Cost Of Feeding Raw

[cometdust1]

For those of you that feed raw, about how much does it cost per month to feed one dog raw?I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to do it. Does anyone feed some kibble and some raw?I've read that feeding kibble with raw food is not good because the kibble allows the bacteria to multiply in the gut.I'm getting a lot of resistence from the others in my family who also feed the dog if I'm not home.I'm trying to figure out a way to do this and at the same time keep peace in the house.Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

[Guest lovnmygreys]

Oooo, good question. I would love to switch to raw but DH freaks about the cost! I'll be watching this thread!

[JAJ2010]

It varies so much depending on the area that you live in. Are you going to buy premade raw? Or do it yourself? Premade is insanely expensive. If you're doing it yourself you will get it cheaper as you feed it longer. You find better meat suppliers over the years and as you get more freezer space you can buy in more bulk. Which drives your price down. I just got a refurbished commercial ice freezer for outside. 30 cubic feet of meat space! Wahoo

 

And you can absolutely feed kibble with raw until your ready to make that leap of change. You have to be careful about listening to the crazy raw cult like people. Best source of info for me was the raw-lite Yahoo group

[antisense]

We feed kibble and raw. We've only had our pup for 2 months, but we've had no problems so far. We get premade ground made from chicken, beef (incl bone and organs), fish, and a little cooked egg. It's locally made, and costs about 50 cents per pound. Our guy eats a pound a day of permade raw mixed with 2-3 cups of kirkland kibble (still trying to figure out exactly how much food he needs). We defrost in the fridge in individual containers and then mix it in with the kibble at feeding time. We then hand feed this mixture (and wash our hands really well afterwards) but your family could just as easily just mix it up with a fork and then let the dog help himself. Washing up is no different than after preparing any other raw meat. BatterseaBrindl feeds her dogs entirely with this premade raw and they seem to be doing really well on it.

 

The biggest expense was buying a seperate freezer because we have to buy the raw food 40 pounds at a time, and our tiny kitchen fridge has no room to store it all. We're considering going completely raw once our current bag of kibble runs out since poops still aren't as solid as we would like.

[RedHead]

I agree...it highly depends on your meat sources. Petstores are by far the most expensive, grocery store is next, butchers/co-op/wholesale is the cheapest. I price food by the pound (most dogs will eat between 1-2 lbs per day), and I can pay anywhere from $1-$3 but that is from the grocery store. From what I have seen though, U.S. prices are much cheaper.

 

Due to the fact that I don't have a lot of meat sources here, I do feed some kibble on some days. I always mix it about half and half with a meat mince without a problem. I think it is a bit of a myth the two can't be fed together. If I am not mistaken almost all racing greys eat a kibble mixed with raw meat and other stuff.

 

Check out this site for dog food co-ops and groups in your area. These people have likely scoured out everything in your area and will know where the deals are (they probably also order in groups). They can also be great mentors, often there are breeders, working/show people, and even vets/vet techs on these lists.

http://dogaware.com/.../rawgroups.html

Edited November 19, 2012 by RedHead

[JAJ2010]

50 cents a lb! Jealous.... I can get beef scrapes for that but it has no bone in it.

 

That's a lot of food in a day! LOL but if he's not looking chunky go with it. The girls are eating about 1 to 1.5lbs a day depending on what I thaw. Both of their metabolisms seemed to have slowed in the past few months. Where are you located? I would road trip for that price and buy 700lbs...

[Guest FinnsMom]

As soon as the current bag of kibble is gone we are going to a complete raw diet. I have estimated about $100 or so a month for our one dog.

[Trihounds]

We feed kibble and raw. We've only had our pup for 2 months, but we've had no problems so far. We get premade ground made from chicken, beef (incl bone and organs), fish, and a little cooked egg. It's locally made, and costs about 50 cents per pound. Our guy eats a pound a day of permade raw mixed with 2-3 cups of kirkland kibble (still trying to figure out exactly how much food he needs). We defrost in the fridge in individual containers and then mix it in with the kibble at feeding time. We then hand feed this mixture (and wash our hands really well afterwards) but your family could just as easily just mix it up with a fork and then let the dog help himself. Washing up is no different than after preparing any other raw meat. BatterseaBrindl feeds her dogs entirely with this premade raw and they seem to be doing really well on it.

 

The biggest expense was buying a seperate freezer because we have to buy the raw food 40 pounds at a time, and our tiny kitchen fridge has no room to store it all. We're considering going completely raw once our current bag of kibble runs out since poops still aren't as solid as we would like.

 

Our 4 are on the same food now, which is by far the cheapest we've ever seen. I find we have to feed more of it to keep weight on the dogs, though. We used to buy meat, organs, etc wherever we could and found 2$ a pound to be a 'deal'. At about 4$ - 5$ per dog per day, it was adding up quickly! A large freezer and bulk ordering are key to keeping costs down and some places are simply more reasonable than others.

[antisense]

50 cents a lb! Jealous.... I can get beef scrapes for that but it has no bone in it.

 

That's a lot of food in a day! LOL but if he's not looking chunky go with it. The girls are eating about 1 to 1.5lbs a day depending on what I thaw. Both of their metabolisms seemed to have slowed in the past few months. Where are you located? I would road trip for that price and buy 700lbs...

 

When JJ first came home we were feeding him 4 cups of kibble plus a pound of meat! But he did need some fattening up as we could see nearly all his ribs and his hip bones were sticking out pretty severely. Now he gets 2 cups, plus lots of treats for training. On days were I'm too busy to do much training he gets 2 heaping cups. We give him a chicken foot or turkey neck/back every now and then as well as a crunchy treat. He's about 75 pounds last he was weighed and looking pretty good.

 

We're about 400 miles away if you ever wanna make a road trip.

 

 

 

Our 4 are on the same food now, which is by far the cheapest we've ever seen. I find we have to feed more of it to keep weight on the dogs, though. We used to buy meat, organs, etc wherever we could and found 2$ a pound to be a 'deal'. At about 4$ - 5$ per dog per day, it was adding up quickly! A large freezer and bulk ordering are key to keeping costs down and some places are simply more reasonable than others.

 

I figure since it's processed, it's not as good as feeding whole pieces of meat. But kibble is processed too, so it can't be much worse than average quality kibble.

We need to get a shuttle going between our cities. We head out to Ottawa to stock up on chicken feet and such at T&T since none of the grocery stores around here cater to the "ethnic" population!

[Guest snoopycomehome]

When we got Dragon, we fed him 1.5 pounds/day of chicken drums and thighs (which we got in bulk), plus 0.5 pounds/day of beef, pork, chicken hearts, mackerel, liver, etc. (all from our big Asian grocer). Also we fed him yogurt, raw egg, veggies, fruits (maybe 1 cup total of that). I probably averaged $2 per day.

 

When we got Gypsy (the bottomless pit), and it became hard to keep weight on Dragon...who tends to lose easily and gets TOO thin. Most days I couldn't just throw the raw chicken out back like I used to...and with my Master's program I didn't have time to 'babysit' them. They need to be monitored, because Dragon doesn't eat his until it has been sitting out for a few hours...and Gypsy would eat hers AND his. PIGGY! Then we started feeding them Kirkland with their mix-ins in the evening, and for raw they have much less, but things that I can monitor (like the chicken hearts and fish and ground meat). I think between the raw and kibble, we spend $3.50 per day for both dogs.

 

That will probably increase, as I am considering getting a meat grinder this month for chicken quarters so that I can feed that again and have Dragon eat it right away without Gypsy stealing it all. (Then again, the decrease in cost by using chicken quarters and not buying kibble may not be a big difference!)

 

All I know is that when they are on all or mostly raw, their skin and hair and poops and energy and teeth are amazing. If we go on a road trip to see family for a week and give them 80% kibble, we notice a difference for a week after that.

 

We have never had a problem mixing raw and kibble, although we have read not to do that (I think it was because one digests faster than the other???). We usually separate the two, but there are no adverse effects when we have mixed it.

[BatterseaBrindl]

The cost of feeding raw will be dependant on where you live.

We live 2 minutes away from a place that 'makes' raw food....the same place that Antisense and Trihounds buy from.

They sell a LOT of dog food!

 

 

"I figure since it's processed, it's not as good as feeding whole pieces of meat. But kibble is processed too, so it can't be much worse than average quality kibble".

 

I hadn't really considered our pre-mixed raw 'processed'....but I guess it is!

 

All they do is mix the ingredients together, grind it up and then freeze it, so the nutritional value is the same as if it was chunks of meat, but the 'chewing value' is not there.

 

We also feed knuckle bones and chicken backs from the local butcher.

We were lucky to get chicken feet from a local farmer in the summer, but our stash is getting low.

 

Having a separate 'dog food freezer' is really the best way to go when you're feeding raw.

[Guest Gemma]

We feed raw and kibble, usually at separate meals but I do throw in some kibble with his raw food if I am running low on something. Never had any issues.

 

If we fed just raw, we'd actually save money. There's a great market in the Spanish area of town that has excellent prices on meat, and a lot of stuff you won't find at Stop & Shop, like chicken feet, beef heart, pigs ears, etc. Prices have gone up lately (everything has) but, based on what we spend now with a 50/50 raw and kibble diet, we'd spend around $40-45 a month on a 100% raw diet. A bag of the kibble we use costs $54 and would last a month if we fed him 100% kibble. Right now, we're probably spending $20/month on raw, and $26/month on kibble.

 

The reasons we feed both are convenience, lack of freezer space, and so that he adjusts okay when he stays with people who are not used to a raw diet. We went away for a week recently and he ate kibble that whole time with no issues.

[greytpups]

The cost of feeding raw will be dependant on where you live.

We live 2 minutes away from a place that 'makes' raw food....the same place that Antisense and Trihounds buy from.

They sell a LOT of dog food!

 

 

"I figure since it's processed, it's not as good as feeding whole pieces of meat. But kibble is processed too, so it can't be much worse than average quality kibble".

 

I hadn't really considered our pre-mixed raw 'processed'....but I guess it is!

 

All they do is mix the ingredients together, grind it up and then freeze it, so the nutritional value is the same as if it was chunks of meat, but the 'chewing value' is not there.

 

We also feed knuckle bones and chicken backs from the local butcher.

We were lucky to get chicken feet from a local farmer in the summer, but our stash is getting low.

 

Having a separate 'dog food freezer' is really the best way to go when you're feeding raw.

 

Where is this place or what is the name or do they have a website. It's a 4 hour drive to Kingston for us but I'd be interested in comparing prices.

[Guest KennelMom]

$75/dog for us, but we could definitely do it cheaper...just going for easy right now.

[Guest FinnsMom]

I just found new suppliers in my area so now the cost to feed my guy raw is down to around 50 dollars a month. I ordered ground turkey, turkey necks, green tripe, beef cheeks, and an esophagus. Lol. He does great on beef and turkey but is sensitive to chicken which I hope might change one day as its most often cheaper to buy.

[cometdust1]

Just ordered my 1st case of chicken quarters @ 30.00 for the 40lb case.Not a bad price.

[Walliered]

I feed about 1/2 of both raw and kibble. I switch from raw beed, chicken, tripe (their favorite) and turkey. They do not like duck. I buy them in 2# packages and it costs about $1.15 per pound. I also feed raw turkey necks about 2 times a week. Never have figured out what it costs all totaled.

[Guest FrankieWylie]

I just did the math and we need 126# of food for our three.

 

Ill have to look and see what that works out to price wise. We currently get 10# bags of chicken quarters for $6. Those last us 2.5 days (roughly). We don't feed organ every day, so some days it's just the chicken quarter. But in the end it all averages out

[RobinM]

It depends on what you feed. My Ollie is chicken intolerant and gets duck at $302.00 a month and that's not including his duck neck "snackie s" and 5 pound rolls (7.50 for 5 lb roll) of minced meat mixed in with his duck. Chicken for Teddy and Ponch is much less money.

[Guest FinnsMom]

It depends on what you feed. My Ollie is chicken intolerant and gets duck at $302.00 a month and that's not including his duck neck "snackie s" and 5 pound rolls (7.50 for 5 lb roll) of minced meat mixed in with his duck. Chicken for Teddy and Ponch is much less money.

 

We discovered Finn is intolerant for chicken as well (which I'm hoping will change) but he has no problems with turkey. Have you tried Ollie on turkey? Turkey here is a lot cheaper than duck.

[NeylasMom]

I spend around $80-100/mo per greyhound, but I buy meat that is either pastured/free-range or all natural/AB free (it's mostly the meat that goes to Whole Foods here, Bell & Evans chicken, Niman Ranch beef, etc., but some of the beef products I get are from a local farm in PA) so I am paying a significantly higher price than I would be if I were willing to buy your standard commercially raised meat found in any grocery store. I also feed a couple of things in smaller quantities that are pretty ridiculously expensive - the rabbit I feed one day per week (1 lb each) is nearly $4/lb and the ground lamb I feed Violet once per week because she's a hard keeper is nearly that. I feed chicken quarters 2x/wk to sort of even out those costs.

 

Here's what I feed one dog in a week to give you an idea:

Sun - 1 - 1 1/2 lbs chk qtrs

Mon - 1 lb boneless salmon

Tues - 1 lb ground whole rabbit (guts removed) + 1/2 lb beef liver

Wed - 1 lb chk qtrs plus some boneless fatty meat like the lamb for Violet

Thurs - 1 lb grass fed tripe

Fri - 1/2 of a whole lamb neck or 1/4 of a whole beef neck (about 2 lbs) + 1/2 lb beef kidney

Sat - 1 - 1 1/2 lbs boneless meat (usually beef or pork heart or some combination)

[KickReturn]

I have to use pre-made. I need something he will eat in a bowl. I can't send him out when the weather is bad and I can't have him carrying a half a chicken around the house.

 

The pre-made I use (Mountain Dog Food) seems of good quality and is about $2.50 per lb. My boy needs about three lbs per day due to his high activity level. He gets one pound for breakfast, and another at dinner. He also gets a very large Turkey neck mid-day and a can of fish or beef chunks dumped on his dinner. Adds up to about three pounds and costs me about $7 to $8 per day. I figure I could cut that number in half if I did my own butchering and bought a spare freezer. Food is expensive in this part of Canada. Worth it to me though, I can't get over how fabulous my broken down ex-racer looks.

[Guest memadeit]

It was a lot cheaper for me to go raw. I was taking my one grey to the vet constantly due to allergy issues. A raw diet, took care of all those vet bills. There are "raw" kibbles out there which I use when the pups have to be kennled or at a family members house. When it comes to buying meat on bone, I time it with the sales and buy a decent amount. In the long run, I really don't spend that much more.

[NeylasMom]

I have to use pre-made. I need something he will eat in a bowl. I can't send him out when the weather is bad and I can't have him carrying a half a chicken around the house.

I can't have either of those things either (can't really send them out at all since I don't have a yard) and I feed prey model to 3 dogs. 2 generally eat in crates, the 3rd on a rug that I can wash in the living room.

[Guest memadeit]

I have to use pre-made. I need something he will eat in a bowl. I can't send him out when the weather is bad and I can't have him carrying a half a chicken around the house.

I can't have either of those things either (can't really send them out at all since I don't have a yard) and I feed prey model to 3 dogs. 2 generally eat in crates, the 3rd on a rug that I can wash in the living room.

 

I started with closing off the kitchen so my dogs couldn't carry it all over, then I trained them to stay on towels while eating. Dont have to close off the kitchen at all.