Ok, I'm trying to find a grain free dry food for Bella that isn't made with a bunch of junk but yet won't cost me an arm and a leg any suggestions ????
Hi Brandie, we feed our guys Fromm's Lamb and Lentil or Fromm's Beef Fritatta. Both of these foods are grain free. The big bag costs $85 without tax, it comes to about $100 Canadian per bag. Fromm's is an American product, so would probably be cheaper in the States. A large bag lasts us for the month, as we have two EB's to feed. This would go twice as far with just one bully. So would be about $50 per month to feed. Fromm's is rated as a 6 Star food, on the dog food ratings on the home page, you want to choose a food that is rated a 4 star or better. There are other good examples of these such as Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Orijen, Arcana, and Go Natural.
[MENTION=8859]Marine91[/MENTION]. has a good breakdown of the actual cost of a bag of food.... We feed Fromm grain free, pay $72 for the 26lb bag and it lasts about 6 weeks
When it comes to cost of the higher quality foods you need to look at the overall picture versus just the initial cost of the food.
Lower quality foods are cheaper for sure, but they are also made with lower quality ingredients so while you may only pay $20 or $30 dollars for a 30 or 40 pound bag you have to feed more and will need food more often and likely use 1.5 bags a month so we will split the difference with the cost and go with $25 average per bag and 1.5 bags per month.
1.5 x $25 = $37.50 a month.
Now lets look at a higher quality food. Yes they cost quite a bit more, but they are also made with higher quality ingredients so you will actually feed your pup less food in order for them to get the same amount of nutrition as a lower quality food. I will use Harlea as an example. We currently feed Harlea Fromms Pork and Peas which costs us $75 for a 26lb with tax. As she is on a higher quality food we are only having to feed her just under 2 cups of kibble a day in order for her to maintain her weight so a single 26 pound bag last her right at about 3 months. (Individual results will vary depending on how much you feed per day) Knowing the cost and how long it lasts us lets break it down to an actual per month cost.
$75 / 3 months = $25 per month
So as you can see food purchase wise the higher quality food actually ends up being cheaper than the lower quality food when you look at the extended picture. Even if you only use 1 bag per month at $25 you can see that even if you use a higher quality food that your initial cost is higher, but your month over month costs are roughly the same. The one thing that this does not take in to account is the possible additional savings you will see from fewer vet visits from being on the higher quality food.
In the long run what you want to do is find the highest quality food that your pup does well on that will not break your budget.