What about pet supplies?

**PoorRichardsGirl** · 05-30-2005, 08:35 PM

I just saw a post about the Average Frugal Villager, and noticed most people are spending between $15 and $25 a month for an average of 3 pets.

We are spending $60-$80 a month on a cat and a dog! What is everyone else feeding their critters, and where are you buying it?

I shop at Petsmart. The dog is large, about 65 pounds. We feed a mixture of canned and dry food. Alpo and Pedigree for the dog, with Purina One dry. Petsmart's own brand of canned cat food, some Fancy Feast, and Purina One dry. If I find coupons that make something else cheaper, I try them. The dog also gets milkbones and rawhide chewies; and then there's cat litter.

What changes could I make that would still be healthy for them?

**Mamawolf** · 05-30-2005, 10:39 PM

I was pretty amazed when I saw that, too. After doing a lot of research and doing what I think is healthiest for our pet after some recent health problems, we've switched to wellness petfood, which is about that much! lol I also give greenies every other day, and of course the bones and chews. We have 2 dogs, and 2 cats. I spend more like $100/month on ours. And I'm not going to cut that back. To do that I'd have to switch back to a food found in Wal-mart/grocer's, and those I have found tend to use ground corn as one of their top ten ingredients (most likely THE top) and I want their protein to come from a better source.

**homesteadmamma** · 05-30-2005, 10:46 PM

That surprised me too. Our cat food alone costs that much a month. We purchase our dog and cat food from the Pet store. Even so, Walmart isn't a whole lot cheaper.

**KKCondrey** · 05-30-2005, 11:25 PM

We have 2 cats and one dog. We usually buy the 18lb dog food bags and usually an 8-10lb bag of cat food. The dog food is $5.99 a bag, and most of the time its a dollar less with the stores shopper card, and the cat food is $3.79 a bag and we probably buy them every 2 weeks. Toy's and treats we either get on the dollar isle at the store or we get them at the Dollar Store but not often. Add in the cat litter (30lb container cleaned out every 2 day's) and we probably only spend between $25-$30 dollars a month on our animals.

**Darlene** · 05-31-2005, 08:05 AM

We buy purina one(urinary health formula) dry food and only have to deal with a litterbox in cold weather. A 16lb. bag of cat food lasts quite a while and costs $14. Prob lasts a couple months or more, never really paid attention.

**YankeeMom** · 05-31-2005, 08:15 AM

I've never really thought about how much I spend on the animals stuff

Cat food: 8lb Friskies $3.99 (usually have $1/off coupon) - lasts a month for two cats
24can pkg of wet food (Friskies) $4.79-ish (usually have a $1/off coupon) - lasts 2 months at least
Cat litter: 30lbs or more per month, about $15. I only buy Fresh Step clumpable. It's the only kind I've found that does not stink after one kitty visit!

Dog Food (they are the least expensive critters lol): we have a puppy, his food is about $7 for a 17lb bag...lasts almost 3 mos. And an older dog, her food is $7 (usually have a $2/off coupon) and lasts almost 2mos.

I buy all my pet food at the commissary.
I have found that pet stores & grocery stores (aside from the commissary) are the most expensive places to buy pet food. Walmart (if I'm out and don't have time to drive to the commissary) & the commissary are the only place I would buy it.

**PoorRichardsGirl** · 05-31-2005, 10:13 AM

Dumb question, maybe, but...

I know the larger bags of dry food are cheaper per pound, but I've been afraid they'd go stale before we used it all up. I'd hate to have the animals turn up their noses at it, toward the end of the bag.

Is this a real problem, or does it really stay ok for 2-3 months? Or do you vacuum seal the extra or something?

Thanks.

**homesteadmamma** · 05-31-2005, 10:30 AM

When we purchase in 50 lb. bags, we keep it in a large plastic pail. We don't purchase our cat food in 50 lb. bags because she doesn't eat very much in a day.

**Hollyhandi** · 05-31-2005, 10:42 AM

Hard to tell. We live on a farm with lots of animals so over $100.00 anyway

**YankeeMom** · 05-31-2005, 10:50 AM

My dogs (attempt to) eat from the litter box, I don't think staleness of their food is going to bother them much lol.
Seriously though, I have more of a problem keeping bugs & critters away than I do keeping the food 'fresh'.
Have you noticed that pet food doesn't have an expiration date on the package?

**QuilterMom** · 05-31-2005, 11:55 AM

Keep in mind on the poll that quite a few people have fish as pets so I think that's where the low $$$ figure is coming into play. I think the polls are also a bit skewed because some people may have voted on one poll but not the other.

We have 3 dogs (all Australian Shepherds) and 1 cat. The cat is an outdoor cat so we honestly don't spend a ton of money on him like the dogs (not that he's any less special than the dogs!). I buy the Sam's brand of dry food for him. I think it's a 25lb. bag and it's $8.99 plus tax - that lasts for several months! We keep it in a large Rubbermaid container. The dogs are where we get spendy. We have them on Frontline (for flea/tick prevention) and Heartgard (for heartworm prevention). Those are very costly and we buy them every couple of months. I set aside $58.56 every 4 weeks into our freedom account so that expense doesn't sting so bad when we have to make the purchase every couple of months. I also set aside $24.16 every 4 weeks into our freedom account for there annual vet appointments (checkup, kennel cough vac, rabies shot, bloodwork, etc.). In addition, we feed them Nutro Natural Choice dry food. We're not willing to go cheap in that department any longer. A 40lb. bag lasts one month (they each get 1 measuring cup of food for breakfast and dinner each day) and depending if it happens to be on sale or if we have a coupon we pay anywhere from $29.99 to $31.99 plus tax. We also give them garlic and brewer's yeast tablets each day (for additional flea prevention). A bottle of 1,000 tablets I think runs $11.99 plus tax. A bottle lasts just over 2 months.

**QuilterMom** · 05-31-2005, 11:59 AM

I forgot to say that I make all the dogs treats as well so that isn't very expensive and I don't make them on a regular basis. Mostly they get healthy treats that our vet has given a thumbs up to like a banana or apple chunk, a piece of homemade bread, etc. and they don't get those on a regular basis.

**KKCondrey** · 05-31-2005, 01:19 PM

Originally posted by YankeeMom
Have you noticed that pet food doesn't have an expiration date on the package?

I use to think the same thing and I just noticed yesterday when I filled up the cat feeder there was a date on it. So I looked at the dog food bag and it did as well. The cat food was best by Oct '05 and the dog food was best by March '06 for what we use. So either the cat food had been there awhile or dog food last longer.....lol

**Telephus44** · 05-31-2005, 09:23 PM

We have 3 cats and we shop at Petco. An average=e month for us is 1 bag of 10lb cat food ($20, usually with a $2 or $3 coupon) and then one bucket of cat litter - we use Pet Gold Plus, so we can bring back the plastic bucket and just re-fill it (better for the environment too!) for $10.99 a refill. So - about $31/month minus whatever I can do with sales/coupons (the cat litter occasionally goes on sale for $8.99 and the cat food for $17.99). Also, and I haven't seen this in a while, Petco used to have survey codes that printed out on the receipts - you go online, enter the code, complete the survey and it would give you a # to write on the receipt, and you could use it for $2 off your next purchase.

**bamamomto4** · 05-31-2005, 10:06 PM

Hoss gets Ol'Roy dry(about $6 for 20 lbs I think) and canned($1.97 a 6 pack) food(a mixture) every day. Thats what Steve feeds him...it's "his" dog,so he feeds him what he wants.
He also gets rawhide chews and treats.We usually buy those in bulk and they last awhile.
The dry we keep in a rubbermaid container.

Cat food--we buy the 25 lb bag at Sam's (not sure of the brand--just says adult food) for around $10. We have outside cats and they wonder off...we feed them when they're around. This bag has lasted maybe 2 months so far.

I feed Chloe Puppy Chow(also kept in a container).I've only bought one bag so far (she's a new puppy) at Wal-Mart for around $7 (10 pounds maybe) and she doesn't eat much but always has food available.
I give her Milk Bone puppy snacks.These were about $2.50 a box (had a bogo coupon).I think she'd rather have the treats than puppy chow lol
Chloe has been to the vet 3 times for puppy shots (each trip costing approx $30) and starts her heartworm prevention tomorrow...not sure how much it'll cost per month.I think the vet said for her size,a 6 month supply will be $16. She did give me this month free

So really,I have no clue as to what we spend per month because I've never kept up with how long the food and treats last and to,Chloe is a new addition. We just buy the food when needed. I need to keep track....