Best Deals on Pet Products

Lauren Kiesel, a senior user experience researcher at CR, tried this Tangle Teaser pet brush on her cockapoo (a cocker spaniel and poodle mix) puppy. She found the brush to be gentle, and the shape gave her different grip options as she maneuvered around her pet. It handled basic brushing with ease, but she had to use a sturdier wire brush to tackle more intense matting.

Stainless steel litter boxes have grown popular recently, thanks largely to the nonstick material that is much easier to clean than other traditional litter boxes. I personally own a stainless box for my cats, and it really is a simpler process to get everything disinfected when I change out the litter. And our evaluator had a similar experience, saying it only took a few swipes with soap and water and a generous rinsing to get it shining like new again. The one thing I will say is the sound of your cats digging around is much different (and much louder) when they’re scratching metal versus plastic.

Need a litter box and don’t want to spend a lot? This is a great option, especially with the extra savings (even if it’s just a small discount). It could be the perfect way to keep your pets happy if you have a multi-cat home and need a multi-box solution. We tested this box with five different cats, and they all used it without any issues. In fact, the lower entrance made it easy for them to get in and out to do their business. And the snap-on lid offers a lot of privacy and helps keep litter in. But the latch isn’t super secure, so it may not be ideal if your cat is especially active in the litter box.

The PetSite 3-in-1 is multifunctional, easy to assemble and fold, lightweight, and sturdy. It’s also really versatile for travel. It serves as both a car seat and portable carrier, complete with a carrying strap. It has a maximum capacity of 33 pounds, so you could potentially fit two small animals, and the mesh top makes it easy to keep an eye on them. Our evaluator reported that it was easy to assemble, and the stroller moved easily, even on bumpier surfaces.

It’s now back to within just a few bucks of the lowest price we saw this summer, and with the weather cooling off in many areas, there’s no better time to take your less mobile pup (or, if you’re like me, your cat) for fresh air and sightseeing.

The Pet Gear Happy Trails Lite is a solid pick. It’s easy to assemble, and the no-zipper functionality on the canopy gives quick and easy access to your pet. True to its name, the Happy Trails Lite is incredibly lightweight at just 11.5 pounds, which makes for very easy transport by car. From start to finish, this pet stroller earned high marks for ease of use, from assembly to popping it into the trunk to storing it under a bed. The mesh design and paw rest give your pet plenty of visibility, but our evaluator said that it’s not the roomiest. It’s rated for pets up to 25 pounds, but it might still be cramped.

For a corded stick vac, you can’t go wrong with the Shark PowerDetect HZ4002, which impressed us with its ability to remove pet hair from carpets and clean bare floors and edges. The vacuum has two brush rolls: one with rubber fins for optimal contact with various surfaces and a soft roller to capture small particles. It has a lift-away function that makes it easier to vacuum stairs and furniture. The vacuum also comes with handy accessories such as a pet hair brush and a cartridge that neutralizes odors.

Overall, this Kenmore Intuition BU4050 bagged model is a strong performer that’s also budget-friendly. It has a lift-away feature for portability, suction control, and a small powerhead that’s powerful enough to pick up embedded dirt from carpets. Another plus is the hair eliminator feature on the brush roll that’s designed to prevent hair entanglements.

“I have two of these, and they’re great because they encourage the cats to drink more water,” says Amanda Arnold, senior manager of business analytics at CR. “Cats notoriously don’t usually drink enough water, so having these helps keep their water cleaner and the kitties healthier!” The fountain comes with a filter inside and is dishwasher-safe.

The Petlibro One RFID Smart Feeder was the fanciest automatic feeder we evaluated (it came with great advanced features like a customizable LED screen), and it was on point with food measurements and schedules. But adult or small-dog-sized kibble got clogged in its chute.

The PetLibro automatic pet feeder was easy to use and has an app that makes setting schedules and dispensing food a breeze. It dispenses accurate amounts of dry food for dogs or cats and has a voice recording feature that allows you to call your pet for meals.

This automatic feeder allows pet owners to schedule up to three meals a day, in any desired quantity, says Amanda Arnold, senior manager of business analytics at CR. The device has a maximum capacity of 26 cups and can be programmed to give out meals as small as 2 teaspoons. Psst! Act fast, this one’s currently on sale for 60 percent off its original price.

The Chuckit Classic is ideal for dog owners who are searching for a low-tech ball launcher. It requires no setup and still allows you to get involved in a game of fetch, but takes your natural throwing arm to the next level. The plastic handheld launcher comes with one fuzzy 2.5-inch tennis ball that is stored in its “claw,” which keeps a solid grip on it so that it doesn’t fall out. When you’re ready to play with your pup, you treat the launcher like it’s an extension of your own arm—pulling it back and then launching it forward to release the ball from the claw. 

One of the nicest things about this launcher is that you can retrieve balls (including saliva-coated slobbery ones) with the claw itself so that you never have to touch the ball with your hands.

A comfortable bed for your pet that can add a fun pop of color to your space sounds like a win-win. CR writer Jodhaira Rodriguez recommends this cat bed, which her cat Frank “barely fits in (because he is a very big boy that I am way overfeeding), but I find him here every time I come home.”

“I succumbed to Instagram ads for this impossibly fluffy cat bed, and it did not disappoint,” says CR health and science writer Catherine Roberts. “I can’t speak to the anti-anxiety claims, but both our cats love it and play subtle mind games over which one of them gets to claim it for days at a time. I also got one for my friends’ very picky cat, and she turned out to love it, too.” This cat bed is available in four sizes and five colors. “I prefer the unicorn rainbow ice cream color. I wish they made it in human size,” says Roberts.

Casper, the same company that sells mattresses, designed its Casper Dog Bed, which is typically $139 to $249 depending on size, with two layers of foam construction (including memory foam), a soft nylon-polyester-olefin cover that fits tightly over its rectangular cushion, and raised bolsters around all four sides. While our first impression of the FurHaven bed was “soft” and “cozy,” this pick has a sturdier and more structured appearance and feel. The cover is removable and machine-washable and comes in three sizes to accommodate dogs up to 90 pounds. (We wish it were offered in a larger size to suit really big breeds.) Casper offers a 30-night risk-free trial and a one-year limited warranty, so you have the option of returning the bed if your dog doesn’t take to it.

The Analan Mini Pet Hair Remover is a triangle-shaped device that has three unique ridged sides, and it did very well in our evaluations. The rubber material created a static attraction with our velvet pillow so that it was able to pick up all of the cat hair we applied to the surface. But this was the only surface where it picked up hair. On the polyester-linen blend pillow, it bunched up the hair in easier-to-pick-up piles. Ditto for the carpet, where it did a great job of gathering up the hair in neat piles, but we did notice some redepositing of hair on subsequent swipes as it became stuck on the ridges. The hole in the center of the triangle allows for a comfortable grip. Because the ridged surfaces are so small, cleaning a large area, like a whole upholstered couch, takes a significant amount of time.

The Casfuy Dog Nail Grinder is a two-speed grinder with three grinding ports that are designed to suit the size of your dog’s nails. Because it was less powerful than the Dremel, it took longer to get a nail down to the same length. However, it was also quieter, which made it a better choice for the more anxious dog in our evaluations. It does lack a safety guard, but because it operates more slowly, it’s easier to watch your progress and stop before you reach the quick.

With their fabric exterior and interior, rubber sole with grips, and double adjustable fabric fasteners with reflective strips, the QUMY Dog Shoes resemble traditional sneakers. But the QUMY proved slightly difficult to get on and off (they have a narrow opening) and they sat a little low on our dogs’ legs.

The Vet’s Best Toothbrush & Enzymatic Toothpaste Kit includes a triple-headed toothbrush with a unique design. Instead of brushing your dog’s teeth back and forth and from front to back, you insert their teeth into the brush head and brush up and down or side to side while three rows of bristles encapsulate the teeth to provide three-dimensional brushing. If you’re new to this design, it could take some getting used to (for both you and your dog). The toothbrush comes with its own toothpaste, which we didn’t evaluate. 

The Cube, whose price has dropped $13 in the last month or so, is not specifically intended for pet tracking but to help people keep track of a range of possessions, including cars, luggage, and kids’ backpacks, as well as pets. That puts the Cube at a disadvantage as a pet tracker, despite its competent core tracking abilities. The device is relatively large and heavy, but most dog collars won’t fit through its thin slots, so you need to purchase an add-on collar clip for $25. More significantly, the app lacks pet-specific features like fitness and activity tracking and a light beacon for spotting your dog at night.

On the other hand, it does let you set a home “safe zone” and virtual fence and emits a fairly loud sound alert. It’s also very solidly constructed, creates detailed and easy-to-read location histories, and, like the Link, is capable of delivering high-temperature alerts.

The Link pet tracker has a very bright light for spotting your dog in the dark. And unlike some other models, the app’s activity tracking features differentiate between minutes spent walking and running. That can be a useful feature if you want to make sure your dog gets some high-intensity exercise each day. It also monitors ambient temperature to alert you if the environment is too hot or cold. But the app doesn’t record or map its location history, something that many other trackers do.