Alternative to Stella and Chewys raw freeze dried food

[maureen brad]

Hi Abby- I do shop at Pet Food Express. I asked one of the managers there about the frozen S&C's today. He said that they just haven't expanded that line to Northern CA.-yet- I will try it if they do, at least on occasion.I like HT very much and have no plans to feed exclusively commercial again. It was a great way to start but my cats love their HT.Still, I like to change it up here and there.

One of my cats likes the freeze dried more than other raw. I have to hide my bags of FD high up in a cabinet that he can't climb up to.Sometimes he sits on the floor gazing at that cabinet and whining.

 

[1dog4cats]

Everyone refers to HT. What is it?

 

[Columbine]

I think HT is Hare Today - an East Coast company suppling frozen raw ground meats (don't think they do complete foods though...strictly a 'make your own' system).

 

[reba]

Thank you!  I've been scratching my head over that for a week.

Another thank you to everyone on this thread, because of the advice I've been able to transition two of my cats to about 50% freeze dried raw and a third to 70% (my IBD kitty).  I'm really happy.  I was having a heck of a time trying to get them to eat grain free and now they are back to eating robustly. 

It is a little more expensive, but I think I can work it out so it's not that much more.  I got about 6 bags of Stella and Chew's for $16 each by using a first time buyer coupon at Pet360. 

I'm looking for a cheaper grain free food.  I have to feed IBD kitty limited ingredient, but the other two I can be more flexible with.  Does anybody have any suggestions? 

 

[lisamarie12]

 
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?

Wow Sophie, that's fantastic that you've kept the costs down to under $100.  I need to explore HT more, the grinds and supps. My main obstacle has been Molly, she won't eat any thawed raw which is why I get so much FD and still a little canned. Mikey will eat anything, I think he likes his thawed raw more than the FD even. Thanks for the info.

 

[lisamarie12]

 
Thank you!  I've been scratching my head over that for a week.

Another thank you to everyone on this thread, because of the advice I've been able to transition two of my cats to about 50% freeze dried raw and a third to 70% (my IBD kitty).  I'm really happy.  I was having a heck of a time trying to get them to eat grain free and now they are back to eating robustly. 

It is a little more expensive, but I think I can work it out so it's not that much more.  I got about 6 bags of Stella and Chew's for $16 each by using a first time buyer coupon at Pet360. 

I'm looking for a cheaper grain free food.  I have to feed IBD kitty limited ingredient, but the other two I can be more flexible with.  Does anybody have any suggestions? 

Excellent - congratulations!!! My IBD Mikey is doing so much better also on commercial raw, his IBD symptoms now non-existent.

That is really wonderful news, so glad it seems to be working out for you!

 

[reba]

Thanks!  Now I can start weaning him off the prednisolone completely.  He was only taking half a tablet a day, but his tummy seemed to get worse when I tried to wean him off it.  He also would have specs of blood on his stool and I'm curious to see if that has disappeared.

 

[maureen brad]

Sophie- I agree with you. Commercial has it's place and it is certainly so much better than kibble. I started with commercial and it did help me transition the cats. That enabled me to relax and take my time as far as research about doing it myself.

For awhile I did start buying some meats locally and de-boning ( I only have a food processor) I did cook it a little because my Remy(RIP) had FIV.Once I ordered from HT that was it.I can't find meat around here as inexpensive as HT , even with shipping, the fact that it had the bone and organs was great.

The fact that my cats inhale it, even better. If I order at least 2 months at a time I can keep my costs to about $125 per month. I have three cats.

The only problem I have right now is that March thru November HT will not process 4 day ground shipping. I just paid a fortune for three day air.

I am investigating the local coop for the summer months.

It is kind of a hassle because you have to buy cases of each individual meat . They say most people find others to divide the cases up with. I will check it out.

I am not ( at this time) going to get a grinder. I just want to feed more and more chucks and whole organs.

 

[beesto]

 
I can't find meat around here as inexpensive as HT , even with shipping, the fact that it had the bone and organs was great.

The fact that my cats inhale it, even better. If I order at least 2 months at a time I can keep my costs to about $125 per month. I have three cats.

The only problem I have right now is that March thru November HT will not process 4 day ground shipping. I just paid a fortune for three day air.

I am investigating the local coop for the summer months.

It is kind of a hassle because you have to buy cases of each individual meat . They say most people find others to divide the cases up with. I will check it out.

I am not ( at this time) going to get a grinder. I just want to feed more and more chucks and whole organs.

Hi Maureen,

I'm also in the Bay Area, CA and checked out that Fremont coop and was intimidated by the membership fee and the whole dividing up all your cases.  Did you find out more about dividing it all up.  It seemed so complicated since you need so many different kinds of meats/organs/etc.  I am doing commercial now and wanting to do homemade after research.  I was surprised to hear that Hare Today is cheaper than buying meats locally.  But then are you saying that with the three day air is not cheaper than buying locally.  I really don't know too much about the costs of any of it.  I heard going to Asian markets is a good deal and has a lot of the variety of meats and meat parts you need.  Thanks for any input.

 

[maureen brad]

Beesto- Hi! No I didn't check out everything about the coop yet. I just ordered a huge amount from HT.That should last for about 2/12 to 3 months.I really do not want to get a grinder.I know myself and having just used a food processor it is more than I want to do. I just want to mix, chunk and add supplement and freeze. I think if I start the whole grinding thing within a few months I will just slack off and not do it anymore.

last I looked in on the coop was months ago but that time they were also offering grinds. I will check again soon . It seems that sometimes all they have are huge amounts that you would have to grind.

As far as HT, yes the air fare is a killer. It does save to buy large amounts. At least that way you don't pay shipping so often. In the winter you can do a 4 day ground shipping and that is around $35-$45 , not bad for the quality and the ease of it all.

I haven't decided what to do yet. I will look into the coop again. I may however, just end up biting the bullet in July and order another big batch of HT.

Have you decided to buy a grinder and go all the way? I admire that but have to be honest with myself about what I will and won't do.

If I find out anything I will let you know. I do think that there is an e-mail list of member for the coop and maybe it is possible to contact other members and arrange to divide up orders.

I can't remember if they expect people to volunteer. i would have a problem doing that. I only have 1 day a week off and it is already hard to get everything I need to do done

 

[jwoolman]

Don't know if this will help, since you folks are more ambitious than I am, but I have an elderly very skinny cat who is picky about texture. I thought for years that he didn't like canned food (would just lick off the juices) but turned out it was the texture he disliked. He had always been that way according to his former pet human (he was 8 years old and set in his ways when he arrived here). If I purée canned food (Tribest personal blender with mason jar attachment takes just a couple of minutes including cleaning), he loves any brand I've tried. But I get kind of nauseated by the smell and sometimes can't deal with it, so resort to pure meat baby food sometimes. He's a nibbler by nature, so I feed him up on the desk on demand (I can't bend down at the moment due to a nerve issue). So the smell issue can't be avoided for me.

He also loves Stella & Chewie texture, especially if I offer it by hand nugget by nugget when he hops up on my office desk while I'm working (he's like that with dry food sometimes in his old age, otherwise he's very low maintenance). My calculations show that that cost of S&C per calorie really isn't significantly different than the cost of all-meat baby food (Beechnut is the only one available here). It's more expensive than puréed canned food (I get high quality human-grade) but that's offset by the fact that it doesn't nauseate ME.... And the difference isn't that big. He also chows down on dry food when I'm in bed, don't know how much he gets because his foster daughter is a Miss Piggy. He's the only one getting S&C, though. So I can see the cost would be a problem for multiple cats, but not necessarily as bad as it sounds.