Treat Your Pets Well & Save Money
As I was dealing with Putter’s poor ears I realized it was time for me to get more meds for the dogs to keep them safe from fleas and heartworm. Sound expensive? You bet. Now take that times three dogs!
Being the cheapskate frugal person that I am, I’m always looking for a way to save a few bucks where I can. So I’m happy I was able to treat Putter’s ears with inexpensive household products. But, that’s not so much the case with flea and heartworm medications.
To save on those things I started using 1800petmeds.com. You do have to have a prescription from your vet to get the medications but 1800petmeds will contact your vet and get the info for you. I’ve found that my vets aren’t big fans of you buying those products from someone other than them. They tell me the products do not have the same guaranty which may be true, but I’ve not had any issues.
I’ve learned of another way to help save A LOT on the flea meds. Typically, you buy boxes that have 3, 6, or 12 of the above little applicators based on the weight of your dog. Each container has a pre-measured amount of medicine. Usually you break the top of the container off and apply the full amount to your dog. If you do the math you will see you are paying A LOT more per ml for a smaller dog. You can save by buying the larger containers (intended for bigger dogs) and carefully dividing it into smaller doses.
Since you can buy Frontline and similar products without a prescription, something else I have done is buy a flea medicine “kit” from ebay. The kits come with the medicine, a glass vial, and a plastic syringe as shown above.
The idea is that you buy the medicine in a higher dosage, empty the solution into a glass vial, and divide it up amongst your pets using a plastic syringe. This is WAY less expensive than buying multiple applications separately. But, also very likely be frowned upon by some (including vets) because you’re increasing the risk of giving them too much medicine. But, if you’re careful you will do just fine.
Here’s the dosage from the 1800petmeds website:
|
Pet |
Weight |
Dosage |
|
Dogs/Puppies: |
Up to 22 lbs |
Apply contents of 1 applicator once a month (0.67 ml) |
|
|
23-44 lbs |
Apply contents of 1 applicator once a month (1.34 ml) |
|
|
45-88 lbs |
Apply contents of 1 applicator once a month (2.68 ml) |
|
|
89-132 lbs |
Apply contents of 1 applicator once a month (4.02 ml) |
|
Cats/Kittens: |
All weights |
Apply contents of 1 applicator once a month |
And the math behind it based on my three dogs:
TYPICAL PURCHASE
- Putter – dosage for 1-22 lbs = 0.67ml = $45.99 for 3 months ($15.66 per 0.67ml dose/month)
- Tiger - dosage for 1-22 lbs = 0.67ml = $45.99 for 3 months ($15.66 per 0.67ml dose/month)
- Max - dosage for 23-44 lbs = 1.34ml = $46.99 for 3 months ($7.83 per 0.67 ml dose, but Max needs TWO 0.67 ml doses)
Total = $138.97 for 3 months for all three dogs, or $46.32 per month.
SAVE A LITTLE
Buy the 23-44 lbs package, which is 1.34ml, divide it by two = 0.67ml and you have two doses for 1-22 lb pets. $46.99 for 3 months which will treat my two smaller dogs for 3 months. So, one pack for them and one for Max is $93.98, saving me $44.99. This option would cost $31.32 per month.
SAVE A LOT
Buy the largest dosage for 89-132lbs (which equates to $4.31 per 0.67 ml dose) and divide that up amongst all three dogs for a total of $17.24 per month.
SAVE THE MOST
If you’re not afraid of buying on ebay you can save even more on your meds, just make sure it’s a reputable seller. I bought 6 month supply for 45-88 lbs for $51.99, add $2 for shipping/insurance for total of $53.99. This is 24 applications of 0.67ml, which is $9.00 per month for all three dogs – saving me $37.32 per month from the typical purchase!
I love my boys and while I will cut corners and attempt to save money where possible I refuse to switch to lower quality food or skip medicines to save a few bucks. I want them to be as healthy as possible and besides, a sick dog can cost way more than just paying to take good care of them in the first place.
What do you do to cut costs on pet care?
LAURA!! I haven’t talked to you for awhile but I heard via Renee you have a new job? Congrats!
I CANNOT even begin to tell you what a genius you are – how did I never think of this?? I never even realized it was the same “formula” for the various weights of dogs.
I have FIVE dogs, as you might know, four in the 45-88 bracket and one in the 23-44 bracket. It costs appx $15.00 per dose per dog each month, depending on where I get it. In other words $75. By using 3 of the largest size, I can cover all of the dogs! This is a huge deal because we live in a farmhouse and they cannot go without it for even a month (too many ticks and whatnot around here). Now I’ll just buy a 6 month supply of the largest size and it’ll be awesome.
Thanks!
Ann
P.S. Let me know if you lil guys’ ears don’t clear up. I had the same issue with the beardies ALL THE TIME until I bought this stuff on ebay and it works awesome.
Oh sorry! You also asked what the readers do to cut costs on petcare!
Here are a couple of things:
For immunizations, I take the dogs to RI County Animal Shelter (they have immunization clinics once per week) or to Bell Animal Hospital on Locust in Davenport. MUCHO MUCHO MUCHO lower cost than an appointment my vet and hello, it’s just vaccinations.
If you have a dog that sheds (or cat) pick up a shedding block from Farm & Fleet located in the horse supply section. Seriously, they are $3.00 and the size of an eraser. A groomer told me this tip when I was taking my dog in all the time to get defurminated. Works great and it’s not really a “brush” so the dogs isn’t fighting about being brushed.
Instead of treats, we give our dogs animal crackers. We buy a huge bag at Farm & Fleet or Wal-Mart. The LOVE them (even more than treats) and they are low calorie and much much healthier!
Our dogs like to play tug with ropes but for some reason, the one figures out how to shred the toy ropes when she gets bored. I found a website on making dog ropes online. It showed to cut a pair of old jeans into thick strips and braid the strips, tying knots on both ends and in the middle if you want. They last much longer than the rope and for free, who really cares! You can also wash these. We never tried to wash the ropes, mainly because they weren’t around long enough!
Our dogs love Kong toys but the Kong stuff is expensive and NASTY, GROSS, etc. We use generic peanut butter (we make sure to keep it separate from our supply – lol).
I’ll repost if I think of some more
Ann
Using coupons to buy pet food helps a lot too. It’s better to look at online stores for some of the more expensive brands. Even natural pet foods like Wellness have discounts if you look hard enough.
http://efreebieclub.com/dog-food-coupons-an-easy-way-to-save-money/