Cat food, like dog food, is 100% able to feed the cat indefinitely, no matter the price.
a few decades ago it was mandated that animal food should be safe for human consumption in order to keep the standards high for the pet food.
no pet will get sick or die from store bought pet food.
marketing though has created the illusion that only the more expensive shit is good.
the major part in the price of a pet product is the marketing cost and the brand recognition.
brands have to teach people that cats and dogs like different shit. fact is that your cat likes whatever you have spoiled her with. I was living in france for a few moons and (I think I said this before) the owner's cat on the place I was renting, didn't eat anything but a specific brand of canned cat food. That shit didn't even eat grilled chicken or fish.
all cat food brands use fillers like corn and shit, which are fine for pets, some have more, some have less and some have leftovers from different parts of animals and different animals.
the only thing that kills pets is apartments, not cheap cat food.
I have several cats and a few dogs running around inside a field and the only drugs they get is for intestine parasites because they live in the same place with chickens and goats.
The cats eat the same dog food that the dog eats, they eat leftover food with meat, veggies or legumes, they run around and steal food from the chickens like bread or grounded corn and ofc they eat shit like mice, etc.
I had a dog eating tomatoes directly from the plants
and if you don't trust me, ask this ugly mofo