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This is part of my ongoing effort to track our pet finances here at the House of Two Bows. Previous posts in the series can be found under the category of finances.

30 March 2012 Approval

The Cost of (Pet) Things for May 2012:

  • Food: $64
  • Treats: $13
  • Grooming: $17
  • Accessories and misc: $22
  • Vet & Medical: $0
  • TOTAL: $116 (running average for 2012 ~ $170 / month)

Food-wise, aside from the usual, we started a trial with a new grain-free, fish-based kibble right at the beginning of the month when news of the Diamond pet food recalls spread. Though California wasn’t on the list of affected states, I’m glad that we just happened to be feeding Pinnacle Grain-free Salmon and Potato for our morning kibble at the time the news hit. We actually started with the turkey and potato recipe, but both Bows instantly broke out in obsessive paw-licking that may or may not be directly related. I have my suspicions about why that happened (chicken fat in the turkey recipe?). At least the pet store let me exchange the opened bag for the salmon recipe instead.

31 May 2012 Grain-free fish-based kibbles for June

And so far, so good with the salmon recipe! Looks like we can consider Pinnacle for the regular rotation. Meanwhile, we’re going to try out a couple other fish-based kibbles in June:

As for treats, I finally did it… I bought a Nesco 700-Watt Dehydrator.

13 May 2012 Dehydrated turkey dogs

But I didn’t count the cost of the appliance in my budget, because I’ve got this silly idea that I’m going to use it for human purposes too, so it wouldn’t really be fair to file it all under the dog budget. So far, I’ve only made a batch of kabocha squash chips (yum for dogs and humans!) and turkey dog training treats. Pictured above is my very first greasy batch, straight out of the dehydrator.

14 May 2012 Dehydrated turkey dogs

And then less greasy the next day. The dogs loved this batch, and I was impressed by how much one could make with a $2 package of turkey dogs. Ten more rounds or so, and this dehydrator will basically pay for itself… if it doesn’t end up sitting in the storage cabinets out of sight, out of mind.

Nothing too exciting for grooming supplies: loaded up on a bulk box of baby wipes in preparation for summer, and bought a metal dog dental tooth scaler. Bowpi is taking to it more willingly than Bowdu, which is good because she needs it badly. More on that later, maybe.

Finally, for accessories, Bowdu got another tube of fresh tennis balls, and Bowpi finally had her previous frayed Red Dingo leash replaced…

Frayed Red Dingo leash11 March 2012 Frayed Red Dingo leash

… with a new custom paracord leash made by Tony!

27 May 2012 Tony's leash for BowpiTony's leashes

I was quite happy with how Bowdu’s previous leash (from an October 2011 order) has held up. This is a one-leash-per-dog, daily-use type of household, so functionality and durability was a concern… as well as price, for the time being. While I did check out some leather leashes at a local cult favorite workshop, I still decided Tony was the way to go. If you’re interested in a custom leash, you should drop him an e-mail at toecari@me.com to get started.

So that’s it for this month’s newsy budget update. Meanwhile, I’m going to try something out for next month: a Dog Budget app for the iPhone, which I saw reviewed on The Bark blog. Seems pretty straightforward and useful for a 99 cent app. I still like my old-school paper and pen (and blog) tracking methods, but I’ll probably get enough mileage out of this app to make the purchase worthwhile.