Frugal ways to feed your pets/livestock

We have reptiles and Ts so we breed our own crickets and a friend of our breeds his own mice for feeding. So we exchange each thing. Also we have been looking into feed raw for our cats and dogs.

we have hunting dogs (quite a few of them) and feed flesh to ours. We have a small deer processing / farm slaughterhouse near us and are able to pick up (for free) all of the carcases that we want. Rib cages, spinal collumns, heads, legs, feet, etc. We were feeding kibble during the summer when the dogs are "off" during the non-hunting season and had started excercising them and they were dragging their feet. A few days back on flesh and they are raring to go. We feed Vegetables twice a week and they get bread periodically. All of this is free or very cheap from markets and farmers in the area. Yes, it takes some work but cheap and free is good enough reason for me!

i have made dog food out of rice and chicken before when i was running low on money to buy dog food. i only have one dog and it's not much to feed him.. the vet bills, though are something to save up for :(

I have seen people requesting freezer burned meats on freecycle for their dogs. That sent me looking in the bowels of my freezer and low and behold!!...freezer burned beef. Cooked it up for my dog and he loved it! I have let friends know and I couple of times I have been gifted with old meat! Hey...my dog loves it11

i always buy my chi puppy chow as advised by thr vet..i love my pup and want to keep him healthy..is the stuff you guys made healthy?

Chicken or beef and brown rice with some veggies thrown in...healthier than most commercial stuff on the market!!

i agree, when i give my dog (who i love more than mostly anyone lol) chicken and rice, i know it is healthier than the purina i usually give him.. i do it at least once a week because he has allergies and it is gentle on his stomach.

I feed my cats every other day to save money...

Just kidding!

i wanted to bump this. i recently started feeding my dog a raw diet, all uncooked meat and some veggies. his allergies have gotten unbearable and vet bills went through the roof! some have asked if this is healthy and after my research on dog food I feel 100% confident this is the best thing for me to do. His ears itch less, he chews on his paws less, and if you ask a butcher, etc. it is cheaper - especially if your dog needs food without grain, which many dogs are allergic to.

If vet bills went thru the roof and the dogs allergies were unbearable, how can you say it is healthy

well if read the post.you would know that because the dog had food allergies,and she had to change it's diet so it would be healthy.having owned a dog i know where bea is coming from.

Does anyone have any ideas for cats?

like what ideas?i do now have cats and can see what i can help with.

excuse me for mis reading the post. WOW everyone makes mistakes !!!!!

nice attitude.go deride people elsewhere...pm

thanks for having my back, paul :) i love my dog and would never harm him. to anyone else whose dog has allergies, this is something me and my vet worked out and it does seem to be working. i do not cook the food, so the raw meat is a bit gross but i get left overs from the butcher and it is so much cheaper than the food the vet originally recommended for allergies.

was I deleted because I tried to explain I meant no harm ??????????
All I did was mis read

fine you misread.let's drop it okay? now if the person who asked about cats has a question.i'll try to answer as best i can.

maybe they meant can you feed your cat a non-commercial diet? i have heard of people giving cats fish and what not kinda similiar to the way my vet started my dog on his diet.

that's why i hope they will elaborate.i have two feral cats we bought in,and one from a pet store.so maybe i can answer any questions they might have.

A few years back when there was the huge dog food scare I started feeding my basset boiled chicken and rice, and then feeding him veggies a few times a week. After that he refused to go back to eating regular dog food. So now that's what I feed him.

My cat however, refuses to eat anything other than his Purina cat food. So, I'm stuck on that one.

Try getting a membership to BJ's if you have one near you. I always see they have Pedigree dog food on sale. 50lb bag for $25.

$25 for a 50 lb bag is a good deal :) for my dog's meat diet i was also told to check out aldi's (i know it is also mentioned on a thread in this board). i usually use canned veggies, which are really cheap at wal mart.
i know my aunt's cat is pretty fussy with food, too but she's all drama anyway :) i do know one of my neighbors feeds her cats non-commercial food but am not sure exactly what she feeds them.

Hi: I am the one that asked the cat question:). I have two indoor kitties and was wondering if/what could I feed them like the person above does with her dogs?.

do they have food allergies?if not then IAMS does make a formula especially for younger cats.if so what allergies do they have.like what can't they eat?

im lucky enough to not have any pets that have allergies but i have VERY active dogs that are on a left overs diet and whatever they kill in the yard!LOL seriously they kill anything that enters this yard and not because they are hungry but they are extremely territorial. Even though i do have a automatic dog food feeder outside they rarely eat from it scince they usually get whats left over between my house and my parents next door. They have a indoor cat that eats alot of rice and chicken everynow and then they cook it up and freeze it for her. she also gets fish on a regular basis in the summer they save it for her when they go.

My son also has a hamster and to save on the hamster food (even though its pretty cheap)when we have salad in the evenings he LOVES lettuce and carrots. He escaped last week only for me to find him nibbling on a tomato in my kitchen.

^^ when i was a kid i used to feed my guinea pigs fresh veggies :)

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