Great Feed, House and Keep Your Pets Hunt

Tashja

I believe low income families can get help from the RSPCA with neutering costs. You need to get a form from your vet.

Not sure how much they help with but maybe Curry Queen can help with how much help you can get.

T xx

sexymouse

One thing that I've just bought for my cat on petmeds website, was plaque off - this is suitable for dogs and cats, and cost me £8.11 inc delivery for a 60g pot (a year's supply for a cat), and it will hopefully prevent me from having a nasty dental bill for him in the future. My vet recommended it last time we were in, but I forgot to get some at the time. Good job I looked online, cos the vet was charging £14.69 for the same stuff. This is a natural product which is meant to soften the tartar and plaque on their teeth (including existing problems) and also freshen their breath. You sprinkle the powder on their food. He doesn't seem to notice cos the amount is so tiny, but it will mean that the biscuits (Burns) will eventually scrape off the tartar.

After SnowyOwl mentioned that their cat's teeth were removed and someone else mentioned smelly breath in their dog, it may be something to consider.

Savvy_Sue

This stopped being a sticky (my mistake) so I'm making it one again ...

Also, we've had an older thread on a similar topic moved over from Old Style, I can't do a full merge but you may want to have a look at that. New posts here though ...

soul_kitty

I've got two terrors (sorry, wonderful cats that don't run around like maniacs, honest). I've never bought toys for them, ever. The older cat doesn't really play much, but the younger cat nicks things to play with - the plug covers from new electrical devices (donated by anyone i've told this to), any small cuddly toys i have, my feather duster (don't ask), a giant cushion, the door mat... though never anything dangerous !!! The younger cat was also from a breeder so they buy toys for them both for birthdays and christmas. Waitrose do individual pouches of all the makes of cat food they sell, and i found Sainsbury's own complete cat bisuits are the cheapest (98p) and is the same size as Go-Cat (£2.05).

The elder cat also suffers from an allergy to something airbourne (could be pollen, dust, certain plants, don't know (neither of them go outside by the way)). He has to have steroids and anti-biotics injected whenever it flares up, and tablets to keep it under control in between. The vets i go to are fantastic - they regularly knock money off seeing as he's a regular visitor !!! He's not insured (he got ill very young so i got him seen to before waiting for insurance to come through) but i cover this monthly by putting money away each month for them both, just in case, and this stays strictly for them. Thus this earns interest for them and has built up a nice little nest egg. :T

Carol27

Each time you have chicken save all the bits us humans don't eat including the bones and keep in the freezer. When you have enough put in a pressure cooker for 1 1/2 hours. The bones will crumble, just add rice and some bran and you have a virtually 'free' meal. This also has the added advantage of being free of e numbers and the dogs get the extra calcium and marrowbone.

hbandtr4eva

We buy our oldest cat's Metacam off the Internet because it's cheaper as well as FrontLine and the other bits and bobs for fleas etc but now our vet has told us that from 01/11/08 they're charging £10 per prescription per animal which is ridiculous as we now have 5 adorable cats I'm just wondering if they're actually allowed to do this and also what they'd do if I went in and asked for a bundle of prescriptions before the 1st? :

zipman23

My dog (black lab) how should I put this...never has 'firm' stools. Don't want to be too graphic if I can help it but more often than not they're quite loose. She's being fed a mix of tinned adult Pedigree/Pedigree small bite mixer and has been since she turned 1 in June. Any suggestions on what I can feed her to make them firmer other than a change of food?

Optimisticpair

zipman23 wrote: »

My dog (black lab) how should I put this...never has 'firm' stools. Don't want to be too graphic if I can help it but more often than not they're quite loose. She's being fed a mix of tinned adult Pedigree/Pedigree small bite mixer and has been since she turned 1 in June. Any suggestions on what I can feed her to make them firmer other than a change of food?

What goes in comes out but its how the stomach copes with it in between that affects the consistency. If your lab has nothing wrong with her stomach and has been wormed regularly so has no parasites then I would try a bit more fibre like cooked white or brown rice added. My dogs 'ran' like nobody's and were hyper on Pedigree Chum it was just too rich for them so I changed the diet.

snakepit

frosty wrote: »

We have two dogs,the frontline we buy for flea control is very expensive,so I decided to share a dose between them,they have been flea free for 4 months now, considering the hot summer we have had I think its great,it means its a bit more affordable.

I have two cats and a dog and during the summer months when the cats are out for hours on end in the long grass catching and playing with all sorts of 'unsavoury wildlife' I use Frontline to keep the fleas away, however when the weather starts to turn colder and the cats are spending more time inside and the 'unsavoury wildlife' is hibernating I switch to the cheaper shop bought Bob Martin flea treatments, my animals and house have been flea free since I got them despite them bringing in all sorts of flea ridden creatures and I save myself 5-6 months worth of money through buying the much cheaper treatments

hungrynurse_2

food: we get ours from a farm food type place. The stuff we bought last time was working dog food, but looks like rabbit food & she loves it. Much 'nicer' on way out too & a perfect coat! (GJL foods in Fakenham, Norfolk)

Meds: We use Petmeds.co.uk which is the cheapest, + if you know anyone who works for the NHS, there is a 6.5% discount linking from nhsdiscounts.com.

bath: its such a hastle getting out lab whos been trained not to go upstairs into the bath for a wash, which we only do about twice a year, so today I took her to a clean well flowing river. She loved the swim, then towards the end I called her out, washed her in dog shampoo (wilkinsons) & sent her back for a bit more swimming to rince off. No water costs, no hastle cleaning after she shakes all over bathroom. Not a 'show' shine no doubt as there will naturally be sediment in water, but no smell & clean as she needs to be, that will keep her OK for a few more months!