Buy Pet Food In Bulk Online To Save Money

Published 1/27/08 (Modified 3/9/11)
By MoneyBlueBook

As I mentioned in an earlier entry posted a few months ago about myself, I own an African Grey Parrot as a pet. I've had him for several years now and although I wish he were better trained with more docile tendencies, he's still a pretty adorable little guy. When he's not hanging from his bird gym or busy grinding his wooden chew toys into grated wood chips, he enjoys whistling and mimicking speech.

He's also a voracious eater, consuming and tossing around quiet a few scoopfuls of his favorite brand of nutritious Kaytee brand pellets everyday. Every 1-2 months I used to buy a new bag of somewhat pricey bird food to replace his dwindling supply, but lately I've chosen to do a different approach. Rather than buying smaller bags of food from Petsmart or Petco each time and paying a higher cost per serving unit, I've decided to go for bulk and order online.

Finding Deals and Purchasing Pet Food Online

Initially I considered buying bulk bird pellet sacks from my neighborhood pet stores but after browsing around I noticed that their selections were pretty limited as most mainstream brick and mortar stores catered to more popular animal breeds such as cats and dogs. Even dedicated bird stores seemed to not have in stock the bulk pallets that I wanted. Thankfully, there is much more one can find on the internet as the online selection is much more broad. After doing some price comparison shopping among the popular online pet stores, I finally settled on PetSmart's pet food selection. Although I didn't order enough to qualify, I did find a handy $10 off coupon for orders over $70 - just use coupon code SAVEJAN.

I ordered a large sackful of pellets and did a quick calculation to see how long the supply would last as well as my estimated cost savings. Based on my parrot's rate of consumption, the bulk pallet should last well over a year. The one time cost was more than I'd like in one shot but the cost per serving by buying in bulk was clearly much lower than the cost of buying in smaller individual bags.

There are also a variety of other online pet store options out there as well. I recommend checking out some of the more popular shopping portals, where by clicking through their links to make your purchase you can earn extra cash back. With all of the deals and choices out there today, buying pet food online is definitely the way to go. Particularly if the item isn't immediately urgent and can be used over a span of time, I recommend letting your mouse clicks do the walking.

Where Do I Stash All Of This Excess Pet Food?

Storage was no problem. I went to Target and bought a few large plastic Rubbermaid containers to house the huge pet food surplus and to help keep them dry and fresh. The simple locking clasps did a good job of securing the containers shut and keeping the food smells locked within.

This approach of buying pet food in bulk will certainly work with dogs, cats, and possibly fish as well. My only real concerns would be possible spoilage and freshness problems. After contacting the manufacturer, my understanding now is that bird food is usually good up to a year and a half, but I'm not as familiar with the expiration dates of dog and cat food. Regardless, remember to store the bulk food in air tight, moisture free, plastic containers and place them in a dry area free of contamination by roaches or other bugs. Clean food makes pets happy and happy pets create happy owners!