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Dog owner: how to optimize your budget?

Owning a dog can be a big investment, as you’ll want your four-legged friend to have a good quality of life. This includes the food, care, materials and space he needs to live happily and healthily. Taking good care of your dog, however, is possible without emptying your wallet. For example, you will need to take out pet insurance, reduce your spending on kibble or find toys at a low price.

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Use a pet insurance comparator

As a responsible owner who wants to save money, you must first take out insurance for your pet.

Reduce your veterinary costs

This is a mutual fund to cover your dog’s health care expenses. The contract offers available are multiple and the conditions change from one mutual to another. Most companies offer very variable guarantees depending on the species of animal and the time of year. It can then be very difficult for you to find insurance that suits your dog’s needs and fits your budget. This is where the pet insurance comparator comes in.

Simple and effective, this tool allows you to quickly compare many quotes from animal mutuals. The comparator needs little information to launch an analysis of the offers and show you the best prices. Quotes are generally obtained in 2 or 3 minutes, after which you will be accompanied by an expert for the subscription of your new insurance contract. Therefore, you save money thanks to a pet insurance comparator, while saving time. You will not have to contact the mutuals yourself to ask them for a quote.

The guarantees offered by the pet insurance comparator mainly cover veterinary expenses, like mutual insurance for humans. They take into account the costs required for the treatment of injuries or for other more important veterinary interventions such as surgeries, vaccinations and castration.

Protect yourself from damage caused by your dog

Pet insurance comparators also make it possible to find home insurance that you can take out to cover your dog with a civil liability guarantee. This guarantee compensates you in the event of damage caused to a third party by your animal (bite, damage to an object, fall caused, etc.).

The advisors made available to you by pet insurance comparators are generally available 24 hours a day to answer all your questions. This will allow you to discuss the guarantees offered in more detail. You will see which ones have the underlying options that can be useful for your profile. For example, we can mention the GAV formula (Life Accident Guarantee) which covers damage suffered by yourself and which is directly caused by your dog.

Pet insurance comparators calculate the price of your insurance taking into account the risk rate to be covered. Elements such as the age, breed or medical history of the animal may be required for obtaining a better personalized simulation.

Buy dog food wholesale

When it comes to feeding your dog, wholesale food is usually less expensive than retail food. This price difference is justified by savings made on the transport, distribution and storage of foodstuffs.

Buying in bulk does not necessarily mean skimping on quality. You will indeed find organic brands or with highly regulated products that sell wholesale. You can then take care of your dog’s nutrition at a lower cost.

To find the best wholesale suppliers, choose large stores that are certified and specialize in animal feed. You can also get in touch directly with the brand of your choice by going to their website to find out more and place your order. If you prefer to buy your dog’s kibble in supermarkets, then turn to large packages of 10kg, 20kg or more. It will be necessary to plan what to transport it to your home, but you will save a lot of money and save more time. You will not need to buy your kibble often and will be able to plan your future purchase of animal food in advance.

  • Reduce expenses for the purchase of toys

Dog toys are essential, not a fad of owners to spoil their pet. These distraction objects indeed guarantee our quadruped friends a better development. THE toys sold by department stores can however be quite expensive, when one considers for example over a year the money spent for their purchase. Dog owners also tend to snap easily when they see a new toy, causing them to spend a lot without realizing it.

In order to avoid overspending in this area, it is best to set a monthly or annual budget for the purchase of toys. You will also need to focus on low-cost animal toys. For this, you can rely on the classified ads or special offers that you will find on the internet, in particular on second-hand sites or animal specialists. However, you have to be careful when shopping online. We advise you to find out about the reputation of the chosen platform and check the opinions of other users.

You can also go to physical discount stores that sell dog toys. These will be cheaper without necessarily being of poor quality.

Thanks to DIY, you can also start making toys for your pet and even your collar yourself. For example, by looking at YouTube, it will be easy for you to find detailed videos that will allow you to easily design fabric toys. The manufacturing steps are generally simple and do not require any DIY skills. You can use used clothes, old stuffed animals or unused trinkets. However, avoid turning plastic objects into toys. These can be ingested by your dog, which may require additional veterinary attention. This would then be harmful for your dog and your expenses.

  • Limit your dog’s maintenance costs

Maintenance is one of the highest expenditures when owning a dog, whether small or large. To limit these expenses, which can sometimes reach several hundred euros, the best thing to do is to take care of the grooming of your four-legged friend yourself. This will allow you to avoid paying for the services of a canine groomer. This will also be an opportunity to bond stronger with your dog.

Always with a view to maximizing savings, you can make your own canine shampoo, rather than buying it from a pet store. For the preparation, you need to put water, oat powder, honey and baking soda in a blender. Mix everything until you obtain a homogeneous and creamy paste. This shampoo can be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator in an airtight jar. To avoid waste, be careful not to overdo the quantity, as this product has a limited shelf life (about a week at most).

For grooming, you will need to apply the preparation to your dog’s hair and leave to act for ten minutes before rinsing with warm water. As far as brushing is concerned, it is best to wait until the animal is completely dry. Also be sure to brush in the direction of the hair, while avoiding rubbing too hard. It is recommended to groom your dog once or twice a week.