# What does it cost you to feed your dog a raw diet?



## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

This may be an old question that has been covered before but I keep reading post after post in different topics about the cost of feeding raw is just too high for many.

My current puppy "Gus" is the recipient of many years of raw fed dogs. After losing my last GSD just shy of 7 years, I found Carmen. She explained raw feeding, the benefits and just how simple it really is.

My cost is much much hear than feeding a high quality Kibble such as Orijen. 

So here goes.....this is what I feed and the cost.

2 small chicken frames daily. Alternating with turkey necks.

1-1.5lbs ground turkey/bone or ground chicken/bone or ground beef/liver/heart or beef shank or venison shank daily.

Feedsentials and Sh-Emp oil supplement.

My cost is about $55 a month for the meat. Being my breeder is the creator of Essentials and Sh-Temp oil, my first bottles came home with Gus free so I have not calculated future cost of supplements but it is minimal.

I know Orijen would cost $80+ monthly here in Ontario.

Cathy


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## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

My cost is anywhere from 80-120/monthly, but my cat is included in that cost since he shares Kodas food.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

I'd like to know how people keep the price as low as that.....

I currently pay about $75 each per month for 2 of my dogs and about $60 per month for the 3rd.

This is for a bag of kibble each per month (approx 30lb each).

I also supplement with Feed Sentials, pumpkin, and yogurt.... and the pup gets feed sentials mixed with those two here and there and wet food (same brand and flavor of her kibble).

All in all I spend around 30-50 per month in supplements.

From what I've always researched..... Raw has always been MUCH more expensive. I don't have the freezer space, time, or stomach to do raw right now.... but, I am curious to how this all turns out cheaper then kibble for some members on here.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I feed the 10 lb. Bravo chubs so that's a little more expensive. It comes to about $78/month, including tax. 

I also feed my cats the Bravo raw and that costs about $25/month for two cats. That is much less expensive than feeding grain free canned food!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I don't generally pay more than $1/lb for food. Jax eats about a lb a day so her food is about $30/mth. Then she gets bully sticks and dried tracheas. The tracheas are $1.50 each and the bully sticks (12") are $3. She gets Dasuquin daily. Fish oil. I would say I spend about $50-60 month.

So for all the animals, it's probably about $200/mth to feed them.


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## bellagriff (Jul 1, 2012)

The last time I did the math, we were spending about the same on raw as it would be to feed the recommended amounts of orijen dog food. I don't know if this is still true, but our Bella is almost 11 months old and weighs around 65lb. We expect her to get to around 70lb based on her parents. We feed about 1.75lb of raw per day, with about $1.5/lb of meat average. This average should go down once we buy a house and can have a large freezer to buy in bulk!! I'm guessing the average will drop below $1.25/lb of meat.

We spend about $75/month, but really that is on the high end because we always buy sales. Also, this includes getting some exotic meats from MPC (tripe, muskrat, rabbit, duck, etc.). I don't include the supplement we add, but that is maybe an extra $10/month if that (never really thought about it). I don't include the supplement, because we would likely still feed it if we fed kibble.


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## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

I was spending $30 a week on raw. I don't have a freezer, so I couldn't buy in bulk. I have 2 and 3/4 bags of Avoderm kibble to get thru then I am buying a freezer and switching to raw. I am hoping to learn to fish.


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## Mrs.P (Nov 19, 2012)

$60-$80 a month for one pup which is the same as what we were paying on kibble. Unfortunately we are going to be moving soon so I haven't been buying in bulk -where the real savings come from.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

The cheapest I can find Orijen here is....
Large Breed Puppy 13.5kg $75.50+tax
Adult 13.5kg $72.99+tx
6-Fish 13.5 kg $79.99+tax
Regional Red 13.5kg $86.99+tax

So those prices are for 30lb bags plus 13% tax not included. How does that compare to the U.S?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

BowWowMeow said:


> .
> 
> I also feed my cats the Bravo raw and that costs about $25/month for two cats. That is much less expensive than feeding grain free canned food!


I feed 5 cats for $35.00 a month..Blue Buffalo limited ingredient fish and potato...we have allergies to chicken/duck/turkey in the house. I don't feed any canned food, so I'm not sure how much that would be for 5 cats.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

llombardo said:


> I feed 5 cats for $35.00 a month..Blue Buffalo limited ingredient fish and potato...we have allergies to chicken/duck/turkey in the house. I don't feed any canned food, so I'm not sure how much that would be for 5 cats.


 I don't feed dry food. It's really hard on the kidneys and eventually this causes problems.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

BowWowMeow said:


> I don't feed dry food. It's really hard on the kidneys and eventually this causes problems.


I think this is the case if the cat doesn't drink as much water as it should. My cats drink plenty of water, they love the water out of the fountain and are always there drinking. Other then that and watching what is in the dry food(carbs versus protein, etc) I don't see a problem with dry food, but of course that is only my opinion.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

We don't have a freezer so I will only be doing a meal or so a week at first until I can get one, then I'm pondering switching to full raw. As to cats, a very good site to read about cat nutrition is Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health. An excerpt from it reads:

 A cat's normal prey contains approximately 70 - 75 percent water. Dry foods only contain 7-10 percent water whereas canned foods contain approximately 78 percent water. Canned foods therefore more closely approximate the natural diet of the cat and are better suited to meet the cat’s water needs.


I hear the reader saying: "But my cat drinks a lot of water so dry food is just fine for him!" 



A cat consuming a predominantly dry food diet does drink more water than a cat consuming a canned food diet, but in the end, when water from all sources is added together (what’s in their diet plus what they drink),  the cat on dry food consumes approximately half the amount of water compared with a cat eating canned food.


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## StellaSquash (Apr 22, 2010)

I only just switched my dogs to raw last week (Wed.). So far I've only had to shell out for Chicken leg quarters which were .69 a pound. Considering I had been buying Orijen and Acana bags of food ($85 for the largest bag of Orijen) I think I'm either going to pay less or break even compared to Dry Kibble. 

I also just shelled out over $2K between the two dogs, one for dental work and testing to determine elevated liver levels (which have gone down after his dental work duh), and the other for yet another case of bloody diarrhea and a trip to the emergency ER. I think these are costs that aren't factored in when switching to raw. A healthy dog goes to the vet far less, and therefore costs less overall. At least that's been one of the main benefits I've read in researching. I can say, so far both dogs are doing well, and my old lab has had firmer stools in this past week (even though a few loose sneak in there when I don't remove the skin) then he has in roughly the last 3 or 4 years. 

I think it's possible to do raw inexpensively if you take the time to find the best resources.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Galathiel said:


> We don't have a freezer so I will only be doing a meal or so a week at first until I can get one, then I'm pondering switching to full raw.


This is off topic....Switching cats to raw can be tricky. They have to eat and will often refuse the raw food. I had to half cook the food and decrease over the course of a month. AND...make sure what you are feeding has the proper amount of taurine in it or it can cause all sorts of health problems. I stick to hearts and chicken necks with added sardines or mackerel.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Jax08 said:


> This is off topic....Switching cats to raw can be tricky. They have to eat and will often refuse the raw food. I had to half cook the food and decrease over the course of a month. AND...make sure what you are feeding has the proper amount of taurine in it or it can cause all sorts of health problems. I stick to hearts and chicken necks with added sardines or mackerel.


I will switch my cats and dogs to raw maybe in about 2-3 years...this is good information! Thanks c:


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## Mog (Aug 10, 2012)

Our pup is coming home next weekend. I ended up going out to Lowes and bought a 15 cubic foot freezer just for his food. I buy the food from a wholesaler near me, but if you have a meat processing plant near you, you can get raw dirt cheap. I pay 40-75 cents a pound and figured it will cost me around $1.25 a day to feed our pup. Which is high compared to what others pay, but it's still cheaper than kibble/dental cleanings, etc... I figure in the first year, what I save on paying for kibble, I covered the cost for the freezer, pet insurance and my pup is eating as healthy as he can  Which also equals less vet visits over his life time, so we both win!


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## andreaB (Nov 6, 2011)

I think between 70 and 90. Have new source so hope for $60 in future.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

So it does appear to be cheaper to feed a raw diet if comparing to a high end kibble such as Orijen.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

oh yes. Talk to Wild Wolf or Elisabeth about where to buy from. Not sure where you are in relation to them, other than Ontario.


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## gEEksWag03 (Oct 25, 2012)

I just recently switched to Raw and i'm still feeding kibble 3xs a week but i think Raw is so much better and so much easier once you wrap your head around it. I bought a small freezer that i bout at Lowes for about $190. I will be going this weekend to the butcher so we'll see but I believe i'll be at around 60-80 a month. I will also buy 45lbs of green tripe that i'll feed 4xs a week. I will buy 1lb tubes and divide into 4oz. So that'll last about 11 months.


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