A pet is a luxury item and Wellington SPCA advocates responsible pet ownership which includes not only having the time and love to give a pet, but the money to properly care for them both on a daily basis and should they need urgent veterinary treatment. With the recession people are often trying to cut back on their costs.  Wellington SPCA has the following tips on how to care for and entertain your pets on a budget.

Toys

Limit access – Rather than buying new toys for your pet, limit access to the ones they already have. Give your pet a couple of toys to play with one day and different toys the next, this will stop them getting bored.

Borrow toys before you buy them – Often people complain they bought their pet a toy and it doesn’t play with it.  Ask around friends or for dogs at your dog club if you see a toy you like and see if you can borrow it to see if your pet will play with it.

Make your own toys – These are good projects to keep the kids amused making them.  As with all toys, supervise your pet when playing with the toy and remove it if it begins to come apart or is being chewed into small pieces.

Cats - newspaper or gift wrap tied with string into a bow, bottle caps, toilet rolls or a box with holes in it make great cat toys.  Teach kids to make pompoms.  You can make a cat scratching post with old carpet.  Grow your own cat nip or cat mint – the cat will amuse itself with the plant in the garden and you can dry it and use it to put in toys.

Dogs - enjoy peanut butter or marmite smeared on old cannon bones or in a plastic jar, a milk bottle filled with their dried biscuits or platted strips of old clothes.  If your dog shreds things you will need to supervise them to ensure they don’t swallow bits of plastic.

Rabbits – love ripping up old phone books, boxes and you can fill a toilet roll with hay and give it to them to play with.  Collect pinecones to give them to play with and chew on.

For information on making toys for your pets look at our patterns for a sea urchin toy and a plait toy.

Second hand or cheap toys

Look in Op Shops to find toys for your pets.  Soft toys can be bought cheaply and other toys, especially baby toys are great for puppies.  Just make sure you remove the eyes on soft toys and anything else that might get swallowed.

For big toys for dogs, check out the recycling centre at your local tip, you can find all sorts of things to keep your dog amused.

Discount shops (like Coin Save or the $2 shop) usually sell cheap pet toys.

Bedding

You can make a cheap dog bed by buying a second hand bean bag and sewing a new cover for it.  Bean bags are often listed on Trade Me.  These are great for a mattress in a kennel.

Pet shops sell pet blankets, but you can buy old woollen blankets from Op shops, or buy a piece of polar fleece from a fabric shop.

Old woollen jerseys and polar fleeces make great blankets for animals.

Dog coats

There are lots of patterns around to knit or sew dog coats.  If you have a dog or pup that suffers in the cold, you can knit or crochet them a jumper using our easy to follow pattern.  Buying wool on sale keeps the price down and you can knit a small jumper for less than $10.

Feeding

Often buying dried food in bulk will save you money.  By buying a 2kg bag of dog food it will cost around $2 a day to feed a dog, a 9kg bag will only cost $1.35 a day. Feeding wet food can also work out more expensive than dried food as it contains a lot of water so your pet needs to eat more. If you have a rabbit, picking dandelion, puha or grass makes for a more natural diet and is free.

Medical care

Unexpected vet bills can be avoided by keeping your pet as healthy as you can.  Make sure they are desexed – many of the animals that come to us hit by cars are not desexed and out looking for a mate.  Get your pet vaccinated and vet checked yearly.  A vet will often pick up things that can be easily and cheaply treated if found early enough – like tartar build up on teeth.

Food, flea and worming are areas you should always spend money on.  Buy the best quality food you can afford for your pet and make sure you are using flea and worm treatments purchased from a vet clinic as these are the most effective and safe treatments.

There are a number of pet insurance companies and many people take out insurance to cover accident or illness of their pet.  You can also put aside some money to ensure if your pet gets sick you can afford the treatment.

Dog training

Most dog training clubs offer excellent training classes at much cheaper rates than a private trainer.  For training treats use luncheon, cheerios or cheese cut into very small squares rather than bought treats.  Dogs tend to prefer these too.