I know very well that better quality dog and cat foods can cost two or even three times more than that of the cheaper brands. Pet owners who feel that cannot afford it, unfortunately will more than likely pay in the long run. When their pet becomes sick with kidney or liver disease or when their pet continues to be treated for skin irritations and/or ear infections - those vet bills to 'fix' the health problem due to years of inferior nutrition cost far more than the 'few cents' a meal to provide the pet better quality nutrition. Before you scoff at the 'few cents a meal' theory - let me explain.

Many pet owners experience 'sticker stock' when looking at a better quality pet food. They look at the price tag and gasp when thinking how fast Fido or Fluffy goes through that bag of food. What they don't understand is that with better quality dog or cat foods, you don't feed nearly as much as with the cheap pet foods. Cheap foods have cheap 'filler' ingredients that doesn't satisfy the nutritional needs of the pet - thus they tend to eat a great deal more attempting to get the nutrition their body is telling them they need. On average, dogs and cats that eat higher quality pet foods (higher quality ingredients) consume about 1/3 less than that of a cheaper inferior food.

Looking at a pet food cost per mealIf your pet currently eats 1 cup of food per day, a 20 pound of pet food will provide you with about 50 meals. If the dog food or cat food costs you $15.00 for a 20 pound bag, that costs you about $.30 per meal. Now, if you feed a high quality pet food - feeding about 1/3 less, a 20 pound bag will provide you with about 80 meals for your pet. If the better food costs twice as much as the inferior food - $30.00 for a 20 pound bag, that breaks down to less than $.38 cents per meal.

Even when the price tag of a pet food looks to be twice as expensive, it's actually far from the truth. With the example above, at $.30 cents per meal, two meals a day - in one month you will spend about $18.00 to feed your pet with an inferior food. With the apparent twice as expensive high quality pet food, at $.38 cents per meal, two meals a day - in one month you are spending about $22.80 to feed your pet. That's less than $5.00 per month difference between a high quality pet food and a inferior cheap pet food. It is necessary to consider the cost per meal of the food before you think it's too expensive.

With better, more nutritious pet foods - they do NOT need as much as with the cheaper foods. Don't let the old habit of feeding more sway you when you switch to a more nutritious pet food - again, with more quality ingredients they just don't need as much food as with inferior ingredients. In most cases, if you switch your pet to a quality pet food and continue to feed the same amount as the lesser quality food you were feeding - your pet will gain weight.

The exact serving size varies from pet to pet. If your dog or cat has no 'figure' or shows no waist, chances are they need to lose a few pounds. Just cut back the serving size a little. Or, if you can visibly see ribs, then you probably need to slightly increase the serving size. Also, a cup of food a day for a two year old pet will probably be too much food when they are a little older. It is best to continue to monitor your pets weight.

Please don't just consider the cost of a dog food or cat food - look at the first five ingredients of the pet food and consider the cost per meal.