# How much do you pay for food?



## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

Just curious since the prices vary so much by area... What do you feed, and how much do you pay per lb?

Nug used to eat all Natural Balance; $54/ 26 lbs but recently I've been doing half that and half the 4health grain free which is like $28/16 lbs.

Grey eats the ridiculous wellness trufood since its low sodium, I pay like $17/4lbs.

Foster used to eat NB but now does Purina one (not my choice, but he does fine on it) and it's like $32/30 lbs.


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## sclevenger (Nov 11, 2012)

Not buying food yet... but soon I'll be paying about $52 for a 28-30lb bag of TOTW.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Midwestern urban area--

I feed a lot of whatever, but my frequent flyer foods are Pro Pac ultimates, Fromm Classic, Sportmix Wholesome and Inukshuk. The first three average $1 per lb or less. Roughly $35 for 33 lbs for the first two and $30 for 40 lbs for sportmix. Around $45 for 30 for the last, which I had bought under the realtree brand at TSC but doesn't seem to be there anymore so i may order the Inukshuk online for $45 as the high fat content seems to help over winter.

Eta- I go though about 10 lbs per week, so monthly cost for kibble only is around $35 to 50. I do feed a few raw meals each month or supplemented with canned fish, but that adds less than $10 a month on average.

No allergies to contend with.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

In New Jersey - get food from Chewy - Annamaet Extra 20 lbs about $35 or Farmina 26.4 lbs about $49. When I bought food from the local place the price wasn't that much more. Those foods last me a while so I feed the same bag for over 2 months.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Ummm I pay about $15-20 a month for Meeko (about 4.8 lbs of meat/bone/organ)... so about $3-4/lbs. Is that expensive? Because with even dry/freeze dried I end up paying the same if not more.

I live in an urban area in Canada. In Canada everything is more expensive though.


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

I go through about 3 bags of food a month. Panzer eats Fromm for $60/28lb bag and Ryker and Gypsy's vary between brands maybe $55/30lb bag. So for just dry kibble it's $170 a month, not including treats, supplements, or any of the extras I give them.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

I feed mostly Sportmix Wholesomes at this point, at the prices Shell mentioned. I spend about 70.00/month on food for all 5. I used to spend about 3 times on that and got worse results, so I'm not complaining. I can't be really precise on dog numbers, though, because all my pet supplies get rolled into one monthly trip (Rabbit food, hay, cat litter, cat food, small animal bedding for the mice and snakes - the only thing not included is snake food, but that's about 200.00 a YEAR, so it doesn't much count, anyway.)


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Feeding 2 dogs that weigh about 25 pounds total about 20 pounds of raw a month. The stuff I have on hand right now ranges from $1.10-$2.50 per pound so call it $35 a month.


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## notgaga (Oct 25, 2014)

I just bought an 18lb bag of nutrisource adult for ~$30 on Chewy (because I'm pretty sure she won't have any issues with grain inclusive I'm switching from their grain free). She's doing well on it so I'm gonna get the big bag when this one gets low. That'll be 33lbs for $45.99 if I don't do the autoship.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

Ember gets 4health because she does fine on anything grain inclusive. She gets anal gland problems on the "good stuff". I can't remember what size bag I get.. but it is only a bit over a dollar per pound. 

Kairi has seasonal allergies and so I try to keep her on the lowest carb/grain free and highest quality I can give her that isn't raw. She is currently on Acana (Ranchlands etc rotation) which runs me about $50 dollars for the 15lb bag. Ridiculous. I tried it on a whim and unfortunately she is doing the best on it than any of the other foods I have tried. Dangit, high maintenance dog.


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

DC metro area. 

I buy a rotation of Fromm four star flavors, some grain free and some grain inclusive, as long as it doesn't have poultry in it he's good. I think sweet potatoes disagree with him as well, haven't tested that just avoid them. They average $28-36 for a 15 lbs bag and with the frequent buyer deal it's buy 12 get one free at the shop I go to. If it's just Jubel I think a bag lasts about a month. If feed the fosters whatever Jubel's getting and there is a foster here more often than not. Hard to keep track of how fast he goes through a bag on his own.


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## doodlebug124 (Oct 31, 2015)

ForTheLoveOfDogs said:


> She is currently on Acana (Ranchlands etc rotation) which runs me about $50 dollars for the 28lb bag. Ridiculous. I tried it on a whim and unfortunately she is doing the best on it than any of the other foods I have tried. Dangit, high maintenance dog.


If you're in the US, it should be more like $80 for Ranchlands....typo?


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## kdawnk (Mar 26, 2014)

Sans has a specific diet - Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal, Moderate Calorie: $126 with tax (feeds for 30 days, just bought a new bag yesterday)

My cat - His urinary food is like $60-some bucks for a... 15lb? bag it's the Hills Urinary Stress food.
I use garbage, canned whiskas to get water into him and that's super cheap. I've just started on Primal nuggets and that was $30 dollars for the biggest bag.
Cat total: $100


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I pay about $1.50-2 per pound. Right now I'm feeding Dr Tim's which is $65 for a 44lb bag from Chewy.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Argh, post in moderation.

I usually pay $1.50-2 per pound. Right now I'm feeding Dr Tim's which is $65 for a 44lb bag from Chewy.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

I pay about $65/28lb bag of Acana light n fit which lasts us about 2.5 months. So $2.32/lb


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## TGKvr (Apr 29, 2015)

$47 for a 30lb bag of TOTW.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

doodlebug124 said:


> If you're in the US, it should be more like $80 for Ranchlands....typo?


Ah yes. I've been getting the 15lb bag. Sorry about that.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I prefer to keep dog food under $1.50 a pound. I would be willing to pay more than that if I had to but they're doing well on these foods so it's OK for now. I'm currently rotating between Sportsmix Wholesomes and Kirkland chicken and rice. Sometimes I'll throw a bag of Diamond Naturals or 4Health in, and if I find any decent brand on sale for a good price I'll get it, to add some variety. Eta: Kirkland is $26.99 for 40 pounds and Sportsmix is $29.99 for 40 pounds so they're both substantially under $1 a pound. But I consider any price under $1.50 a pound to be a decent sale price.

I'm sort of annoyed with cat food right now. I used to go out of my way to get them Really Good Food and they never did very well on any of them (and yeah, I know cats should mostly have canned food but I can't go all canned at this point). Then I ran out of their food and all I could get was Purina ONE. They did great. So bah. I rotate with pretty much any mid-priced kibble now---Purina ONE, Diamond Naturals, Nutro Max Cat, 4Health, Kirkland, and, um, that new brand Petsmart has I forget the name (looked it up: Good Natured). And canned Friskies, as much as I can manage.


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## Sarahlove (Jun 16, 2014)

Dogs- roughly one bag of sport mix lamb a month- $33/40lbs and 15 cans of 4health- $15 a month. With treats its about $60 
Cats-4health canned and dry- $17 a month 
Kitten- mix of fancy feast/Iams kitten and a higher end canned food per day and little dry through the day- $55-$70 a month.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Oh, yeah, Moose is on all canned food now (he's an old man ). That's costing me a fortune. . .a 22 oz can of Pedigree (some flavors aren't too bad) is $1.18 and 4Health that size is $1.56, and he needs 3 cans a day :/. But you gotta pamper the oldies, they deserve it. Still, yikes. It's costing over $100 a month just for him.


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## kadylady (Sep 23, 2010)

Luke and Zoey are currently eating Dr. Gary's Best Breed GF Salmon, which the way I order it in bulk with friends ends up costing just under $59 for a 30# bag, or about $1.96/lb. 

Skye is eating Fromm Gold Adult and I pay anywhere from $1.45/lb to $1.15/lb depending on coupons and sales.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

We're feeding Horizon Legacy, and pay CAD $52/25 lbs or 54.50/25 lbs (Depending on flavour). We're currently in the process of switching back to Nature's Domain (Costco), 35lbs for CAD$44 due to budgetary concerns.


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## sydneynicole (Apr 2, 2015)

Ouch.. I liked being ignorant and not knowing how much I spend on dog food... $215 a month roughly, and that doesn't count the dozens of chews they get. Good thing my car is paid off!

In CT, feeding about 350lbs of dog. 

Every 2 weeks Maya and Tucker get a new bag of Earthborn Holistic Primitive Naturals. Costs me about $45 for a 28lb bag. $90 a month.

Grace gets a bag of Orijen 6 Fish once a month. $95.

Oli gets a 5lb bag of Orijen Puppy that lasts him about a month. $20 He also gets some canned Nature's Variety Instinct Grain Free Salmon. One can lasts him a week so $10 a month.

I cook for them from time to time, the less busy I am the more I cook for them. So sometimes the dry food lasts them longer but I guess technically the money is still being spent, just on fresh food instead.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

Approx $300 a month for 8 dogs- raw food. 

Happy eats about 2lbs a day(she is a hard keeper)
Gem also eats about 2lbs a day
Gypsy about 3/4 lbs per day
Paisley about 1.5lbs per day
Ripley/Perky/Rusty/Sola 8 oz per day

So almost 9lbs of meat a day to feed my crew.


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## MarieLovesChis (Mar 21, 2014)

It really depends on what I'm feeding at the time. I'm constantly changing up from kibble, premade raw, cans, and freeze dried raw. I only have one 7lb dog so thankfully cost isn't too much of an issue. Currently she's on Wellness Core Reduced Fat kibble and Primal Frozen Raw Rabbit. The kibble cost me about $19 for a 4lb bag and the raw cost me almost $50 for 4lb. Both together will last her around 2.5 months.

Usually my kibble of choice is Orijen.


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## Galathiel (Apr 11, 2012)

Rai Li (15 y.o. shih tzu) ... 11 lb bag of BB Wilderness Sr. $35.99 ... lasts him a month or two, depending on his appetite.
Sienna (4 y.o. Persian) gets 1 can of Authority flaked canned food a day ... $26-29.
Varik (2 y.o. GSD) ... we're transitioning to Dr. Tim's Kinesis GF right now ... 30 lb bag for $57.00. Hope it lasts a month ... but maybe not. I'm still at 75/25 Dr. Tim's/Merrick right now in the transition.

Monthly pet food bill ... $120 approx. for 1 lrg and 2 small animals.


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## Babael (Sep 19, 2009)

I pay about 40 bucks for the Victor Hi-Pro plus(40lbs bag) and 53 for the ultra pro 42 formula. He's been eating that for the past 3 months. I do plan to rotate through some acana, and wellness flavors as well.


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## Tesla (Nov 9, 2015)

We feed our dogs raw food and Orijen Puppy. A 13 kg bag (28.6? lbs) costs us $98.

The raw food is about $6.3 per kg (2.2lbs).


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## Jeru (Mar 17, 2015)

I feed Antr1um (which is a holistic food only sold in Canada.) I pay 38$ for 35lbs. This lasts Chester almost two months.


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## flphotog (Sep 23, 2015)

New here, but I've settled on Solid Gold Turkey at about $19 for a 4 pound bag. It's the first food I've tried in about 8 months that my Cavalier puppy will actually eat regularly. It's also help with his itch problem so I couldn't be happier.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Mine are on holistic select turkey and lentils, since Lincoln cant get potatoes. Lincoln loves it and both do well on it but picky princess Josefina doesnt really like it that much for some reason, too bad, since she is the one who can eat anything, and Lincoln can't, then she is going to have to "get mad til she gets glad" about it. I pay about $65 after tax


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## Hermes1 (Jan 3, 2014)

Phoenix, AZ $72.00 (with tax) per 25lb bag of Acana Singles. With Kenji (110 pounds) it lasts about 3.5 weeks and now with a new large breed puppy who has just transitioned to the same food, looks like we will be getting a bag approximately every 2-weeks. Acana has a deal where you buy I believe 12 bags and the 13th free and the store we buy from also has a program where you spend $300.00 and you get 10% off.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Willowy said:


> Oh, yeah, Moose is on all canned food now (he's an old man ). That's costing me a fortune. . .a 22 oz can of Pedigree (some flavors aren't too bad) is $1.18 and 4Health that size is $1.56, and he needs 3 cans a day :/. But you gotta pamper the oldies, they deserve it. Still, yikes. It's costing over $100 a month just for him.


At that point I would make his food myself, it would be cheaper. and you could add a supplement like Nupro that would give him all the vitamins and nutrients he would need. 4 health is .99c here.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

OwnedbyACDs said:


> At that point I would make his food myself, it would be cheaper. and you could add a supplement like Nupro that would give him all the vitamins and nutrients he would need. 4 health is .99c here.


It's 99 cents for the 13.2 oz can. I buy the 22 oz can. I don't think homemade would actually be cheaper, as he'd need like 3 pounds a day. I don't think I could keep it under $5 a day, unfortunately. Big dogs are expensive. . .


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

Willowy said:


> It's 99 cents for the 13.2 oz can. I buy the 22 oz can. I don't think homemade would actually be cheaper, as he'd need like 3 pounds a day. I don't think I could keep it under $5 a day, unfortunately. Big dogs are expensive. . .


Msnna needs 4lbs a day on raw but she also doesn't get a whole lot of supplements and eats things whole. 
For an older dog you might be right on it not being cheaper cause you would need to grind everything and grinders are EXPENSIVE



That being said.

I currently feed 2 dogs and 1 cat on raw at ~$100 max every 2-3 weeks (some months are free/cheap because hunters are awesome) 
Before I use to spend that weekly on just Manna


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

I have a grinder. I used to make a ground food for the cats from chicken thighs, but I don't think it could handle anything bigger than a thigh bone. Like I said, my main problem is reliable sourcing. . .small town grocery stores/Walmarts aren't always fully stocked, and prices may not be the best. I asked some hunters but they all send the carcass to the custom butcher, they don't ask for the organs, and the custom butcher isn't allowed to sell random parts (only the person who brings the animal in can get meat from that animal). I feel like I've exhausted all possibilities---except for taking up hunting myself, and that's just nope---I just don't know how other people manage it! I need to find a co-op.


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Willowy said:


> I have a grinder. I used to make a ground food for the cats from chicken thighs, but I don't think it could handle anything bigger than a thigh bone. Like I said, my main problem is reliable sourcing. . .small town grocery stores/Walmarts aren't always fully stocked, and prices may not be the best. I asked some hunters but they all send the carcass to the custom butcher, they don't ask for the organs, and the custom butcher isn't allowed to sell random parts (only the person who brings the animal in can get meat from that animal). I feel like I've exhausted all possibilities---except for taking up hunting myself, and that's just nope---I just don't know how other people manage it! I need to find a co-op.


I think taking up hunting yourself would be awesome, at least you would know where the meat came from and you could use it for yourself as well and then sell the portions that you can't eat or use. Or if you have a huge chest freezer you can storage and if you do it right you can have enough meat to last the entire winter without ever having to go to the grocery store.

I don't know why people are so adverse to hunting, you know how that made in the supermarket gets there right? The animal has to be killed a lot of times in a less humane way then hunting an animal. If I was going to feed my dogs full-time raw and I had the storage to store it I would so hunt for their meat.

If you don't want to do that you can always ask the hunters if they could ask the butchers for the unedible parts back like organs etc, since the only ones that can ask for it are the people who delivered the animal. But that's weird because I have gotten unedible parts from packing plants and butchers before and they just hand it over, because they can't use it and they have to spend money to dispose of it anyway.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

> and the custom butcher isn't allowed to sell random parts (only the person who brings the animal in can get meat from that animal)


can they give it away? the local custom butcher here doesn't sell the parts the hunter doesn't want, they throw it in a bin and tell raw feeders what days they do the butchering and let you just walk into the back and take whatever you want from the bin, you gotta go through it yourself and bring your own bag and stuff, but hey, it's free lol


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## dagwall (Mar 17, 2011)

Just bought a bag of wellness core healthy weight for my overweight foster boy. Damn that stuff is expensive. Got a 5 lbs bag for $20. Didn't want to buy a larger bag because I don't know how long I'll have him.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Miss Bugs said:


> can they give it away? the local custom butcher here doesn't sell the parts the hunter doesn't want, they throw it in a bin and tell raw feeders what days they do the butchering and let you just walk into the back and take whatever you want from the bin, you gotta go through it yourself and bring your own bag and stuff, but hey, it's free lol


There's an idea. They can't sell it (they say there are laws because of CWD/BSE. I don't know if those laws are state-specific or what. We can't buy raw milk either :/) but maybe they can look the other way while it walks out. . .I'll have to ask. 

As for hunting, I can appreciate that it's better than commercial farming. And I wouldn't mind if someone else hunted for me. But dying, death, noises, odors, blood, guts, mess. . .not something I could do myself, or even be present when it happens. I've only just gotten to the point where I can cut up a whole chicken instead of buying pre-cut pieces, and handle pre-killed rats for the snakes. It would take 'til I'm 90 to work up to actual hunting/killing .


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Willowy said:


> There's an idea. They can't sell it (they say there are laws because of CWD/BSE. I don't know if those laws are state-specific or what. We can't buy raw milk either :/) but maybe they can look the other way while it walks out. . .I'll have to ask.
> 
> As for hunting, I can appreciate that it's better than commercial farming. And I wouldn't mind if someone else hunted for me. But dying, death, noises, odors, blood, guts, mess. . .not something I could do myself, or even be present when it happens. I've only just gotten to the point where I can cut up a whole chicken instead of buying pre-cut pieces, and handle pre-killed rats for the snakes. It would take 'til I'm 90 to work up to actual hunting/killing .


There are no death noises when its done right, and its more humane than how the slaughterhouses treat animals. I guess I cant relate, because I come from a family of elk and deer hunters, and have fed raw off and on for years, as well as helped mom in the kitchen, so I have cut up my fair share of chickens, and other things.

There is a chicken plant right down the street from my parents and I have been meaning to go in there and ask what they do with the necks.

I would ask the butcher, most are happy to "make it disappear", at least here they are. I mean the most they can tell you is no.


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