Spill the beans... on how to care for Fido or Tiddles for less

SneaksyWhippet

hvd201 wrote: »

Fab idea but we have no butcher near - do the supermarket butchers sell the offal as well?
I use dry cat food as the pieces are small and cheap as well.

Morrisons are great for offal as they have a proper butcher counter. They have pig trotters and all sorts! If you don't have a Morrisons you should be able to get liver fairly easily in other supermarkets. I'm not so sure about heart though. Good luck!

Igottawii!!

kaori_kitty wrote: »

There are lots of flea and worm treatments you can buy without needing a prescription from a vet but that are very effective. There are now a number of equivalents to Frontline and Drontal which have the same active ingredients but are even cheaper;

Frontline alternatives include; Effipro, Eliminall, Flevox, Fiprospot, Fiprodog and Fiprocat.

Drontal alternatives include: Cestem, Dolpac, Cazitel, Plerion and Prazitel plus.

Thanks for this - can anyone else confirm they've sucessfully used one of the Drontal alternatives please only I've only ever used Drontal from my vet before.
Also I use Advocate from my vet for fleas & ticks but also for heartworm which one of my vets said was on a slight increase and I can't see it on any others like Frontline etc so is it necessary & is it available in an alternative?
Thanks for any help

krlyr

Advocate also covers lungworm (unless this is what your vet means - lungworm is called "french heartworm" I believe), the only alternative treatment is Panacur but this needs to be administered for a longer course than the usual regime. I costed it for mine and Panacur was the more expensive of the two - don't know if there's a generic alternative that would be cheaper though. Lungworm is unfortunate in that symptoms don't tend to show until there is a fairly large worm burden and by then there could be a fair amount of damage to the lungs, leaving permanent issues, so it's not one I like to take a gamble with. I'd class my area as medium-high risk though, knowing several local dog owners who's dogs have had it (including my mum's)

SneaksyWhippet

Igottawii!! wrote: »

Thanks for this - can anyone else confirm they've sucessfully used one of the Drontal alternatives please only I've only ever used Drontal from my vet before.
Also I use Advocate from my vet for fleas & ticks but also for heartworm which one of my vets said was on a slight increase and I can't see it on any others like Frontline etc so is it necessary & is it available in an alternative?
Thanks for any help

I use Cestem regularly with my two. I alternate between Cestem and Pancur (worming every three months) to cover all the different nasties that the individual ones don't cover.

StudioBeau

Igottawii!! wrote: »

Thanks for this - can anyone else confirm they've sucessfully used one of the Drontal alternatives please only I've only ever used Drontal from my vet before.
Also I use Advocate from my vet for fleas & ticks but also for heartworm which one of my vets said was on a slight increase and I can't see it on any others like Frontline etc so is it necessary & is it available in an alternative?
Thanks for any help

We always use the Cestem - it is brilliant, never had any worms in this camp (except when we very first brought the puppy home, but 1 dose of Cestem and all good!)

Annieslim

Just bought a pup 5 months from previous crufts winner.
She doesn't worm or vaccinate. Told me she uses brewers yeast and garlic in their food - home cooked. And sardines once a week. She said vet told her vaccinations were type of poison. She never had problems with worms or fleas!!!!!!
Spoke to vetinary nurse who said you don't always see worms! Sometimes they remain in the body! Also what about the risk to children and other animals from the faeces!! also insurance may become invalid!
I am now confused - help!!!
I have started him on advocate with droncit tablet for worming!!!
Anyone suggest best insurance for pets? Used pet plan for other 2 dogs but expensive!!
Have 2 Yorkies and Tibetan terrier
Cheers;

SneaksyWhippet

There is a large school of thought that disagrees with annual vaccinations (topping up with drugs for the sake of it when they may have enough in their system already, and other reasons) but personally I do vaccinate as I don't like to risk it.

Garlic is a good flea repellent. I worm every three months, alternating wormers to make sure I don't miss out lungworm, but I don't treat for fleas unless I see evidence of fleas on them. Being whippets they have short coats so it would be very obvious.

I found Argos to be the best price for pet insurance and have heard good things about people who have claimed from them. They give you a discount if you insure more than one dog and there is usually a cashback deal available too.

krlyr

SneaksyWhippet wrote: »

I worm every three months, alternating wormers to make sure I don't miss out lungworm,

Just a quick note, but do remember that the dosage of Panacur for lungworm is longer than the general wormer dose - and Milbemax will only reduce an infection rather than cure it. Advocate flea treatment will treat lungworm but does need to be given in two doses to completely treat it, the first will just reduce an infection. You may already have a regime worked around this but just wanted to check incase you weren't aware

paddypaws101

Pets at home are now offering their own animal insurance and it seems to offer good cover even cheaper than Argos, they also give you a £12 voucher for a new policy and discount on excess if you use Companion care vets.
Lots of people swear by Diatomaceous earth fed to cats and dogs to prevent fleas and worms, pretty cheap and chemical free.

Beckyy

Never buy medication from the vet unless you need it immediately. Buy a prescription from them and order it online. I once bought Drontal from my vet and was charged more than double what I would pay online, I was mortified. Advocate is double the price from my vet than it is online.