Buying guides
24 original articles: practical buying guides plus a price guide for every tracked category, each one built from this site's own daily tracked prices. No product rankings are sold and no guide is sponsored; where a guide uses an example price, it is an example, and the live tables linked from each guide carry today's real prices.
Cat litter cost per pound: compare bags fairly
Bag sizes and sticker prices make litter hard to compare. Cost per pound, worked examples, and how much litter a cat actually uses.
When to stock up on pet supplies (and when to wait)
How to read a price history, how the stock-up verdict works, and how to stock up without overbuying perishables.
Dog food cost per day: from price per pound to a real budget
A big bag is not automatically a saving. Turn any dog food price into a cost per day with the label feeding guide and one division.
Sale prices that are not sales: how to spot a raised then discounted price
A percent-off badge compares today with a list price nobody pays. Here is how to check a sale against what a product actually sold for.
Wet food vs dry food for cats: the real cost difference
Per can and per bag prices hide the gap. Costed per day and per calorie, wet food usually runs several times the price of dry.
Flea and tick prevention: what a year of each type costs
Spot-on treatments, collars, and chews are priced per pack, which hides the real figure. Here is the cost per month of each format.
Autoship discounts vs waiting for a sale: which actually saves more
A standing autoship discount is simple and certain. A tracked sale price is lower but irregular. The maths of choosing between them.
Buying pet supplies online vs in store: the hidden costs on both sides
Online wins on headline price and loses on shipping maths and freshness. In store wins on immediacy. A fair costing of both.
How to store dry pet food so a stock-up does not spoil
Buying three bags at a sale price only saves money if the third bag is still good. Storage rules that protect a stock-up.
The multi-cat household supply budget: litter, food and the maths
Costs scale per cat, but not evenly. Where multi-cat households actually spend, and where the savings hide.
Puppy supply costs in the first year: a realistic checklist
Food is the least surprising puppy cost. The full supply list, what is one-off, what repeats, and where new owners overspend.
Kitten supply costs in the first year: a realistic checklist
Kittens are cheaper than puppies, with two exceptions. The supply list for year one, one-off and repeating, realistically costed.
Category price guides
What each category costs right now, how its prices are spread, and how to buy it well. Every figure in these guides is recomputed from the tracked catalogue on every daily build.
Cats
- Cat litter prices and buying guide
- Dry cat food prices and buying guide
- Wet cat food prices and buying guide
- Cat flea and tick prices and buying guide
- Feeders and fountains prices and buying guide
- Litter boxes and supplies prices and buying guide
- Cat furniture prices and buying guide
Dogs
- Dry dog food prices and buying guide
- Wet dog food prices and buying guide
- Dog flea and tick prices and buying guide
- Dog treats prices and buying guide
- Dog toys prices and buying guide
See also How it works for where the prices come from and how verdicts are calculated.