If your pet is prescribed medication(s), ask the vet:
-What is it? What does it do?
-Is it used for humans? If so, can I get it at a drugstore? (One of our cats is on a heart medication for humans, and it's less expensive at the pharmacy than the vet's office.)
-Will you write a prescription for it so I can buy it online? (Another of our cat's meds is available online for much less than the vet.
ValleyVet.com has been good for me. I also get my horses' vaccines there.)
-For long-term meds, will you write the prescription for a larger quantity so I can buy in "bulk?" (So you don't have to pay extra shipping or disensing fees.)
-Is there an alternative form of this drug? i.e. Liquid, powder, pill? (Sometimes one version is easier to administer and/or less expensive.)
Learn to give vaccines yourself. Or, ask your vet if he/she will give a shot you purchased online, provided you accept responsibility for making sure it is not expired and has been kept cold, etc. This works well for rabies vaccines (if you can get it in your state), which often are required by law to be administered by a vet. I purchased a vial of rabies vaccine for $10, which was enough to do 2 horses and 2 cats for 2 years. The vet only charged me for the farm call. BIG savings!!! (ONE horse rabies from the vet was $27!)
Keep a pet medical kit handy: thermometer, gauze, vetwrap, stethoscope, gloves, tweezers, etc.
Familiarize yourself with normal vitals for your pet: heart rate, temp, respiration rate, capillary refill time, appearance and size/color of stools/urine. As has been mentioned, noticing problems early can save lives *and* money.
Learn about wormers/vaccines and the parasites/diseases they are for. Some "standards" may not be necessary. For example, worming an indoor-only cat may only be needed if you have a mouse problem in your house and the cat catches and eats them, or if the cat has contact with an indoor-outdoor cat. Same for feline leukemia vaccines. My horses do not come into contact with other horses, so I can worm them less often than the "standard" frequency and omit certain vaccines. But if I take one off the property, I can add a worming session or vaccinate/booster beforehand, as needed. However, be safe about this - erring on the side of caution rarely hurts.
Don't forget to learn to trim nails when you learn to give haircuts and/or groom!
On cat litter: IMHO, clumping litter is a waste of money. And it can be a health hazard, particularly for kittens who are small and aren't totally litterbox savvy yet - they get the fine grains of litter stuck to their paws, lick it off, and the clay can build up and cause an intestinal blockage, which can kill them or cost you big vet bills. I use the cheapest regular/non-clumping litter I can find and use a kids' plastic sand shovel as a scoop for the wet areas. Voila! Scoopable litter. LOL. I do not buy the scented stuff either - cats' noses are MUCH more sensitive than ours, and fragrances like that can really bother them. I just clean the litterbox more often and add baking soda to control odors. (Use the box of soda that you put in your fridge/freezer when its time is up, or buy a sack of it at the feed store (for horses, cows) - only ask for "sodium bicarbonate." Same stuff, dirt cheap: you can get 50 lb. sack for something like $10-$12.) Also, cleaning the litterbox more often has another benefit: kidney/urinary tract problems in cats are fairly common. Changes in the litterbox may be the first and only symptom you get before the situation is life-threatening. (Trust me, I have a cat with chronic renal (kidney) failure...
)
You know those little pots of "cat grass" they sell at pet stores for $3-$4 a pop? Grow your own! Get some plain oats from somewhere (I bought a big sack of them at the feed store for $7 this fall), plant them in a little pot and off they go! SUPER EASY and FAST growing. I could grow a few hundred little pots of "cat grass" from that sack if I wanted to, but I used a bunch of the oats as a cover crop in the garden.
Do you have a critter that eats hay? (Rabbit, chinchilla, etc.) Those little bales you get in the pet stores are expensive! See if you can find a horse barn that'll sell you a square bale of hay instead. It might be a bit tricky to find if you live in town, and a bit of a hassle to store, but you can get a 50-60 lb. bale for half of what you pay for that little bag in the pet store. And you can get the same, if not better quality. Horse folks know what they're feeding; just ask for timothy or alfalfa hay. Or check the classifieds or bulletin boards at the feed store. Or heck, the feed store itself might carry hay, but it'll likely be a few bucks more a bale. Still cheaper than the pet store!
I love the local feed store. (Can you tell?
) I had been buying pellets for our chinchilla at a big chain pet store, but where we live now, the closest pet store that carries what we want is 45 minutes away.
So I asked if they could order it at the feed store, since my chin food is made by Purina (Mazuri). They did, so I don't have to drive to get it, AND turned out to cost a lot LESS than the big pet chain!
If you buy chew sticks for a small animal, save money by harvesting your own. Do a little homework on the web, and you should be able to find out what types of wood are safe for your critter. Then go do some pruning! I have a few apple trees in the yard, so I just save some of the cuttings for our chin. They LOVE the fresh sticks!
If you have a small critter (rabbit, hamster, guinea pig, etc.) and you garden, save the used bedding for mulch/compost! It's good stuff for your garden, AND you reduce trash/keep it out of a landfill.
Lastly, don't spend $$$ on plastic pet dishes. Keep an eye out for nice, heavy ceramic dishes at garage sales and thrift shops. They last longer, look nicer (IMO), and are easier to clean.
Diana