I personally am very interested in switching Coda over to a pure raw diet, the prey model, but having the budgeting problems I have I am unsure I will be able to do so money wise. I was wondering on average how much more expensive is feeding raw and what would you recomend for a secondary alternative? meat based kibble with raw? until I am financially able to switch Coda over to the diet.

When I fed Koda raw it only cost me a max of 45 bucks a month, usually way less if I stuck to the less expensive meats.. it's not expensive at all really, especially if you have an asian market. I only don't feed it now as not enough freezer space and my husband is more comfortable not feeding it since vets scared him to death.

wow that sounds less expensive then kibble. How did the vet scare him? a Vet also told my friend dogs are omnivores. Doesnt mean there right just because they are a vet.

A lot of vets say raw is bad and will give your dog salmonella and kill them. She told him a greyhound team here had several members die from raw. He just doesn't feel comfortable with anything aside a weekly recreational bone. It's just in the back if his mind that Koda could get sick, we fed him raw from 6 months to almost a year and a half (stopped when we moved and had no space), no issues, and all my friends who feed raw, which is a lot, all have done great. He's just not wanting to worry, especially with the little one he isn't ok with feeding right now. Maybe when she is older I can feed them the more luxurious meats occasionally since chicken and beef freak him(especially after I got salmonella a few weeks ago). I hate vets that give me their opinion when I didn't ask about food, lol, same ones recommending Purina. If they woulda been quiet he'd of been fine.

But yeah. If you know where to get cheaper meat from, it's very affordable. Most expensive part was organs. I usually spent $30 dollars because at my Asian market a lot of stuff was wrapped at a pound and between 67-89 cents per a lb, I think the most one meal cost was 1.89 or so. And you can buy big things of ribs or chicken thighs/quarters cheap often.

I find raw to be cheaper than kibble for the most part. It may balance out if you can't find organs for cheap which is the case for me.

I would go around and check out butchers, asian and/or mexican markets, supermarkets, anywhere that you might be able to get your meat from, and find out how much different meats, parts, and organs will cost you. Write them down and compare costs, driving distance, availability and also find out if you can get a discount for bulk purchases. I'd also check and see if their is a local group that you can get in on large bulk raw meat purchases that help everyone lower their individual cost.

I would definitely invest in a good size freezer (if you don't already have one) so that you can stock up on meat, especially handy when it goes on sale and when you buy in bulk. I have a 15 cu ft freezer in my garage that is always filled to the top with food, plus the freezer portion of my fridge/freezer in the house is always packed as well. lol Granted we do have some of our human food in the freezers alongside the meat we buy for the dogs. I would get the largest freezer you can afford and/or fit in your house/garage. Nothing like coming home with 60+ lbs of raw meat and trying to figure out how you'll fit it in your freezer (yep, been there!).

I also like to keep an eye on weekly grocery store sale ads. They regularly have various meats drop down to $1/lb or less. When they do I make a trip to the store and stock up. My personal, self-imposed price limit for non-organ meat is $1/lb or less. For organs I won't spend more than $1.50/lb which is really hard for me since organs in my area are expensive. Luckily we don't need organ all that much, plus we feed only partial raw so I don't care if we go longer periods without an organ purchase. Of course on a true PMR diet you'll have to get organs in at least once a week, thankfully it's such a small portion of the diet, only 10%.

Btw Robert, dogs technically are omnivores. Cats are true carnivores, but dogs are not. With that said there's also nothing wrong with feeding a PMR diet to a dog, it really is the best thing for them. So while they are still omnivores, most of us subscribe to an exclusively or mostly carnivorous diet for our canines.

Edited to add: Also keep an eye on meat around and especially after holidays. I've found that meat will often go on sale around holidays and after the holidays it's sometimes marked down really low to help the store clear out all the meat they stocked up on for the holiday. For example you can often find awesome deals on turkeys marked way down after Thanksgiving! I'll buy them up at the discounted prices and just cut them up myself at home.

Huskyluv wrote:

Btw Robert, dogs technically are omnivores. Cats are true carnivores, but dogs are not. With that said there's also nothing wrong with feeding a PMR diet to a dog, it really is the best thing for them. So while they are still omnivores, most of us subscribe to an exclusively or mostly carnivorous diet for our canines..

This is actually a very large misconception that many people beleive and is an ongoing debate. Omnivore animals are animals that feed off both meat and plants in the wild and have adapted this way through thousands to millions of years of evolution due to diet constraints. These animals (such as primates including human beings) developed means to digest and consume both meat and plants. This very importantly includes the teeth of the animal. Consider us, human beings, we have k=9s and incisors to rip and tear flesh. Then we have our flat molars for chewing plants and grains. If you look at the teeth of a dog there are a set of large sharp carnivourous teeth. No molars for chewing plants. Dogs will and can eat vegatables or fruits but they are not designed to digest it properly. Many people think because they can and will eat plants that they are omnivores including some vets and other individuals but when you research zoology and evolution and look into the makings of the modern domesticated dog they are a subspecies of the grey wolf who also is considered by many to be an omnivore because they claim they eat the stomach contents of there prey, but if you look into that eye witnesses of feild scientists studying wolves say they tear open the stomach and dump out the contents and only eat the contents of small prey's because they swallow it whole. Also on that note compare this to the sea gull. The gulls are birds of prey. They are carnivores and hunt small fish. Where i come from there are a billion sea gulls, they eat french fries bread and cigarette butts, but that does not mean the species is not a carnivore.

http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html

I agree with you that it's an ongoing debate but I don't consider it a myth or misconception. While I personally believe and consider dogs to be carnivores, I will concede to the notion that they are classed as omnivores when it comes down to serious debate and discussion. I am very well aware of the site you linked to and have followed a different raw fed dogs site owner on dog feeding forums for quite a while. The subject has come up many a time and has time and time again been debated to the death. I agree that dogs are carnivores, but technically they are classed as omnivores and I don't expect that classification to change anytime soon. They are not obligate carnivores like cats and actually can derive nutrition from plant based matter when plant cell walls are broken down via processes like cooking. Do I believe in feeding plant matter to dogs? No. Do I go around telling people that dogs are omnivores? No, I actually tell people that they are carnivores but when it comes down to what they are actually officially classified as, they are technically considered omnivores whether we like it or not...that's all I was trying to say. I really don't want to go down the road of debating this classification because it rarely goes peacefully or ends well. But trust me, we are on the same page!

Ok well i wanna fight!
hahaha I'm just joking, the problem with reading peoples comments instead of hearing them is the lack of tone of voice. I definitally understand where your comming from! I in no way intended to start a debate! I was raised by two teachers for parents and adapted this need to inform people on things they may or may not know about. I agree with everything you say 100%. Classifications mean nothing anyways its just a word. I can class me, you and our dogs as the cool carnivores, add a page on wikipedia and it's fact... right? well its done. We are now the cool carnivores! No actual page on wikipedia because I'm lazy.

and by the way thank you for all the info on how much it will cost for raw feeding by the way since thats what this was actually about haha

rs_oldford wrote:

We are now the cool carnivores!

Awesome!

No harm done, and I agree it's hard to gauge comments with lack of intonation via posts/messaging, etc. I hope you find some good prices on meat locally. I found it a bit more challenging when I was first starting out but once you get into a groove and have a nice size supply in your freezer it only gets easier.

Oh and if you hunt or know of any hunters locally you might be able to score really cheap or free meat that way. I know some people advertise on Craigslist asking for free meat but I won't do it or recommend it simply because I worry about the safety aspect of taking meat from strangers. I know plenty of people do it and have not had any problems, it's just not something I could ever risk personally.

Raw was costing me a fortune; I couldn't find chicken quarters for a good price and organs were pretty expensive. I was buying everything from Publix; both butchers in my area refuse to sell bulk meat to raw feeders because they said they never come pick up the meat they order.

I was finally able to find quarters for around 65-70 cents/lb from a small chain grocery store/butcher in a nearby town and CHEAP organs from a local asian market. Needless to say, raw has just become cheaper than feeding a high quality kibble - finally!

You just have to be persistent and shop around for deals; if not, raw could end up costing a lot. ;_;

My boyfriend actually recommended contacting local hunters for meat/organs but like Val said, I just don't feel comfortable getting meat from a stranger. If anything ever happened to Drogo, I would die. ;_;

I find feeding Skye on raw much cheaper than buying canned dog food. A couple of quid ($3)for a box of 12 chicken wings, 70p ($1) for a couple of lbs of cow liver, and I'm paying 70p per lb for raw green tripe and minced beef. I still feed her small amounts of top quality Arden Grange kibble with her meals, mainly because we bought a hundred weight sack of the stuff when we rescued her.