Many people walk into the store look for the cheapest bag of pet food, buy it, and think they are saving money. Nothing could be further from the truth. If price is the first thing you look at when you buy pet food you could very well be costing yourself more money in the long run.

This article will will mostly be referring to cat and dog food, some additional points will also be made about pet food for other animals.  Read on to learn how to be a frugal pet owner and save money without skimping on nutrition.

The Cheapest Pet Food is usually Low Quality

Most pet owners do not know very much about pet nutrition. In fact a lot of veterinarians have not really studied pet nutrition in depth either. Most consumers think that since a food is on the shelves and approved, it must be good nutrition for their pets, but sadly this is often not the case, most pet foods are very low in nutrition and use cheap filler rather than quality ingredients.

When you buy a cheap food you may be paying for ingredients that your pet cannot easily digest, or even ingredients that are linked to causing health problems. You are rarely paying for nutrition. Often times what you are really paying for is advertising!

Cats are true carnivores so when you feed a cat a food that is mostly corn it needs to eat a lot more food than if it ate a food that was mostly meat. This also applies to ferrets and hedgehogs.

Dogs, while not carnivores, also need less to eat when feed a more nutritious food. In fact if you look at the feeding charts on the side of the bag you may even note that the lower quality foods require a dog be fed twice as much food than the good quality foods do.

To clarify some of the low quality, cheap-filler, ingredients are corn gluten meal, brewers rice, by-products and corn in general when used in a cat food.

When you feed a lower quality food, your pet may require to eat twice as much than if it were being fed a good quality food. Additionally it may develop health problems later in life as a result of eating poor quality food, these include diabetes, cancer, and kidney problems.

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Frequent Buyer Cards

Some pet foods offer frequent buyer programs where after you have purchased 10 bags you get your next one for free. This represents about a 10% savings, and should be considered when selecting what food to buy. These programs usually require you to buy all your food from the same store, as the store retains your buyer card.

Where you Shop

If you find a food brand you like you may notice it is priced differently at different shops. You can use an on-line store locator to find out what stores sell the food you want to buy and can call around to check prices. It is not worth driving more than 15 minutes out of your way if the savings is less than $4.

Livestock feed stores tend to be slightly lower priced than some pet supply stores. Stores such as Walmart do not sell good quality foods, but may be considered for more affordable toys.

Sales and Coupons

In general good quality food rarely goes on sale, and seldom offers coupons, however you can check with the store itself because they might offer special store wide sales or discounts.  You can sometimes find pet food coupons online.

Size of Bag

As with most items, buying larger bags of food is usually cheaper, be sure you can use it up before it expires though, and always store in an air tight container so you do not waste the food.

Dry vs Canned

Dry food is less expensive, and for cat owners the price of canned food can be quite high. Cat owners can save money by feeding top quality dry food and skimping a bit on the canned food, selecting a lower priced brand. Since canned food is mostly meat anyhow this is one area you can save money on by buying the cheaper product. Be sure to select canned food that is pate not chunks in gravy.

The Food Bank

If a pet owner is in a desperate situation and requires pet food, they can always ask at the food bank. Some food banks do receive pet food as donations, others pass it on to the animal shelter, so you can inquire there as well.

Other Notes

Rabbit food can be purchased much cheaper in bulk bags from a livestock feed store than at a pet store. Often these bags are stored in the warehouse not on the shelves so you may have to ask about them. Hay is cheaper if bought from a farmer, one bale can be broken up and kept in plastic tubs.

Do not try to save money by feeding dog food to a cat, while dog food is cheaper it does not contain taurine which cats need.

Pets who are dewormed and spayed or neutered require fewer calories, so will need to eat less food.

Avoid wasting money on non-healthy treats such as the cat milk gimmick product.

Some left overs may be fed to your pets, but certainly nothing that contains onions, garlic, or chocolate.  Many people feed their left overs to their chickens!

The best brand of cat food, and the best brand of dog food is the one that is best for your pet with good ingredients.