Thank you so much everyone. Reading these posts brought tears to my eyes. What you've witnessed, in that first post, was the tail end of a very bad anxiety attack. Alternating between crappy foods and good foods may be an answer I can live with, though I always have the worry that they will only want the crappy foods, if once I let them taste them.
Raw is not something I am willing to do right now. I'm too afraid I'd mess it up, and I am lazy and hate messing around in the kitchen, and my freezer is an ice box (a little box inside the refrigerator) My vet would help me if I decided to go that route, we've discussed it before but....it's not for me, at least not now.
I've fed a canned diet for 26 years, the difference I was talking about in one post was about going from grocery store food full of dye and artificial crap to foods that don't contain that kind of junk.
My senior boy who has liver disease from phenobarbital is the one I am most concerned with, I don't want his liver to have to deal with all that horrible junk. But the kitten has a nutrient absorption issue, and I don't want her eating all that horrible stuff either. My FLUTD kitty of course will continue on with the c/d as always (which I hate), and my other girl has constipation issues unless I pay very careful attention to her diet.
Oh boy here I go again. Well I am not to that point yet, and maybe never will be so I will try to stop fretting over it for now. You all have been a great help.