Pet Related Savings.

Before I pass on a few gems, I must apologise if I have put this thread in the wrong place, I am still fairly new to the board and I went on the assumption that many pet owners, like me, treat their critters as part of the family. :rolleyes:

I have only added tips for animals that I am used to handling, feel free to add your own.

Dogs

In my humble opinion, a dog doesn't care whether you live in a caravan or a castle, as long as they can lie at your feet with a decent bone after a long walk.

However, as someone who has spent more than extravagant sums of money on keeping my highly active border collie entertained only to find that he prefers cheap and cheerful, I feel well equipped to pass on some money saving advice.

Pet insurance, if you can afford the day to day living with a dog, but a vet bill of many hundreds (even thousands) would set your finances into freefall, then pet insurance is a great thing. I have heard people suggest that it's something you can cut back on, in my opinion, it's not worth the risk unless your finances are in fantastic shape. We shopped around for the cheapest insurance and at less than £10 a month, in a year we could only build up a £120 emergency fund.

Do shop around for vets before you have an emergency as prices seem to vary wildly, and you really want to have the piece of mind that you know who to go to when Fido gets ill.

Puppies grow and destroy at a terrific rate. So if you have one, don't spend too much on things like collars or beds. A cheap adjustable collar is a good investment, and a cardboard box with an old blanket, towel or jumper is a perfectly suitable bed. A rope can make a servicable lead too, especially when you need a long one for training.

Keep an eye out for bargins. Our dog who used to consume a 'Jumbone' every day (about £1 a time) was definately more interested in 'natural' treats such as free bones from the butchers when we started to budget.

Cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, tennis balls, and cheap knotted towels or dish towels all make economical alternatives to expensive dog toys. The only custom toy that I'd recommend is the 'Kong' a rubbery chew toy that can be filled with meat paste or stock and then chilled or frozen for a summer treat.

This is by no means the end of savings that can be made around dogs, but I'm still pretty new to this, and I am desperate to get on to some of my best finds.

Rats and other small rodents.

The worst thing about rats is the vet bills, do yourself, the rats and your bank balance a favour and get your next pair of rats form a responsible pet rat breeder. Pet shop rats seem to have no end of health problems. You might not have thought there would be much difference, but young rats from breeders are much more tame and resiliant than the majority of pet shop rats.

The second most expensive thing about rats is housing. They simply cannot live in a hamster cage. Whilst there are cages marketed for rats, it could well be worth your while looking at a second hand aviary (just check the bar spacing).

Cages can be furnished cheaply with homemade items, for example the rat's favourite, a hammock, can be cheaply made from old trouser legs or cheap material instead of buying purpose made ones at £5 - 20 a go. Ropes, PVC drainpipes and empty cardboard packets, make cheap alternatives to the more purpose made perches, tunnels and bedboxes.

Apparently Cardboard tubes from the inside of carpets can usually be blagged from carpet/flooring stores with a bit of charm.

Food. One of the best diets for rats I know is the Shamunite Diet by Alison Campbell. Instead of buying food that is often inappropriate and expensive, she recommends a mix of rabbit food, dog food, dried pasta and low sugar cereal (like cheap cornflakes). Human leftovers usually go down well too

Litter. for starters rats can be litter trained, which can obviously save on the amount of litter put in the cage. Second, rats shouldn't be kept on shavings, sawdust or wood based pellets, these things cause respiratory problems, and I said before keeping rats healthy is the key to keeping them cheaply.

You can use newspaper which will need replacing every few days or you can try Ecopetbed (or similar cardboard based bedding). Cardboard bedding (literally chopped up cardboard) is dust free and a very comfortable and economical litter. It's made for horses and comes in huge bales which you can get from a horse-supplies outlet for £4-6. Unless you have a plague of rats, it will last months and months. It's better for the rats and it's easy on the wallet. A labour intensive alternative would be to chop up free cardboard into pieces... but to be honest, £4-6 three times a year for two rat cages is not a problem for most people, and much cheaper than shavings.

Bedding. My girls are happy on the Cardboard bedding at the moment, and sleep in there or their hammocks (teatowels...) but I have used economy loo roll in the past, put a wire through the tube and attach it to the cage, and enjoy seeing your Andrex Ratties take it to bed sheet by sheet. I've also seen this done with economy tissues in a box, just open the box and show them how to pull the first couple out, and they'll have great fun doing the same. Shredded paper (old bills etc) is also an alternative.

Guinea Pigs

Hay is an essential part of the guinea-pig diet. They are grazers and need ti to keep their teeth down too. Again, the secret here is in sourcing hay from people who supply horses. It's good quality (the horsing fraternaty demand it) and it's economical for small pets.

Get them out in a predator-proof run in a sheltered part of the garden during summer days (no lawn mower required) it also saves on their usual food and hay.

Fresh veggies are important for cavies as they, like us, cannot produce their own vitamin C. I know several people who just pick up free green left overs from the greengrocer every few days.

Personally I keep my guineas on the cardboard bedding I keep the rats on. But if you prefer shavings, again go for ones packaged for horses. You'll get much more for your money.

Of course, vinager and water is a good substitute for expensive 'cage cleaning' products.

I think that's all I can think of for just now, just wanted to pass on some tips. I'd love to know what yours are. I know there are some money savers who cannot fathom why some of us spend our cash on pets, I suppose we are just a bit dippy.

Soapbox: Please make sure you can afford the full costs of animal before taking it on, it's only fair to the animal and the human family members. Speak to other pet owners about the true costs involved. Of course situations change, and the Blue Cross and PDSA have help for those unable to afford vet bills. Please look into these things before you need to use them. xxx

Kindest Regards,
Spirited (dog, 7 rats and 3 cavies)