So it looks like I'm spending less only because my cats are tiny after all. ;-) That makes sense though. I'm probably spending more like $120/month in food generally, including treats and such. $100 would be way too optimistic.
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Alternative to Stella and Chewys raw freeze dried food
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Primal has the food calculator on it's site: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/education/calc
Based on their calculations I would need 2.5 bags a week for each cat x 3 cats x $26 x 4 weeks = (gulp) $750 a month.
For a 12 pound cat, they recommend 6 ounces a day. My 3 cats currently get 8-9 ounces of wet food a day and none of them are overweight. In fact my little 7 pounder eats as much as her 12lb brothers and keeps her svelt figure. Does that sound like a lot to other people?
PS You know one of the best things about this site - you can completely screw up and close the page by mistake and it saves what you typed. I don't know how much Anne pays her tech dudes, but they are worth every penny.
Based on their calculations I would need 2.5 bags a week for each cat x 3 cats x $26 x 4 weeks = (gulp) $750 a month.
For a 12 pound cat, they recommend 6 ounces a day. My 3 cats currently get 8-9 ounces of wet food a day and none of them are overweight. In fact my little 7 pounder eats as much as her 12lb brothers and keeps her svelt figure. Does that sound like a lot to other people?
PS You know one of the best things about this site - you can completely screw up and close the page by mistake and it saves what you typed. I don't know how much Anne pays her tech dudes, but they are worth every penny.
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I believe the calculator on Primal is only for frozen. It does correctly say (based on some charts anyway) that a 12 pound cat should have around 240 calories. But it takes less than 2 ounces of FD turkey to get 240. If I say turkey on the calculator it says 0.33 pounds which is about 5.7 oz. so that is for frozen. If you're taking the calculator weight and and thinking you needed that weight in freeze dried, well, it's probably more like 1/3 of that in amount and thus cost. :-). So $250 ish.Primal has the food calculator on it's site: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/education/calc
Based on their calculations I would need 2.5 bags a week for each cat x 3 cats x $26 x 4 weeks = (gulp) $750 a month.
For a 12 pound cat, they recommend 6 ounces a day. My 3 cats currently get 8-9 ounces of wet food a day and none of them are overweight. In fact my little 7 pounder eats as much as her 12lb brothers and keeps her svelt figure. Does that sound like a lot to other people?
PS You know one of the best things about this site - you can completely screw up and close the page by mistake and it saves what you typed. I don't know how much Anne pays her tech dudes, but they are worth every penny.
8-9 ounces of canned food would be a lot for some types of food but maybe not for some of the less dense ones. I've fed cans where you would need 9-10 ounces to get 240 calories. Some would take even more! Others get 240 calories out of about 6-7 oz. It does seem like a lot for the 7 pounder if she really eats the same amount.
And I agree with the PS, this forum software works pretty well, equal to and in some ways better than others I'm used to. Haven't spent much time investigating but I like it.
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I have the single serving pouches of S & C and they are .8 oz which it says is for a 6-8lb cat.
It's 100 calories (based on Chick Chick Chicken), a little high probably for most fully grown 6-8lb cats. I actually have two 6-8lb cats. The 8lb one would continue to get heavier if I fed her 0.8oz of S&C each meal. She gets 0.6oz because she should really be more like 7.5lb and she is over 8lb. 0.6oz is about 75 calories, so with 2 meals she gets 150 per day, which is a good baseline amount for 7.5lb ideal weight cat. The smaller 6.3lb cat would never eat 0.8oz of S&C in a meal. She regulates well. I cut her bowl down to 0.5oz because otherwise the big cat eats her leftovers for even more.
Different cats are different though. :-)
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OMG - $750 that's expensive. I use the FD and go through (1) 14 oz bag for two cats per week, however, they eat some canned at night. My cats are hearty eaters as well, they are high energy and weigh in at about 11 lbs. Still, my canned food bill went down feeding more commercial raw.
Primal has the food calculator on it's site: http://www.primalpetfoods.com/education/calc
Based on their calculations I would need 2.5 bags a week for each cat x 3 cats x $26 x 4 weeks = (gulp) $750 a month.
For a 12 pound cat, they recommend 6 ounces a day. My 3 cats currently get 8-9 ounces of wet food a day and none of them are overweight. In fact my little 7 pounder eats as much as her 12lb brothers and keeps her svelt figure. Does that sound like a lot to other people?
PS You know one of the best things about this site - you can completely screw up and close the page by mistake and it saves what you typed. I don't know how much Anne pays her tech dudes, but they are worth every penny.
I have 3 cats and would never spend anywhere near $750 a month feeding them.I buy a combination of food from Hare Today and I feed some Stella and Chewy's Freeze dried. I give 1 can of Wild Calling a month.I only feed the canned because if something ever happened to me and they went to new homes, what are the odds they get raw food?
I feed my cats well, rabbit, venison, organs etc. My bill has never even approached $750. The most I have spent since going raw is $150 or $175 and that was only because I forgot to place an order with HT and had to buy all commercial.
I have saved money since feeding raw as opposed to when I fed only canned food.
I feed my cats well, rabbit, venison, organs etc. My bill has never even approached $750. The most I have spent since going raw is $150 or $175 and that was only because I forgot to place an order with HT and had to buy all commercial.
I have saved money since feeding raw as opposed to when I fed only canned food.
Please stop running with the $750/month number like it is correct. :-)
Hey there. I just used Primal's food calculator to project for a 12lb cat - I couldn't spend that kind of money if I wanted to. As 2B pointed out, I think the 2.3 pounds per month refers to the freeze dried rehydrated.
That's really ill-advised on Primal's part BTW - why would they make someone add the weight of the water when it's a given, plus it makes the cost seem prohibitive.
According to the Stella and Chewy's small packets you're talking about a bag a week per cat or so, a little over $100 per cat (but that's for a 6-7 pound cat, 2 of mine are 12 and I would consider them average size.) So that's what. $350 -$400 for three cats is still pretty hefty, but I bet I can get that down with some combination of canned.
@Maureen Bradley I so agree about considering that raw food might not be an option if the cats ended up with different caretakers through some tragic event. What I love though, you can keep the freeze dried in an emergency kit for them, though I doubt keeping it in a hot car in the summer is a good idea.
I just bought a bunch of S & C by using Pet360's first time buyer discount. Got it down to about $17 for a 12 ounce bag.
Primal is sending me a starter pack and some coupons.
I never have tried the frozen raw - any thoughts on that?
That's really ill-advised on Primal's part BTW - why would they make someone add the weight of the water when it's a given, plus it makes the cost seem prohibitive.
According to the Stella and Chewy's small packets you're talking about a bag a week per cat or so, a little over $100 per cat (but that's for a 6-7 pound cat, 2 of mine are 12 and I would consider them average size.) So that's what. $350 -$400 for three cats is still pretty hefty, but I bet I can get that down with some combination of canned.
@Maureen Bradley I so agree about considering that raw food might not be an option if the cats ended up with different caretakers through some tragic event. What I love though, you can keep the freeze dried in an emergency kit for them, though I doubt keeping it in a hot car in the summer is a good idea.
I just bought a bunch of S & C by using Pet360's first time buyer discount. Got it down to about $17 for a 12 ounce bag.
Primal is sending me a starter pack and some coupons.
I never have tried the frozen raw - any thoughts on that?
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I used to mix freeze-dried and frozen Primal for our cats, in slightly varying blends because it made the food seem different enough for them... but then they decided they preferred just having the freeze-dried food. Of course I don't really understand that but they're happy and freeze-dried is far more convenient anyway. If you want to try Primal's frozen foods, my suggestion would be to try the Primal Pronto because the bags are small. Try it in all sorts of configurations and blends if they won't eat it. With any of Primal's frozen foods, our cats would only eat it if it was mushed up with extra water.
Which leads me to suspect the reason they prefer the freeze-dried foods is that it makes more satisfying chunks for them: the picky cat really seems to prefer Primal chunky. (She likes to pick up pieces of the food and shake them a little and, even fully rehydrated, Primal's freeze-dried seems to stay in pieces better than the frozen.) Of course she won't eat from a whole thawed frozen nugget, though, and I now think it has to be the mushier texture. Trying to figure cats out is a losing battle!
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That's a really good point LisaHE, I've noticed the same, if I make it too mushy and less chunky, they aren't as interested. Maybe that's also why some cats prefer chunky or shredded meats in canned foods vs pate. Interesting. So even if you break up the pieces of a thawed nugget in chunks your cats aren't as interested? I thought maybe it also had to do with smell, the FD is smellier than the thawed raw.
Which leads me to suspect the reason they prefer the freeze-dried foods is that it makes more satisfying chunks for them: the picky cat really seems to prefer Primal chunky. (She likes to pick up pieces of the food and shake them a little and, even fully rehydrated, Primal's freeze-dried seems to stay in pieces better than the frozen.) Of course she won't eat from a whole thawed frozen nugget, though, and I now think it has to be the mushier texture. Trying to figure cats out is a losing battle!
Good point: our cats are definite shreds-over-pates cats. And you're correct: the cats don't seem to like the thawed nuggets in pieces. Or Pronto served "as is," in its original shape. Nope. Who knows, though, maybe Ireland has changed her mind? (It's happened before!)
Stella & Chewy's frozen, BTW, is a somewhat similar situation: they'll eat it, in the pieces, but much prefer the freeze-dried.
It's funny what you say about the smell: I agree that the smells of frozen and freeze-dried are different but think the frozen smells more in both brands!
It's funny what you say about the smell: I agree that the smells of frozen and freeze-dried are different but think the frozen smells more in both brands!
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The frozen raw has a stronger smell to *your* human sense of smell but to a cats' nose .... well, that's a whole other animal.
Have a great day and thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!
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Or I wonder if the freeze-dried food, which smells so nothing-like to me smells like pure meat to the cats? They sniff-sniff-sniff as soon as I start crumbling it!
The frozen raw has a stronger smell to *your* human sense of smell but to a cats' nose .... well, that's a whole other animal.
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I think so -- one of my cats (Molly above, my icon) barely gives me a chance to hydrate the FD food; I always do, but I have to move from one counter to another to prepare it, she has no manners
, jumping up on the counter and wanting it the minute I start to crumble it! The frozen raw - any frozen raw, forget it, zero interest although we had a little success the other day with Rad Cat and a FD boar treat sprinkled on top.
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Yes, it's funny about preparing the freeze-dried stuff: I have to do it at a counter where I can stand so the cats don't jump on either the counter or on my back! And it's funny, too, that they like Rad Cat more but don't get nearly as worked up when I plate it
I think so -- one of my cats (Molly above, my icon) barely gives me a chance to hydrate the FD food; I always do, but I have to move from one counter to another to prepare it, she has no manners
2bcat- Sorry, I didn't see where you corrected to $250.
Reba- They don't sell frozen S&C's for cats in CA. so I have never tried it. I
did feed Primal frozen grinds when I first began feeding raw. The cats ate it just fine but, they have far more enthusiasm for the HT. I also used to keep at least one bag of the frozen nuggets around. Sometimes the cats liked them sometimes they didn't.I liked to have it in case I was going away for the day or night. I always thought it was easy for whomever was watching the cats to feed.
Since I began feeding HT I buy a lbs of quail and a lbs of duck I mix them up and put them in ice cube trays. When they are frozen I pop them out and into a ziplock bag. They are 2 oz cubes and now when I need someone to feed the cats those are ready and easy to feed.
$17 for a bag of the freeze dried is a great price. Where I live the pet food store has a year around deal of buy 3 get one free. I buy 4 bags a few times a year because I don't feed it more than once or twice a week. I do sometimes give them a little for a treat .
Reba- They don't sell frozen S&C's for cats in CA. so I have never tried it. I
did feed Primal frozen grinds when I first began feeding raw. The cats ate it just fine but, they have far more enthusiasm for the HT. I also used to keep at least one bag of the frozen nuggets around. Sometimes the cats liked them sometimes they didn't.I liked to have it in case I was going away for the day or night. I always thought it was easy for whomever was watching the cats to feed.
Since I began feeding HT I buy a lbs of quail and a lbs of duck I mix them up and put them in ice cube trays. When they are frozen I pop them out and into a ziplock bag. They are 2 oz cubes and now when I need someone to feed the cats those are ready and easy to feed.
$17 for a bag of the freeze dried is a great price. Where I live the pet food store has a year around deal of buy 3 get one free. I buy 4 bags a few times a year because I don't feed it more than once or twice a week. I do sometimes give them a little for a treat .
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Spending $200-$240 a month to feed two cats - that made me choke!!!
I aim to keep my cat food bill to around $80/month for two big and still-growing cats (12 & 13 lbs). I feed similarly to Maureen. I make homemade raw or semi-cooked foods made up from supplies bought online (Hare Today) and locally bought meats and supplements using the recipes posted here. There's a bit of a learning curve, but on balance I probably spend less time making food than I'd spend searching for and pricing commercial food suppliers. And it's the kind of effort that makes you feel good, instead of like a sucker-consumer. Actually...it's fun, I enjoy "cooking" for my cats.
here's the math: My cats eat 9 oz/day of raw food between them, which is about 16-17 lbs a month. I average around $4.50-$5/lb including shipping and supplements, and that includes plenty of "luxury" meats like rabbit, goat and mutton. And I could definitely spend less if I really put my mind to it. There are people on this board who feed frankenprey or grind their own chicken thighs, and they may average only $2-3/lb. I started doing this when I calculated that commercial raw and high quality canned foods are $8 a pound AND UP. Just think of what you're paying for left over animal parts plus a few supplements.
I do keep some freeze dried/dehydrated foods around for emergencies, and I appreciate that they exist for this reason. The commercial raw foods are also highly useful for transitioning a cat to raw foods. Once you're there though, do consider switching to homemade. There's no doubt that commercial foods can be quite convenient (once you've bought them anyway), but you do have a choice. LIke, you can put that extra $150 or so a month toward paying off your mortgage or credit card. And it's remarkably freeing to take responsibility for your cat's diet into your own hands, instead of feeling like you must rely on the pet food companies. I mean, you do that for yourself and your kids, why not your cats?
I aim to keep my cat food bill to around $80/month for two big and still-growing cats (12 & 13 lbs). I feed similarly to Maureen. I make homemade raw or semi-cooked foods made up from supplies bought online (Hare Today) and locally bought meats and supplements using the recipes posted here. There's a bit of a learning curve, but on balance I probably spend less time making food than I'd spend searching for and pricing commercial food suppliers. And it's the kind of effort that makes you feel good, instead of like a sucker-consumer. Actually...it's fun, I enjoy "cooking" for my cats.
here's the math: My cats eat 9 oz/day of raw food between them, which is about 16-17 lbs a month. I average around $4.50-$5/lb including shipping and supplements, and that includes plenty of "luxury" meats like rabbit, goat and mutton. And I could definitely spend less if I really put my mind to it. There are people on this board who feed frankenprey or grind their own chicken thighs, and they may average only $2-3/lb. I started doing this when I calculated that commercial raw and high quality canned foods are $8 a pound AND UP. Just think of what you're paying for left over animal parts plus a few supplements.
I do keep some freeze dried/dehydrated foods around for emergencies, and I appreciate that they exist for this reason. The commercial raw foods are also highly useful for transitioning a cat to raw foods. Once you're there though, do consider switching to homemade. There's no doubt that commercial foods can be quite convenient (once you've bought them anyway), but you do have a choice. LIke, you can put that extra $150 or so a month toward paying off your mortgage or credit card. And it's remarkably freeing to take responsibility for your cat's diet into your own hands, instead of feeling like you must rely on the pet food companies. I mean, you do that for yourself and your kids, why not your cats?
Hi Maureen, sounds like you shop at Pet Food Express. They've opened up a few locations in SoCal and I like their pricing on canned foods. Also, wanted to mention that I have seen frozen S&C's at quite a few independent stores in SoCal, so it might be up your way by now or hopefully soon (maybe some other retailer?). I was feeding the rabbit for a while, but Abby wouldn't eat it and Tim had problems when he ate it. It's extremely high-fat for rabbit, and S&C achieves that by adding olive oil; I think that is what gave my guy the runs each time he ate it.
