THE COSTS OF IGNORING NUTRITION
Pet parents have so many choices to make as they embark on a life together with a cat, dog, or other animal housemates. What we choose to feed, when to neuter or spay, what/when/how often to vaccinate, the DVM we choose to work with, and the list goes on. All are very personal. Let us have a closer look at the cost of what we choose to feed.
The actual cost of what we choose to feed our pets is not just the price of the food. It goes much further than that. Pet owners need to dig a little deeper and account for the cost of vetting AND the emotional cost of quality of life during our pets’ senior and geriatric years. The first two we can put a dollar amount to them. The latter? There is no price.
This blog will dig a little deeper into each of the 3 costs of nutrition.
COST COMPARISON. RAW vs. KIBBLE
What follows is a simple cost comparison as of May 7, 2026.
Acana Ranchland 25lb bag, Retails for $110.99
Ingredients: Beef, Lamb, Pork, Beef Meal, Lamb Meal
Carbohydrates: 28% max
Daily Cost to Feed $3.70
Origen Regular Red 25lb bag, Retails for $125.99
Ingredients: Beef, Wild Boar, Goat, Lamb, Lamb Liver
Carbohydrates: 26% max
Daily Cost to Feed $4.20
Fromm Heartland Gold 25lb Bag, Retails for $102.99
Ingredients: Beef, Pork Meat and Bone Meal, Peas, Lentils, Chickpeas
Carbohydrates: 48% max
Daily Cost to Feed $3.43
Note: We have chosen The Big Country Raw XL Bistro as our raw comparison. It contains a good variety of proteins full of complete dinners and blends. There is a wide variety of options to choose from, but this fits the bill nicely.
Big Country Raw XL Bistro 30lb of Raw, Retails for $104.99
Contains 12lbs of XL Chicken, 6lbs of XL Beef, 6lb of XL Turkey, 6lb of XL Pork
Carbohydrates: XL Chicken 2% max.
XL Beef 2% max.
XL Turkey 2% max.
XL Pork 2% max.
Daily Cost to Feed $3.49
As you can see, an excellent quality and well priced complete raw package is not that different in price. Moving to an excellent quality, grain free kibble does not generate significant savings.
WHAT ABOUT THE CARBS?
Ah yes. The carbs. This is a crucial point that needs to be discussed. Carbs and dogs/cats do not mix well at all. Our pets are carnivores. Our feline friends are obligate carnivores and are unable to properly process, absorb and metabolize carbs. Dogs can tolerate carbs. However, carbs are very inflammatory to the body and are one of the main reasons pet cancer rates and pet obesity has skyrocketed in the last 50 years. Our pets thrive on moisture-rich fresh raw food. There really is no place for significant amount of carbohydrates in their daily diets.
So Why are there so many carbohydrates in all kibble?
Shelf stability. It gives the bag of food a longer shelf life thereby making easier and more profitable for all involved (manufacturer, distributor, transporter, and retailer). The only way to relieve the fat moisture from a heat extruded food is to load the food with carbohydrates derived from grains and legumes. The purpose of adding carbs is not for nutrient purposes.
One can make an argument that there are much less expensive kibbles that could create a significant cost savings. This is true. But at what cost? Now we are talking about kibble products that are loaded with grains and a wide array of suspect ingredients. You do get what you pay for. I feel one will end up paying the piper at the end of the day. It only takes one visit to the vet because of inflammation and that will wipe out any cost savings by moving to a cheap feed. Just so you know, Atopic Dermatitis is the most popular reason pet owner’s take their pets to the vet. The itchies and scratchies. Root cause? Inflammation throughout the body and an immune system pooched because the gut biome has not been properly fed. Carbs are bad for our pets.
The Additional Cost of Vetting Due to Poor Nutrition.
Everything is skyrocketing in price these days. Unfortunately, the cost of taking our pets to the vet has as well. Our vet plays a vital role in our pet’s overall health and well being and having a great vet in your corner can certainly help you in achieving a long and healthy lifestyle with your furry friend.
More research has surfaced in recent years that is pointing to the role nutrition plays in our pet’s overall health and the potential for health issues and impending veterinary costs. We might spend a touch more for proper nutrition and potentially minimize the added cost of vetting/prescriptions/sleepless nights? So, let us say we spend an extra $1 per day more on proper nutrition. That cost an extra $350 per year. What if proper nutrition prevents just 1 vet visit and the cost of drugs or any other tests that need to be performed? I am confident it is going north of $350. The point here is that spending a little extra on proper food will potentially more than offset the cost of further vetting due to feeding lower quality foods and less expensive feeds.
Lower-quality pet foods—often characterized by elevated levels of refined carbohydrates, lower-quality protein sources, and heavy processing—can act as a catalyst for chronic health issues.
Here are four recent research insights and studies (2025–2026) that correlate nutrition quality with gut health and systemic inflammation in dogs and cats.
A comprehensive review of dietary modulation highlights that while high-quality proteins and omega-3 fatty acids enhance intestinal barrier function, "low-quality" markers like excess fats or refined carbohydrates often found in cheaper formulations can lead to significant health hurdles. These ingredients are linked to:
Recent perspectives on pet food processing levels compare extruded kibble and canned foods to human "ultra-processed foods" (UPFs). While a direct "processing-only" link is still being refined for pets, research suggests these products often have low nutrient density and high calorie counts designed to lower manufacturing costs (Frontiers, 2026, 1690420).
Research into gut permeability (often called "leaky gut") identifies poor nutrition as a primary stressor that compromises the intestinal barrier. When the gut barrier fails:
Low-quality diets often lack a diverse blend of functional fibers (like beet pulp, pumpkin, or flaxseed). Studies have shown that pets on diets lacking these "functional" ingredients have:
References
Dietary modulation of the gut microbiota in dogs and cats and its role in disease management. (2025). PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12734886/
Does the definition of human ultra-processed foods apply to dog and cat foods? A review of pet food processing techniques, their impact on health, and a call for pet food processing classification. (2026). Frontiers in Veterinary Science. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2026.1690420/full
Methods to study the effects of stress on gut permeability and energy consumption. (2026). Animal Frontiers. https://academic.oup.com/af/advance-article/doi/10.1093/af/vfag008/8490630
Diet-induced metabolic and faecal microbiome responses in pet dogs fed a minimally processed versus extruded kibble diet. (2026). Frontiers in Veterinary Science. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2026.1734572/full
Fido needs an antibiotic: Are there strategies to maintain gut integrity and restore gut microbiota? (2026). International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). https://isappscience.org/fido-needs-an-antibiotic/
I am not sure about you, but there is now scientific evidence that the type of food we feed our dogs and cats plays a huge role in overall health and the potential for vetting. If you do not know, Atopic Dermatitis is the #1 reason pet owners visit vets outside of normal checkups!!!
If you got this far, thanks for hanging in there. And now…….
THE EMOTIONAL COST OF CARING FOR A SENIOR/GERIATRIC PET.
There is no $ value I can put to this. Some of my fondest memories my wife and I have had with our four labs was their senior and geriatric years. I have a soft spot for elderly pets and they us an experience and memories we have for a lifetime. Yes, it can be stressful and yes, these years can be a roller coaster of a ride. However, looking back over the 30 plus years of owning black labs, I know one thing. The decisions we made during the puppy and adult life of our dogs had an enormous impact on the quality of their lives as a senior/geriatric. To us the most key factor was the food we fed. Our two most recent boys were fed raw and fresh food for almost all their lives. There senior and geriatric years were relatively vet free and they were happy boys. Our first two were not and our experience with them was not as stress free. Chronic arthritis and serious lack of enthusiasm and energy told us that their last years were not their happiest. The final years we had with our kibble fed dogs cost us more in bad emotions than the entire cost of what we fed and what we spent at the vet. More importantly, we want our pets to be happy and pain free right to the end. Cannot put a dollar value to that.
Thanks for getting this far.
“The Proof is in the Poop”