# Cheapest premade raw?



## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Well, here's a topic!







Looking at frozen chubs, frozen patties, dehydrated raw, etc in the various available brands of premade raw, which is the cheapest to feed? Omas's Pride? Honest Kitchen? Bravo? K9 Kraving? Nature's Variety?

Opinions, anybody? Experiences?


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

In RI, I have found Bravo to be the cheapest. It comes in frozen patties and chubs - its not balanced (Unless you buy the one called "Balance"). I pay $6.50 for a 2 lb chub and $14.00 for 5 lb of patties.

I think I pay $16.00 for 3 lb of Nature's Variety beef medallions. 

Steel does not like the goopy, raw burger consistency of the Bravo. He prefers the Nature's Variety.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Joanne, thanks for the reply. I am glad Steel has his NV goodies to enjoy! I will probably do DIY raw if I return to USA, but I want to have an idea of the cheapest premade options out there. I started raw here in Germany, there is really no premade here. So, this is kinda new to me! Cheap is good.


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## UConnGSD (May 19, 2008)

I have found Primal to be a bit cheaper than NV and the nuggets and patties are balanced as well. They have beef, chicken, duck, lamb and turkey & sardine varieties. I rotate between all of these and the rabbit and venison varieties of NV.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Thanks, UConn.. I forgot about Primal. Cheaper is good!


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## Metalsmith (Mar 25, 2009)

Hi Patti,

I've been thinking of you and Grimm. I've been on the forum sporadically lately, but I always check the chatroom to see how you're doing.

Anyway, I feed Khyber k-9 Kraving and not only does he love it, he's doing great on it. I also feed chicken necks to help keep the costs down. Prices vary on which kind of food you're getting. The fancy-schmancy turkey and bison formula is the most expensive out all the flavors we've tried. It's about 3.50 per 1lb chub. We've fed the chicken and beef, chicken and right now we are on the turkey variety(free range turkey!) I pay 2.50 each for 1lb frozen chub of turkey. Prices have gone because of the rising cost of fuel,(and, I believe, the rising cost of food).

K-9 Kraving can be purchased through the distributors on the website. We bought a case from another distributor in Colorado and we paid a dollar more per lb with those guys, than with another distributor only a few weeks later.







That's a huge difference! I guess each distributor can more or less set the price, maybe depending on delivery costs etc.

I would contact the distributors in the area you might be moving to and check prices. You can check for distributors hereK-9 Kraving distributors


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Hi Sarah!







I have been thinking of you (and Khyber, too!) lately! I hope that all is well with you and your family. Funny you mentioned it, K9 Kraving was what I first tried before I actually switched to raw. A wonderful friend is a distributor in MA, but if I move back to MA, I won't be able to get out her way as I cannot see to drive. I might end up having the stuff shipped. I actually started raw because of K9 Kraving. I switched to raw (DIY) once I moved to Germany in the fall of 2007.

Funny story: I was living in a cute little ground-floor apartment in MA before I moved to Germany. One evening, I had just fed a young Grimm his K9 Kraving chub of raw food. I decided to go toss the wrapper in the dumperster outside in the building parkinglot, and left the apartment. As I soon returned into the main hallway of the building after throwing out the wrapper, I heard a loud CRASH!! from within my apartment! I opened the door quickly, thinking Grimm had knocked over a lamp or something. I entered the apartment, and Grimm was not in the livingroom. Not in the bedroom, either. Not in the teeny utility room. The bathroom was empty. The kitchen was deserted, too! No Grimm?? Back to the livingroom to look behind the easychair.... and then I looked up and saw it. The window had been open, and now the screen was gone-- along with Grimm! I gazed out, and no Grimmi to be seen! I grabbed my keys and rushed outside. Yes, there he was, The Doofinator, sitting near the dumpster, desperately wanting the K9 Kraving wrapper!!


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## gsdlove212 (Feb 3, 2006)

I personally do not have any experience with pre-made RAW. We considered Honest Kitchen, but when it was tried at the breeders the pups were not interested in it at all, so i didn't bother with getting some to try here.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Thanks for your input, GSDLove212! What does Hurricane G eat, by the way? I loooved her new pics! *swoooon THUD!* Honest Kitchen looks kinda costly anyway. I can however see Grimm Hoovering even dehydrated grub. I will probably rarely if ever feed premade when I am in USA again, but, want some ideas in case I want to have some on hand at some point.


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## acurajane (May 21, 2008)

sorry no experience with the pre- make raw either but Patti that story made me laugh till I couldn't breath. 

Hope all is well with you


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## Toffifay (Feb 10, 2007)

I've fed Primal Grinds (2 lb. tubes) in the past. Turkey with veggies and Bison with veggies. The dogs loved it! But I had to buy it by the case and it was much more expensive that grocery store meat. I think I was paying around $60 for 12 of the Bison tubes and a bit less for the Turkey. I just can't afford that right now....couldn't really afford it back then, either, come to think of it!


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

Honest Kitchen isn't as expensive as it looks if you calculate the price after rehydrating AND mixing it with raw meat. I have used all but one of their canine formulas and just 15 minutes ago I calculated it out for a friend that's thinking of using it.

A 10 pound box of HK actually makes 40 pounds rehydrated (the company says 43). 

If you buy directly from HK, you're looking at about $75 for a 10 pound box of Thrive (gluten-free but does contain quinoa) including shipping (at least in my area). That's about $1.88 per pound, but since you are going to mix it with raw meat, your PPP goes down if your meat is cheap. I can get ground beef heart and turkey MM chunks for about 50 cents per pound. So combine the meat and the HK and you are paying $1.19 per pound.

Price will go up a little if you use one of the grain-free HK formulas. Embark is the most expensive at $82 per box plus shipping ($10 to me in Ohio), so that would be $2.30 per pound ($2.14 if you calculate using 43 pounds per box instead of 40 pounds per box). Add in your raw meat and your average is $1.40 per pound.

I have found deals on shipping from HK, occasional sales/discounts (I'm on their mailing list) and have also purchased from http://www.globaldognaturalpetproducts.com (right now Embark is $86.59 including shipping, so cheaper than purchasing directly from HK).

~Kristin


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

Just found this on the Global Dog site:

http://www.globaldognaturalpetproducts.com/product/THK-KEEN

"For a limited time, purchase 2-4 10 lb boxes of The Honest Kitchen dog food in a single order and receive $4 off each box after the first. Discount automatically taken at check out. Discount only available for purchases with shipping addresses within the continental USA that can accept FedEx deliveries."

~Kristin


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## roxy84 (Jun 23, 2007)

i just bought a 10 lb tube of Bravo Blend (chicken, which is the cheapest) for $19.99. it doesnt have the vitamins/minerals like the bravo balance (which is more expensive). for now, im only feeding this 3 meals per week out of 14 total just as a slow intro into a raw diet.

Ingredients
Antibiotic-free chicken necks & frames, antibiotic-free chicken, antibiotic-free chicken organs (hearts, gizzards, liver), green beans, acorn squash, broccoli


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I can get the Bravo 10lb. chicken for $16.50 and the beef for $25. 

It is definitely the best deal!


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Wow Ruth, the Bravo does seem a good deal!


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

I went to DoggieFood.com today to get LJ some Primal, and they are sold out - as in - can't get any more. Something happened to the New England distributor. I'm so bummed.

Good news for Steel though, they ordered me some NV beef medallions - $12.81 for 3 lb.


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## crazyboutdogs (Aug 26, 2007)

Question:

If you guys get the 10 pound tube frozen, how long can you keep it in the frig? Don't you have to defroast the whole 10 pounds? I do the Primal Balance Burgers. The 8 ounce ones for the big guys and the 4 ounce for the pugs. I was wondering how you handled the 10 pounders.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I defrost it just enough to hack it into pieces and then refreeze it in portions.


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## LJsMom (Jan 6, 2008)

Ruth, I was thinking of Chama today - DoggieFood.com had the frozen tripe in the Bravo freezer. Too bad you live so far away!


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## Metalsmith (Mar 25, 2009)

Oh Patti, what a good story! You should send that to the k-9 kraving folks. I bet they would enjoy it. 

I can just see Grimm sitting outside, looking as if to say, "Whatsa matter mama? I just chose the quickest way out so I could get that little bit of good stuff left on that wrapper. You don't want it to go to waste, do you?" 

What a silly and sweet boy.









We're all doing good here, mostly just trying to keep the Khyber monster cool(and it's not even that hot yet!). If it's only twenty degrees out he's perfectly happy. So, that means lots and lots of swimming during the warm weather. 

I'm not on here very much lately, but I'm continuing to keep you and Grimm in my thoughts. Still sending lots of positive vibes your way. Take Care!


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Yup Sarah, that's about what Grimmi was thinking! Wishing Khyber a relatively cool summer with lots of good splash-times! Huge to you and your fur-crew from Grimmi and me!


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