All canned or some homemade... What's cheaper?

[rjesak]

Ok, first of all, I'll do ANYTHING for my cats so if all canned or all homemade is better, I'll go that route. If I can save some money AND have happy healthy kitties by introducing more homemade food, then I'd like to do that.

Here's the deal. I have six cats and recently began the transition to canned food (from really crappy dry - I'm not telling you what brand. I'm too ashamed). Because of where I live, finding a mostly meat canned food has been difficult. I've found an all natural pet store on line where I can order, but, of course, now I'm also paying shipping charges. Basically my pets food has skyrocketed from $10 a month for cheap old dry food in a 20 pound bag to $70 for canned all-meat natural. They love the food (and doing it this way will help get my one overweight cat down on his pounds) but I'd like to save some bucks if I can.

Does anyone have any ideas on how the costs work out? I've never made homemade food for my cats (aside from the cheese omelettes I make them with the egg yolks when I make myself the egg-white one - Man, they get ALL the good stuff!!!). So anyway, any suggestions? Thoughts?

Thanks all. I can't tell you how much I love this forum.

[want4rain]

i started out home made and it was pretty complicated. now im doing raw and its far less complicated and far far cheaper. AND its a carnivores diet... not an omnivores.

-ashley

[mummummum]

So much depends on the food costs in your location and your ability/ the cost of your ability to travel to food stores. For many people, feeding raw or homemade is far less expensive, for others it is a monstrous cost. This is something only you can figure out ~ but be warned, it means watching ALL the flyers and shopping weekly for bargains. It also means knowing where your food comes from to ensure it is harvested in a sustainable manner and will not come with tainted or poisonous preservatives. Just like you would with food that you eat right?

[want4rain]

yep, we are very lucky we found a supplier that, while its the high end of what we are willing to pay, its still within the window and its always there. i can find better deals more often than not but it took a while to get to that point and i have a back up thats acceptable.

the home made was probably just as expensive, or a touch cheaper but it took A LOT of time to prepare for my 4 cats and 90lb dog. many folks feel its less worrysome than raw too.

i averaged out the prices of food in MY area (NC, USA)-

roughly daily:
home made $0.40- $0.50
raw $0.45-$0.55
canned $1.75-$2.50 (non-holistic-holistic grain free)

so research it well!! not just HOW but whats it cost too.

-ash

[rjesak]

Wow, I just looked at some homemade recipes and it looks really hard! I don't think I'd be able to keep it up reliably. I guess I'll just stick with the canned natural they like along with their weekly omellette snack.

[Love4himies]

You could supplement their canned with some extra meat you cook for yourself at dinner time. I do that for my cats. If I have chicken they get a specially half cooked piece (the juicier, the better) that doesn't have any spices, garlic, onions added. They love beef cooked extremely rare. This way I don't have to worry that they are getting all their vitamins, but still get what nature intends for them to eat also.

[CyberKitten]

For me, just as I would assess for my patients (unless of it s a drug issue and I need to find a med they can afford that will work as well as something more expensive - say for nausea) , I think the better question is what's healthier and while I have a bias because it;s what I do, I say home made. I do on occasion give them some "store bought" (wholesale) "junk food treats" since I myself have been know n to frequent the Golden Arches, lol -. Sop,, I think it is how best you assess your pets' needs and then work from there in consultation with a vet or with a nutritionist who specializes in creating pet food. I consulted a nutrition prof at a local vet univ to create my cats' diet and they are thriving. I highly recommend that route.

I hate to admit it took the scares of the tainted food for me to do that tho, sigh!!