PetFoodDirect

Full review
Before the holidays we adopted a cat from the local ASPCA. Originally we were shopping at Petco in the city, because of the selection. It wasn't very convenient - not fun to drive to and who wants to lug huge jugs of litter home on the subway. Using Petco though, I thought was the best idea because of their selection.

I happened to be on PETA's website a while ago and they had an article about Petco being sued for animal cruelty in several states, and some other disturbing information about Petco practices.

So, I decided to look for a new pet store. There was a link to Petfooddirect.com on PETA's website, and I clicked on it, but with skepticism. I figured that shipping costs would be too high for heavy items like cat food and litter.
I was wrong.

Petfooddirect's shipping costs are not only reasonable, especially in the Eastern and Central States, but their product costs were much lower than Petco's so it actually made up for the shipping! I found the Feline Pine I use was $4 less for the 7lb. bag I usually buy! That's a savings of 40%. I also found the toy I'd just bought at Petco for 30% less at Petfooddirect. They ship by weight which actually makes it a great deal if you buy more expensive litter and food, or if you buy items that aren't heavy.

They had a good selection of all types of items! The reason we'd been going to Petco rather than the small local store is because the local store didn't carry the brand of litter we use. Petfooddirect carries any type of litter I could think of, and has good sales on food and other accessories. My cat now needs prescription food, but we still order the litter and all of her other items (toys, dry bath, etc.).

I did notice that they have a wide selection of organic and even vegetarian animal foods for those that seek it.

The categories are easy to navigate and make shopping for your animal easy because they are segregated by animal type (cat, kitten, puppy, dog, fish, bird, etc.). There are also great specialty sections such as the travel center, animal wellness, pet owner gifts, litter, etc. The pet owner gifts is a nice section to use if buying a gift for someone else. I used it to buy some books for my mom for the holidays. Within each section there are subsections, again - making it easy to navigate. There are cute graphics for sections and featured sections on their home page.

The red tag section is pretty good, and these clearance items can also be segregated by sections according to needs and animal type.

Like some other online pet stores, they offer an enrollment option where you can enroll to have your pet's food, litter or other items shipped automatically. Unlike some companies, this is based on the frequency you choose rather than an automatic monthly shipment. This cuts down on shipping costs if you have them deliver automatically less often than monthly.

There is a free shipping section that offers items that do not add shipping costs. Unfortunately I find this section limited and have never found an item that we needed there. But, I'm sure if there's something there you need, it's a bonus. They also had a free food contest you could enter that would give you free cat or dog food of your choice for a year if you entered, there was no purchase necessary.

Also, there are online coupons out there for Petfooddirect. Do a search and you should come up with some. Sometimes they are featured right on their website.

They offer paper catalogs that you can ask to have sent to you, if you prefer to order that way. You can also place an order by phone.

Shipping is a little slow in my opinion. It takes them an average of 5 days to ship, and another few days to get the package. Petfooddirect ships without requiring a signature, which is very convenient since I'm not usually home during the day. If they required a signature it would be a pain to actually get the package.

When I did e-mail them with a question, and they didn't get back to me in the 48 hours they promise. So, I called the 800 number and spoke with a representative who was very, very helpful. When I told her that I was leaving town within two days and was hoping to get the package before then, she contacted the warehouse and had it shipped that day - overnight, for no additional chargeeven though it wasn't due to ship for two days. I hadn't even asked her to do that!

If you link to the site from PETA's website, a portion of your money goes to the organization (this does not raise your prices). A great way to buy and give at the same time.