# Natures Variety Raw



## eliascooper (Jun 18, 2013)

does anyone just feed their pup Natures Variety Raw?

ive been feeding my little guy (6.5 month old) it now for almost 2 months and he loves it! 

going between Duck/Lamb/Beef every 2 weeks switching it up..

it's pricey but super convenient!.. does anyone know of an alternate food that is as easy as Natures Variety that may be a little less expensive.. i'm in at about $500 a month so far

let me know!

JC


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

I feed it to our adult dog and rotate proteins. She loves it too.
We buy the bag of 12 - 8oz patties. She gets a 5-6 oz serving, so two patties is 3 servings. We feed it 40-50% of our meals and averages $60-$70/month.

The other food we feed is dehydrated raw from The Honest Kitchen. That is easy to prepare also, just add water and wait 5 minutes. Prices vary, but if I used the most expensive variety it would cost us $45/month USD, feeding it for one meal a day.

I really don't know how you get up to $500/month unless your local store really charges a lot.


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## eliascooper (Jun 18, 2013)

Gretchen said:


> I feed it to our adult dog and rotate proteins. She loves it too.
> We buy the bag of 12 - 8oz patties. She gets a 5-6 oz serving, so two patties is 3 servings. We feed it 40-50% of our meals and averages $60-$70/month.
> 
> The other food we feed is dehydrated raw from The Honest Kitchen. That is easy to prepare also, just add water and wait 5 minutes. Prices vary, but if I used the most expensive variety it would cost us $45/month USD, feeding it for one meal a day.
> ...


Thanks Gretchen!

it works out to be about 45 a bag of patties and there are 12 in them and he gets 2 a day... so like $15 a day (3 days x 3 patties)

and the raw chubbs are 2lbs and he gets one of those a day and it's about $85 a box and that lasts 6 days.

ive seen the honest kitchen stuff.. i'll check it out!

Thanks again!


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

I think your math is wrong - here's a formula I learned in chemistry, dimensional analysis:

Solve for $$/day

$$/day = $45/96oz x 8oz/1 serving x 2 servings/1 day =
45 x 8 x 2 = 720
96 x 1 x 1 = 96
720 divided by 96 = $7.50/day x 30 days = $225

Feeding 2lbs (32oz) of the raw per day sounds like a lot - here's a link to the NV website feeding guide. Also while you are on there, sign up on their website, they will occasionally send you coupons in your email.

Feeding Guide | Instinct Pet Food for Dogs and Cats

The last bag of 12/8oz patties was Venison for $38.99, the chicken and beef are less, maybe you could add the cheaper products to reduce your food costs?


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## eliascooper (Jun 18, 2013)

Gretchen said:


> I think your math is wrong - here's a formula I learned in chemistry, dimensional analysis:
> 
> Solve for $$/day
> 
> ...


Thanks Gretchen, but i don't think my math is wrong, i made a mistake, he's supposed to get 4 8oz patties a day, not 2.. i was feeding him 2 a meal.. Natures Variety site says for a puppy his weight he should be fed approx 32oz a day

Here in Canada things are usually a few bucks more.

so it's pretty close to $15 a day +/- a few dollars.


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## Flutter (Aug 2, 2013)

Oh you can definitely do it cheaper! We go to Rawsome dogs in Woodstock which is about 2 hours from you. There is also at least one store in Burlington that sells raw. We feed mainly Big Country Raw but also feed Congo and Tollden. Our dog is 70lbs of muscle and gets about 1lb a day plus 1c of kibble as training treats on the days he goes to obedience class. Buying the prepared foods costs us less than $3/day and we feed 5-6 protein sources a week. If you're feeding 2lbs/day and rotate between fewer proteins you could feed these foods for less than $6/day. 

We are inbetween TO and Woodstock. You can PM me (if interested) as we could potentially pick you up food if you can come to our place to pick it up.


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## autopsy_survivor (Apr 2, 2013)

I used to work for Nature's Variety - there are demonstrators for the different areas, if you contact the store that you usually purchase it from they should be able to see if they can have a demonstrator come in (doesn't cost the store anything) and they'll have coupons with them for $3 off. They also usually have stickers for close dated product or special coupons like buy x and get y for z. 

With that being said, I feed Mountain Dog the most. I keep meaning to email them and ask if there is a warehouse in Ontario, apparently if you go there you can get special pricing that works out to slightly over $1/pound. The only one I know for sure of though is Alberta. 

I've been to Rawsome Dogs, it's a pretty good place to buy raw and I do get stuff there on occasion when I'm around there (my family lives in Woodstock). My trainer's wife makes raw food that's sold there. 

We have a lot of Asian markets here though, so I make my own quite a bit and get a good variety of meats there. There's also a man that we get rabbit from near St Thomas that charges 50 cents a pound. You could probably cut your bill a lot by buying some different brands/doing some of it yourself.


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## eliascooper (Jun 18, 2013)

Thanks!

the thing i like about Natures Variety is how easy it is.. i don't really have the time to prepare the raw myself (nor the inclination) which is why i like feeding NV Raw. the price isn't really a big deal either (it's expensive but worth it).. i just want whats best for my pup. that being said if there is something comparable to NV Raw that i could save a few extra bucks i would def give it a try!.. 

JC


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

As Gretchen mentioned, Honest Kitchen would be a great choice for rotating and maybe save some money! HK is the ONLY company in the USA that the FDA legally allows to use the words "Human Grade Ingredients" in their advertising and on their packages because it is processed in a human grade manufacturing facility. Here is their site: All Natural Dog Food - Dehydrated Pet Food | The Honest Kitchen 
There several varieties that you just add the water to and there is one called Preference that you add your own ground meat to. 
A 7 pound box is approximately $54 and it re-hydrates to 29 pounds of food. 
Example: If your pup is between 31 and 50 pounds and a "highly active dog", for *1 (one)* meal he would get 1/3rd cup of Preference (dry), rehydrated with 1/2 cup water and you would add approximately 3/4 cup of ground raw turkey, or beef or chicken.
Below are the ingredients.
*Ingredients: *Dehydrated sweet potatoes, organic alfalfa, cabbage, organic coconut, apples, spinach, pumpkin, bananas, celery, organic kelp, honey, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.

They also have a recurring delivery service directly from the company called "The Concierge Program" so that you would never run out. Found here: Natural Pet Food Delivery - Concierge Program | The Honest Kitchen

Hope this helps!
Moms


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## erfunhouse (Jun 8, 2013)

HK is expensive  I found it in one of our stores and for $50 a box, the box says it only lasts 5 days?!?!?! That means $300 a month! $10 a day! 

I do the small medallions of NV- one melted into a sauce and mixed into his kibble to entice him to eat it and he does great on that.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

erfunhouse said:


> HK is expensive  I found it in one of our stores and for $50 a box, the box says it only lasts 5 days?!?!?! That means $300 a month! $10 a day!
> 
> I do the small medallions of NV- one melted into a sauce and mixed into his kibble to entice him to eat it and he does great on that.


That is incorrect, the largest box equal a 40lb bag of dry dog food. With 4 dogs the larger box usually lasts us about 2 to 3 weeks.


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