You don't have to buy what your vet recommends. There are quite a few sensitive tummy dry food options these days. Might be worth posting on your dogs breed sub and asking for food recommendations there.
I also order from these guys. You get a discount for getting the subscription — you can cancel straight up though, you're not locked in. I have to get the next one up (anallergenic, it's fucking pricey!)
My Mastiff X rescue will be starting on anallergenic food once he's off his meds (aquopel) due to severe allergies, incl. hair falling out in patches :(
As a single person who's already struggling, I'm dreading the cost of this!
Ugh, we do Apoquel, anallergenic, steroid conditioner and the vet has recommended a $200 Candida tablet for him 😭 this is AFTER a couple grand on desensitisation injections! And he STILL SCRATCHES! I'm just really grateful my pet insurance covered the Apoquel.
I agree with this. I used Budget pet products for my cat for about 3yrs for the Royal Canin Satiety kibbles. She was fat as,and I needed to get her weight down. Vet gave me a few brands to go for and I chose that one! I had their auto order for every 10wks. It was great
Others have given fantastic suggestions so all I want to say is: don’t feel embarrassed! We’re all feeling the pinch, and pets are important for tons of reasons so it’s worth looking after them.
Hope you find something affordable which works for Max.
Call your vet and explain that you’re unfortunately unable to afford his current diet and you’re asking for guidance on either an alternative brand or what exactly you need to eliminate from his diet (eg. avoid chicken, low sodium etc). Most vets would be happy to give you recommendations. Pet Circle, Budget Pet Products and Pet PA generally seem to be the most consistently affordable, some companies have loyalty programs and most veterinary diets have a palatability guarantee when purchased through a vet clinic (refund with proof of purchase if your dog won’t eat it) - so maybe try the first bag from a vet clinic.
I have two miniature poodles who are a little prone to pancreatitis on commercial food or if they get a treat that's too greasy. I've been making my own version of a healthy dog food. The cost is pretty reasonable at maybe $20 a week for two dogs.
I buy pet food chicken mince (premi-yum) and cook it in a mix of plain or no salt chicken stock, and add a cup of frozen diced vegetables (beans peas corn carrot potato) usually and a cup of brown rice per kilo of meat. I cook the rice separately and stir it in when the meat is cooked to absorb the stock. In winter and because it's good for their coats I'll add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil to the pot before the meat, but otherwise no oil or butter.
It freezes well and I usually cook a double batch. For variety you can use any pet mince (they need bone meal and offal occasionally) and any stock as long as it's not too salty. They love it.
Home cooking usually causes excesses or deficiencies so adding a supplement is important. Or put your recipe into balanceit.com and it tells you how to tweak it, its amazing
I tried that site. It just said “limited to 3303 kCal/day, see vet”. It seems if you have anything bigger than a small dog it refuses to provide any guidance.
Spectacularly unhelpful, sadly.
Have you tried the Prime Pantry rolls you can get at the supermarket? They would work out to be about the same cost and already have the offal and bone in there.
Petpa is where I get my royal canin urinary from for my cat, which I give to both my boys now despite only one having issues. I just buy a smaller bag when I'm tight and the 7kg when I'm not. They accept afterpay if you have it. Other options are vets who also take afterpay or vetpay, which is a last resort for me. They've steadily got almost double the price over the last couple years but Petpa has the 7kg for 120 free shipping vs other places stocking it for 160+. They usually deliver within 2-3 days too.
Also, ask the vet if there are cheaper and safe alternatives to the expensive brand. They might be able to give you more options.
If you can come to the valley newstead area today or tomorrow I can give you a bag of food for him , just tell me which one ? Is it the hills one ? Let me know and I'll give a free bag , will just need to pick it up that is all
Dont feel bad, Im a vet and cant even afford Royal canin at our cost price anymore, its gone up soooo much. I've had to go online and use zip to pay, at least I can pay it off.
Check out this website. https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/best-affordable-dog-food/
They have done all the comparisons and might be able to assist you in finding a more affordable brand.
Also check on marketplace. Sometimes people buy a huge stock of pet food and have to sell or give it away because their pet won't eat it, or it's passed away (hopefully not from the food). 😕
There’s absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about here! Could you maybe call your vet and ask if they can recommend a cheaper option? You could just speak with the receptionist and explain the situation and they might be able to pass some suggestions on from the vet.
I use cashback. Often the different websites will have 20% cash back. It takes a little time to get the money back but after you start buying regularly you start getting the money back regularly. It just helps cut the cost down a little.
When checking prices, make sure to check Petbarn, Amazon, Petstock, Your PetPA, Petcircle and Budget Pet Products.
Usually a bargain to be had between all of those, although might be harder just because Royal Canin only have specific stockists for certain varieties iirc.
Do you have pet insurance?
I'd even try and see if you can cook something yourself for the dog. Might be cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk- cook the dog proper human grade food and freeze
Check with your vet first but sometimes, rice, frozen vegies and lean mince could do the trick. I do feel for you OP. I know most of us pup owners would eat 2 minute noodles just so our little ones could get the food they need.
Its not because those diets are always deficient or excess in micros. You need to give them a daily supplement if you are going to home cook, or get a vet nutritionist to make a recipe for you. Balanceit.com is awesome but there an online vet dietician vet based in sydney who is great too
Pet circle is great.
You can also download the cashrewards app - petstock often has excellent cashrewards of 20% of the purchase price and petstock themselves have brand rewards and sales so you can stock up.
I'm not sure about those specific brands, but I generally check out a few different online stores that deliver, then go with the cheapest that has the one I'm after.
Pet Circle is usually pretty good, but recently Pet Post has been giving a discount to first-time customers and that's made them the cheapest option. I've done two "first time" purchases through them so far this year, I just needed to use a different email and CC for the second purchase.
> I've done two "first time" purchases through them so far this year, I just needed to use a different email and CC for the second purchase.
I’d like to take this opportunity to recommend Proton Mail (which lets you generate randomised “hide my email” addresses) and Revolut (which lets you generate valid one-use-only Visa card numbers which are destroyed when charged and don’t check the “name on card”). Not just for dodgy porn sites.
Do you know what it is about other food that trigger him? An allergy to a certain ingredient? Low sodium needs? If you can find details on that then you can compare nutritional info for lower cost foods to find something with similar nutrition but without the prescription label and pricing
For example of its just a type of protein he can't have, some foods will omit that protein type or use less of it
Also pet circle and petbarn have satiety guarantees so if you try a food and it doesn't work you can return it for a full refund or exchange
Use petpricrcompare.com.au to find the most competitive prices for certain products if you can’t find an alternative/cheaper brand for his sensitive stomach.
Is it a sensitive stomach, or something a bit more complex (urinary, kidneys, pancreas)?
If it’s just bog standard sensitive guts you can work through non-prescription kibble options without too much worry. If it’s urinary/other organ support - approach changing up with caution as it may result in more vet visits.
I know the pain, I’m locked in to a Royal Canine kibble for the rest of this particular furball’s existence as it decreases the frequency of $2k vet adventures.
If you can’t find away to access wholesale pricing from the suppliers, Pet Circle with the subscription discount is likely your best option. Better unit prices for larger bags, but consider how to best store them - the fats in the kibble can go off in Qld weather!
I'm kind of surprised the vet didn't recommend you just make them some food? Our vet recommended rice, vegetables with a bit of meat?
Costs almost nothing to bulk make once a month
Question of the day, is your vet a local independent or a chain? Independent vet owners can get kickbacks for recommending specific brands (Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive, and Royal Canin, a subsidiary of Mars - yes the chocolate bar - are both big “sponsors” of veterinary clinics), and chains like Greencross can share parent companies with a retailer that happens to sell the expensive brand. Greencross Vets and Petbarn are both owned by the same company, Greencross - for example.
A mate had a similar issue with his dog. Prescribed some fancy biscuit that could only be bought at the vet, and frankly still had digestive issues. A couple of times the bags were also close to expiry.
I recommended cooking his own food. Where I grew up there were no dog biscuits, so I’m used to a whole food diet. We cooked food and the dogs also ate our leftovers.
Once a week he boiled chicken in the slow cooker and portioned out a week of meals. Rice, chicken (or tuna after the great chicken breast shortage of 2021), and a raw carrot or two.
Cheap and the dog was healthier than ever.
Making your own food is always cheaper. Do some research on suggested diets for your complaint.
I had to start as one of my dogs (border collie) is gluten intolerant. We do a raw food diet for him and have for years.
We buy chicken frame mince from the local butcher and have them add liver to the mince. We then add a lot of vegetables carrot, sweet potato, beans, Silver beet and eggs and cod liver oil. Cost me about $60 for 2 months of food. It will take trial and error to get the mix right for weight and diet.
It is similar to the Big Dog Raw Food available frozen at the big pet shops.
There's a website called 99 pet shops & it will find you the cheapest food.
You might also look up Ask Izzy to find charities who can help you pay for the dog food. There absolutely are charities that can help. If you can't find any listed on Ask Izzy specifically for that, then make some calls. Start with AWL, Animal Welfare League, call Vinnies & St Vincent De Paul etc. The larger charities can give you on off $80 gift cards that can be used online to purchase pet food.
Good luck!
The main tip I have to saving money is firstly map out your budget. Create a spreadsheet with your income. Then get all your bills/reht/mortgage together. Then calculate how much you need from your income each pay packet (eg if it’s a 3 monthly bill but you get paid fortnightly. Work out how much money you need to put away each fortnight to have enough to pay it). Then once you have that amount of how much you need, minus that from your income. Then get your average amount for your groceries. And minus that from your income. Then what’s left is your spending money (which when you don’t spend turns into your savings). Look at everything you spend with that over the fortnightly. Cafes, restaurants, fuel, ect. Once you have all that then you should have a map of where all your money is going. This is now the hard part of working out what things you can go without to increase the savings. I did this recently and it really gave me a good insight into where I was wasting money or places I could save a lot of money. Honestly it’s the first thing I’d recommend doing. And if it does turn out that there is nothing you can cut or your bills take up all your income and you have no spending money. Well that’s when we look at the next steps.
There is a pet nutritionist in Sydney who does telehealth and can design recipes specifically for your pets needs so you can make it at home without the worry of creating a deficiency.
As the human for a cat with a funny tummy. I use to buy new dry food at pet barn because they have a policy you can return the bag if the animal doesn't like it or its not suitable for their tummy.
I ruled out a lot of foods this way.
Optimum, specifically the blue bags, has worked for our dog with a sensitive stomach. Vet recommended as a cheaper alternative. Small bags available at Coles as a trial, bulk bags at bunnings for far cheaper per unit.
I'm sure you already have a great vet. I researched a lower cost option for vet care, as I have two dogs am not on a high income. I found Animal Welfare League have a vet at Daisy Hill/Springwood that charge less than my local vets in Redlands for consultation fee's and medication used in procedures. My pedigree chuihaha needed an allergy shot as she was itching constantly from a pollen allergy and was red raw. The shot was $70 less than local vet costs. Also consultation fee was much less.
There are pet food pantries that offer free food. A lot of the time, the more expensive foods don't sell, so they end up at discount supermarkets, and then food pantries, so it's a shame for it to go to waste. If you have bought any food your dog wont eat, you can donate to them as well.
Please don't ever feel embarrassed, gosh I loathe that word, really doing people in.
You've reached out, you've shared your story and hopefully, you'd realised you're not alone, and that it was a brave move on your part.
I'm sure you've already got plenty of good pet food suggestions or charities. If you're struggling, you may want to check out [askizzy.org.au](http://askizzy.org.au)
all these online suggestions are great but also petbarn will price match prescription food (and all products) to any australian online pet stores. petcircle, budgetpet and petpa are all great options and usually a bit cheaper than anywhere instore.
also with food sensitivities, if you know specifically what the dog is allergic to, you could just find a brand of food that does single protein diets. eg a lot of dogs are allergic to chicken or grain. very rarely are dogs allergic to fish or kangaroo, so they're pretty safe bets. the main aussie brand that does single protein dry food is billy + margot.
vets will recommend hills/royal canin prescription diets because they sell them in-store and are often sponsored by the companies. its also just easier for them. but they're stupidly expensive
Dry pet food is a meme. If I ate cereal every meal I'd probably have an upset stomach as well.
Do you think a hundred years ago people were feeding their dogs Science Diet? Do wolves buy food from the pet store?
Hint: pay attention to the posters in your vet clinic. Notice something? Almost as if the vet is taking money from these companies...
We use Royal Canin but we go into the Pet Barn store and have a look through the bags. Sometimes they have discounted bags because they're ripped and taped together, or overstock. We usually don't worry about the size of the kibble, just go for the type they need i.e. in your case digestive. We go in with an open mind about size and quantity because you never know what's going to be available on special in the Royal Canin brand. Pet Barn also have a frequent feeder club where, if you buy at least some food within 6 or 8 weeks you get a decent discount plus you earn vouchers.
Pet Barn don't advertise it but we always ask if they can match an online price from somewhere else and they've never told us no. We always get Royal Canin usually for about 60% of in store marked price. Dunno if it's just our local one but it's worth asking. Worst case they just say no.
I'm pretty sure it's a Petbarn policy to price match, even though they don't advertise it. I've asked several different Petbarn stores to price match before and they've always been great about it.
What about feeding him old people?
I mean look at the positives. The dog is healthy and full of food, it frees up housing, it frees up hospitals. Where are the downsides?
I don't know if this is helpful or not. Feeding a dog a carnivore diet can give a new lease on dogs, and help them to be fit and strong. I don't know if this would be super expensive or not. I do hope you'll find a good solution asap. It's so tough right now. 💗
You don't have to buy what your vet recommends. There are quite a few sensitive tummy dry food options these days. Might be worth posting on your dogs breed sub and asking for food recommendations there.
Thanks a really good idea, thanks. I'll have a search for that sub.
Pet circle is the most reliable and somewhat cheap I’ve found
Second this, their prices are very good, bulk quantity, and fast delivery.
Thanks so much, will have a look now! How do you find the best price?
I also order from these guys. You get a discount for getting the subscription — you can cancel straight up though, you're not locked in. I have to get the next one up (anallergenic, it's fucking pricey!)
My Mastiff X rescue will be starting on anallergenic food once he's off his meds (aquopel) due to severe allergies, incl. hair falling out in patches :( As a single person who's already struggling, I'm dreading the cost of this!
Ugh, we do Apoquel, anallergenic, steroid conditioner and the vet has recommended a $200 Candida tablet for him 😭 this is AFTER a couple grand on desensitisation injections! And he STILL SCRATCHES! I'm just really grateful my pet insurance covered the Apoquel.
Oh my gosh, I completely empathise with you! 😭
I like to buy from Budget Pet Products. They are on the Gold Coast so shipping to Brisbane is super quick and they have good prices
I agree with this. I used Budget pet products for my cat for about 3yrs for the Royal Canin Satiety kibbles. She was fat as,and I needed to get her weight down. Vet gave me a few brands to go for and I chose that one! I had their auto order for every 10wks. It was great
Second this, they have good deals.
They have great prices but shipping can be really slow of more than a week to Brisbane. Just be aware and don’t order if you need it urgently.
Others have given fantastic suggestions so all I want to say is: don’t feel embarrassed! We’re all feeling the pinch, and pets are important for tons of reasons so it’s worth looking after them. Hope you find something affordable which works for Max.
💯💯💯
Call your vet and explain that you’re unfortunately unable to afford his current diet and you’re asking for guidance on either an alternative brand or what exactly you need to eliminate from his diet (eg. avoid chicken, low sodium etc). Most vets would be happy to give you recommendations. Pet Circle, Budget Pet Products and Pet PA generally seem to be the most consistently affordable, some companies have loyalty programs and most veterinary diets have a palatability guarantee when purchased through a vet clinic (refund with proof of purchase if your dog won’t eat it) - so maybe try the first bag from a vet clinic.
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I second this, we have cats on special diets and this is helping us save a significant amount.
Also worth noting places like petbarn will price match. Just show the linked item at the counter.
Thanks so much I love this! I'll give it a try and provide my feedback.
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Are you getting down voted because it's not a scam or because the scammer is using multiple accounts to down vote you?
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Id probably best delete it off my pc then hey!
I have two miniature poodles who are a little prone to pancreatitis on commercial food or if they get a treat that's too greasy. I've been making my own version of a healthy dog food. The cost is pretty reasonable at maybe $20 a week for two dogs. I buy pet food chicken mince (premi-yum) and cook it in a mix of plain or no salt chicken stock, and add a cup of frozen diced vegetables (beans peas corn carrot potato) usually and a cup of brown rice per kilo of meat. I cook the rice separately and stir it in when the meat is cooked to absorb the stock. In winter and because it's good for their coats I'll add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil to the pot before the meat, but otherwise no oil or butter. It freezes well and I usually cook a double batch. For variety you can use any pet mince (they need bone meal and offal occasionally) and any stock as long as it's not too salty. They love it.
Home cooking usually causes excesses or deficiencies so adding a supplement is important. Or put your recipe into balanceit.com and it tells you how to tweak it, its amazing
I tried that site. It just said “limited to 3303 kCal/day, see vet”. It seems if you have anything bigger than a small dog it refuses to provide any guidance. Spectacularly unhelpful, sadly.
Have you tried the Prime Pantry rolls you can get at the supermarket? They would work out to be about the same cost and already have the offal and bone in there.
Petpa is where I get my royal canin urinary from for my cat, which I give to both my boys now despite only one having issues. I just buy a smaller bag when I'm tight and the 7kg when I'm not. They accept afterpay if you have it. Other options are vets who also take afterpay or vetpay, which is a last resort for me. They've steadily got almost double the price over the last couple years but Petpa has the 7kg for 120 free shipping vs other places stocking it for 160+. They usually deliver within 2-3 days too. Also, ask the vet if there are cheaper and safe alternatives to the expensive brand. They might be able to give you more options.
Thanks so much for the tip!
If you can come to the valley newstead area today or tomorrow I can give you a bag of food for him , just tell me which one ? Is it the hills one ? Let me know and I'll give a free bag , will just need to pick it up that is all
Dont feel bad, Im a vet and cant even afford Royal canin at our cost price anymore, its gone up soooo much. I've had to go online and use zip to pay, at least I can pay it off.
Which food is he on? There might be other, similar but cheaper options.
He normally takes the Hills digestive care (low sodium) option. But its over $160!
OP my girl has a sensitive stomach we have sensitive stomach black hawk and royal canin can we help at all. I add bones and chicken can I help at all?
Check out this website. https://www.petfoodreviews.com.au/best-affordable-dog-food/ They have done all the comparisons and might be able to assist you in finding a more affordable brand.
Also check on marketplace. Sometimes people buy a huge stock of pet food and have to sell or give it away because their pet won't eat it, or it's passed away (hopefully not from the food). 😕
There’s absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about here! Could you maybe call your vet and ask if they can recommend a cheaper option? You could just speak with the receptionist and explain the situation and they might be able to pass some suggestions on from the vet.
I use cashback. Often the different websites will have 20% cash back. It takes a little time to get the money back but after you start buying regularly you start getting the money back regularly. It just helps cut the cost down a little.
When checking prices, make sure to check Petbarn, Amazon, Petstock, Your PetPA, Petcircle and Budget Pet Products. Usually a bargain to be had between all of those, although might be harder just because Royal Canin only have specific stockists for certain varieties iirc. Do you have pet insurance?
Swaggle is another one. Cheap offers in you get regular delivery
I'd even try and see if you can cook something yourself for the dog. Might be cheaper to buy ingredients in bulk- cook the dog proper human grade food and freeze
But also he’s a dog so. Sardines, eggs, pork mince are all cheaper.
Check with your vet first but sometimes, rice, frozen vegies and lean mince could do the trick. I do feel for you OP. I know most of us pup owners would eat 2 minute noodles just so our little ones could get the food they need.
This
You could consider making food for your dog yourself. Much better for them and you know what's in it.
Its not because those diets are always deficient or excess in micros. You need to give them a daily supplement if you are going to home cook, or get a vet nutritionist to make a recipe for you. Balanceit.com is awesome but there an online vet dietician vet based in sydney who is great too
Your own made food can definitely fill in a portion of their diet and reduce your costs.
Do you also eat daily supplements for your own diet?
Presumably they’re not canine. Also they are quite right.
You'll probably have to tell us what that specific diet is. So we can recommend something we think may fit the bill.
Pet circle is great. You can also download the cashrewards app - petstock often has excellent cashrewards of 20% of the purchase price and petstock themselves have brand rewards and sales so you can stock up.
I'm not sure about those specific brands, but I generally check out a few different online stores that deliver, then go with the cheapest that has the one I'm after. Pet Circle is usually pretty good, but recently Pet Post has been giving a discount to first-time customers and that's made them the cheapest option. I've done two "first time" purchases through them so far this year, I just needed to use a different email and CC for the second purchase.
> I've done two "first time" purchases through them so far this year, I just needed to use a different email and CC for the second purchase. I’d like to take this opportunity to recommend Proton Mail (which lets you generate randomised “hide my email” addresses) and Revolut (which lets you generate valid one-use-only Visa card numbers which are destroyed when charged and don’t check the “name on card”). Not just for dodgy porn sites.
Screenshot this. I use the hide my email with Firefox but hadn't heard about the other option. Ta
Do you know what it is about other food that trigger him? An allergy to a certain ingredient? Low sodium needs? If you can find details on that then you can compare nutritional info for lower cost foods to find something with similar nutrition but without the prescription label and pricing For example of its just a type of protein he can't have, some foods will omit that protein type or use less of it Also pet circle and petbarn have satiety guarantees so if you try a food and it doesn't work you can return it for a full refund or exchange
Use petpricrcompare.com.au to find the most competitive prices for certain products if you can’t find an alternative/cheaper brand for his sensitive stomach.
Is it a sensitive stomach, or something a bit more complex (urinary, kidneys, pancreas)? If it’s just bog standard sensitive guts you can work through non-prescription kibble options without too much worry. If it’s urinary/other organ support - approach changing up with caution as it may result in more vet visits. I know the pain, I’m locked in to a Royal Canine kibble for the rest of this particular furball’s existence as it decreases the frequency of $2k vet adventures. If you can’t find away to access wholesale pricing from the suppliers, Pet Circle with the subscription discount is likely your best option. Better unit prices for larger bags, but consider how to best store them - the fats in the kibble can go off in Qld weather!
I'm kind of surprised the vet didn't recommend you just make them some food? Our vet recommended rice, vegetables with a bit of meat? Costs almost nothing to bulk make once a month
Question of the day, is your vet a local independent or a chain? Independent vet owners can get kickbacks for recommending specific brands (Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive, and Royal Canin, a subsidiary of Mars - yes the chocolate bar - are both big “sponsors” of veterinary clinics), and chains like Greencross can share parent companies with a retailer that happens to sell the expensive brand. Greencross Vets and Petbarn are both owned by the same company, Greencross - for example.
A mate had a similar issue with his dog. Prescribed some fancy biscuit that could only be bought at the vet, and frankly still had digestive issues. A couple of times the bags were also close to expiry. I recommended cooking his own food. Where I grew up there were no dog biscuits, so I’m used to a whole food diet. We cooked food and the dogs also ate our leftovers. Once a week he boiled chicken in the slow cooker and portioned out a week of meals. Rice, chicken (or tuna after the great chicken breast shortage of 2021), and a raw carrot or two. Cheap and the dog was healthier than ever.
I just feed my dog unseasoned roast chicken
Making your own food is always cheaper. Do some research on suggested diets for your complaint. I had to start as one of my dogs (border collie) is gluten intolerant. We do a raw food diet for him and have for years. We buy chicken frame mince from the local butcher and have them add liver to the mince. We then add a lot of vegetables carrot, sweet potato, beans, Silver beet and eggs and cod liver oil. Cost me about $60 for 2 months of food. It will take trial and error to get the mix right for weight and diet. It is similar to the Big Dog Raw Food available frozen at the big pet shops.
You are missing a secondcsecreting organ with that mix. And the real benefit from raw feeding comes from variety and rotation.
There's a website called 99 pet shops & it will find you the cheapest food. You might also look up Ask Izzy to find charities who can help you pay for the dog food. There absolutely are charities that can help. If you can't find any listed on Ask Izzy specifically for that, then make some calls. Start with AWL, Animal Welfare League, call Vinnies & St Vincent De Paul etc. The larger charities can give you on off $80 gift cards that can be used online to purchase pet food. Good luck!
I'm sure someone posted a browser extension for pet barn a few days ago, but can't find it. If anyone has that handy?
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It only compares a few shops. The website 99 pet shops is much better & you don't have to download some stranger's extension onto your computer.
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The main tip I have to saving money is firstly map out your budget. Create a spreadsheet with your income. Then get all your bills/reht/mortgage together. Then calculate how much you need from your income each pay packet (eg if it’s a 3 monthly bill but you get paid fortnightly. Work out how much money you need to put away each fortnight to have enough to pay it). Then once you have that amount of how much you need, minus that from your income. Then get your average amount for your groceries. And minus that from your income. Then what’s left is your spending money (which when you don’t spend turns into your savings). Look at everything you spend with that over the fortnightly. Cafes, restaurants, fuel, ect. Once you have all that then you should have a map of where all your money is going. This is now the hard part of working out what things you can go without to increase the savings. I did this recently and it really gave me a good insight into where I was wasting money or places I could save a lot of money. Honestly it’s the first thing I’d recommend doing. And if it does turn out that there is nothing you can cut or your bills take up all your income and you have no spending money. Well that’s when we look at the next steps.
If you do a recurring order through petbarn they give you a discount. That’s what i do for my dog’s prescription food.
Have PMed you
Reach out to animal rescue groups. They sometimes get these foods donated by Petbarn etc. If they don't need them I'm sure they'll be happy to help.
There is a pet nutritionist in Sydney who does telehealth and can design recipes specifically for your pets needs so you can make it at home without the worry of creating a deficiency.
As the human for a cat with a funny tummy. I use to buy new dry food at pet barn because they have a policy you can return the bag if the animal doesn't like it or its not suitable for their tummy. I ruled out a lot of foods this way.
Optimum, specifically the blue bags, has worked for our dog with a sensitive stomach. Vet recommended as a cheaper alternative. Small bags available at Coles as a trial, bulk bags at bunnings for far cheaper per unit.
I'm sure you already have a great vet. I researched a lower cost option for vet care, as I have two dogs am not on a high income. I found Animal Welfare League have a vet at Daisy Hill/Springwood that charge less than my local vets in Redlands for consultation fee's and medication used in procedures. My pedigree chuihaha needed an allergy shot as she was itching constantly from a pollen allergy and was red raw. The shot was $70 less than local vet costs. Also consultation fee was much less.
There are pet food pantries that offer free food. A lot of the time, the more expensive foods don't sell, so they end up at discount supermarkets, and then food pantries, so it's a shame for it to go to waste. If you have bought any food your dog wont eat, you can donate to them as well.
Please don't ever feel embarrassed, gosh I loathe that word, really doing people in. You've reached out, you've shared your story and hopefully, you'd realised you're not alone, and that it was a brave move on your part. I'm sure you've already got plenty of good pet food suggestions or charities. If you're struggling, you may want to check out [askizzy.org.au](http://askizzy.org.au)
Don't buy dog food. Make it yourself. Way cheaper and better for them.
Rural and Farm stores often carry dog food in bulk if you can get to one.
all these online suggestions are great but also petbarn will price match prescription food (and all products) to any australian online pet stores. petcircle, budgetpet and petpa are all great options and usually a bit cheaper than anywhere instore.
also with food sensitivities, if you know specifically what the dog is allergic to, you could just find a brand of food that does single protein diets. eg a lot of dogs are allergic to chicken or grain. very rarely are dogs allergic to fish or kangaroo, so they're pretty safe bets. the main aussie brand that does single protein dry food is billy + margot. vets will recommend hills/royal canin prescription diets because they sell them in-store and are often sponsored by the companies. its also just easier for them. but they're stupidly expensive
Dry pet food is a meme. If I ate cereal every meal I'd probably have an upset stomach as well. Do you think a hundred years ago people were feeding their dogs Science Diet? Do wolves buy food from the pet store? Hint: pay attention to the posters in your vet clinic. Notice something? Almost as if the vet is taking money from these companies...
This seems to be marketing for that guy who recently was saying he worked at Petbarn now is creating his own pricing site.
Doesn't it though
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Source? Don't just call scam...where is evidence?
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but u implied it 's a SCAM ....bot promoted and SCAM are 2 wildly different things.
We use Royal Canin but we go into the Pet Barn store and have a look through the bags. Sometimes they have discounted bags because they're ripped and taped together, or overstock. We usually don't worry about the size of the kibble, just go for the type they need i.e. in your case digestive. We go in with an open mind about size and quantity because you never know what's going to be available on special in the Royal Canin brand. Pet Barn also have a frequent feeder club where, if you buy at least some food within 6 or 8 weeks you get a decent discount plus you earn vouchers.
Pet Barn don't advertise it but we always ask if they can match an online price from somewhere else and they've never told us no. We always get Royal Canin usually for about 60% of in store marked price. Dunno if it's just our local one but it's worth asking. Worst case they just say no.
I'm pretty sure it's a Petbarn policy to price match, even though they don't advertise it. I've asked several different Petbarn stores to price match before and they've always been great about it.
What about feeding him old people? I mean look at the positives. The dog is healthy and full of food, it frees up housing, it frees up hospitals. Where are the downsides?
jsut get rid of the dog
I don't know if this is helpful or not. Feeding a dog a carnivore diet can give a new lease on dogs, and help them to be fit and strong. I don't know if this would be super expensive or not. I do hope you'll find a good solution asap. It's so tough right now. 💗