E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSPets are an important part of families, but man's best friend can be very pricey. TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky gives advice on how to save money on everything from pet food and medication to toys and training.
This week on Frugal Friday, we’re focusing on the furry members of the family: our pets. And in addition to linking to as many cute pictures of puppies as we can, we’ll also be talking about the major pet spending categories -- and how you can save on each.
Pet Food
The American Pet Products Association recently released a survey that revealed we spent a whopping $53 billion on our pets last year. Of that figure, $20.6 billion was spent on pet food. Now, we love our pets as much as the next person, but the thing to remember is that as long as the food you buy them contains real meat ingredients, they’re not going notice incremental differences in quality beyond that.
“I don’t believe owners have to go to organic,” veterinarian Karen Halligan said. “It’s not documented that they live longer, like humans do.” She noted that owners should look at the first two ingredients in any pet food to make sure that they’re meat-based and not veggie-based. With a veggie-based food, there’s more filler, which Halligan said means “your pet has to go to the bathroom more because it’s pooping out all the filler.”
To save money on your chow of choice, check out Petco.com, which is running a 20-percent off promotion across its entire website -- and sales prices are good through March 28. Also, if you have a favorite brand of pet food, don’t forget to check its website to see if they’re offering any coupons. Purina, for instance, is currently offering five different coupons for various cat and dog food products.
Pet Medicine
It’s important to protect your pet from fleas, ticks and other ailments, but doing so can be costly. Halligan recommends looking into generic versions of pet medication, just as you’d look for generic versions of the medicines you use for yourself. When it comes to flea and tick protection, her favorite generic -- because it’s been tested extensively -- is PetArmor, which retails for nearly half of what you’d pay for the “name brand,” Frontline Plus. Halligan noted that Frontline Plus is great for treating a flea infestation, but if you’re simply looking to prevent fleas, PetArmor is just as effective. And in addition to retailing for a lower price point, PetAmor is also currently offering a $5-off coupon on its website.
Leashes
If you’re not lucky enough to have a large yard and electric fence, you’ll need a good leash that can withstand wind, rain, and your dog trying to nab the scraps of pizza that fall in the street. Vet Halligan advises avoiding the temptation of buying a leash because it’s pretty -- instead, you want something that fits the dog you own. That means something thick and durable for your Rottweiler, while you can get something a little lighter for your 10-pound Yorkie. Kmart is currently running a 10-percent promotion on the latter type of leash, the Majestic Pet Lead Purple -- and they’re throwing in free shipping, too!
Leave a Comment:
#1 First way to save money -- adopt a pet from a shelter. You don't need to pay for an expensive full-bred anything to have a wonderful pet.
#2 Make your own dog food -- I do -- cheaper and safer but talk to your vet and let the vet advise you on what is best for your dog. Plenty of clean water is important as well.
#3 Don't skimp on vaccinations and flea/tick/heart worm protection. Make sure your dog gets ALL of its shots and appropriate protection. If your pet is not getting the right protection, especially for heart worm ,pet will suffer and you will end up with high bills (i.e., trying to undo the damage heart worms create).
#4 LOVE your pet by giving it exercise through play time and walking -- and that means getting off the couch -- and don't forget to shower your pet with affection.
So, it's okay for pet owners to feed beloved 'family members' with pesticides, chemicals and hormones because they don't live as long as humans. To that I say BS, Ms. McGrath. My first thought was, since these are family members, feeding low quality, barely-meeting-FDA-standards food to our animals is the equivalent of feeding garbage like twinkies and McDonald's to children as a steady diet.
This article is kind of misleading. It implies that a meat based food doesn't have as many fillers. Even 'meat-based' subpar food has tons of fillers! Your dog has to eat much more of a subpar food to get even minimum nutrition, and yes, they'll be pooping out all that filler. Junk in one end means junk out the other. Better quality food means less poop, ear infections, skin issues, weight problems, etc., etc., etc. All dog owners should buy the best food they can afford. It will pay for itself in less vet visits and they don't have to eat near as much! I really wish that pet owners would read the labels on the food they choose for their dogs instead of looking at the pretty pictures of fresh meat & veggies. While the article does say to look at the first 2 ingredients, it doesn't say that those should both be a named meat source (beef, lamb, chicken, etc) and that if the first ingredient is simply "chicken" and the second is corn, then the food is predominately corn based since the chicken will lose most of its moisture content and drops down the ingredient list after processing. Sure, a dog can survive on even the worst dog food - but there is a huge difference between surviving and thriving.
That goes for cat households as well. Your statements are valid. We love our animals, and in our household they get food of human consumption quality and nothing less. The author of this article is a financial editor, maybe not a pet owner, which gives a different slant on her article.
I feel sorry for the pets of anyone who takes anything in this ridiculous article seriously.
What the author of this article fails to mention is that Frontline Plus, and thus PetArmor, have been proven ineffective in many areas (especially in the South) because the fleas have developed a tolerance for it.
Is this an article or an ad for certain products? The generic advice is perhaps good but when you see certain retailers or manufacturers mentioned then you have to wonder if there is sponsorship involved. It would have been better if the author had clearly cited these cases as "examples" and then encouraged the reader to watch for other such opportunities in their local paper/websites, etc.
Brad, Advertisement disguised as news seems to be a trend. The cosmetic industry has been sponsoring "news" for years. There is little fact in these types of articles.
This article is so full of holes - such as Petco 20% off. (does not apply to food!)
This article is so full of holes; such as 20% off food at Petco. The 20% off DOES NOT apply to food!
Your Petco blurb is incorrect. Their sitewide 20% off excludes necessities: food, litter, and medications which are about 5%. Their sale prices are more expensive than places like Target, Costco, and Wal-Mart.
as noted by another here seems like this is little more than a paid advertisement for several companies. as for savings i do whatever i can to save but some lines i will never cross. for example pet food i will NEVER buy any food or treats not made in this country, basically all store and generic brands are made in china. if i am in doubt of where the food/treat comes from i leave it on the shelf. as for coupons you can always get pet food and treat coupons from sites like coupons dot com or coupondivas dot com. unlike the ones shown here they are much better and more variety. check once every week and put away until the exp. date comes up. then go and get that item say for example last week a coupon for $3.00 off purina one but any size. so i print out a bunch, get several of the smallest size and have a stock for a few months. as for canned dog food any coupon under two bucks is not a big deal. normally you can find with ease coupons from $2-$3. but as said you check weekly online and then wait to use them until just before the expiration that way after a few months you end up with a stash of coupons that you will have every single month to use. another savings is toys which we all know are out of this world expensive. remove the cap and the plastic ring from the opening(choking hazards.) i have an english bulldog that loves to chew things, not nearly so much now but when she was a year old she was a chewing monster. those 2 liter plastic soda bottles give them a second life. child with a box it will play with, toss around and chew on until it is all crushed up. then just throw into the recycle bin and pull out another. it is free and puts to use something that otherwise you would consider garbage. be very careful with bones and anything similar, if they can chew it to the point it can be swallowed it can kill. even bones can splinter, break and have deadly consequences. if your dog is a chewer do not buy toys stuffed with fiberfill. that stuffing will be eaten, block the air passage or get stuck in their digestive tract and that creates serious problems even death. as for leashes my favorite the retractable kind are best and at wally world or other stores they can be had for $7-$10 dollars. last thing i steer clear of ALL pet stores because they have huge mark ups and even when they have sales due to that mark up, the sales just aren't sales.
I learned the hard & expensive way that NOT all foods are created equal.
My dog suffered from allergies like crazy and I was spending at least $200 every other month because of it. Ear allergies, eye allergies, skin allergies, you name it. I was so proud of feeding my 55-lb dog on $1.13 a day I didn't realize what I was doing to him. So my food bill went up to $2.73/day. Still saved like crazy when you consider over $1200/yr. for vet bills.
When he got poisoned because he was allergic to the drug, Keflex (Cephalexin), a common antibiotic, he was diagnosed as close to death and did I want to spare his suffering and put him down. NO!! I started creating my own foods for kidney damage and then supplemented with a top brand, in my case Blue Buffalo & Candidae mostly. While it was amazing how much he rallied (he lived for another 2 1/2 yrs.), the best side effect was that I only had to take him to the vet ONCE for the rest of that life. No more allergies.
BS that organic foods aren't better. Ask those "special interests" who came up with that tripe who they take their monies from. Just like the two colleges who came up with the "facts" about how GMOs are no different from organically grown foods. Syngenta and Dow gave HUGE endowments to them in the form of grants for other schools in their facility.
They will do ANYTHING, say ANYTHING to protect their bottom line. YES, they lie.
If anyone doesn't think there is importance in researching more than just whether or not meat is the first ingredient in their pet's food, try Googling "rendered byproducts", and then tell me you agree. If you want to know how to find decent pet food, try checking out websites like dogfoodadvisor and truthaboutpetfood. Also, I wouldn't take "a veterinarian's" advice on feeding - it's a fact that vet school does not actually teach enough about proper nutrition, and the major pet food companies who are selling all the inferior diets fund both schools and veterinary practices, as well as "support" numerous humane associations to get their names seen. The average consumer is depended on to take their word that they are providing good nutrition, but if you do the research, you'll see that it's not.
Oh, by the way. I'm a veterinary technician, too. But I've learned.
As far as feeding goes, pets should eat the best available product. If all that is available is organic, so be it. You can skimp on toys and leashes and baths and whatnots, but skimp on pet food? NO. Did you know that while mixing dog food in giant vats for manufacturing, bodies of dead animals and even plastic bags are dumped into it? Who knows what is in food manufactured in China. Remember the string of deaths couple of years ago? If your pet is member of your family, don't read this terrible article. It is good to be frugal, but not at the expense of your family or your pet's health.
I disagree regarding the purchase of dog food. First of all, you need to research the history of the breed you own. Many breeds have genetic predispositions towards some diseases (I have a Mini Schnauzer: she is predisposed to bladder infections, bladder stones and bad teeth). For my dog, buying just any cheap food is not an option, as many foods contain ash, which, if not flushed from the dogs system, can help create bladder stones (I use Natural Balance, which my vet also recommends). Next - water: a dog's pH balance ideally should be around 6.5-6.8 - just slightly acidic - or, like what happened to my dog last year, the dog could come down with an illness (my dog got a bladder infection because the water I was giving her was too alkaline). Food, water and any chemicals (ref flea and other protection meds or environmental issues) will affect pH.
Organic or non-organic, purchase food at the store or make your own - you should be aware of how it will affect your pet - pH and otherwise. At one time, I did make dog food for my pet, but the cost of all the extra ingredients (bone meal and other such things) made it more expensive. There are good brands on the market without ash or other such harmful ingredients. Also, you can join Petco, Pets Smart or Pets Plus and get coupons in the mail from time to time on food etc (Pets Plus sends out a card with coupons monthly). One size will not fit all - each dog has its own body rhythm, just like each human does. Find what works best for your pet and stick with it. I would start by watching the pet's pH and go from there.
As for toys, leashes, wee-wee pads or other needs, coupons from the above mentioned stores are available from time to time. Dogs do not need that many toys to be happy. They primarily need you, as their pack leader, to care for them daily. ;-)
Linda, you need to do a little research.
Dog foods don't contain ash. That number is calculated b burning the food and weighing what's left over, then calculating the percentage of the total they started with. So, no, there's no ash in the food to start with.
What's left over is minerals. But I don't think it's entirely clear whether or not those minerals are available for digestion or not.
This is the dumbest article ever.
You can save money by not over-vaccinating your pets. Be sure your vet's protocol is appropriate for your pet's lifestyle. A mostly indoor dog does not need a leptosporosis and lyme vaccine every single year, if at all. Tick collars and removing ticks ASAP will go a long way to prevent tick-borne illnesses. Topical flea preventative products can be used 'as needed' to treat if you know what to watch for. Heartworm Preventative can be given every 6 weeks as opposed to once a month. And it is my belief that vets recommend most vaccinations well into the pet's advanced age to keep their profits healthy.
Really... 3 things is all you could come up with? Ran out of places to plug with coupon links, did ya?
Best way to save money on pets. Don't have a pet.
Terrible article. We also went through the whole yeast, allergy issue with two dogs and the real solution was a high protein, low carb dog food. (We are using Natures Instinct). It does cost more, but the change has been dramatic especially compared to vet bills and medication that masks the problem.
I appreciate the comment about the Frontline not working in the south as that answered why we have continued to have problems. Using Trifexis but have heard it may be too strong for some dogs.
Why not ask the person that spent thousands of dollars and years of their time going to school for advice instead of the TODAY Show? Your veterinarian is the expert and knows your pet and her health. He will be able to recommend the best food, flea/tick/heartworm prevention and what vaccinations are needed for your pet's lifestyle. Cutting costs in some areas can cost you much more money in the long run so listen to the experts. OTC flea products can be deadly to some pets, especially small dogs and cats so purchase with caution for the sake of the dog or cat that counts on you to keep her healthy and happy!
The part of the article that aggravated me was the comment about "if you are not lucky enough to have an electric fence." LUCKY?! That types of fence can cause fear and aggression issues to develop, and a number of lost dogs have become lost by breaking through an electric fence. Stay away from them - and ask a professional no-force trainer for advice about fencing before choosing a type of fence - or leash, collar or harness.
I also agree with many of the comments about quality food, and most certainly adopting from a shelter instead of buying.
Bottom line: learn from a professional vet, force-free trainer, and nutrition sources such as those listed in the comments above, and not from the writer of this article! Consider a subscription to Whole Dog Journal if you need good advice inexpensively and don't know where to start. Those articles are written by professionals and there are NO advertisements.
Not much substance to this article, is there? I have never found keeping pets that much of a financial strain when they are healthy. The Chinese pet food scandal forced me to switch to cooking my own food for my dog - nothing too elaborate, just protein like chicken or fish, rice and vegetables with a multivitamin for good measure. These are all ingredients I buy anyway and so I can keep things on hand in the freezer or pantry. Another thing I do is really assess the need for the flea control products - why keep your dog on a flea prevention product when it's January and there is frost on the ground? The hardest thing for pets owners to do is being realistic when it comes to vet treatments. None of my animals ever needed anything beyond routine shots etc. before they were 10 years old - then when they were older, that's when the medical issues started. It sounds hard, but putting an elderly, marginally healthy animal through surgery for something that might not prolong their life needs to be considered long and hard. I did that once, paid over $1000, and the dog was dead one year later. Never again. Now I focus on keeping them healthy for as long as possible and accept the inevitable when it happens - believe me, that will save you money and a lot of anguish. I think with all the pet clothes, pet buggies, etc. that have become popular in recent years, we have forgotten that our dogs and cats can't live much beyond 10-15 years and we can't always throw money at a problem to fix it. One last suggestion from me - consider forming a "pet sitter" circle with friends so folks with pets can offer to pet sit in return for receiving the same from others. Boarding kennels and pet sitters are a big chunk of change if you go in vacation or travel for business.