Here are some tips for saving money on pet food.
By Clare from Washington, DC
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I agree with your tips except that with the recent tragedies with the pet food poisonings, it was revealed that one company makes the food sold under 95 different brand names. So essentially people paying extra for Iams were getting the same food as I get with my WalMart brand food.
Although companies make several different brands of things, ex. makeup companies, food etc. However, if you look at the animal food (just for example) there ARE differences sometimes in how much of a certain ingredient is in one food vs. another. There might be WAY more corn filler in a cheaper brand, than say Iams. So despite the fact that a lot of companies make the food in the same plant, this is NO guarantee they are the same food. And sometimes (especially in the makeup lines) you are ONLY paying for the "froo froo" name!
That being said, Iams isn't even a really good food. When you see By-product on a label, that can mean ANYTHING of the animal, bones, guts, lips, etc!!! Pretty gross if you ask me. I too found out the hard way that cheap food, is just that CHEAP! But it can be a risk to your animals health. One of my kittys has IBS, while not caused by the food, cheap food wasn't helping. I use Natural Balance (Dick Van Patten's food {yep, Eight is Enough guy, who also does food for zoos!}) and while more "expensive" was cheaper in the long run.
#1 They eat less (I do free feed because of the dynamic between my two cats) and I buy less (when a cat eat poor quality food, they will eat MORE of it until their body is nourished, higher quality food, means less to eat!)
#2 They make less "mess"
#3 Their coats are healthier
I just changed to a single protein source food for my IBS kitty that Natural Balance thank goodness makes! I bought an 8# bag from the vet for $28 last time!!!! She was surprised when I told her that there was an over the counter single protein food now (not lots of different meats, or different parts of meats).
More money doesn't always mean better, basically the rule of thumb is...If you can buy it at the grocery store, it's not really a good food. Ask any vet that, regardless of the brand they carry in their office, they'll tell you, you'll get better food if you shop the specialty stores or website (Dr. Fosters and Smith). If you MUST feed them cheaper food, try a Omega supplement to help them out with some nutrients they need and are missing out by eating the byproduct, corn filled food.
WELL-l-l-l, now more folks will BELIEVE what I've been saying for so long, ever since I lost three pets in a row from bad pet food! The FDA confirmed my worst suspicions that it made of diseased animals, so why would ANYONE want to EVER give it to their pet? Gamblers, perhaps? AND FYI, pets don't NEED
Our vet told us a good pet food's 1rst ingredient should be real meat/fish.
There is another chain (I find Petco and Petsmart) very high in prices) We have a Pet Supples Plus in our area that is way way cheaper than those large chains.
I believe that obesity in pets is a killer. I keep a "food diary" just like a person on a diet does. Each and every treat, food, table scrap gets written down with the number of calories. I also cook for my dogs, mostly meat with some rice, frozen for fresh vegetables. Sometimes I put 1/2 can of real premium food (I prefer Triumph) in the mix if I run out of meat.
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