Pet health

velosolex

Hello, we have 2 labs and a springer and 3 cats all living happily indoors. I am seeking the most economical way to continue their ongoing need for preventative health issues.

Wormer - how often and what cost?
De-flea - how often and what cost?
Jabs - how often and what cost?

Are their generic / non branded products locally, are they available on-line cheaper?

Dog food - They are eating Royal Canin presently but a renowned dog kennel recommended "Brillies" approx 50% lower cost and it is made in Ireland, any experience?

Any one make their own pet food, I was thinking of a few cheapish chickens and perhaps Lidl / Aldi veg special of the week. Or maybe a few horse burgers!

Cat food - any recommendations for a quality lower cost alternative to Royal Canin?

paultf

velosolex wrote: »

Wormer - how often and what cost?
De-flea - how often and what cost?

Worm & flea - how often differs with people. I do it every 3 months. I find UK sites are cheaper e.g. vetuk.co.uk. There seems to be cheaper versions available online but you might need a perscription from your vet.

Jabs - how often and what cost?

Once a year. For my 3 medium sized dogs (booster vaccs + kennel cough) works out at €140.

Are their generic / non branded products locally, are they available on-line cheaper?

Yes online. Might need perscription. In Tesco, for e.g., they have some worming products, etc. Might be cheaper but how good are they?

Dog food - They are eating Royal Canin presently but a renowned dog kennel recommended "Brillies" approx 50% lower cost and it is made in Ireland, any experience?

Reading the ingredients Brillie's is an OK-ish food. If you could order online, Skinners duck & rice from Amazon (with free delivery) €25/15kg is getting good reviews.

Any one make their own pet food, I was thinking of a few cheapish chickens and perhaps Lidl / Aldi veg special of the week. Or maybe a few horse burgers!

Youtube have receipes or you could try a raw diet.

Cat food - any recommendations for a quality lower cost alternative to Royal Canin?

Don't know anything about cats except my dogs don't like them!

Ms Tootsie

I make my own food for the dog, mainly because he has a dodgy stomach and cant handle alot of ingredients in dry food. I manage to feed him on about 20-30 euro a month depending on what I buy.

I make his food up in batches each week an freeze it with some boiled rice. You could try veg we use the rice as the blandness is good for our guys stomach.

Find a good local butcher and you will be able to get lots for very little. Last week I got a few hearts, livers, chicken legs and lamb pieces for a fiver. I got a weeks food out of that. We vary his diet and feed him everything from chicken, lamb, beef, hearts, livers, legs and bones.

Lidl whole chickens are great as well. Plus you can always pick up cheap meat in the 'going out of date' soon sections.

Pumpkinseeds

Not sure about the dogs but we took our 2 cats off Royal Canin and put them on Applaws. They're around the same price but the Applaws is 80% protein and low carb so they need a lot less of it than the RC. So it works out cheaper for us, also they are eating a lot fewer wet pouches since we put them on the Applaws. I think cats need both the kibble and the pouches as cats are notorious for not drinking enough water and they can end up getting urinary tract problems like crystals forming.

We get a lot of stuff for the cats from Zooplus.ie, Vet UK and Viovet in the UK. I've seen other posters mention getting pet supplies cheaper by ordering from Zooplus in other european countries as well. These days most of us need to economise a bit.