Quote: Carolyn Pike

How much do you think you guys spend on meat (only, not counting supplements, eggs, etc) per month?

Sometimes I'm tempted to figure it out, but I don't. I just buy what he needs and try to buy sales when I can. I buy about a month at a time, more or less. I buy several packages of raw patties of different varieties and when I'm at the store, I'll pick up something on sale to add to the variety, like beef liver and chicken parts, turkey necks.

If I had two or more dogs, I would pay more attention to cost.

At the prices I paid in Florida, for 4 adult dogs it would come to less than $90/month for just the meat. It was even less though because 2 of my dogs were pups, but I just did the math and came to just under $90 at their current adult weights.

Now I pay $94 every 10 days for a bag of Orijen kibble.

Dogs eat in crates or in the kennels.

I'm new to raw feeding, don't have a freezer, don't have a bulk supplier and am feeding out of the supermarket getting what I can on sale. I figure meat alone is costing me $2.25/day for 1 1/2 lbs fed daily to my 75 lb. dog. Been feeding 2/3 whole chickens I cut up myself and 1/3 ground beef or pork that I grind myself from the cheapest cuts I can get. Plus I've been throwing in some organ meat- liver in small quantities in addition to the chicken giblets that come with a whole chicken.

Things I was very happy I already had:
Sharp knives
Knife sharpener, diamond stone, and steel
Poultry Shears
Meat grinder
Food processor (for veggie glop)
Large Stainless steel bowls

I know I'm spending more than I need to right now, but I've found that I'm spending less on meat for myself and BF because I've been stealing from the dog's stash. Just can't seem to resist boning out those chicken breasts or cubing up some stew beef off a big roast!

 Quote: ingrid halonen

... don't have a freezer, don't have a bulk supplier and am feeding out of the supermarket getting what I can on sale. .... I've found that I'm spending less on meat for myself and BF because I've been stealing from the dog's stash.

I've gotten along for years with just the in-fridge freezing compartment. (No good spot for a real freezer.)

And why not cut off the boneless chunk of a breast quarter and stew meat off a chunk of beef?

I've seen and read what people pay for the best kibbles, and I sill think that I pay less for all-fresh, even shopping mainly at a natural-foods store. (The fish oil and E would be appropriate no matter what the diet, so I don't add that in as part of a special "raw" expense.)

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

How much do you think you guys spend on meat (only, not counting supplements, eggs, etc) per month?

I'm feeding raw, one 100lb and one 70lb dog, buying at Walmart (10lb bags of chicken quarters at 49c/lb, 5lb tubes of ground beef, packs of liver etc.) I also buy beef heart from the butcher at the local supermarket, and watch for whole frozen turkeys etc. on sale that I can whack into pieces with a cleaver. Couldn't do this without a freezer - you really need one to take advantage of bulk meat buying. Costs me $95-$100 a month for meat, plus eggs, vegetables, salmon oil, vit E, the occasional can of mackerel etc. I estimate I used to spend about $90 a month on kibble, so raw costs a little more....but...the savings for me are vet bills. Seriously - since we switched to raw and stopped vaccinating we have much healthier dogs who rarely need anything other than routine checkups.

I feed the old dog in a corner of the kitchen because he likes to take his time over his food. The young greedy dog gets his out on the back deck.

And yeah - I've occasionally raided the dog meat freezer to make dinner for humans, too. Can't do that with a bag of kibble.

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

How much do you think you guys spend on meat (only, not counting supplements, eggs, etc) per month?

This is 100% dependent on your per-pound average purchase price and your dog's needs.

Say your per-pound average purchase price was $1.75, averaging RMBs with muscle meat and organ meat.

Then you know that the cost for a 70-pound adult dog would be about $2.45 to 3.75 a day, based on 2-3% of the body weight.

If your per-pound average purchase price is $1, then you can roughly figure $1.40 to 2.10 a day for the same 70-pound adult dog.

I'd probably figure closer to the 2% than the 3%, because some of the non-meats are actually partial substitutes for meat: yogurt, for example, and eggs, reduce slightly the meat part of the meal they are served with. They are both protein-calcium foods (assuming that the eggs have shells left on).

 Quote: Sarah Ward

... raw costs a little more....but...the savings for me are vet bills. .... we have much healthier dogs who rarely need anything other than routine checkups.

Ditto here. The chronic unwellness that I see in so many dogs, including dental problems, skin pruritis, and much more -- these issues are minimized (IME) with freah real food.

My dogs teeth have never been so clean. I did invest in a freezer (scratch and dent model) and I keep a lot of "people" food in it as well.

The place I buy in bulk from carries both RMB's and recreational bones. They have organ meats and muscle meat available in tubes with organ meat and bone mixed in. I don't pay more than $.75 cents a pound and buy 40 lb cases. I buy about two hundred dollars worth on average and it last me a long time. The salmon oil, suppliments, canned mackeral or tripe, and various dairy products are things I don't average in.

The meat supplier I use can be found using an internet search for meat suppliers. You might want to try that out if you haven't found a source yet.

Your doing a great thing for the health of your dogs!

Over the past 3 months I've averaged $114 per month. I'm lucky enough to have a local group to order in quantity on a monthly basis (SoCalBARF). I'm feeding a ~85 lb. 2 year old GS, a ~60 lb. 2 year old Terrier/Husky mix and a ~50 lb. 14 year old Lab. Mine eat outside. Here are some examples of what I have purchased over the last few months:

15.55/lb cs buffalo kidney $15.08
15/lb cs beef oxtails $38.55
16 oz unfiltered organic ACV $2.12
2 5/lb chubs green tripe $29.30
20/lb (cw) cs beef neck bones $22.40
20/lb cs 80% lean ground pork $56.40
3.4/lb cs buffalo oxtails $5.00
30/lb (cw) cs 6-way cut goat $43.80
30/lb (cw) cs pork brisket bones $23.40
30/lb (cw) cs pork hearts $22.50
30/lb (cw) cs pork kidney $15.90
30/lb cs 90% lean trim beef $44.10
30/lb cs beef cheek meat $45.90
30/lb cs chicken split breasts $29.10
40/lb cs whole chicken backs $15.60

Thanks all-- it looks like it wouldn't be too much more expensive if I shop around. I think I spend $80-$90 a month in kibble anyway...

I have two different friends here locally who have switched their dogs over to raw. I will talk with them more about it and see where they buy from, or if they'd be willing to split orders.

Is there a thread (or should I ask this in a new thread) discussing the necessity of feeding tripe and organs along with meat/RMB's vs. all meat/RMB's? I probably wouldn't have trouble finding it... menudo is popular here. But I understand quality is pretty important especially with these 'parts'.

clarification: I'm looking more for info on what is in tripe that makes it something you need to feed vs something you can feed. I heard that it fills a dietary gap that meat & bones alone wouldn't fill, although I'm not sure what gap exactly it fills...

Thanks again!