Pet owners can save money on food, shots, medication
Posted by DBiles on January 19, 2009
DYLAN BILES TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST
Published: January 17, 2009
It sometimes seems that things are constantly changing. With each passing year comes another new piece of groundbreaking technology to master while the old one becomes obsolete.
Against this ever-changing landscape, there are few things that are more constant than the family pet.
According to projections by the American Pet Products Association, a nonprofit trade organization for the pet industry, Americans spent an estimated $43.4 billion on their pets in 2008. Owners of dogs spend an average of $1,425 per year, with cat owners spending $990 annually.
The economy isn’t making owning a pet any cheaper, either. Reports have been surfacing over the past few months that economic instability is forcing owners to get rid of their beloved pets.
Basically, owning a pet is an expensive proposition — and it isn’t getting any cheaper.
For most pet owners, any dollar spent is one they hand over happily. There are some ways, however, to save some scratch when you have to spend on man’s best friend.
Outside of unforeseen medical procedures, the most money spent on pets is for food. Of the $43 billion Americans spent on their animals last year, $16.2 billion was for feeding them.
The solution isn’t to buy the cheapest food, because that is most often not the healthiest option for your pet. The answer is taking advantage of loyalty programs.
Chains like Petco (with its PALS program) and PetSmart will reward you for buying pet food from them. In addition to the “Buy 10, Get 1 Free” system at Petco that is the basis of its program, you also will receive coupons periodically for 10 percent or more.
Once you receive these coupons, do your research online, find the items that are on special at the store and then apply these coupons. You will have saved an extra 10 percent just for spending money that you were going to be spending anyway.
Vaccinations are also pricey, and while they are vitally important, it can sometimes be hard to fork over that kind of cash when your budget already is stretched thin. This is another area where the major retailers are helping.
In response to the economy, Petco stores recently started offering vaccinations in their clinics nationwide.
Another fact of life for pet owners is that occasionally animals need medicine, just like us humans. Unfortunately, their medication is often just as expensive as ours.
The proliferation of online stores like 1-800-PetMeds and PetCareRx can save you money with their online coupons. On DealTaker we have just as many pet-medication sites as we do human-medication sites.
Finally, if you don’t have a pet but have been thinking about getting one, now is as good a time as any. Pet adoption centers often will have vaccinated the animals already and will provide you with money-saving coupons that will last you through most of the first year of your time with your new friend.
Few things can be as rewarding as owning a pet, and it doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might have thought.
