[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Hi!
I help with rescues and have several dogs and cats. I have been researching this website and dog food for awhile (I love this site!).. I understand that better quality food can mean that you feed less, but I was just wondering what others’ opinions are of some of the best foods at the best prices?? I am on a budget but want to do the best I can for my babies. Thank you!

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve heard that Victor and Earthborn are budget friendly. I’ve used Nutrisource which is mid-priced ($45-$50) for a large bag in my area and it has a higher calorie count so I do use less. Also Nature’s Select has competitive prices as well and they discount for rescues.

[Mom2Cavs]

In my opinion, the top budget friendly foods in my area (Cincinnati):
1. Whole Earth Farms
2. Fromm Classics
3. Earthborn
4. Nutrisource
5. 4Health
6. Sportmix’s new food
7. Rachel Ray’s new grain free food
8. Simply Nourish at Petsmart
9. Authority’s grain free at Petsmart
10. last on my list because it’s…well…Diamond – Diamond’s new grain free

There may be more than this but it’s all I can think of.

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Thank you both so much!!! I love Nutrisource and I am using Simply Nourish right now.. honestly, they are almost too much for my budget though, I have to buy 3 to 4 bags a month but there’s some I haven’t tried.. THANK YOU 🙂

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Mom2Cavs, what is the Sportmix food? I haven’t heard of this brand before. Thank you

[theBCnut]

I think it’s this one
/dog-food-reviews/sportmix-wholesomes-dog-food/

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

THANK YOU, Patty 🙂

[Mom2Cavs]

Yes, I’m sorry, I would say that Simply Nourish, Nutrisource and Earthborn are more expensive than the rest of the list I gave you. Good luck, I understand your need. 🙂

[Hound Dog Mom]

Some that weren’t mentioned: Pro Pac, Eagle Pack (available in 50 lb. breeder bags), Pure Balance (available at Walmart), Healthwise, Native Performance. All rated 3.5 – 5 stars and all <$1.25 per lb.

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Yall are awesome! Thank you 🙂 Where do you find these foods? I usually shop Petsmart.. I have found a very reasonable one that is 3 stars, Lassie Natural Way.. the puppy was rated 4 but now all down to 3.. I would still like to look at these others and will google. I have heard (and seen by ratings) that Costco’s is very good food too.. but I”m not currently amember.. Thank you again!

[theBCnut]

A lot of us live in rural areas and order online.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Check out wag.com, naturalK9supplies.com, doggiefood.com, petflow.com, petbest.com and k9cuisine.com – all have a large selection of quality foods, competitive prices and offer free shipping (no weight restrictions) when you spend a certain amount of money (usually orders over $50).

[InkedMarie]

I think people need to shop for the food their dog needs, not shop at a certain store. JMO

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Thank you but if you read the prior posts, that has nothing to do with my question, other than I was wondering where the aforementioned foods could be purchased. Also, I was asking for advice on food, not opinions 🙂

[InkedMarie]

You need to realize that this is the internet, you don’t always get the answers you want & things do go off topic. Shopping at PetSmart doesn’t always give you the best options. Someone mentioned shopping online: thats a great place for people on a budget to shop. Sit home, order, a good deal of the time, you pay less than what you would in person, no gas to get to the store & a good deal of the time, free shipping.

[Melissaandcrew]

Hi there-

First, we all have budgets- some are bigger, some smaller, lol. Find a few foods that you like, google and see who sells them in your area. If you feed higher volumes, look for ones that offer frequent buyer programs and figure the freebie into your actual cost per bag. You would be surprised how that lowers the overall cost of a food that perhaps you thought was out of the budget range. Petsmart/Petco do not participate with these programs. See if Hi Tek is sold in your area-they have aa GF version and a buyer program, and the food is reasonable to begin with.

[Mom2Cavs]

Melissaandcrew is right that Petsmart doesn’t participate in frequent buyer programs and neither does Petco, however, Petco does offer a “Petco Card” that gets you a $5.00 coupon for every $100.00 you spend and you can accumulate these and use as many as you want before they expire. It does help if you shop there often.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Mom2Cavs.

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Thank you all so much. I haven’t done hardly any pet food shopping online, so that helps a bunch! I also found Tractor Supply’s 4health (4 stars) for $32 for a 35 lb bag and even the holistic vet says that’s a good food. The Simply Nourish is $44 with a coupon. I look forward to researching online. What you have already given me, I have seen a few offers for first time buyers too 🙂 Thanks!

[laney.delaney]

For big bags, Pioneer is in the low 40’s, and GF Diamond is in the late 30’s. Ya can’t really beat them.

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

Thank you so much! I haven’t heard of Pioneer before you guys, so I have another one to look into! I appreciate it 🙂

[Mom2Cavs]

I’ve started using TSC’s 4Health grain free dog food for my 3 dogs (after the NB merger with Del Monte). I can’t believe the quality for the price! The canned food is only .99 a can, too….when I was paying between 2.50-4.00 a can! I’ve saved enough in just the little time I’ve started using it to go buy me some new sandals LOL! Also, I now think I’m going to rotate the 4Health grain free with Earthborn so I’ll have 2 brands to choose from.

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

That is awesome, Mom2cavs! I have been feeding mine the chicken and brown rice and they love it! Who is the NB merger with Del Monte? The only 4 star or above food that I have found that is cheaper, is the Costco brand, Kirkland. It is $29.99. But my dogs weren’t crazy about it and a friend had the same problem. I LOVE the Petsmart’s brand, Simply Nourish and my dogs are crazy about it. They’ve just come out with a Grain Free (not rated on here yet) but I noticed that the puppy food had a 5 star rating. I have coupons for $5 off a bag if you want to email me your addy to try it. Its non sale price is $47 a bag but some is $41.99 plus I have the coupon that makes it $38 🙂 [email protected]. Thanks for all of your help!

[Mom2Cavs]

Thanks for the offer Georgia Rescue Mom, but I’ve tried Simply Nourish for mine and Laverne doesn’t do well with tomato pomace (which S. Nourish has). I do think it’s a fine food and sometimes I do use their canned food. The NB stands for Natural Balance, and the merger made me very sad indeed. But, because of it I did try 4Health and Earthborn and so far I am very happy with those brands.

[sharyorkie]

Can you tell me the kibble size of theTSC 4 health? I recently purchased a bag ( with no coupon) of Simply Nutrish limited ingredients.Kibble is way to large for my Yorkies they play with it but will not eat it even if I add warm water and some canned.

Also does anyone know of a good canned food I can feed to my yorkie mom she has 1 baby? I cook for her but sometimes she gets bored! Yorkies are so PICKY!!

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

They have a small bites 4 Health but the kibbles aren’t very big on the regular. I felt of them in the bag before it bought it and I could tell what size, so you may want to check it out 🙂 They may not be small enough for your babies though, but I have a special needs puppy mill rescue that must have smaller bites and he does fine with it. But, he can eat the Simply Nourish ones too (he’s a shih). They have a good canned food too. I have been using Nature’s Variety Instinct canned food for one with Cushings and she has done well on it too. You know what is a 5 star food and my dogs LOVE it? It’s PetFresh Select in the refrigerated section in the pet aisle at Walmart. Petco also carries two kinds of it. You can look it up on here: PetFresh at Walmart and Deli-Fresh and Vital Fresh (I think is the names of theirs) at Petco and I think the puppy formula would be great for your mama 🙂

[Georgia Rescue Mom]

The kibbles for the 4 Health are about 1/4 of an inch. I think they are pretty tiny 🙂

[sharyorkie]

Thank you very much for the info! I will check out both of the foods

[pugmomsandy]

Sharyorkie,

Amicus is for toy breeds so it is very tiny kibble. My local feed stores carry it so maybe TSC will to. You can look it up at horizonpetfood(dot)com. Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner seems to be one of my favorite canned foods. It doesn’t have big solid chunks and is not a pate so it’s somewhere in between a stew and pate (it’s almost like a mushy chunky mashed potato) and it mixes well with kibble so the dogs just don’t eat the chunks.

[Mom2Cavs]

I just wanted to add that I’m feeding 4Health grain free and imho the kibble size is what I consider kinda large. In fact, Laverne (my smallest Cavalier at 18lbs.) has some trouble eating it dry, but not with canned added. Pugmomsandy…..my local TSC doesn’t sell Amicus (wish they did). I also love Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner canned food for my crew. I do wish they wouldn’t have added Carageenan in all their formulas now, but I don’t feed the food solely so I’m not too worried.

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