Best Deals on Pet Products

Elevated beds are ideal for puppies or the destroyers—the dogs who would otherwise rip up beds, says Cathy Madson, a certified dog trainer with Preventive Vet. The Frisco Steel-Framed Elevated Dog Bed isn’t warm, fuzzy, cozy, or any other word you’d use to describe a plush mattress, but it will put up a solid, sturdy fight against those dogs we know and love who are out to destroy the universe with their teeth and paws. It’s durable and easy to assemble, and the cover can be removed and washed, so you don’t have to deal with slobber and fur buildup.

Casper, the same company that sells mattresses, designed its Casper Dog Bed, which ranges from $139 to $249 depending on size, with two layers of foam construction (including memory foam), a soft nylon-polyester-olefin cover that fits tautly over its rectangular cushion, and raised bolsters around all four sides. Whereas our first impression of the FurHaven bed was “soft” and “cozy,” this pick gives off 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. (Note: We wish it was offered in a larger size to suit really big breeds.) Casper offers a 30-night risk-free trial and one-year limited warranty, so you have the option of returning the bed if your dog doesn’t take to it.

This interactive puzzle treat toy is now at the best price we’ve ever seen.

Aside from serving as a stimulating activity for pets, puzzle treat dispensers can be a great way to encourage slow(ish) snacking. Nicky Besuden, CR’s associate director of new ventures, recommends this dynamic treat dispenser—“My dog loves all the treat puzzles.”

At just under $2, this plush teddy bear—with a removable squeaker in tow—is a no-brainer. “Kong has a line of soft squeaky toys that have replaceable squeakers that they love and last long,” Besuden says.

File this under one very cute scratching post. Amanda Arnold, senior manager of business analytics at CR, recommends this version because her two cats love it. Bonus points for the cactus motif that adds a fun twist to the concept. Featuring a sisal wrap construction, this model is available in two sizes: 22 inches and 31 inches tall.

The Cube 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 does emit 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, which is near it best price, has a very bright light for spotting your dog in the dark. And unlike some other models, the activity tracking features of the app 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.

In evaluating the best pet cameras, the Furbo dog camera was our editors’ top choice thanks to its aesthetically pleasing design and camera with a wide viewing angle. It typically retails for around $210 but can dip as low as $150, so it’s a nice discount if you want something now, but it isn’t the best price you can get. The ability to choose a voice prompt for the treat toss is a bonus. The device’s basic app features include live view, tossing treats, talking to and hearing your pet, and barking alerts. The Nanny cam subscription includes Cloud recording, advanced barking alert, Doggie Diary (a video summary of the day that you can choose to save to your device), activity alert, selfie alert, and person alert. And yes, you can still use the Furbo if you have a cat. 

Learn more about the Furbo dog camera.

“I have a deep fear that my cat doesn’t drink enough water and will end up with kidney issues,” says Stephanie Davis, a senior marketing manager at CR. And if you’re a cat parent who shares that sentiment, a water fountain may be the answer. “She won’t drink still water from a bowl and wasn’t keen on one other fountain before this—the filters are also easy to change for this one—but she loves this one for some reason.”

“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 help keep their water cleaner and the kitties healthier!” The fountain comes with a filter inside and is dishwasher-safe.

A cat water fountain was by far the most popular product pick for pet owners during the holidays, according to our colleagues. Joe Novotny, a CR marketing associate, recommends this version from Petlibro: “The pump has a five-level filtration system, a translucent container for seeing when water is running low, and comes with a cleaning brush as well.”

The Tineco Pure One S11 cleans impressively in all our major tests and has many features. An LED panel shows how much battery life you have left as well as the suction level, which varies when you switch from bare floors to carpet. A sensor detects the amount of debris and adapts the suction power accordingly. If you’re so inclined, you can connect to a Tineco app that indicates cleaning performance, such as battery life, on your smartphone. In CR’s tests, it ran for 22 minutes per charge when using both the high and low settings.

One of the newer iRobot models to hit the market, the Roomba S9+ is pricey but delivers great performance across the board (CR hasn’t tested the iRobot Roomba S9, but we expect it to deliver similar performance). The vacuum earns top scores down the line in our cleaning tests and earns a very good score for cleaning carpets. This is a self-emptying model that empties its dustbin into a bag, no hands required.

The Shark CarpetXpert comes in third in our ratings, making it a strong performer, with an excellent score for dryness and very good scores in both cleaning and convenience.

In terms of noisiness, it’s not the quietest, but it’s on a par with the two Bissell models above. It has a 5-foot hose and a carrying handle, and it covers an area of 24 square feet per tank of solution—a decent range, though it may be more ideal for a one-story home or an apartment. It has two separate tanks for clean and dirty water, and it weighs 18 pounds empty and 23 pounds full—which means its tank fits less solution than the models above, but it also means that even when full, it’s not as heavy as other carpet cleaners.

It comes with a handful of brush attachments—a reversible bristle tool, a crevice tool, and a pet tool, and a hose-cleaning tool—and two types of cleaning formula.

The Bissell Revolution HydroSteam Pet is another Bissell model with strong performance, scoring very well in our tests for cleaning, dryness, and convenience. It’s not especially quiet, but it’s no noisier than the models listed above. Its hose is a little under 7 feet, and it can cover an area of 39 square feet per tank of solution.

Similar to the models above, it has separate tanks for clean and dirty water, and it has a carrying handle. Despite its good performance, one drawback of this model is its weight: It’s 22 pounds empty and 31 pounds full, which you may find tougher to maneuver than lighter models.

In terms of accessories, it comes with a 2-in-1 pet upholstery tool and a 6-inch tough stain tool—making it especially handy if you have stairs to clean and want to use it on large furniture, too. Plus, it comes with two types of cleaning solution. But it does cost much more than the higher-performing Bissells in our ratings.

The Hoover PowerDash Pet Advanced performs very well in all our tests for cleaning, dryness, and convenience, though it’s noisier than the models above. Unfortunately, it lacks a carrying handle, but it weighs 14 pounds when empty and 19 pounds when full, making it fairly easy to maneuver. It cleans just 7 square feet of carpet per tank of solution, but its 8-foot hose gives you lots of room to work without constantly moving the machine. It has separate tanks for clean and dirty water, and it comes with a specialized pet tool attachment.

A baby gate may be earmarked for kids but can achieve the same results for pets, especially when it comes to keeping them away from certain areas of a home. The Cumbor Auto Close is the top-rated baby safety gate in our tests and is made of steel and can be pressure-mounted or installed more securely using optional cup hardware. Among other pluses, it offers easy one-handed operation and a 180-degree swing. It’s very easy to install and received top scores in security and convenience as well.

The Momcozy Retractable mesh gate is unrolled by pushing down a button and sliding the latch to the open position. It earns top marks in our tests for ease of installation and security, which measures how well the gate resisted when being dislodged.