For those looking for help wondering what food to feed...

I did an extensive analysis of how much it costs to feed various types of kibble, canned and commercial raw. I analyzed the cost to feed 48 brands of kibble, 40 brands of canned, and 15 commercial raw foods. Obviously they had to be priced at national sources, so local prices may vary. The spreadsheets are footnoted.

But if you want to compare how much it costs to feed different foods, the carb content (on a dry matter basis) is also included in the spreadsheet, and each food is hyperlinked so you can look up ingredients.

Here is the summary spreadsheet, comparing the cost to feed kibble, canned, and commercial raw: Summary Cost to Feed table
And the notes that go with it: Notes to summary Table

And here is the detailed spreadsheet with the canned/commercial raw price, feeding, and carb information: Canned - Raw Cost to Feed table
And here are the notes that go with it: Notes to Canned Food Cost Table

Finally, here is the detailed kibble cost comparison: Kibble Cost Comparison Table
And here are the notes that go with it: Notes to Kibble Cost Comparison Table

If you want to read the article that reviews the information, it is here: How Much Does It Cost to Feed My Cat?

Hope you find this information useful! I certainly found it fascinating!

Thank you for this extensive research. That took a lot of man hours to complete.

It was a lot of work. Thanks.

Amazing work as always! Thank you so much for putting this together! This is really an eye opener!!

That was a lot of work, but many people will benefit from it.

Laurie - just wondering what you do with all that spare time you have.  

Wow Laurie, very impressive, and very helpful.

Thanks so much!

That is great! Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for doing this.   I've thought about the cost effectiveness of feeding my feral/stray colony raw; there are around seven cats who routinely come for breakfast and dinner.  One problem I see is that the more food-aggressive cats would snatch and run, leaving less food for the other cats.  Would the same financial analysis hold for eight cats?

Also, did you compare costs for Hare Today?  I just spent almost 30 minutes cutting up a two pound whole rabbit (minus head) that I bought from the grocery store ($4 per pound).  Two pounds yielded around 16 oz of usable meat.  I think it would sometimes be cost effective to order meat through the mail even with dry ice, already pre-cut. 

It is sometimes less expensive to buy meat WITHOUT BONE even though the cost per pound is higher, than a less expensive cut of meat WITH bone.  Bone weighs a lot, and I can't use a lot of it (Ritz is very prone to constipation, so have to feed the very low end of bone.)

Yeah, I've struggled with what to do for the ferals too. :nod: The analysis holds if those are what your costs are - it doesn't matter how many cats. But with ferals, you're not necessarily trying to provide their entire daily nutritional needs. You're just trying to offer them healthy food to supplement what they're hunting/scavanging. The ferals in our colony definitely do not get their entire energy requirements from the food we put out. :dk:

To figure out whether it's cost effective or not, the easiest way to do it is calculate how much you're spending on their food monthly or weekly. How many cans do you put out? How much do you spend on them? How much dry do you put out? How long does that bag last? Let's say it costs you $20 weekly. If you can find meat for $2.00 a pound, that buys you 10 pounds of meat weekly for the ferals. Is that a good amount of food for the number of ferals you're feeding? :dk: To feed 8 (inside) cats exclusively raw, I need 14 pounds of meat a week - and mine are not even close to being as active as outdoor kitties. And in the Winter, because of the energy requirement with the cold, that number would jump a lot. When I was feeding them kibble, they needed more than twice as much in Winter. :nod:

As to the bone-in vs boneless, you're right. If you're not feeding bones, it can definitely be cheaper to spend more per pound for boneless. :nod: I didn't include HT in the analysis. I was just looking at commercial "balanced" foods. But HT doesn't sell deboned rabbit meat. :lol3:

Ritz said:

Thanks so much for doing this.   I've thought about the cost effectiveness of feeding my feral/stray colony raw; there are around seven cats who routinely come for breakfast and dinner.  One problem I see is that the more food-aggressive cats would snatch and run, leaving less food for the other cats.  Would the same financial analysis hold for eight cats?

Also, did you compare costs for Hare Today?  I just spent almost 30 minutes cutting up a two pound whole rabbit (minus head) that I bought from the grocery store ($4 per pound).  Two pounds yielded around 16 oz of usable meat.  I think it would sometimes be cost effective to order meat through the mail even with dry ice, already pre-cut. 

It is sometimes less expensive to buy meat WITHOUT BONE even though the cost per pound is higher, than a less expensive cut of meat WITH bone.  Bone weighs a lot, and I can't use a lot of it (Ritz is very prone to constipation, so have to feed the very low end of bone.)

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Have you checked at all to see if there is anyone local to you that raises rabbits for meat? There is a man here that does that and sells the rabbits dressed for 50 cents a pound and he's not even very strict on that, lol, I bought a 12 lb rabbit from him for $5. He'll also just give you ones that aren't dressed if you're buying a few that are. His rabbits are all human food grade and are delicious (yes, I bought them for the dogs and then ate one myself, lol). He also said that he'd give me a breeding pair whenever I want and that he'd kill and dress them for me $2/rabbit. The one grocery store here that sells rabbit is expensive, it's $18 for a 5lb rabbit. If you go to the butcher for it, it's $40 for a 10lb one. 

Wow, that's a great idea! $0.50 a pound? Now how much does he charge to remove the bones? :lol3:

LDG said:

Wow, that's a great idea! $0.50 a pound?

Now how much does he charge to remove the bones?

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Not sure, lol, I never asked. He'd probably do it for $1/pound though, he's a really nice guy!

nerdrock said:

Not sure, lol, I never asked. He'd probably do it for $1/pound though, he's a really nice guy!

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Can you ask...... then can you ask if he ships? :lol3:

Lol I can ask, but I doubt that it would be worth it to be honest. I looked at shipping some meat to a friend in Thunder Bay (about 12 hours from here but same province) and it made it something like $2+/pound more. Our shipping here can be A LOT more expensive than in the states. 

Well, I didn't find anyone on craiglist. But at http://www.eatwild.com, I found a number of local farms - one sells rabbit meat. They sell at three local farmer's markets, so I think we're going to be busy next weekend!

We posted an ad on Kijiji (Craigslist isn't as active here) looking for meat. A fellow raw feeder saw the ad and recommended the guy. I emailed him and talked to him for along time before we actually went out and bought meat from him. 

Thanks all for the tips.  I buy really cheap food for the ferals.  They prefer Friskies over "America's Choice" (AC must be really bad if the ferals don't even finish it).  You're right (I hope):  they are supplementing the cat food I give them with the food they hunt.  The mice supply seems to have been depleted (wonder why ), but we have lots of birds.  I've seen some dead birds, but they haven't been eaten.  Can cats tell right away if a bird is diseased?

I'll look into finding a local farmer.  My nephew supplied me with some venison.  But really need to find another source of rabbit and unusual meats.  I *wish* HareToday sold boneless rabbit. 

The Amish market sells fresh rabbit for $8 a pound:  I love Ritz, but.....

Ritz said:

Thanks all for the tips.  I buy really cheap food for the ferals.  They prefer Friskies over "America's Choice" (AC must be really bad if the ferals don't even finish it)

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LOL, I know--I once bought a store brand (Hy-Vee) dry food for my ferals and they wouldn't touch it. Smart kitties! I can't believe people feed that to their housecats who have no choice in the matter. I buy them Cat Chow most of the time. Friskies if it's on sale, but I really have a thing against green and purple kibble so I prefer not to. I know they must hunt because I haven't seen any bunnies around, and I haven't had any mice or rats in my garage (like I did the one year before I started TNRing, when the neighbors had trapped out all the cats and there were no ferals in the neighborhood. Lots of mice!).

I just noticed there's a butcher across the street from the Tractor Supply store I usually go to. I should pop in next time I'm there. I hope he has rabbit, and for a reasonable price. I still haven't ordered from Hare Today because of lack of freezer space, but even if I do get a freezer I'd like to try a small amount of rabbit before I order a ton of it, just to make sure they like it.

LDG said:

Well, I didn't find anyone on craiglist. But at http://www.eatwild.com, I found a number of local farms - one sells rabbit meat. They sell at three local farmer's markets, so I think we're going to be busy next weekend!

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Happy rabbit shopping.... Between the three markets, I bet kitties will be eating fresh rabbit this weekend!!!!! :nod:

AND.... Can't thank you enough for sharing your research and studies and putting it all together in a spreadsheet. Quite generous of you and much appreciated !!!! :lovegrin: This thread will be of great assistance to many and will be a wonderful resource, something we never have had at our fingertips before!!!!