Did you know – a medium Dog costs $6,565 over it's lifetime, and the average cat costs $7,640 according to the ASPCA? If you're already a pet owner, there's obviously no way you're giving up your pet to save money any time soon. But if you are drowning in student loan debt or struggling to make ends meet, you should probably think twice about purchasing another fur baby in the immediate future.
I'll be the first to admit, my wife and I have been the poster children for spoiling our pets in the past and even adding one to the family on impulse. However, as we get older and life continues to get more expensive, we are making sure to keep a better eye on just how much we spend on our two cats and dog, Essie, Tito, and Strider.
Here are 6 things you can do to make pet ownership more affordable:
1. Set aside a pet emergency fund
As silly as it may sound, vet bills are no freaking joke. Just like you should have an actual emergency fund set aside (you know…for humans), it's not a bad idea to put $500-1,000 for the time that one cat bites another one in the paw and it turns into an infected abscess. Yes…that happened to us.
2. Buy pet food based on cost per ounce
This is actually a clever trick for most items at the grocery store, but you can easily use it for buying pet food too! Instead of looking at the final cost of a bag of pet food, look for the cost per ounce on the price listing. You'll notice that the bigger bags of food cost as much as 50% less than the smaller bags when comparing cost per ounce!
When you buy in bulk you are essentially taking a small hit to save big money over the long term.
3. Avoid the toys
Let's be honest with ourselves; we buy cool looking pet toys to make ourselves feel good. The animals don't care at all about nice packaging or marketing gimmicks. Throw down a piece of string or a tennis ball and your pet will probably be more excited for those than the $15 toy from the pet store.
4. Don't let them get fat
Not only is overfeeding a waste of food that you'll buy every month, but it's also more likely to give your animals serious health problems down the road (that cost a lot of money to fix or maintain). Animals can develop diabetes, torn joint ligaments, reparatory issues, kidney disease, and many other expensive potential vet-bills.
“Totally worth it.”
When your animals give you the goo-goo eyes, just remember you are saving your future bank account when you keep the lid on those treats.
5. Shop around for pet medications
If you don't have a vet that is willing to write prescriptions or help you find cheaper pet medications, you might need to look elsewhere for pet care. While it's more convenient, buying medications from the vet can bring a markup as high as 100%.
Many low-cost pharmacies like Sams and Walmart will actually fill some pet prescriptions, and you can also save big bucks by shopping at online pet pharmacies like 1800PetMeds.com or PetCareRX.com. Also, be sure to ask if the prescription is suitable for humans so you can shop at your local pharmacy instead.
***EDIT: One of my readers had a great suggestion to add to this section – ask your veterinarian to match online prices for pet prescriptions to save a BUNCH of money!***
6. Use a local pet sitter
Pet boarding can be unbelievably expensive. Not only do you pay for the nightly boarding costs, but you'll probably be compelled to add on extra costs like treats and outside playtime when your animals hit you with this face:
“Why you leave human?”
Talk to your local animal shelter – they usually have great recommendations for pet-sitters that will take care of Fido at home for a much lower rate. You'll also feel better knowing that your pet is comfortable at home instead of a cage with other random animals. For an even cheaper option, talk to your family or friends and see if they will check in on your pets while you're gone!
I think we can all agree that many times the costs of owning a pet are worth the benefit of having another awesome family member. However, it doesn't have to be a cash drain when you really need your money to help you elsewhere in your 20's and 30's.
Question for you:
What strategies do you use to cut back on pet ownership costs?
Wow, that is surprisingly expensive. I never would have thought that initially, but it makes sense as you break it out. My wife and I have never actually had a pet of our own, although we both grew up with dogs. We wanted to get a dog earlier, but as we looked into it more we decided against it because we both work fairly long days and wouldn’t be able to let the dog out or care of the dog as much as we would want to.
I was really surprised too! It’s funny that even a free cat can turn out to be a $7,000 cat!
I have a two and a half year old terrier. I don’t know how much she’s cost me and I realllly don’t want to do the math. She’s on an insurance plan that has ended up saving me a lot of money. Being a new pet owner is like being a new parent – you end up going in to the Dr for the craziest things.
“My dog ate grapes. Lots of grapes. And then I found out they could kill her.”
“My dog has funny spots on her chest. Can you look at them?”
“My dog threw up poop.”
All of these things have happened. I adopted a sick rescue puppy and she’s been an investment. If I look at the cost, she’s really expensive at cost per pound (she’s all of nine pounds). BUT the benefits have been plentiful. She helped me slow down and grow up. She’s a gentle cuddle buddy. She brings the baby blankets (and pacifiers, which was another trip to the Dr). And..now she’s a playmate for the wee one.
Sometimes, cost analysis’ don’t cover everything. 😉
That’s interesting – I almost included a pet insurance plan as one of the ways to save but I don’t think I’d ever buy one for a pet. I agree – animals (like kids I guess) are one of those things that cost doesn’t always have to factor into, but I like saving money on their living expenses!
I have a friend in San Francisco who takes his dog to doggy-daycare every single work day! I can’t believe how much people spend on their pets!!
Haha it’s crazy right??
Great article!
We had a very scary episode with bloat with our Fluffster. The only cure? Emergency surgery. Suddenly he’s sick and we’re given the choice between $5000 or a dead dog. 🙁
I never thought I would spend that much on a pet, but it made sense for us when we looked at it from a “your money or your life” perspective.
I think we would probably do something similar honestly, but we have a nice emergency fund saved up so it wouldn’t hurt TOO bad I guess. Hopefully he’s OK now!
He’s in great health and napping on me as I type! 😀
Yay!
Great article!
Having a dog I can say that we have only bought one toy other than a tennis ball that they love. They really enjoy the simple stuff. Also, being a non-American, who lives in America, I am hesitant to get a pet because of all the cost you described above. It is so expensive here but like they say pets are part of the family!
They are part of the family for sure! Animals don’t care about cool packaging, they are totally cool with simple stuff.
All great tips for pet owners!
one thing I found out when doing some research on preventative medication was most dogs/cats don’t need year round heartworm and flea/tick meds (depending on where they live they may not need any)
Our dog pretty much runs the house, he is a first class citizen
I had a hearty laugh when I read this headline in my Twitter feed. Mrs. Superhero and I just added another dog to our family, and I had to bring our oldest dog for an unplanned vet visit today. Needless to say, our pet expenses have been much higher than usual the past two months. I think I will take your advice and establish a pet emergency fund.
To any readers looking for a great side hustle, considering providing the local pet care that MMM wrote about. One of my good friends makes excellent money doing this, and since she is a dog lover, she doesn’t even consider it work.
Pet sitting is a GREAT side hustle! Sorry about your older dog :/ Hope it’s ok!
Probably not the best idea that you suggested throwing down a piece of string or tennis ball for pets to play with. My dog almost died after ingesting a piece of a tennis ball- over two thousand dollars later, she was fine…but it’s important to buy well made toys without squeakers or strings that could get caught in their intestines..and no rawhide. Also, vets, especially emergency vets, will be upwards of 1-2 grand per vet visit ..pets can’t speak, so it’s a guessing game and tests and X-rays are expensive!
Food is also something you don’t want to buy cheap because it will cost you more In the long run! Buy them good food that won’t cause stones or bloody stools or diarrhea, etc. The cheap stuff is full of artificial junk! You’ll save WAY more in the long run and your pets will be much happier!
We don’t leave anything out that we think our animals would eat, generally we supervise our animals when we use string to play with them. Our cats love plastic bags, but they try to chew so it’s off limits!
A lot of it comes down to knowing your animals and what their habits are. So sorry that happened to your dog!
I’m not a fan of buying poor quality food, I’m suggesting that readers buy food in bulk to save money.
My day job is as a veterinarian, so I always appreciate posts like this. I see so many people make tough decisions about their pets based solely upon money and it’s very sad sometimes. Everyone needs to read this post, because animals are not inexpensive. Sure, I wish I could help all animals regardless of finances but if we didn’t charge anything we wouldn’t be able to provide care to anyone’s pets.
That said, I wanted to talk a little bit about price shopping for pet medications. You’re right, a lot of vets will price match pet medications if you find them cheaper online. Believe it or not we do take a serious hit when we choose to match prices. The reason that most vets do is because so many people are requesting medications from outside or online pharmacies. My problem? The drug manufacturers do not sell their medications directly to 1-800-PETMEDS, Costco, Walmart, or any other retailer. They only sell them directly to veterinarians. The retailers are getting the medications through back channels so there’s no guarantee as to their authenticity or quality.
One time I saw a box of flea medication (ordered from 1-800-PETMEDS) that came from New Zealand and the expiration date was crossed out with a Sharpie.
We match price because we want to make sure your pet is getting the medication we intended and that it is safe. Plus, a little known fact: if your pet has a serious side effect from a medication that you purchased from a veterinarian, a lot of times the drug company will pick up the tab for their care if you can make a reasonable case that their illness was caused by the medication.
Overall a great post with lots of good tips. Just wanted to give a little background on the pet medication side of things.
Hey thanks I really appreciate that! Pretty cool to get the insider scoop. We love our vet and I usually have no problem supporting a quality business even if their prices are a little higher, but I had no idea that the “wholesale” websites weren’t being sold directly! That’s nuts!!!
My latest dog is allergic to grass & looses his hair if he doesn’t get Benadryl & Steroids at times….Who knew that could happen? Thank goodness my MIL is a vet tech, so we get a “family discount” . I would recommend saving at least $300-400 a year in a dog emergency fund for goofy pet bills (even with discounts we still pay $300 in meds & visits a year)
That’s a great tip Carrie! Sorry to hear that he’s allergic 🙁 That’s gotta be so uncomfortable.
I’ve been waiting for this article to eventually appear. Lol. My dog was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 4 – he’s now 8. Unusual case. Between that, two ACL surgeries, pancreatitis, dental surgery, some other minor issues and ongoing care we are well into spending over $15,000 on him. Honestly, I lost count a few years ago. It is likely more. $6,000 in the past few months (ACL #2 and pancreatitis.) We are now aggressively paying this off.
Sure, it sounds crazy. Does it suck? You bet. We are definitely not wealthy people and understand that not everyone can or would do this. But he is actually healthy, active and worth every penny – his quality of life is excellent and that’s what it’s all about. I’m very committed to giving him a long, healthy life. We don’t have children and he makes us happy every single day. He’s our family. He eats homemade natural food with vitamins which is actually cheaper to make than the purchased food. His insulin requirements have actually decreased over time thanks to this food.
What’s my point in all this?
GET PET INSURANCE.
If I could go back to one day in my life and get a do over – it would be the day I said, pet insurance? What a waste of money! Oh man. Did I eat those words and then some. All of this could have been reimbursed to me. Even the average ‘healthy’ pet is expensive. Don’t take the chance. Seriously, I could be the face of ‘reasons to get pet insurance.’
My suggestion- do your research before agreeing to pricey procedures. My dog tore her CCL 2 years ago and the vet recommended a $6000 surgery. After I recovered from the shock, did some research and learned that many dogs do not respond to the surgery, and some recover with 2 months of bedrest. I chose to try strict bedrest (with the help of a local petsitter, who came to give my dog company on my long days at work), and she has recovered and is walking fine, 2 yrs later. I am SO glad I did my research instead of immediately agreeing to the expensive surgery.
One thing I never thought about until my last hedgehog passed away was the cost of end of life care for pets. Even though we knew he would pass soon, we were in so much shock when it happened, it was hard to make decisions about what to do and ultimately we ended up paying more than we needed to for cremation because we hadn’t picked out a place and ended up just doing it at the emergency vet. I don’t regret our decision, but now that our second hedgehog is getting older I will make sure to have a plan in place and budget properly.
Hedgehogs sound like the best pets ever!!!!!!
I’d say a $500-$1000 emergency fund is kind of low, to be honest (as we just spend $2000 last week on our dog who was diagnostic with dilated cardiomyopathy). And she was a “cheap” shelter dog st $75. Between dental cleanings, dog food, and vet visits, our yearly cost has been less than $1000 on average, but now it’s definitely been bumped up. Old animals can cost a lot more than young healthy ones. Worth it to keep her around (as long as she’s happy).
Since we got our dog, we have spent about $1,700 on an emergency surgery, two visits to the vet er, training, and medications. Found out the little bugger has allergies and need to buy special food. Finally found a brand $20 cheaper than what we were buying. I don’t regret him one bit. If I could go back in time, I would make sure we had an emergency pet fund in place. $500 minimum, something to help cut back on the amount we had to put on our credit card.