The $3.99 a pound was a random number. My point is, this is how they scam the customer. Whatever price per pound you are paying, you are not paying for meat, you are paying for "solution".
However I reiterate I would not feed these enhanced meats to cats. You do not know what is in these "solutions". What is safe for humans is not always safe for cats.
Right after I typed that last message, I got on the Sprouts website and started looking around. I will double-check, but I don't think they use enhancers in any of their meats, so that's probably where I will get the bulk of my cats' groceries. At other stores, I'll just have to get in the habit of asking the butcher, and probably avoiding anything that has been pre-packaged. Those seem to be the worst offenders.
I've been reading some of the different threads on here, and I think I have been very lucky, in that none of my cats have any ongoing health issues. I don't want to risk it, so I will stick to strictly non-enhanced.
One nice development I'm noticing with the canned: less poop! That is a very welcome change, and I expect it to get better still when they are getting raw. It could be that I won't need to go through as much litter as I was before, and that's money saved that can go for meat. Lots of changes for these guys, as they're getting a litter upgrade, as well - to sWheat Scoop. Clay scoopable was breaking my back when it was time to change out all the boxes, and I've been reading it's not good for them, anyway.