Saving While Spoiling Your Pet
By Daksha Gehani
While coffee does help give a kick, there can be no better start to a lazy Sunday morning than snuggling with your cat or dog. Your pets are the love of your life and truly deserve all the care and comfort you can offer them. Keeping a pet, however, can be an expensive affair if you don’t fully understand the expenses involved.
Pet owners don’t just splurge on pet food, cleaning products, and service care, but also on luxurious elements, such as hotel check-ins (yes, they do exist — it’s not just the movie), puppy portraits, etc. The average pet owner spends more than 166$ per month on their animal. That’s over 2000$ a year.
Pets are indeed a bundle of unconditional love, but there are a few things you can do to keep your pet happy but also leave your wallet undented:
- Homemade Tummy Love 💜
With the onslaught of expensive branded food that bites a big chunk out of your wallet, it is rather realistic to turn to homemade treats.
No, you don’t need to win big at Masterchef for Pet Foods (wouldn’t we all love if this existed) to be able to make homemade treats that can be long-lasting. If you make treats to last for even half a month, it can cut down on feeding costs by at least 25%.
There are many options available, from popsicles to baked biscuits to stews for dog and on special occasions, chicken dinners. You can only make these yourself, but can also use human food or ingredients from time to time to treat your pets. Contrary to popular belief, there are lists of human-food that pets can eat. Do consult with your vet before proceeding to feed anything to your animal.
2. Toys & Bonding 🐶
How many times have you been to the pet store, spotted cute toys for your pet, and thought “this is perfect!”. You purchase the ridiculously expensive toy and bring it back home thinking your pet is gonna love this one. Voila, you’re back home and your pet can’t be bothered about the new bling you’ve bought and is completely uninterested.
Let’s face it, pets don’t enjoy playing with toys as much as they do with you. Alternatively, a great way to keep your pet entertained is to build toys you’ve created yourself. Your possibilities are only limited to your imagination, from a catapult fetch to treat rattle, basic ingredients from your local build shop can help you save massively on your budget.
3. Build -A-Bear 🐻
At some point in your life as a pet owner, you would need to build a fenced enclosure for your dog or fence and cat-proof your patio for your fluffy cat.
These enclosures are not only a way for your pet to exercise but an au naturel environment for them to safely and freely grow up in. Fenced enclosures normally range from $50 to $500. That’s just the fenced enclosure, any kind of dog or cat proofing any room in your house or the patio would cost much more than that. Building an enclosure yourself could cost a fraction of what you might purchase an enclosure for normally.
Knowing what you need and then building the enclosure yourself can save more than 50% of what the cost would otherwise be. And what better way than to do it yourself so you can customize it according to you and your pet’s likes and dislikes.
Dog enclosures are a bit tricky and the decision to buy or build lies in the factors that accompany it. This is a list of pros and cons of both pre-made and self-made dog enclosures. This should help clarify what would be best for you, your wallet and your dog.
Do remember, the goal is pet comfort in reduced prices. At no point should you value money more than your pet’s comfort! For example, a Barbie-like dog dream house isn’t necessary but a lovely enclosure with toys (indoor or outdoor) is necessary for their health and growth.
4. Prime & Train 🐕
Pet grooming can be a large expense, with the average ranging from 30$ to 90$ depending on your pet size and amount of fur. Fur grooming is not only hard on your wallet, but it’s also just a part of the entire process of grooming. You have to bathe, brush, regularly check ears and trim toenails to keep your pet healthy.
It is a necessity and one that can at least be partially fulfilled yourself. Of course, the tools will cost, like shampoo and special brushes, but much less than opting for a professional service.
Training your pet is often seen as optional but is highly advised.
Training is not an overnight accomplishment, it takes patience and practice and a growing understanding of not only how your typical pet breed behaves but how your pet innately is. Pets have different personalities. People have a misconception that only dogs can be trained, but contrary to the myth, cats can be trained too! The goals and outcomes are entirely different but make all the difference down the lane.
It takes time to know your pet but doesn’t worry! Its a learning process for both you and your pet. Talk to your vet, research online for tips, or ask advice from a professional trainer online. It will cost much less than physically hiring a trainer to come to train your pet.
It is important to do research and talk to your vet for information on various tasks, even mundane ones, before adopting your pet preferably.
This article is part of the bite-size bundle ‘Love Thy Pets’ on the Finllect app. Find the Finllect app on Appstore today! 💁
