I wrote the post Cost of a Pet is $48,000!!! a long time ago (several months) and I've since come to the conclusion that $48,000 is probably a teensy weensy bit high as an estimate for the cost of a pet. Instead, all the data I can find seems to point to an average cost of $1,000 to $2,000 per year, with larger animals costing more (dogs more than cats, bigger dogs more than smaller dogs) and smaller animals costing less. In fact, "get a cat" is one money saving tip I've seen people leave in response to my posts on how expensive pets are. (I saw one suggestion to really go cheap and "get a hamster" on another site.) ;-)
All that said, people are still reading my Cost of a Pet is $48,000!!! post and commenting on it. Here's a comment I received just the other day and wanted to share it with all of you:
Great Dane Puppy (7 months old)
$1000 purchase
$500 travel to breeder and shipping
$750 ($150 * 5 months for food )
$300 crates
$300 beds
$200 bones and treats
$200 toys
$350 rug shampooing
$250 5 months pet insurance
$1500 vet ($1000 less thanks to VPI pet insurance)
$400 training
$280 occasional doggie daycare visits
---------
$6030 over the 5 months I've had him, that's $1206 a month.
Good lord! I hope it gets easier as they get older.
On a side note, at a year he starts to be a therapy dog, and my CPA says we can deduct a portion of his expenses.
;-)
For more pet-related posts, see these links:
- More Reasons Pets are Expensive
- Comments: Sell Your House to Save Your Pet's Life
- You Choose -- Pets or College for the Kids
- Pets Clean up for Holidays
- The Cost of a Pet is Now More than $48,000
- 10 Things Your Veterinarian Won't Tell You
- Comments: The Cost of a Pet is $48,000!
- How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life?
- Comments: How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life?
- Pet Spending Purring Along
- Comments: How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life?; Whatever It Takes
- Calculating the True Cost of a Pet
- Comments: How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life?; A Lot
$2,000 per year sounds more reasonable with a caveat depending on what type of pet and breed. It also varies with the person's lifestyle and their standard of "pet" living. Some people can love their pets with just the basics and some animals live better than humans (lol unfortunately).
Posted by: SingleMom | February 27, 2006 at 02:11 PM
Adopt from a shelter!! Wonderful pure-breed and All-American (mutts) dogs are available. Some come with free neutering.
Foster a pet! We are fostering a dog from a shelter until he gets adopted. The shelter provides vet care, we provide food.
Realize that pets don't need to see a vet for everything. I had a roommate who thought dogs should go to the vet for every little thing -- a sneeze here, a tired day there...
Posted by: E | February 28, 2007 at 01:12 PM