Pets Continue to Get More Expensive

Yep, here's another post on how expensive pets are. It's not that I'm looking for information on the subject -- I've already documented what a pet can cost. But somehow I keep running into more and more outrageous articles on how pet spending is skyrocketing.

This one was in my local paper recently and focuses on how Americans are increasingly medicating their pets. I'll pick out some of the more compelling parts of the piece and comment on them along the way. Here we go:

Brownie (a dog) takes more drugs than his human companions put together. He has been medicated in recent months for diabetes, infections, high blood pressure, and his finicky gut that rebels at red meat. Since 2005, he has taken drugs for everything from anemia to a spider bite.

She estimates spending $5,000 over the last two years on medicine for her baby, a mixed beagle-cocker spaniel. He has lost a couple of steps on the squirrels outside their little home near Goldsboro. His hearing is failing. Still, without some of the drugs, he'd probably be gone.

$5,000 over two years? Yikes! But just like with humans, pets can now live longer due to the advances in medical science. So you can keep your pet alive an extra few years, but it may cost a pretty penny.

This is the part of the average cost of a pet that very few people account for. They comment here that "my dog doesn't cost anything close to $1,000 a year." Maybe not yet, but it doesn't take many years (maybe only one) of medicines/treatments to make up for a few years where a person "only" spent $500 a year.

The article continues and talks about how people are giving their pets medication more frequently:

Americans have begun to medicate their dogs, cats and sometimes other pets much as they medicate themselves.

They routinely treat their pets for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and soon maybe even obesity. They pick from an expanding menu of mostly human pharmaceuticals like steroids for inflammation, antibiotics for infection, anti-clotting agents for heart ailments, Prozac or Valium for anxiety, even the impotence drug Viagra for a lung condition in dogs.

When I saw Viagra on the list I thought "you've got to be kidding me!" Then I saw it was for a lung condition. If it wasn't for something like treating a lung problem, I was going to say some people are REALLY going overboard. ;-)

Going on:

Within the last five years, pets have finally overtaken farm animals in the pharmaceutical marketplace, claiming 54 percent of spending for animal drugs, according to the trade group Animal Health Institute.

Keeping more than 130 million dogs and cats alone, Americans bought $2.9 billion worth of pet drugs in 2005. Though equal to only 1 percent of human drug sales, the market has grown by roughly half since the year 2000.

One of them was Slentrol, which became the first government-approved slenderizer for obese dogs in January. It will cost up to $2 a day, though buyers could presumably put their animals on a diet and save money on dog food in the bargain.

Ok a few thoughts here:

1. We now spend more on drugs for pets than on animals we eat. Hmmmm.

2. $2.9 billion? Ouch!

3. What ever happened to just feeding your pet less? Isn't that still a valid weight-control measure?

But the list of costs goes on:

For example, a single three-month course of pet chemotherapy might cost $3,000, though chemo in an animal is meant more to ease symptoms than prolong life. It's a reasonable option only for some pets. Researchers have also begun to test new, expensive, targeted cancer drugs like Gleevec on animals.

$3,000 for chemo, a few thousand for cancer drugs, and on and on. Where's it going to end?

Then again, some people take a different route:

Of course, many people still medicate pets sparingly. Laura James of Plymouth, Mass., said she and her husband had a tumor removed from their 11-year-old golden retriever. When it returned, though, they decided to let "nature takes its course," and had to put their pet to sleep recently.

They never considered pet chemo, rejecting it as too expensive. "If it were our children, there'd be no question, but it's a pet," James said. Then she added, "My sister thinks I'm cruel."

I'm sure some will comment below that their pet is just like a child. Really? Do these people have children? I think not. Seriously, even if someone did, would anyone really compare the life of a child to the life of a pet? Sorry, it's a bit off topic, but the "pet is like a child" argument, which I hear very often, just rubs me the wrong way.

And now, for some perspective:

Some question whether society is keeping priorities straight. Dianne Dunning, an ethicist at N.C. State's vet school, anguishes over the millions of animals, lost and unwanted, that are euthanized each year, while millions of dollars are spent on pet medicines.

David Rothman, a Columbia University expert in medicine's role in society, points to the millions of people who are desperately short on care: "If you can't get malaria drugs in some Third World countries, what are we doing with chemotherapy for cats?"

You can apply this thinking to anything (such as "do you really need that big of a car when people in the world are starving?"). But still, it's an interesting thought.

And finally, a few more thoughts on the cost of pets:

Yet many American pet owners, like some who come to N.C. State's veterinary school, "spend $500 a month on their chronic medications - and they don't flinch," says school pharmacist Gigi Davidson.

Health insurance for pets has finally begun to catch on in the past five years. It multiplied from near invisibility in 2002 to as much as 3 percent in 2005, a marketing study found. Now insured are dogs, cats, birds, pigs, mice, snakes and other exotics.

Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, Calif., claims close to 80 percent of the U.S. market with its 400,000 policies, typically costing $30 a month in premiums. Company spokesman Brian Iannessa says the total market is expected to climb to $500 million by 2010.

Of course you can spend your money however you like. That's one thing that having money is about -- so you can spend it on things you enjoy. I'm simply trying to bring to light the fact that pets cost a bundle of money and before you go off and get one, be sure you realize the breadth of the financial decision you're making.

Comments

[Creditnine.com]

Tell me about it we just got a dog, I had to buy a fence to keep him in our back yard, bed, carry crate, treats, dog chain to take him for walks, then we have shots on top, food.. im like frig.. this is getting silly..

Then the puppy only 3 months old comes over and gives you the puppy eyes and somewhere you forget about it all :) lol crazy us dog owners.

[Brett McKay]

I would love to get a cat. I think cat's are hilarious. But the costs of having a pet will probably keep me from ever having a pet.

[Anne]

I agree that pets aren't like children. Pets are FAR less annoying!

[Doggiemeow]

Interesting comments. I guess that you do not own a pet. While I consider myself a realist, I dont think I would think a lot it such expenses are required to be done.

But pet costs in general are getting expensive. Ever noticed those luxury pet motels, costing close to $100/night with a private adjustable AC.

[db]

You know -- I've often thought that part of the cost of health care is being fabricated to an extent, with doctors pushing (or consumers asking) for more and more medications to take care of things that maybe really aren't necessary to treat with drugs (obviously this isn't always the case and there are definately situations that need treatment with drugs).

Now it looks like the over-medication of society is spilling over into pets. It's really unfortunate to me. I have an aging 15-year old dog with a few health problems. The vet seems eager to push medications and surgery at me, and I resist it all. I don't see it being better for my pet. Am I heartless, or is this all just getting to be too much? (Trust me, it's not that I don't love this pet, but I disagree that extending his life through extreme measures is worth it. I'd rather keep him comfortable and happy while I can, and let him go when I can't.)

db

[Big Cajun Man]

Yup, we have spent almost $1000 so far this year on vet expenses, and that is not including the "dietary supplement food" that my wife buys the animals.

The fact that someone has figured out that there is a business for Pet Medical Insurance (available in Canada from PC Financial), means this business is BOOMING! --C8j

[Jeff]

This time I completely agree with what you've written. Spending on pets is out of control, but it sounds like it'd be a good industry to get into if you're an entrepreneur. Sadly too many people don't factor in all of the costs of pets when they get them, which is one of the reasons why shelters are always full.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I don't mind spending my $3k/year on my dogs. They are like your bike. They relax me and give me less stress.

[Used vans gilr]

She could have donated that $5000 of money to the local children's hospital.. What a waste!! Obese dogs are only obese because of the owner. A dog never goes into the fridge and fixes themselves a quick snack nor can a dog go for a walk if the owner is too lazy.. Any owner with an obese animal should have it taken off them!!

signed.
One animal lover and idiot hater.