Cost comparison for recommended kibbles

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

Just for reference, here are a few cost comparisons I have computed for feeding Cosmo, a 45-pound, 2 1/2-year-old ALD. He normally eats Orijen Senior because he has arthritis resulting from an orthopedic issue which was corrected surgically about 1 year ago, and the Orijen Senior is an ALS food, including extra joint-health nutrients.

I offer these just as a guide for considering the true costs of feeding a high-quality kibble. The price-per-bag does not tell the whole story. As we have noted many times before here in the Food Group, cheaper foods may actually cost more in the long run because the dog has to consume more to receive the same nutritional benefit found in a smaller amount of a high-quality food.

So here are the analyses I've done. I encourage you to add your own!

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Cosmo eats Orijen Senior, which costs $69.99 for the 29.7-pound bag at petflow.com. He weighs 45 pounds and is not very active, so I feed him 1.5 cups, or 12 ounces, per day. Mathematically, one 29.7-pound (475.2-ounce) bag lasts 39.6 days. So the cost per day for Orijen is $1.77.

I compared to Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain-Free Chicken (none of their Senior varieties is grain-free, but all Orijen varieties are), which costs $55.99 for a 24-pound bag at petflow.com. According to the Blue Buffalo web site, for a dog of Cosmo's weight, he should be eating 2.75 cups per day, or 22 ounces. At that rate, the 24-pound (384-ounce) bag would last 17.45 days. The cost per day comes to $3.20.

I did one for Canidae Grain Free pureSea using calories per day. The 30-pound (480 ounces) bag costs $68.99 at petflow.com. Cosmo gets 592.5 kcal/day from his Orijen Senior. To get the same number of calories, he would eat 1.25 cups (10 ounces) per day of the Canidae pureSEA. The 30-pound bag would last 48 days, and the cost per day is $1.43.

Taste of the Wild High Prairie kibble (grain-free) costs $47.99 for a 30-pound (480-ounce) bag at petflow.com. According to the TOTW web site, Cosmo would eat 2 1/3 cups per day, or 18.64 ounces. The 30-pound bag would last almost 26 days, at a cost of $1.86 per day.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thanks for posting this!

[Shelley & Beans]

thanks for the chart it is a good visual and I will use it to show my husband the comparison between quality of food and actual cost difference. He still thinks commercial dog food is okay (because everyone else buys it)...

[BG and Gavin]

Ok, I kept track of a full bag of food and here is what I came up with:

Gavin is about 75lb

I feed Petcurean GO! Fit and Free (grain free kibble)

He eats 2 1/4 cups per day (active feeding guidelines)

A bag costs $63.00 and lasts 35 days

Cost per day is $1.80

I would add on another $.30 per day for topper cost (wet food or cheap cuts of cubed meat or a scrambled egg)

Total cost per day to feed the G-Dawg is $2.10

Could you kiss me Karen ;) lol ??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks for doing this, BG, but I'd rather kiss Gavin! LOL

[Seamus & Haidee]

oh Elizabeth...thank you so much for doing this. Seamus is also on Orijen purchased from PetFlow so I appreciate the math you did for me. Its def not inexpensive to feed the doodle! thanks again!

[Star and Goldie]

This is fantastic! LOVE IT!!! Thanks for taking the time to do this. It is incredibly helpful.  Even the size of one's doodle doesn't compare to yours the price comparison is laid out in a way that it is applicable to everyone. Nice work!

I don't know how this made it's way back to the top since it's a much older discussion but I'm glad it came back around :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I was looking for F's calculations for the past several discussions.  It needs to be added here. Keep in mind, she is talking about spending  a $1 per day on two doodles.  So, I would spend .50 more per day to feed a better food.

F said,

So I did the math. Calculus wasn't my strong suit but I did well enough in basic arithmetic but still please check this out. A mistake is easy enough to make. But I think this is about right since one bag does last about a month,etc.

A bag of Acana Wild Prairie is currently $59.99 at doggie food.com. I get 2 at a time so there is free shipping.

Each bag contains 13.5 kg =13,500 grams.

Every 115 grams (a 250ml cup) contains 425 calories. Divide that by 4.25=27 gms. So every 27 grams contains 100 calories.

Every bag contains 500 of these 100 calorie portions ( 3500/27).

So each 100 calories costs 12 cents. ($59.99/500) That is the only true comparison. Not pounds or gms.

That said my doodles consume 4 cups per day total. That said the food costs  about $2.04 for the kibble alone.

Even if the cheapest kibble cost half as much, and had the same number of calories per cup, which it doesn't,I'd only save $1.00 a day. Generally cheaper kibble has fewer calories per cup and you need to feed more.

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/the-cost-of-feeding-your?g...

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

My boys are both 56 and 58 lbs and I feed Orijen. They are highly active and get 300g each per day divided into two meals. A 13.5kg bag here costs €85 and lasts four weeks. I buy two at a time to avail of free delivery.   Each dog costs just over €10 per week and I consider that to be very good value for a very high quality food.  I weigh the food out and then place a mark on a plastic cup using waterproof eyeliner to make sure we don't under or over feed lol  (these guys would eat more if they were given it!)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm putting some links to cost/comparison sites here for easy reference, since we have this discussion "featured":

http://www.fidosmarket.com/the-cost-of-food/

http://www.crittercabana.com/dog-food-costs-per-month-comparison/