Not sure if this should go here or in the Pets forum, so my apologizes if it's misplaced.

I'm beginning to freak out about our pet-related costs. We've been keeping a strict budget these past few months, and the reality of our pet care expenditures has hit. Even without counting the extra gas money necessary to do rescue (which is not insignificant), we're spending $2,500-$3,000/year on our dogs (2) and cats (3). And that's with them all being reasonably healthy! Are other pet owners here spending as much? I love them, and if this is what is necessary to keep them healthy and happy, then I'll keep doing it, but I have to say, it does seem extreme.

That seems like a lot. What is it being spent on?

Monthly:
$40 pet insurance
$45 dog food
$12 cat litter
$15 cat food
Total: $112*12=$1,344

Every three months:
Deramaxx: $108
Heartguard: $40
Frontline: $73
Glucosamin condroitin: $25
Total: $246*4=$984

Bi-annually:
Leo vet visits: $90*2=$180

Annually:
Ata vet visit: $90
Esme, Atticus, and Illy vet visits: $90*3
Total: $360

Total: $2,868, assuming no extras and nothing goes wrong

Honestly, I'd say we spent around $1500/year on one dog, so your estimates don't really sound too bad to me. I know that probably doesn't help much!

That seems like a lot to me, but I buy cheap dog food and cat food. My dogs don't need all of those meds, so we don't have that expenditure. My one cat only goes to the vet every 3 years, because he is not nice:lol. The vet told me that it really is not necessary for them to get shots EVERY year, she said for him the 3 year plan is fine. IDK if they will do this at your vet's office, but mine will let both of my dogs come in at the same time, so we only get charged for one office visit. That visit usually ends up being about $100 and then we also do buy a pack of Frontline once a year and put one on each dog for the summer because I live in a bad tick area and the dogs roam around in the fields by our house and get ticks.

Have you also tried 1800PETMEDS?? It supposed to be cheaper than buying the stuff through the vet.

I may not be the best pet owner, I don't have pet insurance, but I can't hardly afford insurance for us, so I guess it's out for our pets. I buy inexpensive food and none of my pets are suffering, my German Shepard is fat, my other dog is getting old, and my cat that the vet doesn't want to see is fat(he has lost weight from running around the yard now that it's spring). I guess it just depends on if there are some corners that you want to cut, we used to buy fairly expensive food for the dogs because my shepard was a picky girl, but then we had DD and our priorities had to shift, so we started experimenting to see what the dogs would eat, and found that our local store brand was fine so that's what they get now, I just got a 55lb bag for $15.99 on sale, and it's still on sale so I'll probably get more. That's gonna feed them for a month at least. Like I said it depends on what you feel is absolutely necessary and what may not be.

I would see if you can combine visits though, I really don't know if all vets do this, but I live in a rural area and the vets all are happy to do this, I'd at least ask. HTH.

When I was at the Humane Society in Burlington they said you can expect to spend $1,000 a year on a cat and closer to $1,500 a year on a dog...for healthy animals. That is for food, litter, vet bills, etc.

So 2K-3K for 5 animals would be a bargain to them.

Oddly, that makes me feel better...

I was just talking to hubby about this the other day. I don't know a single pet owner that hasn't spent at least $500 (if not more!) on vet expenses every year, not to mention the food and grooming and all that. And that's with typically healthy animals with no chronic condition. Which is yet another reason why I'm not entirely fond of hubby and the 4.5yo ganging up on me about getting a puppy.
Unless they're both willing to not eat any food at all for a few months or just not pay the power bill for 6-8mo, we just can't afford a pet. Well, besides the earthworms in the garden. :wink

That sounds about right to me. We're on our way to the shelter to adopt a cat and their site says to expect to pay $1500 a year for a cat and $2000 for a dog.

We did just have a very expensive month thanks to our darling dog. I found a lump on her that turned out to be cancerous. Surgery with all the blood tests and meds ended up being $1200 but it's all part of being a pet owner. If you're (general you, not specific you) not willing to pay for events like that you shouldn't be a pet owner. We are skipping the radiation treatment but that has more to do with her age (12 years) than the cost (8k). We're not willing to make her last few months miserable just so she can live a tiny bit longer. If she were a puppy we'd most likely do it but with her being a senior our goal is to make her as comfortable as possible for as long as possible.

we also spend a lot for our dogs (we were in rescue, as well, and had 4 dogs at one time). to your costs, add the fact that we also kennel our dogs when we visit family/friends each year (probably an average of a few days each month). we've also made housing choices and related purchased because of them--bigger yard in suburbs instead of city living, put in 2 large, expensive fences...

sometimes i wonder if we've made the right choices, financially...but we love our dogs and are committed to rescue...

I dunno, maybe it's more than it seems, but I don't think I spend nearly that much. But I do only have one cat, so that could be why.

I spend about $45 for food, 2 big bags which last at least 6 months.
For litter, we get store brand refillable tubs. I think that's $15-20 and lasts maybe 6 weeks.
She goes in once/yr for her check-up & vax, for about $150. We usually need another visit for yeastie ears or a sniffly nose, so figure about $90 for that, $100 after meds.

So roughly, that's $100/food, $160/litter and $250/vet = $510/yr.

So actually, for 5 animals, it sounds like you're right on track!

We only have one dog, he's little (so doesn't eat all that much), and our expenses aren't that high. We buy a bag of dogfood at around $12 every 3 months or so.

He sees the vet once a year, at around $80. We sometimes board him, but that's more of a vacation expense than a true pet expense.

Sounds about right to me. We just spent nearly 600 dollars on a dog we got from the shelter. That's the small adoption fee, vet costs, food and some supplies.

Our cat is less but we buy premium food so it adds up, indeed.

Let's see...

Dog (40 pound bc)
*Kirkland (Diamond Naturals brand) Lamb and rice, 1 bag costs $20 and lasts 2 months, so $120
*Heartgaard, $30 for 6 months, the other 6 months we give nothing because it's cold
*Frontline, I think it works out to $28 or so for 6 months
* Vet visit =$40 + vaxes are another $30 or so...
*DHS pills, one a week, around $80 a year
Total for dog = $328

Cat (one, old, indoor only)
* food= Purina One , $5 a bag, which lasts 2 months, so $30 a year (not the greatest food, but we tried everything and she actually does well on it, and it is corn-free).
* Litter - we use horse pellets from the feed store and pay $6 for a 40 pound bag - it's just like Feline Pine, but much cheaper. We use maybe 3 bags a year? Or four? We'll say $24
*No vaxes, no regular vet visits
Total = $56 a year

So, for one dog and one cat I pay $380 a year, assuming they stay healthy. If the dog didn't have a chronic condition, it would be $300. We did pay more for our old dog, who had a number of chronic conditions, and the cat had cancer surgery in 2002, which was a few hundred... and the dog has had worms, and some other minor issues, but they're generally both very healthy. They're at nice weights and get regular exercise.

Dar

We budget $200/month for our dog, so a total of $2400/year, because I don't spend $200 every month, but some months might be higher.

80 lb Golden Retriever:
$25 bath
$60 33lb Solid Gold dog food; he's allergic to almost every brand of dog food. This is the only one that he really does well on.
$17 Frontline
$50 Rimadyl
$13 Heartguard

What's left between the predictable expenses and our budgeted expenses ($35) is used for vet visits and vaccines. He's fairly healthy, but his allergies flare up one or two times a year, and he needs to go in and get steroids and antibiotics.

let's see...

dog (65-70lbs lab rott mix)
costco dog food (i do organic one time and regular the next) about 40# per month 6 x 20$ and 6 x 40$ = 360
chew bones one pack bully sticks every two months 6 x $20 = 120
maybe $50 for toys throughout the year = $50
cat (two indoor mostly)
1 bag of food per month costco brand 12 x $ 20= 240
litter costco 10$ x 8 = 80

i guess i'm really lucky because my mom works at a vet clinic so i get my shots, heartguard (we only use this during the summer), and advantage for free. they get a lot of the flea products for free as samples from the reps. she gives me any expired antibiotics i need for free too (i use them within a year of expiration and they work just fine).

i will do vaxes at home myself (buy them from the feed store or my mom will ship them to me) and i do all grooming, nail trims, etc. i'm also willing and able to do minor wound care up to and including sutures.

so my total without vet visits is $850/year for one dog and two cats.

my situation is a bit different since i grew up with a lot of exposure to standard vet care and feel comfortable doing a lot myself...and all pets at this point are low maintenance.

a year ago i had a dog with cancer and we spent at least $1500 in vet visits and meds for her. i almost went to ny to do a vaccine trial for her cancer but she ended up having heart problems not related to the cancer. that would have been at least $8000.

Well...we adopted our lab 10 months ago when he was 5 months old and have already spent close to $4000 this year and thet doesn't include things like his crate, leash, collar etc... (we bought that all before we adopted him). We did have a few vet bills that we hopefully will not have to repea
He is on Canidae food and he goes through a 40 (~$40) pound bag every 6-7 weeks. We do get coupons for it through a local pet store so that helps a bit. His other meds (frontline, heartguard) cost about $30 a month, we buy 12months at a time. His annual vet appt. just cost us $200 (rabies vaccine, heartworm test, general health check) and we went through $3000 worth of emergency vet bills for a bowel obstruction. We budget $75 a month for him and any vet bills falls under unexpected medical bills.

We have 2 dogs. 1 is almost 11 the other is almost 1

Food - 720
Grooming - 160
Fixing the dog & 2 rounds of shots - 300

Total - 1120


We have switched them to raw foods & we get our beef for free so our food costs will go down some.

Food every 45-40 days
$35 for Canidae

3 mths supply
Heartguard: $40
Frontline: $73

Annual vaccinations -
$100 ish

so about $950 on basics

BUT every time we go to buy dog food, he needs a new toy and some biscuits and treats, etc..etc..LOL

We might need to board him..or take him to doggy daycare..

Yeah, dogs are expensive.

We spend at least that much on our very large dog and one elderly cat, who has chronic renal failure and is on supplements and special food.

I love them, but dogs, even healthy ones, are a big expense. If we need to go away for a weekend, and the dog needs to be boarded, that's always nearly $200 a pop.

We never get out of the vet for under $300.

We've taken to reducing our weekend travel to eliminate some of the boarding expense.

If we need to go away for a weekend, and the dog needs to be boarded, that's always nearly $200 a pop.

We've taken to reducing our weekend travel to eliminate some of the boarding expense.

Wow. We pay $14 a day to board ours, and I complain about it. In our last town, we paid $7 a day to board our dog. He absolutely loved that place. She pretty much just let everyone have the run of her house, and she'd sit and hold our dog in her lap all day.

I don't think that sounds extreme at all! I think it's important to feed quality food and get check-ups for your pets, so yes you're paying alot, but those are the necessities, IMO.

We just got a new pup, so of course we're forking over a bunch of money right off the bat for initial shots, flea meds, getting her spayed, etc. We will be paying a bunch of $$ to have her boarded here and there over the summer, as well. It's like $30-$50 a night depending on where you go!

Oh yeah, I wasn't even including things like boarding. We actually use a pet sitter, since we have so many pets and since our dogs prefer to stay at our house. That runs about $40/day plus tip. Good thing we don't travel much.

wow, I'm so never going to get another pet. The only pets I ever had were cats, cheap food, no vet care, and some flea stuff in the summer.

scary to think my dd was cheaper as an infant compaired to most pets!

I think that's pretty good Grace, especially considering that Leo and Ata are giant dogs.

I budget $100 a month for our giant crew and that doesn't include things like boarding, daycare, grooming or vet visits. That really only covers their food, toys, "equipment" etc. I would say that vet costs (especially since adding the pups) is easily another 1000 and we don't vax the cats either.

~Julia

If we go away we have friends come over to feed our dogs. The dogs are 50/50 house/outside dogs & they sleep inside. When it's supercold they'll be let out but back in again. In warmer months they stay outside except to sleep.

With some companies & in some places having a dog can reduce your house insurance as they're seen as security. It doesn't have to be an agressive dog(those actually increase your house insurance).

can you not take your pet when you travel? This is a serious and earnest question because we just moved back to the US and just now got a dog...we're planning to just take her with us on trips by car.

We have two dogs who are over 100 lbs each and three cats. We never take the cats, the dogs go with us on car trips, generally.

can you not take your pet when you travel? This is a serious and earnest question because we just moved back to the US and just now got a dog...we're planning to just take her with us on trips by car.


We are generally visiting family members who don't like dogs, so no, we can't take him. I don't have a problem with them not wanting a dog in their house--it's their house afterall, and he's a 175 lb dog. It just gets to be a financial burden, so we don't visit as often.

We board our dog at the vets' kennel. They have a policy of not allowing pickups on Sunday. That means that we usually have to pay for three days. We just got invited to a party in a nearby state for one of dh's relatives' 70th birthday. Much as we'd like to all go, I'm just sending dh and the kids because we'd end up having to pay nearly $200 in order to attend the event. Not happening, and we are OK financially. I'm sure some family members will be ticked off that I'm not coming, but oh, well.

We took our dog on vacation with us once, while we were out touring places the dog couldn't come we left her at a kennel there for the day.

The kennels may be cheaper at the location you're going to than the local ones.

we also spend a lot for our dogs (we were in rescue, as well, and had 4 dogs at one time). to your costs, add the fact that we also kennel our dogs when we visit family/friends each year (probably an average of a few days each month). we've also made housing choices and related purchased because of them--bigger yard in suburbs instead of city living, put in 2 large, expensive fences...

sometimes i wonder if we've made the right choices, financially...but we love our dogs and are committed to rescue...

I TOTALLY hear ya! I'm a huge animal lover and rescued 2 dogs ( DH put limit on how many animals I could rescue LOL) and I spend so much money on them: insurance, excellent quality food, and raw meaty bones for treats. We had to buy this house which was pricer than the others because it had a good fenced yard.... The way I see it is that animals and babies are high on my values...so I would rather scrimp in other areas (clothing, vacations, entertainment etc etc) I'd rather spend $10 and enjoy watching my doggies enjoy a big bone or be able to take them to the vet when needed, than say, go to the movies or buy a new dress....but that's just me!:love I'd say what you spend is okay if you are okay with it...as DH says to me...it's all about choices. BTW, good for you for helping the animals!

Hi!

save food (make sure you look at the ingredients, make sure you google what ingredients are bad and avoid those foods) pet supply stores like Petco, PetSmart, etc. are big time rip offs. They charge 3 times as much as what things really go for, try the internet and 1-800-Petmeds.

I get my toys from the the stuffed toys section at goodwill, and I learned to clip my dog's nails myself (be careful about this) and learn to groom the dog yourself. Also, don't waste money on dog shampoo I use the store brand baby shampoo (it's like $2.00 and I use it for my hair and it works just as well as any shampoo I've tried). For treats (rewards in training) I've found that cheerios do well, and it's easy to give those one at a time and it's still a reward.

If you have bigger dogs, they're more expensive to board when you go away, try having a pet sitter.

That's all I can think of, but believe me, going to Petco and caving to temptation is a major drain on your wallet, I tried to avoid going there now, it's hurt my budget!

We've always saved money on kenneling by hiring a college-age person to stay in our home and watch the animals while we are away. My husband is a high-school teacher, however, so we always seem to know some college-age people (recent graduates). College students who live at home, or are home for the summer, usually appreciate the chance to have a house to themself for a week or two, so they were happy to stay with our dogs for about $100 a week.

Another tip is to trade off watching another family's dog while they are on vacation (keeping their dog while they travel, and them keeping your dog while you travel).

I've never added up what we spend on the animals, I budget their food into the grocery money and vet money just comes out of the bill money. But we have over 30 animals in our house right now so I'd probably go into heart failure if I added it all up!

(it helps a LOT that we are frinds with our vet and only pay about 30-50% of the actual cost that the treatments our animals get would be... otherwise, well, I dont want to think about that either!! Plus, we breed a few of our sugar gliders and that money pays for a lot of the care on all the animals)

But yeah, pets are expensive, raising pets right is even more expensive!! Our dogs are all rescues and two came to us with parvo, our cats are all rescues, we've rescued some of our sugar gliders... lots of spays many many neuters... it really adds up, but we all love animals and we do it happily.

Of course many people dont understand, my husbands parents always say "you could have such a good life if you didnt have to pay for all of those animals!!" and we say those animals ARE a HUGE part of our life!!! Our life would be a whole lot less interesting without them :)

Let's see...

2 cats:
1 can of food/day $0.69*30= $20
1/2 a bag of cat food/mo = $12
Flea meds = $20
Litter (we just switched, were paying twice this) = $20

That's $72/mo * 12 = $864/year, that doesn't include toys, treats or nip.

And I only take them to the vet when they're sick or injured, so they go in once every couple of years. If we go out of town, we pay a house-sitter.

So it looks to me that your numbers are actually a bit lower than I would expect them to be.

I get my toys from the the stuffed toys section at goodwill, and I learned to clip my dog's nails myself (be careful about this) and learn to groom the dog yourself. Also, don't waste money on dog shampoo I use the store brand baby shampoo (it's like $2.00 and I use it for my hair and it works just as well as any shampoo I've tried). For treats (rewards in training) I've found that cheerios do well, and it's easy to give those one at a time and it's still a reward.


I thought human shampoo had the wrong pH for dogs? I do buy dog shampoo, but it's only $4 or so and it lasts a year... she doesn't get baths at all during the winter, and only evey couple of months or so in summer. And yes, trim nails yourself... and I get flea stuff from ebay and it's much cheaper, and we do get thrift store toys - Nana has a stuffed pokemon thing that she loves. I do get her hooves to chew on, too... so maybe add $10 to my total for shampoo and hooves. :)

We don't buy treats. Sometimes I make my own, but mostly we just don't do them... she's much more motivated by me than by food. Silly dog...

Dar

Hmmm, 1 cat.

We spend $30ish every two months or so on food, and $10ish a month on litter. She doesn't go to the vet very often, maybe once every two or three years. So she's about $280/yr or so.

With no health issues, no meds, no pet insurance.

The more I read your responses and think on it, the more sure I am that we're not doing anything unreasonable, this is just how much it costs to take good care of these animals. The pet insurance is a definite for us, as it has paid for itself several times over since we've had it, and that is without any major catastrophes. Feeding lower quality food is not an option. We already spend minimally or not at all on toys and treats (I make my own treats and it's not that expensive). The only place I can really see to cut costs is litter, and frankly, that always goes badly. Guess we just have to suck it up. :)

I thought human shampoo had the wrong pH for dogs?

Human shampoo has detergents that are too harsh for dogs, I believe. It could be argued (by the no-poo crowd, for instance) that they are too harsh for humans, too :wink.

I use Dr. Bronners liquid soap when I bathe my dog, because that is what I have on hand and I don't want to buy something special for the dog.

I stretch out theh expensive flea treatments to save $$, my office visit is also closer to $60 than $90 and once a year but the amount of money I've spent of daycamp/boarding is huge, especially when I go on vacation.