Raw feeding - cost?

[p13m4n]

Welp, I'm out of kibble, and am thinking of switching to raw feeding. Budget is a bit of a constraint, however. I feed Orijen at the moment, about $80 for a 30 lbs. bag that lasts 6 weeks.

So, can anyone come up with a ballpark figure of a monthly cost for feeding meat/organs/bones for a Golden Retriever in Toronto? My dog's 27.8 kilograms (61.3 pounds), and according to this calculator, I need to feed him 834 grams (1.84 pounds) per day total. Also, any insight on game meats? Can anyone recommend any cheap butcher/processor/farmer/etc. as well? I don't have a car, so my options are kind of limited. Maybe pets.ca Torontonians should have some sort of group buy? Discuss!

Thanks in advance.

[bendyfoot]

If you look at grocery store flyers and watch for deals, you should never have to pay more than $0.99/lb for things like chicken quarters, pork shoulders, sometimes boneless pork loin, ground beef. Some stores like Food Basics have ongoing "bulk" deals for some meats, like chicken quarters for $1.22/lb.

Make friends with small local butcher (i.e. start buying all your own meat there). Ask for bulk deals on things like chicken backs/necks and organs. We can get about 20 lbs of liver, heart and tongue for like 8$, and we all the chicken scraps/backs for free.

If you know any hunters, ask them for their freezer burn/end of season stuff when hunting seasons start. I scored a lot of freebies that way.

It's hard to say exactly what you'll need to feed your dog by weight alone. What you've got is a good starting point but you'll have to adjust up or down depending on their body condition over time. For example, I have two dogs who are roughly 55 lbs each. One I would feed a chicken quarter (i.e. a thigh and a drumstick) plus a bite of offal for the day, while the other would get closer to 2.5-3 chicken quarters/day.

We feed all 3 dogs and 3 cats for less than 40$/week, if that gives you an idea.

[Etown_Chick]

bendy,
being able to feed chicken is a huge savings when it comes to raw..I dont have that luxury with Scruffy and cost is the biggest reason I dont do it daily. THat, and lack of freezer space.
p13m4n - nothing wrong with game. I was lucky enough to get some deer in teh fall, including bones. Scruffy thought he was in puppy heaven when he got a chunk of that. Plus it's hormone and antibiotic free!

[Phoebespeople]

Anything under $1.79/pound. That's what I look for when I go to the grocery store. Whole stewing hens, whole mature turkey, whole mature duck, chicken backs, turkey necks, pork beck bones, pork shoulder/picnic, beef liver, beef kidney, chicken liver, gizzard, lamb bones, beef marrow bones, frozen mackerel, sardines... anything. As long as it's under $1.79.lb, I'm always on the lookout for sales on meat.
80% meat, 10%bone, 10% organ.
Phoebe is 45 lbs and one year old, so she gets almost 1lb/day.
That is $55.49 a month. Plus $10.00 for several meals of green lamb tripe from the raw pet food store, $12.00 for 4 months worth of salmon oil, and $4.50 for 6 months worth of alphalfa/kelp powder, I really don't think I can pay less for premium kibble.
We also consider how much $$$ we are going to save in vet bills over her life.
In my opinion, Raw is cheap!

[bendyfoot]

where do you get your salmon oil at such a good price???

[Phoebespeople]

Our local raw food supplier has bottles of wild Alaska salmon oil, the large size lasts several months and it's quite cheap.
If you were to look for salmon oil in the human health food store it would probably be four times the price.

[bendyfoot]

Do you know if they ship itn elsewhere in Canada?

[Phoebespeople]

I just had a look at my bottle and it's $18.50 for the large bottle, not $12.00. My mistake, but it's still really cheap. The place I get it from is Buddies Natural Pet Food in Saanich.

http://www.buddiesnaturalpetfood.ca/

They might ship, they are really nice so you might want to ask them.

[Marcha]

Wow. Buddies is right around the corner from us (less than a 10 minute drive) and I'd never heard of them!
Thanks for the heads-up - I'll be sure to check them out.

[erykah1310]

It costs me 1.25 per day per dog to feed raw (Border Collie, Tibetan Mastiff and Rottie/boxer mix)
Just have to find a good "supplier"

[C&TMOM]

I have 2 dogs, a pug and a golden retriever, it costs me

about $150 per mth for 2 dogs, i do get my meat from my

local meat wholesale, the most expensive meat i get is

beef sirloin tip and rabbit. i still can keep the budge around

$150 per mth. my golden gets about 1.8 lbs per day.

if u can find a wholesale, then it wont cost u a lot.