We contacted several people that care for large exotic cats to find out the typical yearly cost of feeding them. We were able to find out that many people get the majority of their meat donated for free. Stores will give them meat that is past its date for free because it would be tossed out anyway. Just because meat is past its date for human consumption doesn't mean it's bad for animals. One person said they get so much free meat that they're able to give it away to exotic animal sanctuaries in need. We assume Big Cat Rescue also gets a lot if not all of their meat donated for free too.

​​One person we contacted kindly educated us as to how many pounds of meat big cats eat each day. We were told a big cat like a tiger eats an average of 10 pounds of meat a day. That same individual said the lowest priced meat goes for .70 cents per pound where they live. They also pointed out that big cats eat 2-3% of their body weight each day and smaller more active cats eat 4-5% of their body weight each day. So using the information we were provided we can calculate how much it would cost to feed a tiger. We get completely different figures than what Big Cat Rescue claims.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

We will be using the figures the one individual provides us with in our calculations. So feeding a big cat 3% of its body weight at .70 cents per pound it would cost around $3,066 to feed a 400 pound big cat for one year. If you wanted to treat a 400 pound big cat with beef twice a week with the rest of the week being chicken it would cost around $8,424 a year since the price of the lowest priced beef where we live is $5.00 per pound.

We will now try calculating how much Big Cat Rescue is probably spending on feeding their cats each year using the numbers we got. Do keep in mind that the price of meat varies in different areas.

​Assuming all of Big Cat Rescue's big cats (9 tigers, 3 lions, 6 leopards, and 7 cougars) each weigh 400 pounds and are fed meat that costs .70 cents a pound, the total amount of money they would spend feeding them for one year is $76,650. 

Assuming all of Big Cat Rescue's 40 small cats each weigh 50 pounds and are fed 5% of their body weight using the same cheap meat, the total amount of money they would spend feeding them in one year is $25,550.

Adding the two sums together, the total amount they would spend feeding their cats would be $102,200.

​It should be noted that leopards and cougars weigh way less than 400 pounds and most of the small cats weigh about half of 50 pounds which means the amount they spend feeding their cats is likely way less than our numbers.

WHAT DOES BIG CAT RESCUE SAY?

Big Cat Rescue always claims that it costs $10,000 a year to care for a big cat. According to this video, Carole Baskin, the CEO and Founder of Big Cat Rescue, says it costs around $1,000-$1,500 a year to take care of an animal like a bobcat and costs $7,500 to care of a tiger. So which is it? Maybe our numbers are almost spot on?

​Skip to 4:05 to hear the CEO  of Big Cat Rescue state the average cost to care for their cats each year.
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