Great Feed, House and Keep Your Pets Hunt

Leonie

I've recently treated my garden squirrels to a new peanut feeder, to keep them off the bird feeder - and also to stop the birds from accessing the peanuts, in case they feed them to young birds and choke them. I decided a nice cedar one would last longer than the old pine one, though it was a bit more expensive. It's been up less than a week and the damn squirrels have chewed lumps off the side panels so the peanuts fall out at the edge of the perspex!

Has anyone else experienced this? Why make squirrel feeders out of something that squirrels obviously like to chew? I know they're naturally destructive, but the old feeder lasted years!

Does anyone know of a more robust feeder - maybe metal, or something?

bosco_tommy

My two have recently turned 2 years (within months of each other) and they have been insured since babies. They are both with MoreThan Pet Insurance who, i have to say, are second to none.

Last year my Labrador seemed to be experiencing HayFever type symptoms - we took him to the vets who informed us he has a condition where his eyelids grow inwards and they had become infected - poor little boy - he used to come back from walks etc and run his face on the wired door mat (if only they spoke english)... anyway, after operations and check ups and another infection the bills came in close to £1000 - the vet filled in the necessary forms and sent them straight to MoreThan (Halifax) we received a cheque for every thing he needed done. He also chipped a tooth on something (so boisterous) i called the insurance company and they kindly guided me into how to claim for it! Service is really good.

The same with my Springer - he developed a small lump on his cheek - he was operated on and i requested the lump was sent away for testing - this was copletely covered again by MoreThan. Definitely worth £12.99 per month.

B & T xxx

saintscouple

momisa wrote: »

Save money and buy in bulk from zooplus.co.uk

3 packets cost £2.63. Supermarkets charge 99p for one!!

If you spend £29 you get free delivery.

I've been using zooplus for years and buy cat milk and treats from them regularly and an occasional cat tree.

Whiskers Temptations Cat Treats are currently on 3-4-2 at Pets At Home.
At 99p each, you get three for £1.98 :j

bunnymad

If you have rabbits or guinea pigs ignore the recommended amount of food they put on the packets, their main food should be hay most ignore it though if they are getting the amount of food recommended by the food manufacturer.
Eating lots and lots of hay is a brilliant way of keeping their teeth in good condition and could help to keep down on vet bills.
Also if they are on a muesli type diet and picking at the bits they like most it would be worth swapping them over to a complete food such as Burgess Rabbit or Guinea Excel, it may cost a little more than the mix but if they eat all of it, works out better value.

TyBuns

Hi! We have two house bunnies, and I totally agree with the previous thread about cardboard boxes - keeps our buns entertained for days!!

One way for house bunny owners to 'save' money is to spend a little bit on conduit or aquatic tubing to bunny proof ANY wires or electrical equipment - not only will this save your bunny fom nasty shocks (because they WILL chew!) but it's much cheaper to buy a bit of tubing than it is to replace TV cables, playstation cables, stereos! (I speak from bitter experience!!) We got down to our bunnies level to see exactly what they could reach and what they could get at - we learnt from experience that they can reach things and get into spaces you wouldn't expect so watch them closely!

Annnnnd the cheapest litter I have found so far is called Megazorb - usually used for horses, it is completely natural wood pulp, is great for odours, and costs about £7 for a huuuge bag which I think is about 80litres and it lasts absolutely ages.

Most importantly - GET INSURANCE! Not many pet insureres will cover bunnies - sadly bunnies are still not considered as 'important' as dogs and cats and generally the cover is slightly more expensive than for dogs or cats as bunnies often require quite specialist treatment. The cheapest we found is a company called Exotic Direct that specialise in Exotics such as rabbits. Our two buns recently required treatment for two different illnesses and the cost was about £500. Of course they got ill 'out of hours' so required emergency treatment that was even more expensive! Luckily we got it all back from our insurers minus a small excess fee. Our insurance is about £13 a month for both bunnies and covers them for £2000 of treatment annually.

Generally - pet owners need to be aware of the cost of keeping pets. Do your research BEFORE getting a pet. People who can't afford to raise children shouldn't have them and it should be the same for pets. If you can't afford to budget for things like insurance, vaccinations and good food, then don't get a pet.

Sorry this was such a long post - I'm a newbie and get carried away talking about our bunnies!! (see our bunnies at http://www.bunnytales.co.uk to see how spoiled they are!! I also have some links to our suppliers of things like megazorb etc)

Tae_Lia_2

momisa wrote: »

Save money and buy in bulk from zooplus.co.uk

3 packets cost £2.63. Supermarkets charge 99p for one!!

If you spend £29 you get free delivery.

I've been using zooplus for years and buy cat milk and treats from them regularly and an occasional cat tree.

Blast, they don't sell Iams for dogs

Billobel

As I'm a relatively new member to this website I'm not sure when you posted your question re your dogs 'dodgy stomach' and what to feed him on. I also have a whippet with the most sensitive stomach that I have ever come across................I feed him on Arden Grange Salmon and Rice, which for the most time holds him at bay, this costs around £25-30 for 15kgs, depending on where you get in from, which is far better than the £64.00 that you have to pay for the food that you get from the vets (which is only 14kgs).

Leonie

Just in case everyone doesn't already know, www.vetuk.co.uk is doing free delivery on everything for its customers, including pet food - celebrating the fact that most of the postal chaos has settled back down again.

Quote email: -

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The free delivery option on smaller items has always been available on the site but now we are also offering it (until the end of October) on food orders as well. That means any order can now have Free P&P!![/FONT]

Pity I've recently bought 3 X 2Kg bags of James Wellbeloved biscuits locally for my one small cat, on a buy 2 get one free offer. I know they have a long shelf life, but it takes her months to get through one bag!

Hope someone else can take advantage of the offer, it's very well priced on that web site.

Jellicat

The best piece of advice for anyone considering getting a new pet is make SURE you can afford it! You may be able to house and feed your pet on the cheap but there are always unexpected things to pay for (usually vet and dental bills) when it comes to animals. Its unfair to both of you to take on a pet you cannot afford to keep.

Dogs and cats:

Consider a natural food diet...feeding dogs rice with meat and vegetables often is the healthiest thing you can do for them. Burns pet nutrition is essentially an expensive form of the same thing. It is very important to thoroughly research pet nutrition before you do this, however, as a deficiency in something could result in costly vets bills.

A dog or cat doesnt care if its rope toy/scratching post is a poncy thing from an exclusive pet store or a homemade affair. Dont buy your pets toys, MAKE them...they are only going to end up dirty and smelly anyway...do remember and make sure there is nothing your pet can get hurt on or choke on.

Consider getting a mongrel puppy or kitten or one from a rescue society...although you will be required to make a donation in the latter case, not only are you giving a home to an animal that really needs it, you're saving money.

Larger dog breeds and breeds with strange anatomies like boxers and dalmatians often have shorter life spans and many, many health problems (as do snub-nosed persian cats). Buying a breed that is generally hardier (or a mongrel) and.or making sure all necessary health tests have been performed will save you money and heartache in the long run.

Small fluffies

Rabbits dont actually need to eat hard food...they can quite happily live off hay and varied vegetables, with a small amount of hard food if you feel they need it. Overfeeding rabbits on hard food can result in their caecotrophs (the softer type of poo that they usually eat to gain extra nutrition from it) getting matted to their bellies, resulting in flystrike. Less hard food and more hay also grinds their teeth down better, preventing tooth problems and costly vets bills. its also cheaper on your pocket!

Big bags of shavings and food for smaller fluffy things work out much cheaper.

Although it doesnt generally cost a lot to feed pet rats and mice, you dont need to bother with mix at all, if you look up alternative home-made mixes online. Rats in particular will eat anything, including hard dog biscuit.

DIY your pet cages...wood and wire costs MUCH less than a ready made pet cage...but make sure the wood is solid enough to withstand chewing.

Reptiles

Reptiles ARE expensive to buy and keep so keep this in mind before you buy one...

However, you can make your own vivariums with wood, glass sliders, glass or acrylic and wood varnish. Alternatively, the long plastic tank-type cages with wire tops designed for small furry animals, with a little inventiveness can become a perfect reptile cage. Some people argue that the heat from lights might melt the plastic, but so long as your reptile doesnt require a temperature over 100F it should be fine, so long as you dont point any lights too close to the plastic.

Snakes in particular are real escape artists...to save yourself a lost snake and money make SURE there is nowhere they can escape from in their cage...remember they can climb very well and stand up taller than you'd think.

Breeding your own livefoods for your reptile will probably gross you out but also save you money.

My apologies if any of these have been mentioned (and I'm sure they have), but I havent had time to read the whole thread.

robert_harper_2000

I disagree with how everyone thinks Supermarkets are cheap for the food (I do run a pet shop so am biased but..). Wet food is much more expensive than dry as you are mainly paying for the mositure 85% in some! Dry food you can provide the water for free! in a bowl
As someone mentions they use to have choice, when they had competition but as they cut the competition they cut the choice - Supermarkets only stock what makes them money.
You can buy better quality foods Burns or BARF at PET SHOPS the shops aren't making massive mark-ups on these they really are just better foods! Better quality chicken no salt no crap! This saves you in the loooong run as you don't have vet bills for feeding your pet crap!
False enconomy.
Although I may have gone abit far, you get the point ?