Pets - Saving Money Tips

[ozzy gurl]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

My parents don't ever feed the dogs (except table scraps sometimes), they are outside all the time (maybe in a cold snap they are in the barn), don't ever brush them, don't take them to the vet unless they are really hurt (maybe a broken leg), etc.

That is not how you treat any animal. It doesn't matter if they are "inside dogs" or not. I'm happy the dogs lived long lives, but how happy/healthy were they? And what do you mean your parents only feed the dogs occasionally? They need to eat everyday, just like you and me.

[puppypal]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

OZZY GURL! You took the words out of my mouth FOR real! Dogs and Kitties are not mountian lions and Wolfs that live in the wild and can tend to themselfs anymore. Humans have domesticated them to the extreme. By feeding scraps to an animal you risk giving them tummy troubles not to mention worms that can basically eat away at there insides. Not altering an animal and allowing them to run free and mate is why thousands of animals here in my state every year have to die. Over-population is a terrible thing where I live and daily just in my town of 3500 folks they kill 200 a day! When a dog is a yard dog so to speak without any medical care they have fleas and ticks and normally end up with lime....
Which makes them bleed to extreme and become anemic.
I always like to say, a dog without the proper care has a slow death sentance waiting to happen. domesticated creatures are not like the wild ones and with heartworms and mounds and mounds of other things these PETS need to be taken care of properly to live out there life in full. In my area, several folks tend to think as your parents thought about animals. The old way, that is why these animals are running around town with conditions that can be passed on to humans and now humans are getting sick.

[cptacek]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

We lived on a farm 11 miles from town an 2 miles from any neighbors. The dogs hunted rabbits and birds and were just fine. They weren't sick. They were animals, doing what animals do. I guess I misspoke when talking about "inside" vs. "outside" dogs. I meant "outside farm dogs" I guess.

[cptacek]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

and I don't have any pets because I know that since I live in a small town the animals would be completely dependent on me, and I can't/.won't provide that for them.

[cptacek]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

And I know dogs have to eat every day. It would be cruel to keep them locked up in a yard and not feed them. They had free range over many square miles of pasture land to hunt. My parents were NOT cruel to the animals. They just treated them like animals.

[ozzy gurl]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

I think we should just agree to disagree about what constitutes as "cruelty", and leave it at that. :-)

[Phantomfyre]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

If your pet is prescribed medication(s), ask the vet:
-What is it? What does it do?
-Is it used for humans? If so, can I get it at a drugstore? (One of our cats is on a heart medication for humans, and it's less expensive at the pharmacy than the vet's office.)
-Will you write a prescription for it so I can buy it online? (Another of our cat's meds is available online for much less than the vet. ValleyVet.com has been good for me. I also get my horses' vaccines there.)
-For long-term meds, will you write the prescription for a larger quantity so I can buy in "bulk?" (So you don't have to pay extra shipping or disensing fees.)
-Is there an alternative form of this drug? i.e. Liquid, powder, pill? (Sometimes one version is easier to administer and/or less expensive.)

Learn to give vaccines yourself. Or, ask your vet if he/she will give a shot you purchased online, provided you accept responsibility for making sure it is not expired and has been kept cold, etc. This works well for rabies vaccines (if you can get it in your state), which often are required by law to be administered by a vet. I purchased a vial of rabies vaccine for $10, which was enough to do 2 horses and 2 cats for 2 years. The vet only charged me for the farm call. BIG savings!!! (ONE horse rabies from the vet was $27!)

Keep a pet medical kit handy: thermometer, gauze, vetwrap, stethoscope, gloves, tweezers, etc.

Familiarize yourself with normal vitals for your pet: heart rate, temp, respiration rate, capillary refill time, appearance and size/color of stools/urine. As has been mentioned, noticing problems early can save lives *and* money.

Learn about wormers/vaccines and the parasites/diseases they are for. Some "standards" may not be necessary. For example, worming an indoor-only cat may only be needed if you have a mouse problem in your house and the cat catches and eats them, or if the cat has contact with an indoor-outdoor cat. Same for feline leukemia vaccines. My horses do not come into contact with other horses, so I can worm them less often than the "standard" frequency and omit certain vaccines. But if I take one off the property, I can add a worming session or vaccinate/booster beforehand, as needed. However, be safe about this - erring on the side of caution rarely hurts.

Don't forget to learn to trim nails when you learn to give haircuts and/or groom!

On cat litter: IMHO, clumping litter is a waste of money. And it can be a health hazard, particularly for kittens who are small and aren't totally litterbox savvy yet - they get the fine grains of litter stuck to their paws, lick it off, and the clay can build up and cause an intestinal blockage, which can kill them or cost you big vet bills. I use the cheapest regular/non-clumping litter I can find and use a kids' plastic sand shovel as a scoop for the wet areas. Voila! Scoopable litter. LOL. I do not buy the scented stuff either - cats' noses are MUCH more sensitive than ours, and fragrances like that can really bother them. I just clean the litterbox more often and add baking soda to control odors. (Use the box of soda that you put in your fridge/freezer when its time is up, or buy a sack of it at the feed store (for horses, cows) - only ask for "sodium bicarbonate." Same stuff, dirt cheap: you can get 50 lb. sack for something like $10-$12.) Also, cleaning the litterbox more often has another benefit: kidney/urinary tract problems in cats are fairly common. Changes in the litterbox may be the first and only symptom you get before the situation is life-threatening. (Trust me, I have a cat with chronic renal (kidney) failure... )

You know those little pots of "cat grass" they sell at pet stores for $3-$4 a pop? Grow your own! Get some plain oats from somewhere (I bought a big sack of them at the feed store for $7 this fall), plant them in a little pot and off they go! SUPER EASY and FAST growing. I could grow a few hundred little pots of "cat grass" from that sack if I wanted to, but I used a bunch of the oats as a cover crop in the garden.

Do you have a critter that eats hay? (Rabbit, chinchilla, etc.) Those little bales you get in the pet stores are expensive! See if you can find a horse barn that'll sell you a square bale of hay instead. It might be a bit tricky to find if you live in town, and a bit of a hassle to store, but you can get a 50-60 lb. bale for half of what you pay for that little bag in the pet store. And you can get the same, if not better quality. Horse folks know what they're feeding; just ask for timothy or alfalfa hay. Or check the classifieds or bulletin boards at the feed store. Or heck, the feed store itself might carry hay, but it'll likely be a few bucks more a bale. Still cheaper than the pet store!

I love the local feed store. (Can you tell? ) I had been buying pellets for our chinchilla at a big chain pet store, but where we live now, the closest pet store that carries what we want is 45 minutes away. So I asked if they could order it at the feed store, since my chin food is made by Purina (Mazuri). They did, so I don't have to drive to get it, AND turned out to cost a lot LESS than the big pet chain!

If you buy chew sticks for a small animal, save money by harvesting your own. Do a little homework on the web, and you should be able to find out what types of wood are safe for your critter. Then go do some pruning! I have a few apple trees in the yard, so I just save some of the cuttings for our chin. They LOVE the fresh sticks!

If you have a small critter (rabbit, hamster, guinea pig, etc.) and you garden, save the used bedding for mulch/compost! It's good stuff for your garden, AND you reduce trash/keep it out of a landfill.

Lastly, don't spend $$$ on plastic pet dishes. Keep an eye out for nice, heavy ceramic dishes at garage sales and thrift shops. They last longer, look nicer (IMO), and are easier to clean.

Diana

[Scamper]

Re: Pets - Saving Money Tips

A single flea can bite a dog more than 400 times.

A female flea can lay hundreds of eggs on your pet.

When I lived in Hawaii, the vet said they had100 different kinds of fleas. My pomeranians were given a pill and a liquid at the same time. He said the two medications had to work together to kill their fleas. We had to treat the yards constantly. Then a kennel owner told us of a great treatment to use on the yards. Worked great.

Your yard is never free of fleas. Any person or animal passing by can have one or more fleas on them. Then those fleas can jump off into your yard. Maybe hitch a ride on you or your dog. Next thing you know their back in your house. It doesn’t matter if you just sprayed your yard or not.

You kill only the ones in the yard with the treatment. But does nothing to the new ones entering your yard. So when they spray your just wasting your money. You can go buy a cheaper product that works just as good. But got to admit this product the kennels suggested works pretty good.

This is my flea spray I use on my poms.
I cut up 1 lemon into quarters. Then I put the sections into a pint jar. Cover them with boiling water. Let it sit out all night. In the morning I strain it, and spray them.

Burrs on a dog. Just pour on a little vegetable oil. Wait 5 minutes or so, and tcomb them
out.

Flea collars I put on before flea season starts.

I keep my pet food in a pail with a lid.

I keep their bowls on a rubber mat, no spills.

Now if you want to get your dog spayed or neutered, I’d suggest calling the pet shops- ask when the mobile for these surgeries is going to be in town. Get signed up. There cheaper than a vet, do a good job, and you can pick your animal up in a few hours.

Dog coolers- Take a large western size hanker chief and soak it in cold water. Next fold it into a triangle. Now lay it in the freezer. When it is ready, tie it around your dogs neck. Keeps him nice an cool. I make four of these. Keep them on hand constantly. When one gets warm, I switch to another.

I also make them coolers that stay cold for hours. But you need to put beads in these. I make them for adults too.. These are awesome. In the summer you can play ball for at least two – three hours Stay cool in the meantime.

I also keep them cool inside. I keep a spray bottle of water in my frig. Then I mist them with it. They like this mist on their faces. I just say, o.k. time to get sprayed, and they come. No problem. Or time to get brushed, and they run.

I vacuum my dogs also. They don’t mind, they like it. I say o.k. guys heads up , and up goes the head, so I can vacuum the neck area. Then I go over the whole body next. Last the little tail gets sucked into the hose, and we’re done. They like to stay pretty and handsome, and I like keeping them that way. I use Zodiac shampoo on them. After the scrubbing, my hubby keeps an eye on them. I run around an vacuum all my carpeting. When I finish, we both rinse and let them out. Then we have clean dogs, and clean carpeting at the same time. No fleas, until they go back outside. . Then it keeps down the shedding. Although they don’t shed much anyway. I have two little ones. A male and a female.

[The Budget Man]

I inherited a cat about 10 years ago when number 1 son moved into a flat that did not allow animals. Not being an "animal" person I'm surprised how well the cat has survived.

Many mornings it jumps up onto the computer desk and sits between the keyboard and the edge of the desk making life difficult.

I wonder how many people "Inherit animals" and how many go out actually looking for them?

[th_tan]

Talking about pets, I'm thinking about taking my pet to a vet this coming week, hes a golden retreiver, and keeps digging under his chin. He digs it to where it bleeds, I been cleaning it with water but it seems to have little effect, maybe some advice so I can save a trip to the vet? If it stays like this for another couple days, I'm taking him, I hate seeing him in pain.