How much raw food to fix to feed 38 cats

I am currently the "kitty mom" to 38 rescued cats. 28 inside only and 10 in feral/stray colony fed on my patio. They range in ages from 1 year to 8 years. All neutered/spayed.

Have been considering going raw for some time, but since I am doing this alone, and on a very limited income, I have been wondering about cost, time and quanity needed for so many.

I am currently feeding Friskies canned twice a day and some free feeding dry Eukanuba or Iams for those that will not eat canned or need a little extra. I am using 20-22 5.5oz cans each day plus approx. 12-14 cups dry. I use coupons and watch for sales to keep prices down.

Needless to say I spend a great deal of my time cleaning, grooming and playing with cats. Wondering how much food to fix at each two week prep session, and how long it takes from start to finish, and if avialable an estimate of food costs per day or per cat.

Any information or tips you can give will be most appreciated.

RESPONSE:

Wow! Your house sounds a lot like ours! To transition to raw meat food, start with 1 batch and see who will readily eat it and how much. Not all cats will take to it right away. The only way to really figure out how much you need in total is to see how much all of the cats eat at one meal and multiply from there. The average amount a cat usually eats is a couple of ounces at each meal but some eat more and others eat less. It took us a couple of months of transitioning to finally figure out a routine for how much to make and we do it weekly now. For one person, plan on at least an hour per batch of food. Our current number of 33 cats can eat through 1 batch of food in about 2 days so we make 3-4 batches at a time and plan on at least 4 hours per week to make it. When you need to increase the amount, make several batches, don't just increase the amounts of each batch. Our recipe page has tips to help makeing multiple batches at one time a bit easier. The section on homemade cat food also compares costs and will help you to calculate your costs. It all depends on the price of the chicken! Making homemade raw food is a labor of love for your cats and will require a significant time committment and planning ahead. You will also need to be able to freeze the made food so a big freezer will also be necessary. I know this wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear but switching to homemade raw food takes time and because prices vary depending on where you are and the amount you need to make depends on how much your cats eat, it is really impossible for me to quote time and costs. It is something you will have to figure out along the way. We can say that, for us, homemade cat food is well worth the time and effort we put into it. And our cats stay strong, healthy and well fed! Good luck on transitioning to the raw meat food!

Donna,
House Full Cats Mom