Raw food recipes that won't break the bank?

fattykitty

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I'm planning to feed raw food but my family just had to make a pretty big cut in budget, so the recipe I'm planning to do just won't cut it (75 cents a day!). However, I really want the best for my cats. What is a good recipe? I don't have a huge variety of meats and I'm not that comfortable with frankenprey-the "complete and balanced" in one meal thing is pretty stuck in my head.


-Broke Meowmy
 

auntie crazy

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Seventy-five cents a day is insanely cheap, FattyKitty. That's $22.50 per month. In fact, that can't be right..... is it?
 

missymotus

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I agree 75c sounds way too cheap. As worked out to $22.50/month, that would be more like your weekly cost at least.

I dont' use a recipe, I go with 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ. I don't use suppliments apart from fish oil. There really is no need to be complete in every meal.
 

auntie crazy

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Originally Posted by missymotus

...I dont' use a recipe, I go with 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ. I don't use suppliments apart from fish oil. There really is no need to be complete in every meal.
 

jack31

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I was doing raw that cheap. I have amazing sources here. I just didn't have any help from hubby and just couldn't do it on my own and had to stop. I'd like to still offer alittle during the week working on that now.

Leslie
 

catattack1985

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Offal meats (beef liver, kidney, heart, chicken heart & gizzards) where I live is SUPER affordable/pound (only $2/lb in most cases), and because I only need so much to create an overall balanced meal over time, it lasts awhile. Other local butchers around here GIVE them away.

You can get chicken thigh, wings with bones for about $4 for 3 lbs here. Look for sales, it's really quite affordable.

I found a grinder on Craigslist for $20.

I buy supplements (taurine, vitamin B complex) for $5/each at GNC or local drug store.

Eggs are cheap... if you can, find someone with chickens who sells their own eggs... I used to have chickens as pets when I was a kid - even 10 produced too many eggs we could eat in a week and ended up selling them to neighbors for $1 a carton, etc.

I live on the coast...minnows and mackerel are READILY available to me to fish for myself, or available for cheap as "bait fish" in lobster pounds, bait shops, even the local supermaket fish section might have some for sale. I don't give fish often or in large amounts, but I much prefer feeding raw fresh fish to adding fish oil, so..... gosh, even a can of sardines if you're really desparate runs about $2/can and contains tons of good stuff - get the no salt, spring water kind.

Even though it's time-consuming (I find it fun, personally) homemade raw is, really quite affordable....... more so than canned high quality commercial.......... I spend about $30 a month on making cat foods.... a dollar a day.... is this really too much???... :/ .....
 

auntie crazy

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I stand corrected.

After reading everyone's replies, I went back and looked at my expenses, then realized, DOH!, I have five cats - if I divide my monthly costs to get a per cat cost, yeppers, it's right around $20.

Silly me!
 

sharky

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75cents may be possible but not for the quality I demand ... ie they get the meat I would eat with organs( I dont eat those
)

pet mix made by a rancher who delivers is 3.25 lb ... I need 1.5 to 2 lbs a day.. 4.87 to 6 a day = a lot a month( ie what it takes to feed me)

local butcher grinds the whole chicken ( cannot get much more balanced than that
) for 1.49 lb ( this is feasible but the cats wont eat chicken all the time)

Local health food store butcher will give good deals on organs and his"opps" meats ... 1$ to 2$ a lb ( thank you for the reminder this may add raw to menu more often
)

right now they get some high end some low end( low is grain free) wet.... mid level dry ( which here has corrected issues high end dry caused) and freeze dried raw plus raw and cooked meat plus a different kibble for snacks

I use supplements to ensure all nutrients are in right amounts.. I am far to fussy and an over analyzer not too plus I usually am dealing with a issue thru diet
 
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fattykitty

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I'm sorry for the confusion. 75 cents a day was per cat, not total. If it cost 37.5 cents a day to feed one cat that would be very cheap-like feeding Friskies and Meow Mix. Gosh, I am such a terrible typist.
 
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