Because Flint River Ranch premium pet food formulas are nutrient-dense, so your dog or cat will be eating 20%-25% less than regular pet foods in order to maintain its ideal weight. Each Flint River Ranch dog food serving delivers maximum nutrition without unhealthy fillers, chemical preservatives, or highly undesirable by-products, which means healthier Flint River Ranch super premium pet foods will cost you less to use than competing pet food brands.
In addition to being less expensive to use than competing pet foods that might initially appear to cost less, the wholesome and holistically healthy ingredients and overall nutrition of Flint River foods may also mean fewer and less expensive veterinary bills, which in this age of expensive health and veterinary costs can mean considerable savings.
Flint River Ranch also runs a streamlined operation focused on delivering the freshest, highest-quality food as quickly as possible to its customers. And unlike pet industry titans such as Purina, Eukanuba, Iams, and Hill's Science Diet, Flint River Ranch doesn't spend a fortune on marketing and advertising, allowing us to use more expensive but higher quality, human-grade ingredients in our dog foods and cat foods without having to charge our customers more.
Here's a table that illustrates the lower feeding cost provided by Flint River Ranch dog foods compared to the costs of using other leading premium dry dog food brands. (See notes on prices below the table - pricing last updated 10-14-2011.)
| Dog Food Brand | **Cost/Lb | **Cups/Feeding | Price per Cup | Cost per Day |
| Flint River Ranch Lamb & Rice | $1.72 | 1.75 | 43¢ | 75¢ |
| Flint River Ranch Fish & Chips | $1.72 | 2.125 | 43¢ | 91¢ |
| Flint River Ranch Original | $1.55 | 2.5 | 39¢ | 97¢ |
| Innova Adult Dry Dog Food | $1.80 | 2.25 | 45¢ | $1.01 |
| Wellness Complete Health | $1.83 | 2.25 | 46¢ | $1.03 |
| Nature's Recipe Dog Food | $1.14 | 3.75 | 29¢ | $1.07 |
| Blue Buffalo Dog Food | $1.70 | 2.625 | 42¢ | $1.12 |
| Nature's Balance Ultra | $1.51 | 3 | 38¢ | $1.14 |
| Evo Dry Dog Food | $2.13 | 2.375 | 53¢ | $1.27 |
| Merrick's Grammy Pot Pie | $1.77 | 3 | 44¢ | $1.32 |
| Royal Canin Dog Food | $1.33 | 4 | 33¢ | $1.33 |
| Nutro Ultra Holistic Nutrition | $1.80 | 3.25 | 45¢ | $1.46 |
| Solid Gold Dog Food | $1.67 | 3.5 | 42¢ | $1.46 |
| Avoderm Dog Food | $1.77 | 3.33 | 44¢ | $1.47 |
| Halo Spot's Stew Dog Food | $2.00 | 3 | 50¢ | $1.50 |
| Orijen Dog Food | $2.27 | 2.75 | 57¢ | $1.56 |
| Evanger's Dog Food | $1.94 | 3.25 | 48¢ | $1.58 |
Note on Prices: The prices listed for the dog foods above do not include sales tax (or shipping from online merchants), and may vary from region to region and from store to store.
In addition to considering the cost per day of feeding your dog, it's also important to keep an eye out for changes in pricing as well as the size of the pet food bag you purchase.
The massive international pet food recall in 2007 led to drastic spikes in pet food prices (ranging from 20% to as much as 70%!), largely due to an increased use of U.S.-only ingredients in the wake of the pet food recall as well as increased production and shipping expenses.
Another common practice following the pet food recall was to decrease the size (total weight) of the pet food bags while either keeping the price the same or also increasing the price of the bag.
This trend continued in 2010, with many pet food manufacturers increasing the price of their foods and at the same time decreasing the size of the dog food bags. Science Diet Hill's, for example, increased the price of their Prescription Diet u/d formula 35% — on top of a 59% increase during 2008 — while also "downsizing" the bag size from 40lbs to 27.5lbs.
