Most people think that feeding their cat a raw food diet is expensive. They find it hard to believe when we tell them it’s cheaper to feed cats raw food. When we first switched our cats to raw food, our veterinarian commented: “That must cost a small fortune!“The perception that it costs more to feed cats a raw meat diet, is one of the things that stops potential raw feeders before they’ve even started. To set the record straight, we decided to do the maths and reveal how much it really costs to feed a homemade raw cat food recipe.
We use quality human-grade meats sourced from our local supermarket or butcher and follow a balanced raw cat food recipe that also includes a vitamin supplement mix. One batch of raw food makes 18 individual 55 gram meals.
A batch of the balanced raw recipe using chicken breast costs A$10.99 for 18 meals, which equals 0.61 cents per meal or $1.22 per day per cat.
If we use chicken thighs instead, the raw recipe is slightly more expensive and costs A$12.83 for 18 meals, which equals 0.71 cents per meal or $1.43 per day per cat.
The cost breakdown of feeding our cats raw chicken is:
- $7.74 (chicken breast) or $9.58 (chicken thighs)
- $1.73 (lamb heart, liver and kidney)
- $0.52 for the vitamin supplement powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- $0.38 cents for the free range egg yolk
- $0.62 cents for the salmon oil (4 capsules).
Feeding our cats a commercial canned food would cost A$2.82 to A$4.10 per cat per day. There is a significant cost saving (between 49% and 57%) when feeding our cats a raw chicken diet.
We have calculated the cost of raw feeding chicken in Australian dollars. If you want to know what it costs in your local currency, you can use an online currency converter which will calculate into your currency based on the latest exchange rates.
Is raw cat food expensive using other meats?
Obviously, when we use other cuts of meat the cost increases and raw feeding can start to become expensive.
- Beef costs A$16.52 for 18 meals, $0.92 per meal or $1.84 for each cat based on two meals per day.
- Pork costs A$16.78 for 18 meals, $0.93 per meal or $1.86 for each cat based on two meals per day.
- Kangaroo costs A$19.47 for 18 meals, $1.08 per meal or $2.16 for each cat based on two meals per day.
- Lamb costs A$24.59 for 18 meals, $1.36 per meal, which is $2.73 a day.
- Duck is expensive if you buy it at the full price (we always wait for it to to go on sale) at A$32.92 per batch, $1.83 per meal and $3.66 per day.
How raw food compares with the cost of canned cat food
Prior to switching our cats to a raw food diet, they were eating premium quality, grain-free canned foods. We bought in bulk (20+ cans at a time), taking advantage of pet store discounts when they were available.
Today, a quality grain-free canned food with chicken costs between A$1.41 and A$2.05 per 55 gram meal. Based on two meals per day, that’s a daily cost of between A$2.82 and A$4.10 per cat. That’s expensive, when compared with the cost of raw feeding.
Extra costs when making raw cat food
You may also want to consider other expenses you may incur as part of the cost of making and feeding raw cat food.
Supplements
You’ll need to buy any supplements required for your raw recipe. We have included the cost of the vitamin supplement mix, egg and salmon oil in our calculations for transparency.
For the raw cat food recipe we make (18 individual 55 gram meals), the vitamin supplement mix, wild Alaskan salmon oil capsules and egg yolk costs a total of A$1.52 per batch.
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SaveSaveMeat grinder
Your biggest investment will be a meat grinder to prepare homemade raw food for your cat. We suggest buying the best one you can afford. If you are grinding raw meaty bones you will need a more powerful grinder to cut through these than if you are only grinding meat pieces (without bones).
When you look at the savings you can make from preparing your own homemade raw food instead of feeding a high quality grain free commercial canned food every day – it is easier to justify the cost of purchasing a meat grinder.
Kitchen equipment
You may also need to purchase some additional kitchen equipment to prepare homemade raw food for your cat, if you don’t already have these items in your kitchen. This cost should be minimal. We have chopping boards, stainless steel mixing bowls, sharp knives and utensils that we use exclusively for preparing raw cat food.
Items that we purchased when starting to make homemade raw food included: poultry shears, small digital kitchen scales for measuring portions. You’ll need kitchen scales that are easy to use, easy to clean and most importantly, accurate. We also bought a set of stainless steel mixing bowls and a box of disposable food safe gloves to maximise safety and the risk of cross contamination when preparing raw meat.