HELP -job loss-can't afford Orijen anymore-- recommendations

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Popcorn

New member
HELP -job loss-can't afford Orijen anymore-- recommendations /FINAL DECISION post 33

Hi All

We are facing a 70% cut in our budget due to my dh's job downsizing. We are at the level of not having health insurance for our small kids ... so must make cuts in everything.

I've been feeding our newfs Orijen with great success. But it costs me $62 at the cheapest ... for a 30 lb bag that lasts 3 weeks for my two newfs.

One of the things I like about Orijen is that they both eat only two cups a day total (with supplementation of veg, whole grains).

So I wonder if getting a grain based food like ProPlan would mean more kibble per month and there wouldn't be any real savings because I'd have to feed them more.

I would like to stick w/a grain free one because they are thriving. In the past (when grain free was not marketed), I've fed previous newfs ProPlan and noticed a lot of dandruff.

I see with Arcana I can get the bag for about 50 bucks ... but that is only a 1/6 savings.

We have to cut more ... any thoughts/experience?

Thanks!
 
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CMDRTED

CMDRTED

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Evo makes a fish based food, which is no grain/corn. I'm not sure on price. Wish I could help more. There is a site, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but you should be able to google for the site that independantly rates dog food so you can see what the good and bad about it is, and then look for good prices.
 
NessaM

NessaM

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CMDRTED said:
Evo makes a fish based food, which is no grain/corn. I'm not sure on price. Wish I could help more. There is a site, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but you should be able to google for the site that independantly rates dog food so you can see what the good and bad about it is, and then look for good prices.
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Dogfoodanalysis.com, I believe.
 
Lauren W

Lauren W

New member
dogfoodanalysis is the website that rates foods. I did a price comparison between the better foods and websites (petco, dog.com, amazon, etc) Canidae and Taste of the Wild came up the most reasonable. I think these are 5 and 6 star foods.

We ended up going with Diamond Naturals due to pricing and we supplement with veggies & yogurt. Diamond makes TOTW. This is a 3 star food.

Oh, and we did not notice a difference in the amount of food they ate either.
 
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NewfieMama

NewfieMama

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Zuzu eats the Costco chicken based premium kibble with success. It's about $25 for a 40 lb bag...but it's meat-based, the ingredients are all US-sourced and the quality seems very good.
 
BluwaterNewfs

BluwaterNewfs

New member
Thule's Mom said:
Costco's Kirkland has a grain free at a reasonable price you could try.
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The Costco's Kirkland Grain Free is not available in all their stores. They are test marketing in several areas. It is not available in the Northeast, I have looked and called.
 
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victoria1140

victoria1140

Active member
we can't get the Kirkland grain free from Costco here but you could try some of their range.

Good luck with hubby getting more work, its hard I know
 
nowhavethreebears

nowhavethreebears

New member
Prism dog food is made by Eagle Pack and the "purple" bag lamb is wheat, corn and soy free...It does have rice. I pay 28.99 for a 40 pound bag that lasts my three about three weeks.
Look for it wherever you have EP available in your area.

Sorry to hear about your situation...Here's hoping things will get better for your family real soon....
 
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Tula

Tula

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We feed Costo Lamb and Rice with no problem. We feed Nutro to two of our dogs - it is also reasonable.
 
sarnewfie

sarnewfie

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With divorce and with having a job that does not pay the greatest, i am mixing pedigree with Natural Balance for the 2 newfs and syd gets NB straight and reagon gets a stronger mix of NB then pedigree. So far i have been able to balance that with my very tight budget ( i do not know what i would do if i had a car payment. Uggggg)

Some newfie people love the purina pro plan also besides the kirkland.
 
KodysGrandma

KodysGrandma

New member
I had Thunder on Orijen, then couldn't get it and went to Evo. Decided that was too pricey too as things keep going up and will probably go TOTW for him. But for better than 20 years we have had the rest of ours on Sams Club brand Lamb and Rice and they all seemed to do fine. I'm just super nervous about Thunder.
 
imis_idora

imis_idora

New member
If Kirkland is not available, the Diamond Naturals seems to be very similar.
While we have only been using Diamond Naturals for about 2 months, we have been very pleased. Our Jorge is growing well, is very healthy, and seems to enjoy his meal times. The large breed puppy is around $38.00 for a 40 lb. bag and the large breed adult is around $35.00 for 40 lbs., locally. It should be available at Pet Supplies Plus and Tractor Supply Company.
It may not be the "best" food available but for those of us on a budget, it seems to be pretty good.

If it helps it was also recommended by the breeder.
 
newfx's2

newfx's2

New member
KodysGrandma said:
I had Thunder on Orijen, then couldn't get it and went to Evo. Decided that was too pricey too as things keep going up and will probably go TOTW for him. But for better than 20 years we have had the rest of ours on Sams Club brand Lamb and Rice and they all seemed to do fine. I'm just super nervous about Thunder.
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I mix Orijen w/ TOTW Salmon along w/ a holistic raw diet for mine, and they're doing great.
 
P

Popcorn

New member
Thank you all, I really appreciate it. Such good advice. I hadn't thought mixing the cheaper with the orijen. I have been stretching the orijen w/table scraps (it's high quality food -- organic, whole grain). But it's still so costly ...

Thule's Mom said:
Costco's Kirkland has a grain free at a reasonable price you could try.
Click to expand...
Darn, I wish we had a costco near us. Have been pleased with their products when I used to live near them...

nowhavethreebears said:
Prism dog food is made by Eagle Pack and the "purple" bag lamb is wheat, corn and soy free...It does have rice. I pay 28.99 for a 40 pound bag that lasts my three about three weeks.
Look for it wherever you have EP available in your area.
Click to expand...
This one sounds reasonable -- I will check our local feed store.

Tula said:
We feed Costo Lamb and Rice with no problem. We feed Nutro to two of our dogs - it is also reasonable.
Click to expand...
I've never quite liked the Nutro. We once found a dead mouse in a bag. I know it happens, but I still have a visceral reaction. That's when we switched to Purina (this is w/other newfies I had that couldn't tolerate the "good" food) ProPlan because the feed shop lady said they had spotless food plants!

imis_idora said:
If Kirkland is not available, the Diamond Naturals seems to be very similar.
While we have only been using Diamond Naturals for about 2 months, we have been very pleased. Our Jorge is growing well, is very healthy, and seems to enjoy his meal times. The large breed puppy is around $38.00 for a 40 lb. bag and the large breed adult is around $35.00 for
Click to expand...
Never heard of it ... Will look it up on the website Nessa recommended ... thank you. It would be cheaper by half ...

Thank you all once again ... will report back. If anyone else has another suggestions ... I'd love to hear them! Don't know how my two will tolerate the switch. Am a bit grim about doing it as they are doing so well on Orijen.
 
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