The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: LearningMustachian72 on April 09, 2018, 01:14:22 PM
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Hey!
I have two rescue dogs and was wondering your thoughts on the following...
Medication
Where is the cheapest place to buy Heartgard (Heartworm prevention) and Nexgard (Flea/Tick prenvention)? I just purchased 12 tablets of Nexgard (24-60 lb dog dose) and it was $243! I shopped around at 5 different nearby vets and that was the cheapest. I see that some online outlets have them cheaper but I have read horror stories of expired/fake meds...any suggestions?
Food
Where is the cheapest place to buy quality dog food? I recently purchased Costco grain free dog food trying to save a buck and both of my dogs had indigestion. I typically buy Fromm's dog food from Chuck and Dons but it is pricey.
There has got to be cheaper avenues for quality dog food...any tips would be much appreciated!
Thank you!
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Not sure about the medications and I'd be curious as well. But I've found Amazon subscribe and save or Chewy.com to have good prices on good food. I am in the same boat as you where I don't want to buy cheap, I know some people will probably feed their animals the cheapest food and not buy medications, but I just want the good stuff at the lowest price because my animals are important to me.
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So, my dog passed last September, but she was battling IBD toward the end, so we got a LOT of practice with med and food sourcing!
-She also did not tolerate the costco food.
-Amazon Subscribe & Save was the cheapest for her regular canned food. (Wellness Beef Stew. Little did we know that plus the rice+pumpkin mix we made at home had been controlling her IBD well for years! My vet was impressed, said the macros and everything we hit on were almost identical to what she was going to prescribe, just not hydrolyzed)
-When she was switched to a prescription food, chewy.com was often cheapest. I also signed up for Petsmart pet rewards and got a ton of coupons that way, and when I would do that, + their subscribe & save, + maufacturer's coupons, it ended up being super cheap. This only worked every second or third purchase though, since the coupons were intermittent. Keep an eye on FB- they also have $15 off order coupons for Petsmart on there occasionally.
-Meds, 1800PetMeds was by far the cheapest. Keep in mind things like benedryl and immodium are the same as the human meds. With the blessing of my vet, I just bought those from the human section at costco.
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We use Costco for our dog's heartworm.
https://m.costco.com/pharmacy/pet-medications.html
Nexguard price looks comparable (226ish) so not much to help with there. I will say that in place of Heartgard Plus I went with Tri-heart plus. Walmart has a comparable generic heartworm med called Pettrust. If I remember correctly the ingredients were identical.
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Thank you all for the tips!
Food
I did a little more research and it seems 'Taste of the Wild' is a quality brand that is $48.99 for a 30lb bag ($1.63/lb.). I started off with one bag to make sure it agrees with my dogs. If so, I will go this route and subscribe to get one bag a month to save an additional 5% (both Amazon and Chuck and Dons offer this).
Meds
Thank you for the Costco recommendation...I am definitely going to use them going forward as that is the cheapest I have seen. One of my dogs also takes meds for behavioral issues...I have found the cheapest places to buy these is at a pet psychologist if one exists in your area.
@Bracken_Joy sorry for your loss!
Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll let you know if I find out any other good solutions.
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In terms of food, I would provide one caution. I see a lot pet food recalls, and almost all of them are the boutique brands. I don't see the big brands recalling food - Purina, Iams, etc. Quality controls do matter, and the smaller ones don't seem to have them yet.
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For the meds that a vet will write a script for, I use Dr Foster and Smith, online. Basenjis are known for thyroid problems among breeders, and many vets will not acknowledge this. So, I take my dog down to the vet I originally got my dogs from, she examines the dog, and writes a script for the thyroid pills.
One of my dogs recently went on seizure med, a human drug will do the best. The vet wrote me a script and said people seem to find Costco the cheapest. I found out you do not have to be a member to use the pharmacy. I noticed, back in the pharmacy, they have a big sign about having meds for pets.
For heartworm preventive for the dogs, I buy from Dr Foster and Smith and buy the swine ivermectin. My vet knows I do this, is obligated to tell me he can't advise it, I tell him I understand and thank you for the info, and the subject is dropped.
I do not give them low quality food, found something that worked, and have been using it since. Cheap food, in this breed, causes many other medical problems.
I buy Nutro Ultra, 30# for about $40. I think it's from the same company that makes Iams. I buy it at a locally owned hardware shop, I don't think grocery stores sell it.
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We use Sentinel at Allivet for $68 a year. Our vet said it would work fine. If you want to go fancier you'll pay for it. Otherwise we get our food from Nature's Select which delivers to our door, we go through 60 lbs every 3 months, which costs us $1.24 - $1.40 a pound depending on how much storage space you have and whether you can quantity order.
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Wow, that Sentinel seems like a steal! That covers heart worm and flea/tick prevention, correct?