I never realized Commercial raw was CHEAPER than premium canned!!!

[slykat12]

I have known about the benefits of Raw for about 5 years. However, the only brand at my pet stores was Natures Variety of which my last and present cat did not like. So each bag was only partially eaten before it got tossed in the trash. Making my own cat food is just not my thing, and BTW freeze dried Stella and Chewys was not liked by either cat.

I recently discovered this cool pet store that had different kinds of raw brands and one brand "Primal" had this "starter pack" full of 4 flavors of raw frozen cat food samples. Whitney gobbled em all up. Her enthusiasm was so strong I reviewed the product on the cat site.

My main reason for this post is that I wanted to profess that Primal Frozen Raw is CHEAPER per day (1.64 US) than the premium canned and pouches I have been buying which averaged (2-3.50 US) a day . I never bothered sitting down and doing the simple math as I always assumed raw would cost more.

Since I am not working this is a pleasant surprise!!!

I am ashamed that I never did the comparison before and relying on hearsay on the net. I encourage all wanna be raw cat parents to do the math. For an owner of one beast raw is definitely the way to go!!! 

 

[ritz]

I wholeheartedly agree. And I tend to buy somewhat expensive meat (rabbit, quail). And beed, chicken, pork, etc when it is reduced 30 to 50 percent. Ritz eats a lot, and premium cat food would easily run $2 a day. It takes time and knowledge to feed raw, but in my opinion, experience, well worth it.
To newbies, read the basics, try a variety package (that's how I did it with Ritz, Primal), and then read some more. At first you don't have to know everything like supplements or sources of calcium. That can come later if you want or your cat has an underlying medical issue. We're here to help too.

 

[zoneout]

I agree. Raw can work out much cheaper and of course healthier as you learn about it.

 

[slykat12]

Well I may have spoken too soon. Although the bag says 4 nuggets @ 45 calories each are enough to maintain a Ten pound cat- Whit is a bit under that-She ate through those 180 raw calories fast and demanded more so I broke down and gave her a 90 calorie pouch. lol.

Thus we are already over 3 bucks for today. So much for saving money. She is 1 year and 2 months. I think she is still growing as she has a tiny head.

 

[Willowy]

Be careful, she might just be a chowhound :lol3:. Don't want her to get fat. 180-200 calories should be enough for a 10-pound cat. Kittens do need a lot more calories, but at her age she really should be fully grown. Just keep an eye on her body condition.

A very active cat that size might need as much as 250 calories. Again, just keep an eye on her body condition and adjust accordingly.

 

[lisahe]

We feed about half canned and half commercial raw and spend about the same on each... the cats prefer the raw foods but they get canned, too, for convenience. They eat Primal freeze-dried (they prefer that to frozen), Rad Cat (their favorite), and occasional Stella & Chewy's (freeze-dried and frozen).  I'm really happy to have found a good price on Rad Cat so I can feed more of it: it's great food and it really seem to fill the cats up.

Our cats are about a year and a half old and I'm finding it hard to figure out how much I should feed them: they're not still growing but they're very active and one of them particularly loves asking for food. They were very underfed when we adopted them at 10 months old -- I think they still have some food issues.

 

[maureen brad]

Slykat- if you feed the amount you should Primal is cheaper than canned. I use the Primal Grinds, Turkey, Chicken, Lamb and sardine. I supplement with Alnutrin. I also feed Primal Pronto Kibble and the Rabbit patties. The last two are complete diets. Tomorrow I will pick up some Pheasant. I have found that you really have to portion the food. Primal has a web site and there you can find a portion calculator that will help you know just how much to feed your cat. If you live by a Pet Food Express they have a policy that is buy 3 get one free. I buy 4 Primal Grinds Chubs a month and after the discount it comes to just over $35. The bags of patties are expensive and I only buy them every other month at $34 but there are 48 patties in the bag. The kibble ( I get Rabbit) is $12.99.This is a ton of food and I have 3 cats. I was spending about $150 a month on canned. I could get by on just 5 chubs a month and skip the rest but I like to have a lot of variety. I also feed chicken gizzards so that they have some food that requires chewing.

 

[slykat12]

Be careful, she might just be a chowhound

. Don't want her to get fat. 180-200 calories should be enough for a 10-pound cat. Kittens do need a lot more calories, but at her age she really should be fully grown. Just keep an eye on her body condition.

A very active cat that size might need as much as 250 calories. Again, just keep an eye on her body condition and adjust accordingly.

I am confused on this actually as many other websites say to feed more than the primal package and website. Some websites say 180 calories is ok and some say 300 and others 250 for a 10 pound cat. Funny she never ate a lot until recently-I used to have to nag her to eat. I still think she is still growing. She is Maine Coonish lol.

Her body is perfect to me too. She has a "sexy" defined waist. But yes I will watch her. Not so easy with longer haired cats. Today she had 240 calories.

We did have a check up 1 month ago and vet says she is perfect weight wise. I asked several times as I don't want another fat cat-been there done that. 

She loves this Primal so much that she eats it when it is still icy.