Yes Homemade Raw Is The Economical Option

[kittyluv387]

I just did a calculation on how much feeding raw costs and I am VERY pleased. For example my 4 year old male Benny who is still fairly active eats 4.4 oz of food per day. He seems to need less of the homemade stuff to sustain his weight. He's actually a little overweight at 14 pounds so I'm adding less skin to the recipes lately.

100% Chicken Recipe - Meats are from the regular market and costco. I get liver from Hare Today. I buy chicken hearts from the Korean market at $1.29/pound and it makes up 1/4 of my meat recipe. Supplements are from amazon or iherb. My cost after everything is 15 cents per oz.

100% Turkey Recipe - Meats are from central market and Hare Today. I use hare today hearts for 1/5 of this recipe. I buy the alnutrin with eggshell mix for this recipe. Cost is 32 cents per oz.

100% Rabbit Recipe - All meats are from Hare today. Supplements are from amazon and iherb. My cost is 60 cents per oz.

The average cost of raw food per oz is 36 cents. It costs about $50 to feed Benny per month. Before when I fed freeze dried raw, I spent about $100+ per month on his food alone. The other 2 cats get half canned and half raw. I calculated that the high quality canned food I use is more expensive at an average of 41 cents per oz.

Omega 3 Oil - From costco. 1 cap a day at almost 5 cents.

Yes the initial costs were expensive because I bought a grinder, freezer chest, Mason jars and all the supplements up front. But it DOES get better! If you're interested in raw, homemade is the way to go assuming you do your due diligence with research and preparation.

 

[Azazel]

Agreed. It costs me $40 per cat per month, and I’m buying expensive organic turkey. I could easily do it for less.

 

[Tobermory]

I haven’t calculated my turkey and pork batches, but my chicken batches cost about 20 cents an ounce or $25 a month per cat. My cats are on the smaller side and eat only four ounces a day. I don’t buy organic but I do get my meat from a local butcher who sources regionally.

 

[MaineCats]

Hello! Sorry to post for my first time here, but this is exactly the topic I was looking for.

I have a rescue Persian with as yet undiagnosed issues - the vet checks are always 'healthy cat' - $$$ blood panel suggested if I want to look deeper. I suspect constipation of some sort, and perhaps other issues.

Anyway, I decided to take the plunge with a raw diet first, and signed up for Darwin's Pet lamb diet. (Chicken is a suspected problem, not sure) Good news is that my cat Alice recovered very quickly! Bad news is the cost, about $ 21 per week.

So I'm here to learn about making a homemade diet as a way to save money and perhaps find locally sourced foods. I look forward to getting to know you all & your fur kids.

 

[Tobermory]

Hello! Sorry to post for my first time here, but this is exactly the topic I was looking for.

I have a rescue Persian with as yet undiagnosed issues - the vet checks are always 'healthy cat' - $$$ blood panel suggested if I want to look deeper. I suspect constipation of some sort, and perhaps other issues.

Anyway, I decided to take the plunge with a raw diet first, and signed up for Darwin's Pet lamb diet. (Chicken is a suspected problem, not sure) Good news is that my cat Alice recovered very quickly! Bad news is the cost, about $ 21 per week.

So I'm here to learn about making a homemade diet as a way to save money and perhaps find locally sourced foods. I look forward to getting to know you all & your fur kids.

and welcome! Lots of great info to be found across the site and specifically on the raw and homemade food forum. Glad you’re here!

 

[MaineCats]

and welcome! Lots of great info to be found across the site and specifically on the raw and homemade food forum. Glad you’re here!

Thank you! I'm very relieved to have found this forum.

 

[kittyluv387]

Hello! Sorry to post for my first time here, but this is exactly the topic I was looking for.

I have a rescue Persian with as yet undiagnosed issues - the vet checks are always 'healthy cat' - $$$ blood panel suggested if I want to look deeper. I suspect constipation of some sort, and perhaps other issues.

Anyway, I decided to take the plunge with a raw diet first, and signed up for Darwin's Pet lamb diet. (Chicken is a suspected problem, not sure) Good news is that my cat Alice recovered very quickly! Bad news is the cost, about $ 21 per week.

So I'm here to learn about making a homemade diet as a way to save money and perhaps find locally sourced foods. I look forward to getting to know you all & your fur kids.

Welcome! I'm glad your Persian is doing better now. I would try out a little bit of homemade chicken and see if she still has problems with it. Human grade chicken without any additives is different from the ones in kibble / wet.

 

[MaineCats]

Welcome! I'm glad your Persian is doing better now. I would try out a little bit of homemade chicken and see if she still has problems with it. Human grade chicken without any additives is different from the ones in kibble / wet.

Thanks kittyluv38! Yes, I look forward to trying plain human-grade chicken again. Right now I am just relieved to have my cat feeling better after a long odyssey of her feeling bad in ways that remain a mystery to me. It's been a painful, frustrating & exhausting journey for us both. I'm so glad that more & more people are open to raw, and that all of you are here to help us learn how to make it work.

 

[kittyluv387]

Thought I'd post this here:

Petition Fight for Your Right to Buy Minimally Processed Pet Food

@mschauer @lisahe Tobermory A Azazel M MaineCats @Willow's Mom @lavishsqualor