How to balance pets on a budget

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – Navigating how to balance paying bills, buying groceries, and paying medical expenses can be a bit tricky, especially when you might be on a tight budget.

Having a pet can make that even trickier, with owners having to account for pet food and other expenses.

“Cost of everything seems to be going up, including costs for food, costs for dog, cat food and just expenses for daily life. You know, we’re just trying to do the best we can each and every day,” said Dr. Meredith Stanaland with the Nacogdoches Animal Hospital.

Stanaland said there are a few ways pet owners can reduce this cost, starting with buying food supplies in bulk.

“Buying in bulk if you have multiple pets can make a difference, as long as you store it in a clean environment,” she said. “It can definitely be more cost effective.”

Sticking with the big brands names, such as Hills Science Diet and Purina, over other advertised grain free brands can also be helpful.

“I think a lot of boutique pet stores say that they offer things like grain free diets [that are] going to make your pet healthier. It’s going to be just a little bit more expensive,” Stanaland cautions. “And there really isn’t a lot of science behind that. And there’s a lot of facts that things like grain free or extra additives that are ‘going to help’ your pet can actually harm your pet. So, I would not buy into those things.”

Humane societies and community food pantries can also be a helpful resource ready to pitch in with food and even medical vouchers.

“They want to keep these pets out of the streets. They want to keep these pets out of the shelters,” Stanaland said. “So, if it’s a food concern, at least where I’m located, they’ll try and help you if you can keep them in their home.”

In picking up donated food or switching to a cheaper brand, it is important to gradually transition your pet to a new type of food.

“We eat a different meal every day. Your pets eat something very consistent and so their digestive system is very different than ours,” Stanaland said. “So, I always say you can make a gradual transition over the course of the week. That’s going to be the best thing to do.”

She said to imagine your pets’ food as if it were divided in quarters.

For the first two days, feed them a serving made up of 1/4th new food and 3/4ths the old food.
For the next two days, feed them a serving of half new food and half old food.
For the last two days, feed them a serving of 3/4ths new food and 1/4th old food.

“You don’t want to be dealing with vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy on top of everything if you’re trying to be conscious when it comes to feeding your pets healthy, quality food that’s not going to make them sick as well as not break the bank,” Stanaland said.

She said if the above symptoms worsen, vet intervention may be needed.

“If anybody’s pet is having vomiting, diarrhea longer than 12 to 24 hours, they need to see a vet,” Stanaland said. “We’ll be sick for a couple days and get over it. Our pets are much smaller… if your pet is 10 pounds and they vomit, diarrhea even once or twice, that can become life threatening in a very short period of time.”

To help minimize vet costs, Stanaland says getting pet insurance can help save in the long run.

“Having a pet is incredibly amazing thing to do but it is a financial responsibility, so you do need to be conscious of that,” Stanaland said. “If it’s not something that you think you can do in the cards, there’s other ways that you can be around animals. You can foster. You can go to your local shelter and help. You can do all of those things without any money out of your pocket and still be very involved in animals’ lives.”

Here are some East Texas animal resources:

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