All canned or some homemade... What's cheaper?

Ok, first of all, I'll do ANYTHING for my cats so if all canned or all homemade is better, I'll go that route. If I can save some money AND have happy healthy kitties by introducing more homemade food, then I'd like to do that.

Here's the deal. I have six cats and recently began the transition to canned food (from really crappy dry - I'm not telling you what brand. I'm too ashamed). Because of where I live, finding a mostly meat canned food has been difficult. I've found an all natural pet store on line where I can order, but, of course, now I'm also paying shipping charges. Basically my pets food has skyrocketed from $10 a month for cheap old dry food in a 20 pound bag to $70 for canned all-meat natural. They love the food (and doing it this way will help get my one overweight cat down on his pounds) but I'd like to save some bucks if I can.

Does anyone have any ideas on how the costs work out? I've never made homemade food for my cats (aside from the cheese omelettes I make them with the egg yolks when I make myself the egg-white one - Man, they get ALL the good stuff!!!). So anyway, any suggestions? Thoughts?

Thanks all. I can't tell you how much I love this forum.

i started out home made and it was pretty complicated. :) now im doing raw and its far less complicated and far far cheaper. AND its a carnivores diet... not an omnivores.

-ashley

So much depends on the food costs in your location and your ability/ the cost of your ability to travel to food stores. For many people, feeding raw or homemade is far less expensive, for others it is a monstrous cost. This is something only you can figure out ~ but be warned, it means watching ALL the flyers and shopping weekly for bargains. It also means knowing where your food comes from to ensure it is harvested in a sustainable manner and will not come with tainted or poisonous preservatives. Just like you would with food that you eat right?

yep, we are very lucky we found a supplier that, while its the high end of what we are willing to pay, its still within the window and its always there. i can find better deals more often than not but it took a while to get to that point and i have a back up thats acceptable.

the home made was probably just as expensive, or a touch cheaper but it took A LOT of time to prepare for my 4 cats and 90lb dog. many folks feel its less worrysome than raw too. :)

i averaged out the prices of food in MY area (NC, USA)-

roughly daily:
home made $0.40- $0.50
raw $0.45-$0.55
canned $1.75-$2.50 (non-holistic-holistic grain free)

so research it well!! not just HOW but whats it cost too. :)

-ash

Wow, I just looked at some homemade recipes and it looks really hard! I don't think I'd be able to keep it up reliably. I guess I'll just stick with the canned natural they like along with their weekly omellette snack.

You could supplement their canned with some extra meat you cook for yourself at dinner time. I do that for my cats. If I have chicken they get a specially half cooked piece (the juicier, the better) that doesn't have any spices, garlic, onions added. They love beef cooked extremely rare. This way I don't have to worry that they are getting all their vitamins, but still get what nature intends for them to eat also.

For me, just as I would assess for my patients (unless of it s a drug issue and I need to find a med they can afford that will work as well as something more expensive - say for nausea) , I think the better question is what's healthier and while I have a bias because it;s what I do, I say home made. I do on occasion give them some "store bought" (wholesale) "junk food treats" since I myself have been know n to frequent the Golden Arches, lol -. Sop,, I think it is how best you assess your pets' needs and then work from there in consultation with a vet or with a nutritionist who specializes in creating pet food. I consulted a nutrition prof at a local vet univ to create my cats' diet and they are thriving. I highly recommend that route.

I hate to admit it took the scares of the tainted food for me to do that tho, sigh!!