Save money on pet food?

[Katie Ann]

I'm spending a fortune on dog and cat food.  We buy both wet and dry food for each because when we didn't, the male cat got a urinary infection.  Right now I'm feeding them all Wellness Core and EVO.  Any tips for saving money on pet food?  Their food budget is more expensive than ours.

[MaryB]

Oh yes, tell me about it!  My Mia's eye dr appointment is coming up next week and it will be an easy 200 bucks.. makes me sick... 
I think if you cut back and go cheap on their food you pay for it (like the urinary track infection)..   I'll be curious if anyone has any ideas. 

[nvgt16]

Hi, hi Mary! This summer has been so expensive with vet bills...like over $1,600...and then there's the cat food. I used to get Aldi's brand then in early summer I started get canned cat food on sale at Petsmart...more expensive than the Aldis brand but much better for them. For what I could afford, I went with Friskies but certain ones..some are healthier than others. My bigger expense is all of the medicines that I need to get for my Tiggy for thyroid disease and heart disease...basically what her brother passed away from on July 24th. The "fun" part is having her take the medicines :-( . Good luck!

[MaryB]

    Hi nvgt!  Been missing you around here.

[nvgt16]

It's been crazy and was a stressful summer. Lauren just landed back in Spain and my kitty Tiggy has been going through so much with the hyperthyroid and heart disease..and getting sick. I go back to work on Monday...my schedule that I had all set up in June has been changed around so I have no idea who I'm teaching in my morning job. I'm also in the process of applying for teacher certification in Florida but it's on hold until I can afford to do it. So I'm holding off on looking for a home in Florida seeing that I don't know where I'll be...but hopefully near Tampa down to Bradenton would be ideal. Just crazy stuff... How are you doing? How's your summer been?

[CatMom]

I keep an eye out for sales or other special offers and discounts. For dry, my cats eat Purina Naturals and Target runs a sale on it plus a gift card if you buy 2. It stocks me up and helps save.


I've also gotten higher quality brands with freebies and coupons. PetSmart sent me a coupon for a free bag of food and the only limit was size, so I "bought" a bag a Blue Buffalo.


For wet, I started buying PetSmart's Authority brand. It's a higher quality but less expensive than the ProPlan I was buying before. They had no issues with me switching them.


To find deals, I recommend an app called Flipp. It gathers all the weekly ads for your area and you can search your brands and compare prices easily.

[nvgt16]

I used that same coupon for a free bag! That must have been nice to not have a problem switching! Right now Tiggy is on special diet/ bland food while my others eat their regular food..but she is so over the bland food so I got to mix up with a little tuna in water..she does get picky which doesn't help. But I thought that all of my kitties would love the shredded foods and not the pate but I guess I'm wrong so now I'll have to get some cans of pate and mix them in with their other cans. I'm also looking into compounded medicines for Tiggy if the Greenies don't work. I just want to figure out what is upsetting her stomach. On Sunday I'm hoping to reintroduce her thyroid medicine which has me nervous...

[Katie Ann]

Thank you all for the tips!  I forgot to share some tips foo my own.  I've found significant discounts on medical items at kvsupply.com and chewy.com is a good place to buy some food items and cat liter online.

Nvgt16, I'm sorry to hear about your cat passing away in June and that Tiggy is suffering from the same issue. I'm sure that has you on edge.  Try looking at kvsupply to see if you can save money there.  My town has a farmer's co-op that carries some of the same medicines you can buy at the vet and for much better prices.  I give my cat medicine with Greenie's Pill Pockets.  They aren't cheap, but there's no fuss so I'm willing to pay. Could you give Tiggy Cat-Man-Doo freeze dried chicken treats to get her to eat?  I crumble them on top of the food for my cats and they dig in.  I'll be thinking about you and Tiggy!  I hope things get better soon!

MaryB, what is wrong with Mia's eye? Jeez, vets are more expensive where you guys live. We have a few highly rated, affordable vet clinics to choose from, but they require a bit of a drive.  I spend more on food, treats, heartworm/flea medicine, and litter than I do on vet care.  I hope Mia's eye gets better soon!  The dogs in your avatar are darling!

[nvgt16]

Thanks for the info about kvsupply.com, I'll have to look that one up. I had just tried greenies with her but she didn't like them so I had to make a mini greenie and use a piller to get her to take her evening medicine but that one is on hold. So far she hasn't been sick since eating the food she used to eat before all of this. She will probably have to get back on her thyroid medicine next which isn't as easy to give as her current heart medicine.

[Maggie]

Nvgt16, I hope your cat is feeling okay and is tolerating her medicine.  It's so stressful when a furbaby is sick.  MaryB, how did your dog's eye check up go?  I hope everything is better and your pup is healthy as can be. 


Thanks for the tips about saving on pet care and pet food.  I'm thankful this question was asked because we're also spending too much on our pets.   I'm glad I found this helpful, supportive group!

[nvgt16]

Hi, Tiggy has been enjoying her Pre situtation, food much better and she just started back on her thyroid medicine Wednesday night and she's taking it quite well for now, hope it keeps up! I was a bit nervous with going back to work on Monday but so far so good!  She hasn't lost any weight which is great too!

[MaryB]

Katie Ann and Maggie, thank you for thinking of my Mia..   The reason her dr visit is so expensive is because it is an ophthalmologist because her eye went blind over nite and then she ran into a thorn and pierced her eye and we were afraid she would lose it, so we had to get her a specialist.  This visit was upsetting because the dr said she has a small cataract in the other eye now.   Diabetes is known for blinding a dog over nite like that but they ruled that out first off so now I'm scared the other eye will go fast like the first one.   I pray it wont.  This little one is so timid she would not do well at all.  When her eye went blind she hid for a long while till she got use to it..
Thanks for asking   

[nvgt16]

So sorry to hear what you and your furbaby have to go through.   It's so very hard to see them hurt.

[MaryB]

It is, nvgt..   they are our innocent sweet babies arent they.   

[nvgt16]

definitely, I don't think my daughter really understands how more important my cats are to me now that I live alone now with my kitties...I was crushed when Lego passed...that's why I really need to be there for his sister Tiggy and of course my other younger kitties...they give me so much..companionship, love, and attention!