Here's an excerpt from my copy of Peter D'Amato's "The Savage garden" "'Sphagnum moss' has unfortunately become the generic term used for any dried, fibrous moss used in horticulture....Worse, I have seen packages of decorative green moss actually for sale as sphagnum moss. I have seen many CPs killed because decorative green moss was mistaken for true sphagnum." On an earlier page, he had a comparison of true sphagnum with decorative green moss. I googled that Zoo Med moss and it looks EXACTLY like the decorative green moss. I would definitely not buy that stuff.

For heartworm prevention you can ask your vet to prescribe ivermectin injectable to be given by mouth once monthly. It is much cheaper than heartgard but the same medication (although Heartgard also has pyrantel for intestinal parasites). Many rescues and large kennels give heartworm prevention this way. I'd also make sure the rabies vaccine is up to date; if not most places have free or very cheap rabies clinics available. The other vaccines are probably OK to miss as long as the dogs have low risk of exposure, are otherwise healthy, and have been vaccinated in the past. Most vets are going with every 3 year vaccination anyway. I would highly recommend an annual physical exam for the dogs though. This is the most important reason to see the vet- to see if there are any signs of disease which can be managed before the pet becomes seriously ill. You usually get what you pay for as far as PEs go- if the exam is cheap or free you can probably expect it not to be thorough. Since there are limited funds, this is where I would recommend spending money. You get the most bang for the buck with a complete PE. Every location is different, but around here a PE by a good vet is about $55-65, but again this is where they should spend the money. Nobody but a vet can do a PE on an animal, so they will have to see the vet for this.

I use pets-megastore and have been very pleased with their service over the past 5 or 6 years. They're in Australia and sell both US and Australian made de-wormer, HW, and flea meds. http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/

$10 off is meaningless. Comparison shop based on net price plus shipping cost. I see 12 pack purple (for 60 pound dog) at $167 on PetCareRX and it's readily available for much less on other sites (Entirely Pets is $135 and free shipping there.)