How I save money and still spoil my pets

Being a mom of three dogs and five cats, and a foster mom to countless others, I have, through trial and error, learned some valuable money-saving tips on pet care. I am constantly answering questions from family, friends, and clients, and giving recommendations on everything from feeding to training to veterinarians. That got me thinking that I should gather all my knowledge and publish it, in one place. So, here it is!

You see, our "Pets" budget was close to $300 each month. That included food, litter, toys and treats -- the basics. That didn't include vet care or training. Our pets are our kids, so we don't mind spending money on them. We will do without so that they won't have to. But that was a big chunk of our budget. I decided to start doing a little research to see where I could make some changes to reduce that number. I am proud to say that our current "Pets" budget is now $80 each month.

Lets begin with dog food. We prefer to feed our dogs the highest quality food we can afford. We feel it is an investment in their health, thus reducing our vet bills by providing the best nutrition. We also have a Black Lab/Great Dane mix who has allergies, so we avoid any food containing beef, corn or wheat. We used to shop for food at Petsmart. The brand we bought costs $57 for 25 pounds. ($2.28/lb) We bought two bags per month, so on dog food alone, we were spending $114 each month .  After doing some research, I learned that we could find healthy, good-quality food at Tractor Supply. For the dogs, we now buy Diamond Naturals Lamb and Rice Formula, which sells for $32 for a 40-pound bag. ($0.80/lb) We purchase one bag per month, so for dog food, we went from spending over $100 each month to spending $32 each month.

For our five cats, we were spending about $22 for an 8-pound bag of food ($2.75/lb), again, buying two bags each month, so spending $44 each month for cat food. Now, from Tractor Supply, we get them 4Health All Life Stage Cat Food, which runs $20 for 18 pounds ($1.11/lb) and one bag lasts us the whole month. So cat food went from eating up $44 of our budget each month, to a mere $20.

A 20-pound bag of the pine litter goes for about $10 a bag at Petsmart and Wal Mart. We found a fantastic brand of natural litter at Tractor Supply, called Paws & Claws Natural Kitty Litter, which comes in a 25-pound bag for $2.99. A lot of times, they will have it on sale 2 bags for $5.00, and we'll take advantage of that great deal! It's also scoopable and clumping, so we can scoop the litter, rather than having to dump the entire box and start fresh each time we clean it. We have eliminated the amount of product we were wasting, without having to compromise our health.

Speaking of litter, we found this fantastic litterbox. You see, anyone who has cats AND dogs in their household knows how helpful dogs can be at keeping the litterbox clean. Gross, right? Well, we found a litterbox that, not only deters the dogs from getting into it, but it also keeps most of the litter inside, rather than it getting tracked all over our floors. It's called the Clevercat Top Entry Litterbox. We HAD to have one! So, we spent the $35 it sells for. Well, that was two cats ago. So, our three cats shared it -- which was fine, since it's a pretty good-sized litterbox and holds a lot of litter. Now that we have five cats, we were in need of another one or two litterboxes for them. But another $35 - $70 was just not in the budget. That's when I came up with an alternative. The litterbox looks just like a Rubbermaid container, except the lid has an opening for the cats to enter. So, at the beginning of the new year, when the Home Depot, and most other stores, have organizing supplies on sale. We picked up two Rubbermaid containers, about the same size as the litterbox, for $5.00 each. We got them home and, using a box knife, cut an opening in each of the lids, saving us $60!

While we're away, at work, or wherever, our dogs stay in their crates. Well, all except one -- the Black Lab/Great Dane, since she's six years old and doesn't chew up everything in sight like the puppies! We like for the dogs to be nice and comfy in their crates, but crate pads for their size crates run about $28 for the cheapest ones. Also, our two Pitbull mixes are only a year old, so they are still in that chewing phase. We might as well give them 20-dollar bills to chew on daily! When they're older, we will definitely make the investment, but for now, they need a cheaper alternative. Also, their bedding needs to be washed pretty often, especially if they have accidents in the crate. Our solution is functional, soft and comfy, easy to wash, and cheap: fleece fabric. We actually had some scrap fabric from another project laying around the house, so I cut it into smaller "blankets" for the dogs. I was able to make about 10 blankets for free! They have been washed over and over again, and the fleece doesn't fray, so it's an easy, no-sew project. They have chewed on their blankets a little bit, but that's okay, we can make more for pennies!

Our little chewers are also "scarfers" when it comes to meals. They take about 2.3 seconds to "inhale" about 2 cups of dog food. We found these neat-o bowls made by Martha Stewart for Petsmart, that are made specifically to slow dogs down when eating. They no longer sell them now, but I believe they were about $15 for the large size. Problem was, (and this may be why they don't sell them anymore) if they fell, they would break! We went through several of them, since we kept breaking them. They did the job of slowing the dogs down, but they were fragile and difficult to keep clean. Our solution was to purchase stainless steel bowls from Tractor Supply, which run about $8.00 for the larger size. They're unbreakable and easy to clean. But, they don't solve the "scarfing" problem. So, we bought each of the dogs a Kong toy ($10), which we place in their food bowls when we feed them. They have to actually eat around the Kong, thus slowing down! We actually bought two bowls for each dog, so we can have on in the dishwasher and one to feed them with each day, and alternate them for breakfast and dinner. Not only will we not have to purchase new bowls again, but their bowls stay clean, inhibiting the spread of germs, keeping them healthier, and cutting down on vet bills! We've also switched to the stainless steel bowls for the cats and the water bowls. After battling kennel cough, we learned that the "community" water bowls are the biggest spreaders of germs from dog to dog. We wash all the pet dishes daily now, and don't use anything plastic anymore.

Let's talk about that bought of kennel cough. Our three dogs, and our two "inside" fosters, all had to be treated at the same time. They each took two pills a day for 10 days. That was 100 pills. We had to come up with a way to make them swallow the pills. They sell these cool things called Pill Pockets, made by Greenies. They sell for $8.00 for a 25-count package. That would have cost us $32 for 100 of them. Our solution was to buy a package of the grocery store brand American cheese slices. One slice could be torn in to five strips. We wrapped a strip around the capsule, which would stick to the pill. The dogs ate them right up in one gulp! Savings: $30. And we had some leftover for grilled cheese sandwiches for ourselves!

All spoiled kids need toys, and our babies are no exception! I'll start with the kitties, since they are pretty simple. Ours are ages 6, 4, 1, 6 months and 5 months. They all love to play and they love their cat condo. There's five of them, so the bigger the cat condo, the better. I don't know if you've ever shopped for one, but they can run anywhere from $50 to $300 and up! Well, I found a great little store on Ebay that sells cat condos. New ones. I believe our 5-foot tall cat condo set us back about $80. Is was delivered to our door, and took about half an hour to assemble. Our cats love to chase their toy mice and jingle balls. We usually wait until the end of a holiday season to purchase them. We can usually find a six or twelve pack of holiday-themed cat toys on clearance for about 2 bucks! Our cats don't mind playing with red and green mice in January, or orange and black ones in November. On the rare occasion we buy stuffed toys for dogs, we will do the same thing -- grab the holiday-themed ones they mark down right after the holiday.

For our aggressive chewers, the pibble puppies, things get a little trickier. It's a delicate balance between cost and durability. Anything plastic, made for large breeds to chew on, can NOT be given to our dogs when they are unsupervised. They are able to actually bite pieces of plastic off the toys and swallow them. We've tried ham bones, which they took about 30 minutes to completely devour, and them proceeded to get sick afterward. The only thing we've found that actually lasts, is safe, and not very expensive are cow femur bones. They're about $12 for a 3-pack, but they last our dogs about a month. And that's just about the time it takes them to chew off all the "goodies" and flavoring, leaving a sparkling, clean bone, which they will continue to chew on until they get bored with it. $12 a month for femur bones -- not bad!

That brings me to the question I get asked more often than any other. What vet do I use? I had used several good, reasonable vets in the Oklahoma City area before finally settling in with one. If you're in the area, I'd highly recommend her. If you're not, I recommend you find a mobile vet near you. Dr. Tracey Alden is our vet. Not only is she compassionate and very knowledgeable, but she comes to us. You're probably thinking, "wow, how much does THAT cost?". Well, here's a little-known secret about mobile vets. They come to you, so they don't have the expense of paying rent on an office. Yes, they use gas to get to you, but rent on an office has to be paid -- no matter what. If no clients come in, you still owe rent. It's not like the landlord charges a certain percentage per client for rent. With the overhead of an office eliminated, mobile vets can provide their services to their clients for a much more reasonable rate then one with an office. Also, I don't have to wrestle my kids in the car, take them to an office, sit in the waiting room, and deal with the other pets there. I don't have to make a separate appointment for each of my eight kids either. Dr. Alden can just swing by my place once a year and vaccinate everyone in one trip! And, when my beloved Kirby, my dachshund, my "man" of 14 years was ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge, Dr. Alden was able to come to my house and lay him to rest in the comfort of our home. She even took him to have him cremated and delivered his remains to me a few days later. I wouldn't have trusted anyone else with my Kirby.

If you have a pet who is not altered, it is so important that you get your pet spayed or neutered ASAP! I will write about the reasons why in a future blog. For now, just trust me on this. If cost is what's holding you back, you are not alone. That is the number one reason most people don't get their pets fixed. In Oklahoma City, we have some great resources. We have two low cost spay/neuter clinics. I'm sure you're thinking what I thought at first too. I was concerned about the quality of care my babies would receive there. So, I became a volunteer at one. And what I learned is this: they are a spay/neuter clinic. They do an average of 50 surgeries a day. That's all they do. They have a very efficient system in place. Think about it. If you do one thing, the SAME thing, 50 times a day, don't you get really, really good at it? The quality may actually be better at a spay/neuter clinic! And, a dog or cat can, contrary to popular belief, be spayed/neutered at 8 weeks of age, and as small as two pounds. It is actually better for the animal to get it done as soon as they are old/large enough. The smaller they are, the smaller the incision is, and the faster they heal. I have, in the past year alone, cared for over a dozen pets who were altered at the spay/neuter clinic. I have not had any problems with any of them. In Oklahoma City, we have the SPOT Clinic, which goes by your income, and charges on a sliding scale. We also have the OK Humane Place spay/neuter clinic, which charges the same low fee for everyone. At both of them, you can also get vaccines at the time of surgery for next to nothing. Call for exact prices, but, I assure you, you will get out of there with vaccinations and spay/neuter for under $100.   

You're probably wondering how in the world we keep our house clean and smelling good with so many pets. There is one product, which I just discovered, that is excellent for pet odors and germs. I found it at Home Depot and it comes in a gallon size, and it's concentrated, so it makes up to 32 gallons of cleaner, depending on your dilution ratio. It also comes in a spray form. I got lucky, since it's "Spring Cleaning" season, and got the gallon jug with the free spray included, for about $10. It's called OdoBan. I used the spray to clean out the dogs' kennels, and I used the concentrate in my mop water to mop the floors. Three days later, my house still smells as fresh as it did the day I mopped it! I will never buy any other cleaning solution again. It also kills 99.99% of germs in 60 seconds. I don't know how I ever lived without it. And, of course, washable mop heads are a must! For the pet hair, I use the Swiffer Sweeper Vac. It's lightweight, fast, easy, and doesn't blow the hair around like a regular vacuum. The starter kit runs about $35, but, if you visit the Swiffer website, you can get a $5.00 off coupon. Now, we do live in a house with no carpet, so it's pretty easy to keep clean.   

I hope this helps you to learn that having pets and spoiling them doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Being in rescue, I see people give up their pets all the time, due to the cost of keeping them. I hope this will help someone out there be able to keep their pet.

Links:

Dog food-
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-care/dog-products/dog-food/dry-dog-food/diamond-reg-naturals-lamb-meal-amp-rice-adult-dog-formula-dog-food-40-lb--5025623

Cat food-
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-care/cat-products/cat-food/dry-cat-food/4health-trade-all-life-stage-cat-food-18-lb--1152999

Cat litter-
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-care/cat-products/cat-litter-supplies/paws-and-claws-reg-natural-kitty-litter-25-lb--2407509

Bowls-
http://www.tractorsupply.com/pet-care/pet-feeders-waterers-bowls/pet-food-bowls/spot-mirror-finish-stainless-steel-bowl-5-qt-2420688

Kong-
http://www.tractorsupply.com/dog-chew-toys/kong-reg-classic-large-2409006

Cat condo-
http://cgi.ebay.com/73-Cat-Tree-Condo-Furniture-Scratch-Post-Pet-House-B-/310304618203?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483f98b6db

Dog bones-
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4327957

Vet-
http://www.wagginwheels1.com/

Spay/Neuter Clinics-
http://www.vawokc.org/main.asp?id=19

http://www.okhumaneplace.org/

OdoBan-
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202560628/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Swiffer-
http://www.swiffer.com/en_US/sweepervac.do