months
A therapeutic diet is not a 12-month constant. A urinary diet after a blockage is usually a lifetime decision. A renal diet starts at diagnosis and stays. A hydrolyzed trial runs 8–12 weeks, and if the cat improves, a single-protein maintenance diet takes over at a different price. A diabetic cat may move from low-carb wet to a renal low-carb formula in year 2, because many diabetic cats develop kidney disease within 3 years. Budget 2–4 diet changes in the first 12 months, each with a 7–10 day transition mixing old and new cans, and expect 6–10 cans of overlap per change.
Five Numbers Before a 12-Month Order
- Grams per day at the cat's current weight, then cans per day for the format you actually buy.
- Price per 100 g, not per can; the 85 g can is usually the worst value of the four formats.
- 730 cans a year for 100 g at 2 a day, 511 for 156 g, 912–1,095 for 85 g.
- Delivery at 0–12 orders a year, USD 0–96, and whether the clinic waives it.
- One recheck at USD 60–95 inside the year, more often if the diet is renal or diabetic.
Frequently asked
Why 730 cans a year and not 365?
Because the usual schedule is 2 cans a day. At 100 g a can that is 200 g, or roughly 220 kcal, which holds a 4–4.5 kg cat. A 156 g format needs only 1.2–1.6 cans a day, so the same cat finishes the year on about 511 cans, and an 85 g format pushes the count up to 912–1,095.
Is the year really capped at USD 1,800?
For 730 cans at USD 0.70–2.20, yes: USD 511–1,606 of food, plus USD 0–96 of delivery and USD 0–95 for one recheck, which totals USD 511–1,797. The cap breaks if the diet is fed from 85 g cans at the top of the price range, because a 4–4.5 kg cat then needs 2.5–3 cans a day, not 2.
How often does a prescription wet diet change in a year?
Expect 2–4 changes in the first 12 months. A urinary diet after a blockage is usually lifelong, a renal diet starts at IRIS stage 2 and stays, a hydrolyzed trial runs 8–12 weeks before a maintenance diet takes over, and a diabetic cat may move to a renal low-carb formula in year 2. Each change needs a 7–10 day transition and uses 6–10 cans of overlap.