# Cost of Raw/Homecooked vs Commercial Dry Kibble



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

I know quite a few members here feed either a raw diet or homecooked diet, and I was really curious on the difference in price in that vs feeding a high quality dry kibble (like Orijen 6 Fresh Fish).

I pay about $70 for a 29.7-lb bag of Orijen 6 Fresh Fish, and between both dogs they eat 1 cup total per day.

The raw medallions seem like they would cost 5-10 times as much as feeding a high quality dry kibble...is it really that much higher in price?

What about homecooked diets + added vitamins/supplements? I don't think I would want to homecook (unless I could prepare 1 week's worth in advance) but I am curious.

:blush:


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## myfairlacy (Dec 28, 2007)

I used to feed my dogs Nature's Variety raw medallions. Lacy is 8lbs (w/ a high metabolism) and Rylie is 7lbs. Lacy ate 4 medallions a day and Rylie ate 2.5. so I was going through 6.5 medallions each day. Each bag has 48 medallions and is $14-$18 depending on the type of meat. So for both of my dogs I was spending about $65-$70 total a month feeding my two dogs.

Now I feed a combo of Homecooked and Ziwi Peak dehydrated raw. I probably spend about $40-$50 a month on the homecooked, and a 2.2lb bag of Ziwi Peak is $25 and lasts me about 3 weeks. So I guess I probably spend about $75 a month feeding them the combo of homecooked & dehydrated raw.

I think both of your malts are smaller than my two yorkies so you might end up spending slightly less than I do. It also really depends on the brand of raw you choose and what kind of homecooked recipe you choose.

I do give fish oil and coconut oil but otherwise I give no additional supplements. My nutritionist said my dogs would get all they needed from the combo of homecooked and raw. They just had bloodwork done on Friday and it came back perfect so it must be true


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

I don't know exactly how much I spend on Nikki's home cooking as I haven't figured it out lately, but I believe that it is around 1 dollar a day. It's hard to compare the price of home cooking to the price of kibble, because you are getting so much more for your money with home cooking, imo. The money is just a small part of it all.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Nikki's Mom said:


> I don't know exactly how much I spend on Nikki's home cooking as I haven't figured it out lately, but I believe that it is around 1 dollar a day. *It's hard to compare the price of home cooking to the price of kibble, because you are getting so much more for your money with home cooking, imo. The money is just a small part of it all*.


I hear you on that and completely agree. I know how much healthier homecooking and/or raw can be and it seems like everyone who has ever tried it has seen great results.

I definitely know raw/dehydrated medallions isn't in my budget if it's $70 a month! lol


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

You could home cook for them and freeze up to a weeks worth. I add the Animal Essential supplements including the probiotics and either some kind of fish oil or coconut oil.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

LJSquishy said:


> I hear you on that and completely agree. I know how much healthier homecooking and/or raw can be and it seems like everyone who has ever tried it has seen great results.
> 
> I definitely know raw/dehydrated medallions isn't in my budget if it's $70 a month! lol



I thought I'd change up Nikki's food a little and decided to give raw bison a shot. 

I thought I'd ordered a small bag of Paw Naturaw DEHYDRATED organic raw bison medallions, but what I really ordered by mistake was a bag of organic FROZEN raw bison medallions. LOL, I can't really get Nikki to eat them, as she is used to eating her food warm, and you can't really warm these up too much, or you'll kill the vitamins. They weren't as expensive as the dehydrated. I'll sneak some into her food from time to time. :thumbsup:

But it all worked out okay, as I figured out that the dehydrated raw organic medallions would cost too much money. But they'd be great for travel. 

Let's face it, home cooking is more expensive and time consuming. But I never have to run Nikki over to the vet with little annoying allergy issues or other issues due to food allergies/sensitivities. So I think it probably balances out in the long run. 

I don't know, maybe I'm a control freak - I like to know exactly what is in all of the food that comes into the house, and if I make Nikki's food myself, I have control. I guess I'll have to live with myself, lol.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

LJSquishy said:


> I hear you on that and completely agree. I know how much healthier homecooking and/or raw can be and it seems like everyone who has ever tried it has seen great results.
> 
> I definitely know raw/dehydrated medallions isn't in my budget if it's $70 a month! lol



I thought I'd change up Nikki's food a little and decided to give raw bison a shot. 

I thought I'd ordered a small bag of Paw Naturaw DEHYDRATED organic raw bison medallions, but what I really ordered by mistake was a bag of organic FROZEN raw bison medallions. LOL, I can't really get Nikki to eat them, as she is used to eating her food warm, and you can't really warm these up too much, or you'll kill the vitamins. They weren't as expensive as the dehydrated. I'll sneak some into her food from time to time. :thumbsup:

But it all worked out okay, as I figured out that the dehydrated raw organic medallions would cost too much money. But they'd be great for travel. 

Let's face it, home cooking is more expensive and time consuming. But I never have to run Nikki over to the vet with little annoying allergy issues or other issues due to food allergies/sensitivities. So I think it probably balances out in the long run. 

I don't know, maybe I'm a control freak - I like to know exactly what is in all of the food that comes into the house, and if I make Nikki's food myself, I have control. I guess I'll have to live with myself like that, lol.


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## myfairlacy (Dec 28, 2007)

LJSquishy said:


> I hear you on that and completely agree. I know how much healthier homecooking and/or raw can be and it seems like everyone who has ever tried it has seen great results.
> 
> I definitely know raw/dehydrated medallions isn't in my budget if it's $70 a month! lol


oops..I thought you said you spent $70 a month now on the kibble you were feeding but I realized you didn't say how long a bag lasted.

Kibble is definitely MUCH cheaper...I think I used to spend about $20 a month on Lacy's kibble. But I only fed her kibble until she was about a year and a half and then I switched to raw. She ate raw for about 2 1/2 years. And now she's been eating the homecooked & dehydrated raw for one year now. Rylie was eating Iams kibble until he came to live with me..then switched him to raw and then the homecooked & dehydrated raw a year ago as well. 

I usually cook 12 days worth of food at one time and freeze/refrigerate it


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

myfairlacy said:


> oops..I thought you said you spent $70 a month now on the kibble you were feeding but I realized you didn't say how long a bag lasted.
> 
> Kibble is definitely MUCH cheaper...I think I used to spend about $20 a month on Lacy's kibble. But I only fed her kibble until she was about a year and a half and then I switched to raw. She ate raw for about 2 1/2 years. And now she's been eating the homecooked & dehydrated raw for one year now. Rylie was eating Iams kibble until he came to live with me..then switched him to raw and then the homecooked & dehydrated raw a year ago as well.
> 
> I usually cook 12 days worth of food at one time and freeze/refrigerate it


Yeah, I don't spend $70 per month on their kibble...to be honest, I'm not sure how long it lasts, really. I keep a small bin of their kibble inside to use daily, and then have a large bin that I keep in our freezer in the garage to keep the rest fresh (so I can buy the large bag). The 29.7-lb bag must last them a few months if I take a good guess.

Perhaps in the future a different diet will be in our budget so I will keep researching and learning about raw/homecooked diets.


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## MandyMc65 (Jun 14, 2007)

Mine are on Stella & Chewy's and I spend probably around $75 a month for both dogs. Jax is around 8 pounds and Kenz is around 6. The 3 pound bags have the perfect size medallions for them. Jax gets 1 1/4 medallions each meal and Kenz gets around 3/4 a medallion. I did some tweaking with that so they stay a good weight.

I will buy both the frozen and the dehydrated. I use the dehydrated for if I forget to thaw some and for training. Stella's is one of the most expensive but the best, in my opinion.


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## gopotsgo (May 21, 2009)

I use Paw Naturaw Bison and Elk Frozen Raw and it comes out to about $35 a month per pup. I buy in bulk and that helps. It IS a lot more expensive than kibble, but looking at the big picture, it is peanuts when one considers that when the hubs and I go out to eat we usually spend more than $100 for ONE meal. So $35 bucks for a whole month is nothing and I want my pups to have the best.


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## cindy6755 (Mar 20, 2005)

I buy my raw from a co-op here in Florida, yahoo group Raw4pets, most everything is under 2 dollars a pound, I add it to Honest kitchen preference formula and add fish oil, probiotics, enzymes, primrose oil, so it probably comes to around 200 to 225 a month for 10 dogs...not bad!


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

gopotsgo said:


> I use Paw Naturaw Bison and Elk Frozen Raw and it comes out to about $35 a month per pup. I buy in bulk and that helps. It IS a lot more expensive than kibble, but looking at the big picture, it is peanuts when one considers that when the hubs and I go out to eat we usually spend more than $100 for ONE meal. So $35 bucks for a whole month is nothing and I want my pups to have the best.


I have some of their raw bison in my freezer and will give it to Nikki for a change from my home cooking. I just have to get her used to it. It is a GREAT food.


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## Morkie4 (Oct 13, 2006)

*I love Homecooking and so do the fluffs!*

I home cook for all four fluffs..........a new batch every four days to keep it fresh and add the supplements at each feeding rather than throw it in when I make the batch. It was a necessity for me because of Toby having had HGE and not being able to tolerate kibble anymore. Since he has been on home cooked food, he has not had a reoccurance of HGE. So with cooking for him, I just switched everyone over and they are all doing great with it! Expensive???? I don't think that much more but maybe a tad more since I have four to feed. 

Downside: When someone watches them they don't know the right combo of supplements or quantity for each fluff. And HAVING to make it every four days. I guess, of course, you could make a week's worth and freeze some of it for the latter part of the week.

So when I go to Nationals, I am going to make a batch or two ahead of time and "freeze" each of their meals indvidually with most of the supplements and then to warm it, set it in the ice bucket with hot water.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Morkie4 said:


> I home cook for all four fluffs..........a new batch every four days to keep it fresh and add the supplements at each feeding rather than throw it in when I make the batch. It was a necessity for me because of Toby having had HGE and not being able to tolerate kibble anymore. Since he has been on home cooked food, he has not had a reoccurance of HGE. So with cooking for him, I just switched everyone over and they are all doing great with it! Expensive???? I don't think that much more but maybe a tad more since I have four to feed.
> 
> Downside: When someone watches them they don't know the right combo of supplements or quantity for each fluff. And HAVING to make it every four days. I guess, of course, you could make a week's worth and freeze some of it for the latter part of the week.
> 
> So when I go to Nationals, I am going to make a batch or two ahead of time and "freeze" each of their meals indvidually with most of the supplements and then to warm it, set it in the ice bucket with hot water.


When I travel with Nikki, I have tiny little containers that I put the supplements in to add to her food. But even if you left them out of the food for a few days, nothing would happen. As long as it isn't more than a week or so.


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