Anyone else trying to be frugal and buy quality pet food?

[KayleeZoo]

I'm working hard to stick to a budget for the first time ever. $1450/month for groceries, gas, dd's gymnastics ($75), other dd's preschool ($110) and all incidentals (everything but bills). I'm a horrible grocery shopper, and usually spend $800-$900/month on groceries and eating out but I'm reigning that in. Problem I'm having is the pet food- I feed my cats Innova EVO dry food at $17/6.6lb bag and we go through about 2 bags per month. The dog's food (Innova Senior) is $47/33lb bag. He goes through about 1.5bags per month, and we're getting a puppy in 3 weeks that will go through the same amount of food at the same price.

Are there any frugal tips for buying good pet food and not breaking the budget? Does anyone get food shipped in bulk directly to them from the manufacturer? Is there a creative frugal way to pay for animal food that I'm missing? I'd love to hear some of your expert frugal mama's ideas!!

[ShaggyDaddy]

some pet stores (Petco I think) have a deal where you buy 10 bags and you get the 11th bag free (for the same brand). I know 10% off isn't that great, but it is something.

[MaddieMay]

Have you checked other retailers? We can't buy our dog food at any chain store, but I was surprised to find out that the local, family-owned feed and seed store had the best price out of anyone in the area. I LOVE supporting their business (and would even if they were a little more) and the fact that they carry the big bag of food from the shelf to the car for me!

[Eman'smom]

If you find someone who ships in bulk let me know I'll go in on with you. I just buy the big bag of cat food, it's 16.5 pounds and 31 or 33 dollars a bag so a bit cheaper, oh wait I'm doing regular Innova not the evo.


I'm not thinking about it in terms of money, (I know not what you asked) but our cats were throwing up 2-3 times a week each, now on Innova it's once a month tops, I'll spend money on the food to not spend it on paper towels. The dogs well they do eat less Innova than the cheap food and there is less poop in the yard.

[Scribe]

Your dog eats 50 lbs of food a month? That's gonna be expensive no matter what, I'm afraid. But, as I'm sure you already know, the good food is worth the money. The only saving measure I've found so far is the 10% type deal people have mentioned. The pet store we use has a program where you pay $5/year to be a "member" and then you get 5% off whatever you buy there, so we do that.

[kittynurse]

Buying good quality pet food IS being frugal. You are saving on vet bills down the road.

Buying crap food is false economy. It's like feeding only ramen noodles to your kids - it's cheap but they will get sick eventually (no offense to anyone who is needing to eat ramen noodles to survive right now).

I'm a veterinary technician and I've seen plenty of sick animals who've eaten nothing but the cheap food all their lives.

Of course I'm not saying that good quality food will guarantee your pet will be healthy but it will provide a large measure of defense. Much like eating vegetables won't guarantee your kids will be healthy but it will help out a lot.

The ideal would be if everyone made their pet's food from fresh ingredients much like making their own dinner but obviously not everyone has the time or energy to do that. I fully admit I don't do that.

As far as getting the good stuff cheaper goes: buy the biggest bag possible (it can be frozen so it will last longer and retain more nutrients), ask where you purchase if they will do a bulk order for you (get some friends to go in with you) or find out if they have a frequent purchaser discount. You could also ask your vet if they carry that line and if they would be willing to work out some sort of deal (bearing in mind that if they are ordering large amounts for you, you should pick it up right away because most clinics don't have a whole lot of space).

Also, I wouldn't be doing my duty as a vet tech if I didn't gently suggest that getting a new puppy when you can't afford to feed the others well is a bad idea. But that would be making grand assumptions about why you are getting the puppy and that would be wrong on my part. Maybe it's a therapy dog - who knows?

I hope that helps and good luck. Oh, and enjoy your new puppy -they're so much fun!

p.s. I'm not suggesting that you are feeding your dogs crap food, just saying that you shouldn't feel like you are doing a bad thing by feeding them quality. I feed my cats the best quality food I can buy. Admittedly, I do get a discount but, knowing what I know about pet nutrition and health, I would still buy it at full price.

[lisalulu]

Do you have a costco near you? I have heard their name brand is pretty decent.

[KayleeZoo]

Also, I wouldn't be doing my duty as a vet tech if I didn't gently suggest that getting a new puppy when you can't afford to feed the others well is a bad idea. But that would be making grand assumptions about why you are getting the puppy and that would be wrong on my part. Maybe it's a therapy dog - who knows?

I may have misrepresented my situation- I am trying to be as frugal as possible in my spending, but can absolutely afford the puppy we're getting, as well as the food that we buy for him and our other pets as well. My purebred male Rott is 9.5yo and in fantastic shape for his age and breed- good food does go a long ways towards good health and a long life, I totally agree with you! I'm a 13 year veteran vet. tech myself and we would never get an animal we couldn't afford. The puppy is an English Mastiff, from fully tested champion parents and yep, we're VERY excited!! Not being able to afford animals is very different than trying to make your money go as far as possible.

Thanks for the feed store idea- there is one close by that sells Innova but their prices are the same as the mom and pop pet supply store where I am currently buying it. I may ask if I buy a certain amount at a time if they'll give me a discount at the feed store, though. Never hurts to ask, right?

Eman'smom, I'll definately let you know if someone will discount a bulk order for me!! Sometimes people are eager to do favors for vet. clinic employees- word of mouth is a wonderful way to generate business for them- so we'll see what happens!

We are SO happy with Innova, it's very much worth the price, but with 2 very large dogs and 2 piggy cats we go through a whole lotta food :

[Scribe]

I'm just floored that your Rott eats that much. My Anatolian must just not be a big eater.

[KayleeZoo]

avengingophelia, he's always been a big eater, but he's never been overweight. He's also very active for as old as he is- I think he has a high metabolism, like me He always stays right at 110 in the fall/winter and 106-107 in the spring/summer. I do know someone whose Rott eats 2 cups of food a day and it seems like SO little food compared to what my Nicky eats.

[Scribe]

Wow, it must be metabolic. My young dog is about 125-130 lbs, not at all overweight, and only eats about 4-5 cups a day. My elderly dog only eats 3 cups a day, but he's not all that mobile and at 135 is about 15 lbs overweight.

[KayleeZoo]

Maybe it's something in our water I'm 103lbs and eat constantly, and it's not all healthy, either : Right now it's Breyer's Neapolitan Ice Cream But at least I make sure the animals don't eat high fat food all day

[scbegonias]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDaddy

some pet stores (Petco I think) have a deal where you buy 10 bags and you get the 11th bag free (for the same brand). I know 10% off isn't that great, but it is something.

Our feed store has this deal on the EVO...check out if you can get it through your mom and pop.

[chickabiddy]

I feed my cats Kirkland/Costco dry food. The first ingredient is chicken and the second is chicken meal. It is low ash and low magnesium. I think it's about $15 for a 20 or 25 pound bag.

[meandk0610]

let me put on my armor first...

ok. how about going raw? i switched our three dogs over about 2 months ago. they get mostly chicken quarters with some grassfed beef brisket about 1x/week. they seem to like it MUCH better than their kibble ($39/35 lbs - the holistic one). my senior's teeth are almost white again and i haven't seen her licking any hotspots since the switch.

i can't afford pastured chicken for them right now but i figured that a more species' appropriate diet had to be better for them than wheat, corn, etc.

hth,

sarah:

[KayleeZoo]

sarah, thanks for the suggestion! i think we will actually wind up feeding raw at some point. i've heard from long time mastiff owners and breeders that you frequently get uneven growth problems with raw feeding mastiff puppies; with this breed it's very important that they grow at a slow, even rate; my tentative plan was to feed the innova (the only grain is brown rice and barley- no corn) until his growth has mostly slowed (around 2 years old) and then venture into raw. i tried raw on my cats and they didn't take to it- i was impatient and just put them back on innova evo (there are no grains at all in the evo) i think raw feeding is an awesome choice, good for you for switching your dogs!!

[daekini]

The place where we buy our cats' Innova Evo has had it mispriced ever since they started carrying it, at $6.99 per 6.6 lb bag!

Their dog Innova costs more.

[KayleeZoo]

I definately want to stick with Innova until we move the dogs to raw, and am going to ask the feed store about buying in bulk and/or getting the 11th bag free, etc. At $6.99/bag for the cat food, I'd buy as much as my upright feeder would hold!! Wow, that's a good deal!

[serenetabbie]

$800-$900/month on groceries and eating out

Wow. You must live in a very expensive area.

Did you check out the other brands at the feed store? We feed our 3 large dogs Exclusive PMI (either the lamb or chicken, no corn products or wheat gluten), 35 lb bag for $23. You get the 6th bag free. They also sell raw items (our feed store also has a turkey farm). Our dogs get 3 cups a day each when they are only getting kibble.

[serenetabbie]

Here's a link if you would like to compare products
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