5 pets, out of work - need to save SOMEWHERE

finkle

hi there, just scanned your thread and wanted to say that have you a horse shop near to you? Wood pellets for horse bedding are so so much cheaper than small, domestic bags.

I get a 10 kg bag for just under £3.00 a bag (2.91)...might be worth investigating further.

catlou

"Quote: I would recommend feeding your dog on either the Field & Trial Duck & Rice, Skinner’s Lamb & Rice or Skinner’s Chicken and Rice. German Shepherds are renowned for having a sensitive stomach, and the three products I have recommended have been popular with fussy eaters.

I would recommend feeding to her ideal weight, rather than her current weight, and also feeding 5% less than the recommended amount as she is spayed. Therefore she should be on about 415g per day, though every dog is different; some require a little more, others a little less."

Yes their ranges do seem confusing what it is all their field & trial range are cheaper because they are aimed at working dogs so VAT free. But they do seem to have similar products in both ranges.

Reading the message above that they sent you I would assume they mean the Skinners Lamb/Chicken & Rice from the normal range and the Duck Rice from the Field Trial range. If you look at the other Field & trial foods (except for Duck & Rice + Salmon & Rice) the ingredients are not so good and most have wheat and corn in them which might not agree with Zara's sensitive tummy?

Hope I haven't confused you more! :eek:

gettingready

Catlou - as Zara is not a working dog, more of a couch potatoes... I would skip the "working dogs" range..

Looking at the normal range thoutgh I only see Lamb and Rice Sensitive and Chicken and Rice sensitive and THAT got me confused........

Shall I get her the sensitive.....???? Or is there "normal"? That I can not see....

:eek:

gettingready

Finkle - thanks but where I live I only have PETROL STATION LOL
Middle of nowhere although a London postcode, without a car/not being able to drive is a problem - sometimes.....delivery charges are incredible in some places...

suburbanwifey

gettingready wrote: »

Ok, so as of today I no longer have a job.

My pets expenses are quite big with a GS and 4 cats, ned to cut something somewhere so hopefully someone can advise me here.

Pet insurance for all 5 of them £65 per month (the cheapest I could find so has to stay)

Dog food, bag of Orijen for Zara around 55-65 per month (depends what variety I get), would be difficult to change as with her stomach issues any change of food spells a diseaster....

Cat food - about £20 for a bag of Orijen cat plus some tins.

Also - spare ribs/chicken wings/mince for both cats and dog as I like them to have raw food and they enjoy it.

Cat litter cost me about £40 per month, between 4 of them they go through a 30 litre bag of Pets at Home own wood pellets cat litter per WEEK (they do not go out so it is either that or the place stinks... bless them)

ANY ideas anyone? What/where/how to cut?

Dog walker of course gone now......

I have to say I am a bit... hmmmm scared... right now...

Thanks

I'm with you on the 30ltr of cat litre per week, wood based (same brand too!) as I have 3 indoor cats...I would not be able to make savings there, so no idea how you will be able to

James Wellbeloved dried cat food (its the best as far as they are concerned, try to feed them anything else, they go on hunger strike and start fighting each other, easier just to buy it! and 12 tins of wet food per week also (between then, they like wet for breakfast! - either Felix or Whiskas in jelly, all hell broke loose when I tried them on gravy :rotfl:)

They cost a fortune don't they! :eek: :eek:

gettingready

suburbanwifey - so glad to see it is not only me.... must be that particulr cat litter that works out one 30litre bag per cat per month as you go through 3 of them with 3 cats and I go through 4 bags with 4 cats.

With cats that go out people do not have this problem... indoor cats.. another story

I have just ordered Catsan, it is on special offer at Pets at Home at £16 for 2 bags, 20 litre each - will see if that will make a difference as the wood based turns into dust with the cat wee so has to be changed completely once per day - in my case anyway, 4 traye.... LOL

suburbanwifey

gettingready wrote: »

suburbanwifey - so glad to see it is not only me.... must be that particulr cat litter that works out one 30litre bag per cat per month as you go through 3 of them with 3 cats and I go through 4 bags with 4 cats.

With cats that go out people do not have this problem... indoor cats.. another story

I have just ordered Catsan, it is on special offer at Pets at Home at £16 for 2 bags, 20 litre each - will see if that will make a difference as the wood based turns into dust with the cat wee so has to be changed completely once per day - in my case anyway, 4 traye.... LOL

Yeah, but with indoor cats you have no worries that they will get run over or catch killer diseases, so the cost is worth it to me, also I think they become closer to you as the bonding is more intense as they don't go out...my 3 cats are pretty damn special to me as I am sure your 4 are to you...I hope you find a solution as cats do not like change of any kind and they do protest loudly lol

Good Luck with finding a new job x

suburbanwifey

gettingready wrote: »

suburbanwifey - so glad to see it is not only me.... must be that particulr cat litter that works out one 30litre bag per cat per month as you go through 3 of them with 3 cats and I go through 4 bags with 4 cats.

With cats that go out people do not have this problem... indoor cats.. another story

I have just ordered Catsan, it is on special offer at Pets at Home at £16 for 2 bags, 20 litre each - will see if that will make a difference as the wood based turns into dust with the cat wee so has to be changed completely once per day - in my case anyway, 4 traye.... LOL

Yes, once a day I clean out the litters totally, tip it out, wash and refill. I find that as they have gotten older, the powder from the woodbased litter isn't so bad, I've almost got them trained to tap their feet before they get out :rotfl:and I hoover the area where the litter is once a day, its a good system its taken me years to perfect I like the sound of that catsan though, but can you put 'droppings' in the loo as flush as you can with the woodbased? that's the main reason I like it, when one of them 'goes' I just scoop out and flush, you can't do that with other one's I don't think?

catlou

I wouldn't worry about the "working" food bit it's practically the same nutritionally. They wouldn't have recommended the Field & trial duck & rice if it wasn't suitable for a pet.

Example

Lamb & Rice Sensitive
Protein 20%
Oil 12%
Fibre 4%
Ash 9%
Vit A 10,000 iu/kg
Vit D3 1,500 iu/kg
Vit E 280 iu/kg
(as alpha-tocopherol)
Copper 12 mg/kg
(as copper sulphate)

Field & Trial Duck & Rice
Protein 22%
Oil 11%
Fibre 3.5%
Ash 5%
Vit A 10,000 iu/kg
Vit D3 1,500 iu/kg
Vit E 280 iu/kg
(as alpha-tocopherol)
Copper 12 mg/kg
(as copper sulphate)

2% Extra protein shouldn't really make a difference.

gettingready

Catlou - thanks, I have seen the ingridients on their page this was not my question about working or not working dogs but the bit about "sensitive" n the food name.

If there was say chicken and rice sensitive I assumed there would be normal chicken and rice as well (apart from the working dog range), the "sensitive" bit confused me....

:eek:

Now I assume that that Lamb and Rice and Chicken and Rice only come in the "sensitive" variety (apart from the working line of food that I do not go into) so will be ordering Lamb and Rice, Chicken and Rice and Duck and Rice (that is the Field and something, assume working dog whatever)...

Sigh....

Will get a bag of each and mix with Orijen to get Zara used to it....

Saying that, the cats eat her food, she eats their tinned food and they ALL try to nick my food - caught the cats eating my cous cous with red onion and sun driend tomatoes (!!!!) one day as I left my bowl unnatended for a few min..... sigh.....

Luv them all