Is Homemade Raw Food for Cats Cheaper Than Canned?

One of my two Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue cats in her favourite sleeping place, my lap. Adopt a black cat today. They are the best.

I've been making my own cat food because it is healthier and has less packaging.  Eating raw meat in chunks also cuts down on the need for cleaning my cats' teeth as well.

For your reference, here are some quick calculations on whether I'm saving any money.

The main ingredient is bone-in chicken thighs, which is around $6/kg ($2.70/lb) at either Safeway or Costco.  The recipe requires you to discard 25% of the bone and 50% of the skin.

Other ingredients include egg yolks, chicken livers ($3/lb), chicken gizzards ($3/lb), and chicken hearts ($3/lb).

This worked out to $25.07 per 9.3 pounds of finished food, or in detail:

• $17.87: 5.56 pounds of chicken thighs and one pound of gizzards
• $2.19: 4 egg yolks
• $2.12: fish oil, psyllium husk powder, Vit B-50, Vit E-400, taurine powder
• $2.89: chicken hearts
• $1.64: chicken liver

This includes two cups of water in the final product weight.  

Cost is $2.88 per pound, or $0.18 per ounce.

The cost for commercial food?  Previously I'd written about how First Mate dog food has the same composition as its cat food.  First Mate dog food (canned chicken) is $3 for 12.5 oz or $3.84 per pound.

So, cost savings of about 33%.  It takes 1.5 hours for me to make the food, including cleanup and putting the food in jars.

What I am *not* including is the cost of the Tasin 108 meat grinder.  It should be factored in. If you'd like to make your own cat food, there are detailed instructions here.