I talked about it on LAL Musings that I must be nuts for feeding my dogs prescription dog food again. But boy the price has gone up from last time. Or maybe since I have two dogs and I can’t segregate the food it costs more. Whatever.
I just bought Hill’s Z/D prescription dog food last night. It was $80 for a 27.5 lb bag! That works out to $2.90/lb. Ouch. That’s as much as human meat. We may have to revisit making our own dog food idea after the holidays.
And yes I’m buying it because I have a moral obligation for adopting my dog. If I couldn’t afford it or didn’t want to afford it I should never have gotten a pet. And I do think it goes part and parcel with pet ownership. But boy does it sting. And this is a reminder to all people thinking about getting a CUTE PUPPY for Christmas. Really think long and hard before you make a 15 year and $$$$ commitment.
And everyone guest posting, please email me the guest posts by the end of the day! Thanks!
7 responses so far ↓
1 dogatemyfinances // Dec 17, 2008 at 8:49 am
I was horrified when I looked up my dog’s food on this site. I now feed her a 6 star food, and I have to drive to a country feed store about 15 miles away to get it. It’s about $70-$80 per 50 lb. bag.
On those foods, the vet gets a commission and a mark-up, and a lot of them are just toxic. I cringe at the one my vet carries.
2 Clair Schwan of Frugal Living Freedom // Dec 17, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I think many of us might be headed in the wrong direction. Dog food is mostly corn and rice and by-products and other dry filler that canines don’t normally eat. We feed our dog raw food. Mostly we feed him meat, and it doesn’t cost $2.90 a pound – not even close.
Chicken at Albertson’s was 68 cents a pound for thighs and drumsticks last night when we picked up a large pet food pot roast for $1.90 a pound. Pork is relatively inexpensive, and ground beef is reasonable as well.
Humper Go-play Lickerson (a.k.a. Dude), is my 30 pound Boston Terrier from the animal shelter. I’ve had him for nearly 3 years, and he has been eating raw meat and vegetables for nearly all of that time. Whether it’s chicken, turkey, pork or beef, the Dude gets it raw and he eats bones and all.
His teeth are clean, he is in great shape, his coat shines, and his stools are small and orderless – all because he eats what a dog in the wild would eat. We wouldn’t think of feeding him anything that came out of a bag, vet recommended or not.
My canine companion is part of the family and he is worth every penny we spend to feed him raw meat and other raw foods like carrots, squash, apples, peppers and tomatoes.
Humper and I go to town and into many store together. Everyone knows him, and they also know that I would rather he not have a dog biscuit. A chicken leg would be fine, but none of that dry stuff for “the Dude”.
Don’t be afraid of the bones – be afraid of what’s in the bag.
Clair
3 LivingAlmostLarge // Dec 18, 2008 at 9:08 am
Thanks! I believe my dog is allergic to raw chicken or cooked and beef. I’ve been testing things out over the years.
Sadly the case of inbreeding and puppy mills have allowed dogs to be bred that are of poor health. We got him from a dog rescue whose owner did say they got him at a pet store. So I’m not surprised by these health issues.
We preferred a pure bred pet because of allergies, but didn’t want to actually buy a dog. And he’s a great dog! Except for the health issues. He might also have a thyroid disorder to boot.
Fantastic otherwise.
4 fengshui // Dec 18, 2008 at 11:33 pm
We spend a ton on dog and cat food. We feed the dogs Before Grain bison dog food ($48 for a 25 lb bag) and Call of the Wild cat food, plus cans of soft food to mix in the dogs hard food. So, we spend about $200 a month on dog and cat food. We don’t usually buy treats.
5 LAL // Dec 19, 2008 at 7:49 am
I think my dog might be allergic to the prescription food. Sigh just my luck a dog allergic to a lot of different foods and even raw meats.
6 fengshui // Dec 21, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Usually it is the grain or wheat that causes the allergy problems. Even the “prescription” food at the vet is usally subpar and overpriced. It usually has grain and soy and byproducts, which is why we get dog food like “Before Grain” and “Call of the Wild”. It is as close to a raw/ whole food as you can get.
Dogs are like toilets - Feb 23, 2009
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