How much money do you spend on cat food per cat each month?

Status
Not open for further replies.
hellolucy

hellolucy

Member Since 2017
How much money do you spend on average for one cat each month?

I feel like I spend a TON of money on cat food because I feed Lucy Radcat raw and Purina DM. She has been on DM since her ER visit a few weeks ago, but I plan on switching her off of that soon. In the past, I've bought the premium canned cat foods and have also only fed strictly Radcat raw which just about killed my wallet. She also eats a bunch of food, but she's unregulated right now.

Curios to see what everyone else's numbers are.
 
I really try not to think about it!

I feed Jones Rawz canned, Triple Delight from Wild Calling, Wervuva Fowl Ball. He has 3 civvie sisters...and each has their own food.:cat:

Jones (10lb cat should be 12lbs) - usually takes 1 can of Rawz + the freeze dried treats + his shot food of Wervuva (usually eats about 1/4 to 1/2 the can each time - remaining is dumped in the bowl with the days rations). So, about $5 a day. There is waste in here as I always give him "more" just in case he needs the extra food, as he free feeds.

The most expensive food is the KD food for my CKD kitty. That is expensive from the vets. I rotate her food as well, to keep her eating between the Hills KD -wet and dry, Wervuva and some of the BFF pouches that are lower in phosphorus. She is a 6lb cat...so again about $5 day.

My overweight civvie is on a "special" diet from the vets to lose weight (Went from 17lbs to 12lbs now - she should be around 9lbs). The only reason I keep buying it is that it works and if I move her to anything else...she gains. Don't know why. Once she is down to her goal weight I hope to transition her to the Rawz as well. That is about $4-$5 a day.

Last civvie (she is currently 12lbs, should be 10lbs - another work in progress) - she is on the Rawz as well now. So $3 a day for a can of food for her. This should lower as we move her to a lower food portion as she loses weight.
 
Last edited:
hellolucy! I wondered what happened to you gals! :cat: Hope Lantus does better for Lucy :bighug:.
Just a rough estimate, I think it's about an average of $50 a month for Maury's food. 1 can of FF for 2 meals, and I can make 8 catfoodsicles from a can of Friskies for his lunches. That price also takes into account his YAZ, which lasts about 3 months per 8lb bag.
 
28 bucks but than I am a evil person and am feeding the RX dry food. After checking the MFG information I found the Carb count is fair and the protein and fat per Oz ( dry matter) is Twice as much as what anything but the highest priced wet food. Also one thing I found when researching the RX foods is a lot of them list the full analyst and Min and Max values for important stuff. Foods like FF and Friskies don't list anything other than bare min of what the law requires. I know a lot of people think the RX food is rip off but it does gain you a better picture of what's in the bag or can for the added price.

Something eles that I found researching Cat Diabetics depending on why your cat is Diabetic feeding to much protein or fat can make things worse. The Kidneys and Panaceas both have roll in Diabetes and if one of them is diseased than amount of fat or protein can be to high depending on what organ is effected. The first step in picking a food is find out from the vet if there are any other problems that the choice of food can help or hurt.
 
hellolucy said:
I've bought the premium canned cat foods and have also only fed strictly Radcat raw which just about killed my wallet.
Click to expand...
My wallet is dead on Tiki Cat $1.99/2.8 oz can twice a day.
I started to rotate between Tiki and FF pates but it did not revive the wallet in any real way.
I am going to switch (to try to) to homemade raw and planning on using chicken meat, hearts and gizzards (cheaper than breasts). Have you seen Dr. Pierson 's homemade recipe? She also talks about costs. HERE is her blog.
 
Tanya and Ducia said:
to homemade raw
Click to expand...

I should note I am in Canada...Alberta...so prices here are insane compared to most places in the US and some places in Canada.

I have done some local sourcing for pricing purposes and it is cheaper and you can control the quality of ingredients going in. I did try raw with Jones...and it just doesn't seem to be a go with him. 2 of the 3 civvies are willing to give it a try....CKD is a no go unless I get a "special" recipe for her. I have tried the cooked recipe on the TC Feline Raw site....but the texture seemed wrong. Was going to go get a magic bullet and make a pate and see if that was more appealing.

In the end with Jones...I find something he will eat...feels ill....and nope that is now off the menu. Every once and awhile I can bring things back but not too often. I think that is the IBD vs. FD issue however.
 
Barneys dad said:
is find out from the vet if there are any other problems that the choice of food can help or hurt
Click to expand...

There is value in that for sure.

I have had many discussions with both my usual vet and Jones' IM vet about diet and foods.

The IM was very lax in the "food" advise department. Our usual vet does have some opinions and we do discuss. With my CKD kitty - she is mostly on the DX diet...it gives her what she needs in the portions she needs them for the most part - though really high carb!. If she decided she doesn't want that...then we have some other options available to keep her eating (higher protein low phosphorus and carb).

With Jones, same thing, he needs foods he isn't allergic to, that will not flare up his IBD/pancreatitis, low carb and will him the nutrition he needs! So, we have bounced ideas off of each other. In the end...as long as he eats she does not force the DX diets.
 
Last edited:
I switched PJ to Dr. Lisa Pierson's Homemade Food http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/ and took our would be cost of around $200/month to around $20 every 3 weeks. YES...$20. The process is not nearly as difficult as it seems reading through it the first couple times! It required an initial investment of about $250 total (for meat grinder, supplements (which we'll prob have to purchase about every 6 mos for about $55), and storage supplies) but TOTALLY worth it and he LOVES LOVES LOVES it! My other cat and my 2 chihuahuas love it too and I'll be switching them to it as their current food depletes!
 
hmclaughlin1973 said:
I switched PJ to Dr. Lisa Pierson's Homemade Food http://catinfo.org/making-cat-food/ and took our would be cost of around $200/month to around $20 every 3 weeks. YES...$20. The process is not nearly as difficult as it seems reading through it the first couple times! It required an initial investment of about $250 total (for meat grinder, supplements (which we'll prob have to purchase about every 6 mos for about $55), and storage supplies) but TOTALLY worth it and he LOVES LOVES LOVES it! My other cat and my 2 chihuahuas love it too and I'll be switching them to it as their current food depletes!
Click to expand...
What meat(s) are you using and where are you getting them? I have wanted to switch to homemade raw but it always seems too expensive, to me. I'd switch in a heartbeat if I could do it for about $20/3 weeks!

I spend about $200/month on cat food, sometimes more. It's killing me. Unfortunately, Squallie is extremely carb-sensitive, so I try to stay under 3-4% carbs, which severely limits selection. I have 4 cats and they all eat roughly the same food (sometimes the civvies get FF as opposed to Squall's Pro Plan) so I don't have to worry about Squallie getting "contraband".
 
Tracey&Jones said:
I really try not to think about!
Click to expand...
Ditto on that. If Cynthia didn't have a financial background we would not have six cats. I cringe when I see cat's "surrendered by owner" at the shelter. I think we're being over-charged for most things and I really love my vet for not reaching into my wallet. I just came back from the clinic with our civvie Marco for an ongoing UTI, no unnecessary tests or x-rays and that meant I could leave with 2 cases of reasonably priced Royal Canin SO and my 10% discount for having a multi-cat household. Shop around and never be guilted into buying something you don't need.
 
I spend about 175 per month for six cats. Significantly more if you include feeding our 6 or so average number of outside cats. All together we spend probably $300-350/month on cat food.
 
That sounds pretty reasonable Janet. We pay $5 for just one bag of unsalted peanuts to help our squirrels make it through the winter, can't stop now.
Should we include litter, car costs, mental health days? At least there are no diapers or college funds.
 
I spend $28 bucks a month on 40 lbs of birdseed for the song birds that hang out at work to help them through the lean months.

Oh, and the pellets for the hare that lives in our yard at work during the winter. And the pellets for the 3 legged hare at home.

Never mind that every time I go to the pet store I end up buying extra cans for the latest pet food drive or take in the "uneatable" cans that hung around too long and did not pass the second go try and getting someone to eat it.


But I digress....what was the topic again?
 
i try not to totally think about how much i spend on cat food for 10 cats but, it is definitely more than i spend on human food!!

Our recently diabetic diagnosed cat food cost is $54 for his wet food alone and he grazes on young again zero dry overnight. He is a picky cat and out of all the low carb wet food i brought home, he chose the cheaper of them all (FF classic savory salmon and the turkey & giblets), guess i got lucky on that one! his better fav can food that he can't have anymore (carbs turned out to be too high) costed like $1.90 each and he got 1 1/2 can of that a day so i am actually saving money on his new diet.

my most expensive cat food bill for one cat however is $99.75 if i find their VE freeze-dried raw food from someone with a discount code and free shipping. i pay this cost for each of my 6mths kittens that i decided to raise eating as close to raw as i can feed them. Could save by making raw myself but, i don't trust meats in my area one bit!
 
Sylvie said:
I don't trust meats in my area one bit!
Click to expand...
I actually know what's in a hot dog, been there from start (moo, oink, cluck) to finish. It's also what happens to the meat on the way to the stupid market. Thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze. I make my own lobster cakes, how can that 120gram can cost only $1 more than a 165gram can of goo with taurine in it?
TURN AWAY NOW SQUEAMISH PEOPLE
When a cow comes down the dis-assembly line there's a good chance it's lower intestines are full. The poorly trained "butchers" are working at a high rate of speed. If you even knick the intestines the entire table is covered in ****. They don't turn off the line and disinfect, they just get a hose. That's disgusting but I have been there!
This is on topic because this is what we pay for. Sorry for the revulsion, cows are huge animals.
 
Man. I spend way too much... but throwing IBD into the mix has made things tricky. Trying to stick to novel proteins that are carb appropriate. $200-300 a month but that includes food for the other 2 civvies as well. They're all on the same diet now... If only they knew they ate better than I do :rolleyes:
 
Last post on this. I wasn't trying to be the adult in the room so less disgust, more thought. Assembly lines, what cows eat, the price of food etc. are just out of our control, that's life. For anyone looking at raw food try and give the local butcher some business. When he gets a side of beef it's still intact he's more likely to do it right because return business is everything to him. Cubes of beef and chicken breasts are things that have not been ground up so you can see what you're getting, there is a difference. Us and our cats can tolerate a lot, only the very young, elderly and sick get the kind of food poisoning that is fatal and outbreaks are rare. Everyone's dropped a hot dog when you were camping as a kid and we all got over it. Not ranting, experience has just made me more aware.
 
I get them from grocery. Will get from BJs next round. I cook (more than Dr. Pierson this batch, but may cook less next time...we'll see) and grind with bones. Lightly cooked whole eggs.
 
3 cats. 4-6 cans of Fancy Feast per day at $0.45 each (let's call it $0.50)
= 6 x 0.50
= $3.00 for 3 cats
= $1.00 per day

But we supplement with an extra can of other stuff like Weruva Cats in the Kitchen - they love that stuff.
 
4 cats. 12 cans of burp and 1 can FF us$1 a day
=$ 390 a month
Plus YA for grazing 1 bag for 2 months

Plus cat litter and medicines and vet visits! I definitely spend more on them than myself!
 
Some meds are much cheaper at a pharmacy if you can tolerate the dirty look you get for asking. Same with over the counter things like a laxative. The amount of wet food that goes down the sink makes me nuts.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
 
hellolucy said:
How much money do you spend on average for one cat each month?

I feel like I spend a TON of money on cat food because I feed Lucy Radcat raw and Purina DM. She has been on DM since her ER visit a few weeks ago, but I plan on switching her off of that soon. In the past, I've bought the premium canned cat foods and have also only fed strictly Radcat raw which just about killed my wallet. She also eats a bunch of food, but she's unregulated right now.

Curios to see what everyone else's numbers are.
Click to expand...
I used to spend tons, but thanks to Young Again pet foods, my cat got healthier and my expenses lighter. An 8 lb. bag costs $49, but it lasts for at least 3 months (one cat)... so it works out to about $15/mo. I also buy a 24-can case of FFC for about $12 now that he's older, but only feed him 1/2 can a day... so all totalled, it's about $22/mo.
 
hellolucy said:
I feed Lucy Radcat raw and
Click to expand...
You can save a bunch on buying your own raw food according to the guidelines on FoodFurlife website and portioning it out yourself. Just make sure the meat you buy is under 100 mg. of sodium per a 4 oz portion and nothing added . I get raw ground turkey from a local butcher. I buy the chicken breast at my grocery store that butchers there own and I buy Smithfield Pork Loin or Shoulder from Walmart. Then you would buy the supplements from FoodFurLife and add to the raw meat. It has saved me a lot of $$ and we can share food with the cats, LOL.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top