Money saving recycling tips for pet owners.

Money saving recycling tips for pet owners.

In the present credit crunch climate I have come up with some cost saving and effective ways to cut corners with your pet cost outgoings.

Save all your old newspaper to use as small animal bedding, you were only going to recycle them.

Shred the newspaper by hand or with a shredder if you have one, that’s even better. I save all my old documents with any of my identification on them, that I wouldn’t want anyone else getting hold of and shred it all up. It makes ideal warm, absorbent bedding for guinea pigs, gerbils or any other rodent type pet.

Using recycled paper as your pet bedding means you only have to use the expensive hay as food, placing a handful of hay on top of their feed makes them eat that first, keeping their teeth neatly worn down. Meaning fewer trips to the vet for teeth clipping.

Don’t bother buying expensive chewing wood toys for guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils just find them a stick from the garden with a good bit of bark on, they will enjoy chewing that.

Make small rodent houses out of upturned margarine tubs, with a hole large enough for them to get in but small enough so there is still stability left in the tub sides. Replace the lid and your pet has a great little house. It will end up chewed but you can just replace.

Instead of expensive tubes for rodent tunnels, just use empty kitchen roll tubes or Pringle tubes they make brilliant tubes after you have cut one end off.

No more trips to the rubbish bin with armfuls of waste food. All carrot, apple, cabbage, broccoli (not raw potatoes or skin) can be recycled through your animals in their feed. Dogs benefit from raw vegetables but you may have to blend them. If in doubt what your animals can eat safely do not feed anything new until you have checked on the Internet, a phone call to your vet, or in a pet book. Not all animals are safe to eat the same things.

Recycle your family’s old quilts and quilt covers to make ideal dog and cat bedding that you can wash. They will appreciate snuggling into it when the weather becomes cooler.

I am sure your sock drawer is full of odd socks. Place a few of then into one odd sock, tie up the end to stop the inside socks coming out and you have a great dog or cat toy!

All these solutions I use myself, for my pets. I just love to save money and recycling makes me feel good.