As nice as it is to have a furry, feathered or fishy companion around the house, between food, medicine, the vet and other expenses, it can sometimes add up to a lot of red ink in your checkbook.
That's why our pet-loving partners at Consumer Reports have come up with a list of six ways you can cut down on the cost of your animal sidekick.
1. Don't pay a premium for pet food.
"A significant part of the national pet-food bill goes for so-called premium and super-premium varieties. But 'premium' has no legal definition in terms of nutritional quality." Even in cases where pets have special dietary needs, CR says you're likely to find significant price differences among equally appropriate foods. Definitely hit up the big box stores for pet food bargains, says Consumer Reports. Their secret shoppers found that Target and Walmart often had the lowest prices compared to supermarkets and specialty retailers. Among the least expensive pet foods CR found (on a unit-price basis) were Costco's Kirkland Signature, PetSmart's Grreat Choice, Safeway's store brand, and Walmart's Ol' Roy.
2. Consider new options for flea and tick protection.
The patent has expired on fipronil, one of the active ingredients in Frontline Plus, opening the market to competitors. CR found two that were new to the market, SentryFiproGuard Plus at Petco and PetArmor Plus at Walmart. The savings can be sizable. PetArmor Plus was the best deal CR saw: A three-month supply cost $28, compared with $50 for FiproGuard Plus and $62 for Frontline Plus at Petco.
And comparison shop online before you buy. CR found cheaper prices at 1-800-PetMeds, Drs. Foster & Smith and PetCareRx than at Petco or PetSmart. But the internet sellers didn't sell PetArmorPlus, and only two of the three carried FiproGuard Plus when CR checked in early June.
I picked up a load of 'premium' dog food once. I was walking around while getting loaded and seen them cutting up road kill to use as dog food.
ReplyDeleteForget the name but it came in a brown paper bag. Refrigerated too.
Think I'll just stick to the usual stuff.
well i read #1 and didnt go any further.
ReplyDeleteread the ingredients on pet food
many of them are mostly corn.
if the first 3 or 4 ingredients arent a named meat i dont buy it
i opt for premium, but its not any you find in most stores. never find them in grocery stores, walmarts, target, ect.
My cousin is a vet and we get ped meds for free, and she swears not to use generic Frontline, that it simply does not work. Only regular Frontline. She's the one paying for it, and she will only give us the genuine, so certainly not trying to sell us something.
ReplyDeletepetmeds.com is way cheaper for flea/tick/heartworm products. Off of costco/vet prices, I save something like 30-40$ for a 6 month supply of flea drops. And free shipping doesn't hurt either.
ReplyDeleteI feed my dog "premium" food, because brands like ol' roy are junk. Feed the dog the recommended amount, often times people overfeed there animals(ie: filling up a large dog bowl twice a day, when most dogs should be eating 2 cups worth a day). I have a 60 lb American bulldog, he goes through a bag every 50 days or so. Even with the "premium" brand, that's less than a dollar a day.
We stopped using Frontline years ago; don't know if fleas can build up immunity, but it was like putting water on our dogs. It just stopped working. We switched to Advantix, with no more problems. Drs. Foster & Smith have good prices, with no shipping on meds & flea preventative.
ReplyDelete