‘Absolute bargain’, B&M slashes price of pet-cooling products to as little as £1
B&M has slashed the price of a pair of top-notch pet-cooling products to as low as £1.
With temperatures peaking at 28C this weekend, it’s vital to keep your furry friends comfortable and safe in the warm conditions.
According to experts at KCI Insurance, the average dog is comfortable at temperatures between 15C and 25C.
However, once the mercury creeps over that, it can leave pooches at risk of heatstroke, which can be deadly in some cases.
Fortunately, B&M is now offering a couple of bargain products to help your pup beat the heat.
And it’s not just dogs who are in luck, as the handy gadgets can be used for cats and pretty much any other small to medium pet with paws.
Owners can’t buy the items online but can use the B&M website to find their nearest store and check stock.
Dog breeds most susceptible to overheating
In general, there are six groups of dogs who struggle most in hot weather...
Firstly, those with underlying health problems. Dogs can’t sweat like we can, so rely largely on panting to cool down. However, if they have airway or lung impairments, or suffer from fluid balance or hydration issues, then this is more difficult, and their ability to lose heat is reduced, meaning they are at a higher risk of heat-stroke.
Overweight animals find it harder to ventilate, and their core temperature rises faster than you’d expect for a lean dog.
Very young dogs or very old dogs are also at increased risk of heatstroke, and these owners should be even more cautious in hot weather.
Dogs with very thick coats, who are adapted to a colder climate. Dogs such as the Husky or Malamute – and even the Chow Chow – have been bred to keep heat in. However, this comes at the price of being less well able to cope in hot weather. Their thick double coats effectively trap heat, making it the equivalent of us going out in the July heat wearing a fur coat and thermal underwear: they get very hot, very quickly. This problem can be alleviated by clipping (NOT shaving), however, the coat can take a long time to grow back. In a heatwave, though, if you’re struggling to keep your dog cool, I’d personally rather have a dog with a thinner coat who’s alive than a luxuriously coated dog in the morgue.
Short-nosed, or brachycephalic, breeds such as Pugs, Bulldogs, and French Bulldogs. These dogs have been bred to look “cute”, with big eyes and flat faces. Unfortunately, the result of this has been a narrowing of the airways and a profusion of soft tissue in the nasal chambers and pharynx – we call this Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome, and it profoundly affects their ability to pant and lose heat. Like a dog with any other respiratory disease, most members of these breeds are highly prone to heatstroke, and as they are often overweight as well, are at very high risk in hot weather.
Just be aware that the price may vary store to store, although it’s likely some form of discount will still be applied.
And don’t forget to shop around to see if you can find similar products cheaper elsewhere.
Chilli Paws Pet Cooling Vest – £2 down from £4, saving £2 (50%)
This cooling vest has seen a 50% price cut down to just £2.
The wearable device uses “innovative cooling technology” in its lining to lower your pet’s body temperature even when it’s active.
There’s no need to stop “the zoomies” on hot days so it’s ideal for energetic and mischievous pals.
The small version is £2 while the medium has also been reduced 50% from £5 to £2.50.
There’s also a large brought down from £6 to £3, with all sizes available in blue or pink.
Chilli Paws Pet Cooling Collar – £1 down from £2, saving £1 (50%)
Made by the same firm as the cooling vest, the cooling collar is ideal for smaller pets or days when the heat isn’t too high.
The blue accessory uses a non-toxic gel to keep the temperature under control.
It comes in three sizes – but stock of some are low so don’t miss out.
All have been reduced by 50% with the small now just £1, the medium £1.25 and the large £1.50
How to save money at B&M
When you’re looking to get the best prices at B&M you can use the firm’s barcode scanner app
This can be downloaded for free from Google Play or the Apple App Store and flags up items that have been reduced before the labels are changed in-store.
Simply pick your item and use the in-app camera to scan the barcode.
It will then check to see if the item has been discounted and, if it has, you can show staff and have the bargain applied.
It comes after a B&M manager revealed the exact time to head in for the best deals.
How to compare prices to get the best deal
JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn't mean it's always a good deal.
There are plenty of comparison websites out there that’ll check prices for you – so don’t be left paying more than you have to.
Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers.
Here are some that we recommend:
- Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results.
- Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock.
- Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one.
- CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of.