- Joined
- Feb 24, 2017
- Messages
- 7
- Purraise
- 4
Ok so I have spent the last six days heavily researching the raw cat diet. One of my biggest issues was the fact I had so much trouble finding out how much people were spending on their raw diet. PMR or otherwise. The best I could get was "under a dollar per day" which is great and all, but that's not a number really. I looked up the highly advocated Hare Today and got a very deterred and walked away for a day or two. Frankly, anything over $3/lb is outside of my budget unless it's something special like goat or lamb. Since I don't have a cat I made the assumption that it will be 10lbs at 3% body weight. Which comes out to be exactly 9lbs of food per 30 days. All thanks to this calculator http://feline-nutrition.org/attachments/How_Much_To_Feed.html
From there I followed a recipe that comes out to a total of 10lbs which will last only 3 extra days. I followed this ground recipe http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/#The_Recipe
Which means on average I will be spending between $20-$25 per month on healthy balanced cat food. Which is $0.61-$0.76 on food per day for one 10lb cat. Which is great considering a 30 pack of 3oz cans of fancy feast classic is $15.92. It's the initial investment that kills on the raw diet. But removing super expensive bone eating grinder saves a lot (especially for someone who has a $50 monthly cat budget with all excess going towards vet savings)
I definitely suggest finding a local commercial butcher, I found uncured fresh boneless chicken thighs for 1.33/lb at mine.
Still have more kinks to work out as I would like to also find "other secreting gland" and the only ones I've sourced are beef sweatbreads and pig uterus. Thymus gland seems safe, but I'm not sure I need to be giving my cat any extra insulin or estrogen. (I know uterus is technically an organ, it could possibly work as a substitute, right?)
For anyone interested in seeing my spreadsheets:
Recipe + Recipe costs
Price List
And Before anyone finds that there are cured meats in my price list, yes I am aware and keeping them on the list to remember to ask the butcher about those specifically. The extra fatty meats like Pork Butt I will trim before grinding. I do plan on leaving chunks of meat in for added interest (if my cat likes that sort of thing)
For the knowledgeable folks, if you see something glaringly wrong or just have constructive criticism, or know of a cheaper source for supplements please let me know
From there I followed a recipe that comes out to a total of 10lbs which will last only 3 extra days. I followed this ground recipe http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/#The_Recipe
Which means on average I will be spending between $20-$25 per month on healthy balanced cat food. Which is $0.61-$0.76 on food per day for one 10lb cat. Which is great considering a 30 pack of 3oz cans of fancy feast classic is $15.92. It's the initial investment that kills on the raw diet. But removing super expensive bone eating grinder saves a lot (especially for someone who has a $50 monthly cat budget with all excess going towards vet savings)
I definitely suggest finding a local commercial butcher, I found uncured fresh boneless chicken thighs for 1.33/lb at mine.
Still have more kinks to work out as I would like to also find "other secreting gland" and the only ones I've sourced are beef sweatbreads and pig uterus. Thymus gland seems safe, but I'm not sure I need to be giving my cat any extra insulin or estrogen. (I know uterus is technically an organ, it could possibly work as a substitute, right?)
For anyone interested in seeing my spreadsheets:
Recipe + Recipe costs
Price List
And Before anyone finds that there are cured meats in my price list, yes I am aware and keeping them on the list to remember to ask the butcher about those specifically. The extra fatty meats like Pork Butt I will trim before grinding. I do plan on leaving chunks of meat in for added interest (if my cat likes that sort of thing)
For the knowledgeable folks, if you see something glaringly wrong or just have constructive criticism, or know of a cheaper source for supplements please let me know