little micies
hey friends it's jess and jericho from caticles.com
here to teach you how to feed your cat better.
one of the most common comments that i get is "i get it but raw is expensive"
or "not everyone can afford to feed raw"
so in this video i'm going to show you how much a
raw diet actually costs and how i budget so that i can afford jericho's raw diet.
then i also want to look at some of the different health costs
associated with common health issues that we see in cats.
most of which, holistic vets attribute directly to poor quality food.
i spend about five dollars per day on mice but you certainly don't have to feed mice.
you can feed other proteins like beef, chicken, turkey, duck, etc
and spend between two and three dollars a day.
so i get all of jericho's food from hare today.
they have this nifty raw food feeding calculator
that'll tell you how much raw food to feed your cat per day.
so you put in the animal's weight right here 10 pounds and you choose between two and four percent
to maintain body weight.
hey jericho
so if you're not sure which percentage to feed you can start with three percent.
if your cat's a little overweight you can start with two percent.
if your cat is high activity you can start with four percent.
you can adjust as needed.
so we'll just say ten pounds three percent of that ideal weight
and it's going to tell you to feed 4.8 ounces per day.
so hare today has had this portion of the calculator on their website for years
but the new portion down here is new as of february 2021.
so it's a budget calculator based on the animal's weight here and the percentage that you're feeding
you're going to choose from the drop down menu which type of meat you want to feed.
so we'll just go with beef and then you choose your fish oil supplement
and then you choose your nutritional supplement.
and then it's going to calculate what you're going to spend per day per week and per month.
so for ground beef it would be 64 and 47 cents per month.
let's try another one let's try chicken 53.67. chicken is a little cheaper than beef per pound.
let's go with oh right here ground duck 68.97.
and then we can do turkey 57.27.
and of course you need to use the fish oils and the alnatrin nutritional supplements
and that'll make it a complete and balanced meal.
you'll also have to keep shipping in mind. that's calculated based
on how much food you order and where you live.
i typically spend around thirty two dollars for shipping and that's
express two day shipping for about two months' worth of food.
but definitely look into the raw food company's perks.
for example with hare today you earn discount points on every purchase,
you can also earn discount points on leaving reviews,
and sharing your unique referral code with friends and family members.
i'm also subscribed to hare today's email newsletter.
they only send an email once every two or three months
but it typically has a discount code in that email.
these points really add up and typically i get free shipping because of it.
but let's just go with the average based on these meats
it would be around two dollars and fifty cents per day
including shipping and all the nutritional supplements or $75 per month for one cat.
maybe $75 a month is more than what you're currently spending on your cat's food.
let's put this into perspective against what the average person
is spending on stuff that quite frankly we don't really need.
i just did a google search "what does the average american spend on this".
now i understand everyone's life is different.
this isn't to put you down about how you spend your money
and i'm certainly not telling you how to spend your money.
treat yourself girl!
i'm not a financial advisor or a professional budgeter
but this is how i'm able to afford jericho's raw diet.
and i'm hoping that it can inspire you
to come up with the different ideas so that you can save for your cat's raw diet.
also i want to make a note depending on when you're watching this
currently while i'm filming this video i'm not part of the youtube partner program.
so i'm not making money on youtube ads.
that's definitely part of my business plan so future people
watching i'm probably already part of the program.
but while i'm filming this video i'm not and actually my online business as a whole
is not generating a full-time income at the time of filming this video.
again that is part of my business plan so future people
i'm probably already making a full-time income.
apparently the average american spends about 92 dollars per month on
coffee that's about three dollars a day so that's more than your cat's raw diet right there.
i don't drink coffee i drink herbal tea. i buy one box a month it's about four or five dollars.
maybe you can't live without coffee. buy a smaller size or buy every other day instead of every day.
buy some ground coffee to make it at home. you'll always save if you make it at home.
next the average woman spends approximately 313 dollars
on her appearance and for men this cost is approximately 244 dollars per month.
this category includes haircuts manicures pedicures and makeup.
i cut my hair at home.
i've been trimming my hair since 2008 maybe.
i actually have an article on my website of that crazy routine that you just saw
so it's actually really simple to cut your hair at home i'll put that in the description below.
i don't wear makeup clearly. i've never waxed my eyebrows
i do them or should i say don't do them at home.
i don't paint my nails.
i make my own deodorant here and i use natural stuff for my hair and body.
i recently treated myself to some self-care goodies when i hit 100 subs here on youtube.
thank you very much by the way!
i spent around 70 bucks for all of this stuff and that was about two weeks ago.
some of it is about half used like this and this soap but then other things like this hair mask
i barely use it you can see a little thing there.
this one's half used this is the hair cleanser and it's about this much used so almost
half but then other things like this spray barely used it and this oil there's still a lot left.
i also got free lip balms with these purchases and discounts for my next purchase.
again i'm not saying don't pamper yourself
but maybe try some diy for some of the things that you buy or go with local handmade products.
their ingredient quality is typically better and they're also more likely to treat you better.
so for example with those handmade products i got free lip balms and discounts on my next purchases.
plus it's made with love.
next spending is on alcohol. this varies a lot depending on where you live.
i saw some average spendings at $11
a week but if you live in an expensive city you're spending $11 just on one drink.
so that could potentially be a couple hundred
dollars every weekend spent just on alcohol at the bar.
now that might be different now because of the pandemic
but maybe some people are still drinking at home.
i don't drink alcohol so i'm saving in everything in this department. i also don't go out
so i'm saving on ticket entry prices and also cab rides.
if you do go out maybe drink once a week instead of twice a week or
don't go out at all and spend all of your time with your cat!
another beverage that we spend a lot of money on is soda.
apparently the average american household spends eight hundred and fifty dollars a year
on soda that's about seventy dollars a month.
so there's your cat's raw diet right there!
i also don't drink soda so again i'm saving everything in this department.
so compared to the average american i'm saving 444 dollars a month
that's about six months of raw food.
if you still think that $75 a month is too expensive i'd like to invite you
to think about this expense a little differently.
when you say "too expensive" you're thinking more about
short-term savings instead of long-term savings.
holistic vets attribute most of the common health issues that we see in cats
directly to poor quality food.
we are what we eat!
high carbohydrate food promotes hunger and weight gain in cats.
and overweight cats are at higher risk for diabetes, respiratory issues, heart disease,
skin problems, joint problems, kidney problems, certain cancers, and shortened lives.
so first and foremost shortened lives?!
so isn't it worth it to spend a little bit more on your cat's food if that means
that your cat can potentially be in your life much longer?
these estimated costs i obtained from various pet
insurance websites. some were recent estimates but others were fairly old.
and again this depends on where you live and it could vary from vet to vet.
apparently the average cost of diabetes is around 20 to 30 dollars per month for your supplies.
that would include insulin, syringes, and any other supplies.
so let's say you're spending thirty dollars a month on food
and thirty dollars a month on your diabetic cat's supplies.
well that's sixty dollars a month right there. only fifteen dollars
more and you could have better quality food.
and that better quality food could have prevented this problem from happening in the first place.
additionally your vet may put your cat on a prescription diet and most of the
prescription diets cost way more than the generic kibble brands that you buy at the local store.
so you might end up spending the same amount per month anyway.
not to mention the stress of taking your cat to the vet, monitoring everything, diagnostic tests,
and having to administer the insulin twice daily.
i had many clients whose cats were diabetic
and some of the cats got used to it but others didn't really like it.
plus you have to give the dose at specific times after the cat eats.
for heart disease cardiac evaluations can range from three hundred dollars to six hundred dollars.
medications might not be too expensive but you're likely to have multiple medications.
and again most cats don't like being pilled.
i've fought that battle thousands of times with cats.
the typical cost to treat respiratory issues is $189.
cancer is a thousand nine hundred and fifty nine dollars.
one of my cats had cancer and the vet told us that we had no other
option but to put her down. she was only about seven or eight years old.
one of my dogs had cancer and her pills cost $21 each!
so my mom was spending around three to four hundred dollars a
month for her pills and that was with a discount.
now obviously cats are smaller and their dosage
would be different but it's still a very expensive bill.
chronic kidney disease would cost around 633 dollars to treat.
plus you would probably have to administer sub-q fluids daily or every few days.
that's another injection that some cats get used to but others really don't like.
so that means more stress for both of you.
our last cat that we had to put down had kidney failure.
and he was only three and a half years old.
if you want to see what holistic vets have to say about kibble versus raw
check out this video right over meow.
thanks for watching!