So how much to you spend a month on pet supplies

[LynneSin]

I think I'm spending too much

I go through about 10lbs of this each month which is about $20.00


My cats get about one each of these to eat a week (about $5 a month):


And they each get one of these a day (I serve one can per meal and split the food into each of their dish - if they eat something different they get mad). Luckily PetsMart sells em cheap so that's another $10 a month:


Plus I need litter. I tried the economy size box of this stuff and it was impossible to use - so I get the midsize with the nice handle. That's another $20 a month


Plus cat treats, cat milk & toys, which they get a variety - another $5-10/month

So basically I'm spending about $60-70 on these 2 furballs????!!!!!!

Are they worth it????!!!!!

Damn Straight they are!!

[sus]

1. your cats are going to get FAT.

[LynneSin]

2. Not really......

Evita is only 8.5lbs and Abbie has been at 14lbs forever.

And I've seen Jack upclose and personal - HE'S FAT!!!

[sus]

5. Jack is NOT fat!

he's just big boned.

this is what i feed my precious babies:

[fairfaxvadem]

15. how do you like this Royal Canin food?

Is it one of those all natural foods??

[sus]

17. Royal Canin is great

They love it. It is the only food I could find that doesn't have ash in it. (high ash levels can cause Feline Urological Disease in male cats.)

one week i ran out and couldn't get to the specialty store so i just got some kitten chow at the corner store for the weekend. BIG difference in the litter box situation. the extra amount you spend on food, you save on kitty litter.

we used to feed our dogs natural choice and that is a really good line, too.

[LynneSin]

22. I noticed that with Nutro

When it was just Abbie and he was eating the cheap stuff - the box was always teeming with clumps.

But since I've upgraded to Nutro, both of them do about the same amount as when it was just Abbott.

I switched to Nutro when I noticed that the cats were eating more of the Nutro Lite than they were of the Purina. When I first got Abbie, I thought he was overweight and I bought a bag of this:
http://www.nutroproducts.com/maxcatlite.asp

The doctor eventually said Abbie was fine for his weight, but I didn't want to waste the food. So I would just mix some of the lite food in with the regular cat food.

I'd come home from work and you could see all the Nutro was picked out and just the purina was left.

So now I just got the regular Nutro and I'm blending it in with what's left of the purina. Those cats are doing the same thing.

[Misunderestimator]

3. My cat gets only dry

I just don't trust that canned food. He gets a handful of treats in the morning and at night and a vitamin everyday. We give him scraps sometimes, but not much, and he's perfectly happy never have had a can of cat food.

$30 a month maybe, cause he's a glutton for toys, but most of it is on litter.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. no offense

but dry is not as good for cats...try welness wet food..human grade ingredients...really good for kitties

[Misunderestimator]

9. I get Science Diet

and I've talked to a lot of vets about it... they say it's healthy. Lot of extra junk in the wet stuff.

[radwriter0555]

10. I feed the dogs Wellness dry. I had them on the stuff listed above and

they all got skin irritation... their fur got dry and brittle and they were scratching and one was vomiting and coughing.

I switched back to Wellness, and all IS well.

[sus]

18. I thought dry was better for their teeth

[La Lioness Priyanka]

20. for cats specifically

its hard on their kidneys...and they dont get enough water

[sus]

30. I noticed they don't drink a lot of water

so I treat them to fancy feast and catmilk a lot.

[fairfaxvadem]

4. yeah, that seems about right...

I don't spend as much on canned, only one cat will eat it, but I'd have to add about $6 or $7 a week for a pound of fresh cut deli turkey breast, usually mesquite or smoked: for my sandwiches and their daily morning treat.

Terribly, terribly spoiled.

[LynneSin]

7. my cats won't eat table scraps

They won't even eat a slice of cheese!

[fairfaxvadem]

14. well, you are lucky...

But they are weird: One likes popcorn, toast, cheese, crackers, milk and cereal, all the junk food.

The other one won't touch any of it, not even cheese, except milk AFTER I'm done with the cereal (I don't let them do it often) but if I have a steak or chicken or as a special treat, if I pop open some sardines, well, he goes bonkers...

Funny boys.

[radwriter0555]

8. How is $40 per month on food for the dogs, and $90 per month

on food for ONE tortoise... then another $20 per month on flea juice.
Then add $60 per month for grooming.

Hmmm.

that's a lotta money for these critters.

And I just dumped $600 for my FISH. HAD to get them the new filtration system in their pond you see. The ONE UV filter cost $300, and I had to pay a lovely fella to install it.

[LynneSin]

11. $90 for the tortoise???

I'd be making snapper soup out of that pet



(just kidding)

[radwriter0555]

27. that damn tortoise costs me $3 per day to feed. He eats at least

1 head of ROMAINE per day, and gets at least 2 apples, papaya or mango as well.

He weighs 35 lbs.

His name is BOOMER.

He's now decided that he likes to come visit us in the house. He's learned to get up the stairs and comes barreling through the house checking for cozy spots to nap in, or something.

[RebelOne]

28. About $25 a month for food and treats.

And that doesn't include all the toys I buy on impulse. My dog loves the soft squeaky toys. Since she is a 100-pound Rottie, those toys get torn up in no time at all.

[radwriter0555]

29. MAJOR COST SAVING TIP ON FRONTLINE/ADVANTAGE! Please READ!!!

okay, so I buy seperate packages of flea juice for all my dogs cause they all are different weights, right? I have a 4 lb dog, a 1 lb dog and a 35 lb dog.

Then I realized the package of 6 tubes at .5 mm each costs the same as the package of 6 tubes at 2.5 mm each. They're BOTH $56 EACH.

I checked, rechecked and checked again on the chemical differences, and there are NONE. Each tube contains precisely the same ingredients, whether in .5 mm sizes or 2.5 mm sizes.

BUT I'm paying SIX TIMES MORE for the SMALLER TUBES.

From NOW on, I'm ONLY buying the BIGGEST tubes possible, and I will meter out the usage myself on the various dogs.

Boy, talk about suckered. But at least I figured it out FINALLY and I can pass it on to everyone! Just buy the larger tubes and be a little careful about the amounts you use.

[Supormom]

12. Meet Champion

99.9 pounds of solid muscle.
I don't bother to keep track of the expenses. Too depressing.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. OK get a pencil out cause I am bad at addition

The dog goes through about 9 bucks worth of rawhide a week and eats a 15.00 bag of food every two weeks.

The cats crap all over about 12$ worth of litter a week and eat a 12 bag of food every two weeks as well as a 9$ box of canned wet food every 18 days.

Add toys, and catnip and you see why I cannot retire yet.

[wysimdnwyg]

16. Well, let's see here...

There's this:
and
~$30 for the big bag of dog food and ~$25 for the big bag of cat food
The dog food lasts ??? - I've just had the pup for three weeks. The cat food lasts about 3-4 months.

There's also this:

OK, it's not exactly that, but it's close. $12 for the 28lb bucket. Lasts about two months.

[Kellanved]

19. Do you want to spend more? Waterbeds for dogs:

HAMBURG - German experts have developed a waterbed for puppies using a special plastic film with strengthened edges to resist chewing, the Institute for Animal Breeders at the University of Giessen says.

First tests of the "doggy bed" with mother dogs and their puppies were positive, with the puppies apparently regarding the oscillations of the heated bed like the amniotic fluid in the womb, the institute said.
...
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchan...

[arwalden]

21. Food, Snacks, Squeakie Toys, Frontline... about $15 a month.

She's a small Shih Tzu... she doesn't eat much. A 20 pound bag of Eukanuba kibble will last 6 months. I bathe and groom and clip her nails myself (after I discovered that my groomer was being mean, and that it wasn't as difficult to groom her as I believed it would be.)

$8.99 Doggy Shampoo?? FORGET IT! --- We use Johnson's baby shampoo on her head and face... Suave gentle conditioning shampoo for the rest of her. Better smelling and a bargain at less than half the price of specialty doggy shampoos.

-- Allen

[TreasonousBastard]

23. Not a thing...

I got one of those finicky cats-- hates all the food I've tried and won't play with the toys I get him.

So, I told him to get a job and buy whatever he wants.

[eyesroll]

24. Hm. I really don't know -- it varies so much

For our two birds, we have in our house at any one time:

1. 3# bag Zupreem Parrot/Conure (primary pellet for the Meyer's parrot) ($10)
2. 2.5# bag Zupreem Cockatiel (secondary pellet for the parrotlet) ($10)
3. 5# tub LaFeber Cockatiel (primary pellet for the parrotlet, secondary for the Meyer's parrot) ($15)
4. 5# bag Kaytee seed mix (both get some seed) ($3)
5. 12-count spray millet (treat for both) ($3)
6. Tub of "Just Veggies" dried mix (both get some) ($4)
7. Tub of dried papaya (treat for the Meyer's parrot -- the parrotlet won't touch it) ($4)
8. 10-oz bag Nutriberries (treat for both) ($5)
9. Whatever new thing we think looks neat, so we buy it, and take it home, and they don't even consider it food and instead fling it around the room or fly away from it (varies)

They vary widely, though, on how long it takes to get through all of this, so I can't really ad up an accurate cost.

Plus -- we go through cuttlebones (a couple of dollars every few months) and toys (which cost $2-$15 per toy, depending on size and type). We sometimes try to get them to eat fresh food (no real cost, since we buy this stuff for us and they eat so little), but they don't seem to take to it.
We already have tons of food/water dishes, cages are in decent shape, etc., and they don't need litter (we just use old newspaper).

An annual vet exam for the two of them costs about $100; these two haven't needed emergency/illness treatment, but that can be $50-$100-more a pop.

ALSO: We bought a hook stand, a thistle feeder, a house-shaped feeder and a suet feeder ($100 or so for the whole rig), for the sole purpose of entertaining the Meyer's parrot. She loves to watch the "outside birdies." This costs about $15/month to keep filled with seeds.

Birds ain't cheap.

[ET Awful]

25. Quinn gets the Nutro food as well, except . . .

He gets Max-Cat instead of Natural Choice for his dry food:



He gets a small handful of that and half a pouch of this(or one of the other flavors):



For treats he gets:



All told, about $25 - $30 a month. I may get him a new friend if I move into the new apartment, so that will go up .

[LynneSin]

26. Abbie loves the pouches of Natural Choice...

..but it got to be too expensive with 2 cats. I tried the 5oz cans of Nutro food, but they hated that. If their food isn't sliced, diced, carved, flaked or look like something other than poo, they won't touch it. But they do like the Nutro Gourmets, but they are just too expensive for more than a once a week treat

[Padraig18]

31. Food, toys, litter, catnip, bedding, etc.?

I'd say in excess of $100/month, easily.