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My Pets and Their Costs

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 55 Comments

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My Pets and Their CostsEveryone knows that I am an insane animal person, right? OK well you now know. I often do the most ridiculous things for my pets, and most people don’t understand.

The other day before my dogs were to get their yearly vaccinations, I sang the “SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS” song to them. Yes, I actually did that.

Today’s post will most be about the background on my pets and their costs and soon I will have another posts detailing how you can take the right steps to finding the perfect pet for you.

Background

Both of our dogs are technically “rescued.” Our bigger dog (pictured below) was from a rescue agency.

She was found by the agency at around 6 weeks old tied to the ground with a chain.

Her chain was so short that she could not move at all. People are REALLY horrible out there!

Now, she is about 90 pounds of love. They think she’s a Brittany/Pitt/Boxer mix. Seriously the nicest dog ever (but has a mean bark and protects me!).

She is the favorite of everyone. Great personality, always perfect, even though she does jump, she just wants some kisses.

Our other dog is a French Bulldog. He wasn’t technically rescued from an agency, but we bought him from a neighbor. They bought him and it turned out that their other dog didn’t get along with him at all (fighting a lot, and their other dog was an Olde English Bulldog, so they are HUGE), so they had to get rid of their newly acquired pup as soon as possible. He is around 15 pounds now (he is a runt).

He is super cute and loyal, but he does have a bad temper. I’m guessing it’s because he’s about half the size he’s supposed to be but is scarily strong (all muscle, our vet laughs because he is built), so he doesn’t get along with any dogs his own size and can’t find any friends since he’s so small 🙁

We used to have a third dog. We rescued her with knowing that she needed around $200 a month in medications. She was an Olde English Bulldog and only around 4-5 years old. She has the same coloring and sort of the same look as our dog pictured below, so we just couldn’t say no. She ended up passing away 2 months later. I’m still very sad about this. But we gave her a really good 2 months.

Animal costs can definitely add up quickly, but I think they are well worth it. My dogs are wonderful and without them I would truly be very sad.

 

Food

Food for our small dog is not very much when compared to our bigger dog, but he still eats a lot for his size (about 2.5 cups a day). Our bigger dog eats around 5 cups a day. We try to buy decent dog food for them. We often switch between Beneful and Iams. You’re probably wondering why I say that we switch dog food brands since technically you are only supposed to give dogs one type of food forever. Our dogs WILL not eat the same food for a long period of time. I have talked with the vet about this and he said it’s fine.

Yes, I know these brands are not the best but I haven’t really researched further even though I should. What types of dog food do you buy?

I’ve never really kept track, but we probably spend around $450 a year on dog food.

To save on food, toys and treats, make sure you get a customer loyalty card if you can. I usually am able to save a lot of money with this. Shop around as well. I found that pet stores generally have much higher priced food (not sure why), whereas Target and Walmart seemed to have the best prices.

 

Toys and Treats

I am horrible when it comes to buying toys and treats for my dogs. I find a lot of joy in going to PetSmart and Petco because I love buying them stuff. The boy usually gets mad because they have so many toys now.

I probably spend around $40 a month on toys, treats and bones for them.

I don’t really recommend extremely cheap bones, mainly because lately there have been a lot of stories about how bone and raw hides are breaking in dog’s stomaches and are causing them to die. That terrifies me. However, with toys, I usually just buy cheap items from Target or the dollar store, as my dogs will destroy nearly all of their toys in one night.

So I found that it was not worth it to buy the $15 toys anymore. Oh yeah, and they also hate Kongs and will not play with them, so that does not work either.

 

Medical

There are a lot of medical costs when it comes to having pets. When we first got our dogs, there were even more medical costs. I’m not for sure how much we spent at the time, but we did get all of their shots, plus get them spayed and neutered.

To save on spaying and neutering, see if there are any local organizations that will offer this for cheap. This is what we did. The Humane Society does spays and neuters for around $30. I would definitely look into this, as our vet wanted over $200, and I’ve heard in other states that some charge $800.

I’m not sure if they do this all over, but the Petcos around here do really low cost vaccinations. I was able to bring up both dogs to get all of their shots and one to get micro-chipped, and it cost $150 (would’ve been only $90 for both, but our city charges a $12 surcharge “tax” for each dog that goes to the vet, and the microchip was $35). Usually it would be around $800 for their yearly shots and for the little one to get micro-chipped. So $150 instead of $800 is MUCH better.

For other dogs it might not be as expensive, so you’re probably wondering why it’s usually $800. Well my little dog is a French Bulldog runt, and he needs lots of shots because his immune system is horrible. And then my bigger dog (pictured below) finds joy in eating animals in the backyard, so we always make sure she gets every shot imaginable so that she doesn’t get sick.

Preventative care is key here. Make sure to always get yours pets checked for heart worm and that they receive all necessary shots. Not only would it be sad if they became very sick, but once they’re sick, you are spending much more money than what you would’ve spent if they would have just received their shots.

My girl the other day while waiting for her shots

Even though we did save a ton of money, I don’t know if I would do it again. I actually enjoy bringing them to their actual vet so that they can get one-on-one time with him (I love our vet). At Petco, they pretty much just line all the dogs up and give them shots quickly. It’s definitely efficient, but my bigger dog hated that it wasn’t the normal vet. Has anyone else ever gone to Petco for their cheaper vaccinations?

Our smaller dog will need many medical treatments soon. Our vet has recommended an endless list of things that he needs since he is a French Bulldog and also a runt. Laser nose surgery (his nose is super small and he’s always our of breath) is one of the things that we will be getting next. She said he doesn’t need it now but will need it when he’s older.

 

Grooming

We don’t take them to the groomer as often as we probably should. In fact, we’ve only taken them a couple of times. They’re both short haired dogs, so we just bathe them in our shower or in the backyard usually.

However, I recently just found out that Petsmart will do a full-service groom for our smaller dog for only $10, so we might start doing that. They said our bigger dog would start at $40, so I’m not sure. If only they knew that our smaller dog would be much more hard to give a bath to haha.

Grooming your pet at home will of course save much more money than having it done somewhere else. However, if your dog (like mine) absolutely refuses to have their nails clipped (but loves getting it done by their vet), then it might be better just to bring them somewhere so that you don’t end up hurting them.

How much do you spend on your pets? 

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. [email protected] Adult Money says

    The cost of having pets can definitely add up…especially dogs. I've noticed this more and more as I am gearing up to buy one in a couple months. We also plan on getting a rescue dog, there just seems to always be so many that need homes.

    "I don’t really recommend extremely cheap bones, mainly because lately there have been a lot of stories about how bone and raw hides are breaking in dog’s stomaches and are causing them to die."

    Thanks for sharing this especially. I will avoid the cheap bones!
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  2. Sam says

    I' m all for cheaper shots. Louisville has a local store called Feeder's Supply, and every week a vet comes for 3 hours to give annual shots, clip nails, etc. It ends up costing about a third of what it would cost at a regular vets office. The best part is, this vet has a regular office right next door to Feeder's Supply, so I can take my pets there if need be, too. That way they see the same vet each visit.

    I hear ya on the dog toys! Dollar store all the way. My lab eats everything!
    My recent post Oh heyyy Nashville!

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  4. Becky R says

    We have a 90 lb. Old English Sheep Dog. We rescued her. She is 8.5 years old. I spend $50 a month on her food (it is a good, healthy brand.) Her yearly vet bills are about $400. And her grooming is about $100 every 3 months. So that is about $1,200 a year (not including toys and treats, but I take that from my monthly food budget.) That does not include emergencies. I just had to take her for a UTI. It was $200 with vet and meds.

    I did not anticipate that she would cost us that much each year. I need $100 a month just for food, vet, and grooming. I also recommend another $400-$1,000 in a pet emergency fund.

    But we love her so much. She is the sweetest dog.
    My recent post September

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  5. bogofdebt says

    I have a cat as you know (not that I talk about him all that much or anything….) Let's see: I bought him some toys in bulk for $5 (fuzzy balls from Hobby Lobby) and they've lasted for ever. His yearly vet visit is about $45 ish and I spend $15 on flea medicine every month. Kitty litter and food–hmmm roughly $50 every few months. He's a pretty cheap cat actually. Oh and I spoke to my vet about Iams-(the dry food I feed him) and the vet said it was fine for him. He's a very picky eater (will starve himself if he doesn't like the food we bought or at least only eat if he HAS to) so I wanted to make sure and the vet said that food was great.
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  9. Rachel says

    We've spent thousands and thousands on our pets, especially our older dog. We have three cats, and two dogs.

    The outdoor cat (she came with the house) is low maintenance. Vaccinations, monthly flea meds, food. She's about $30/month.

    The indoor cats are pretty low maintenance too. Vaccinations, food, litter. About $30/month between the two of them.

    My older dog gets vaccinations, monthly flea and hearworm meds, food, in the spring allergy meds at $100/month. Right now he's on a homecooked diet, and so is my little one. He's had surgery for a luxating patella ($2k), had complications with being fixed ($800), and lots of testing, trial meds, etc. Not counting the "extra" surgeries, he's about $50/month.

    My younger dog gets vaccinations, monthly flea and heartworm meds, food. She's about $30/month.

    I think the best advice I've ever gotten was to feed the best food I could. Good food equals fewer vet bills, generally speaking. Also, brush your dogs' teeth, especially if they're prone to dental disease!

    If you google dog food ratings, you can find some good sources that break down the content of dog foods for you and how good they are for your pets or not. Personally, I won't feed my dogs a lot of common commercially prepared foods, as they're full of fillers and chemicals. My cats and dogs don't get corn and junk in their food. My cats currently eat Wellness. My dogs, as I mentioned, are currently on a home-cooked diet per their vet, but have eaten Wellness, Taste of the Wild, etc.

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  10. Em1723 says

    I think the only major expense we have is food but that's only about $30 a month. I give them there vaccinations myself, that I purchase from the vet I used to work for. She knows I know how to do it and that I can do a thorough annual exam so she's comfortable just letting me bring them in if they get sick. Luckily, neither has ever needed to go in because of being sick. For dog toys I give them my children's stuffed animals that they don't like. Surprisingly, the dogs know which animals are off limits.

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  11. mycanuckbuck says

    Do you sing the :"Shots" song to the tune of "Spam Spam..'? :). I don't know exactly what we spend on the cat. Vet costs aren't too bad- just 1 main visit a year (about 150.00 dollars) and a few extras to get her nails trimmed. Litter and food – probably 25 bucks a month. She's worth it – unless she's being moody.! Mind you, that's par for the course for cats..
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  12. Little House says

    Pet costs do add up. I have cats and they seem to need less medical care and maintenance than dogs. I really do want a dog, but we have to wait until we have a house with a small yard. I actually made the mistake the other day going into a pet store and a very pushy, but nice, lady took a min- Australian Shepard out of the cage and placed it in my arms. Ugh! That was so hard. Such a cute dog, but I just couldn't take it.
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  13. Miss T says

    Over the years we have spent thousands on pets but to us that is ok. We know they cost but they are part of the family. I really don't like putting a price on a life. I think you can do pretty good with the day to day stuff like food etc.. What hurts is those unexpected vet trips.
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  14. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    Pet expenses can definitely add up quickly, especially if you have dogs as has been stated. We used to have two dogs and it always amazed me how much we'd have to spend on them each year. My in-laws took them from us a few years ago, so I am glad to be rid of the expense. We still have a cat and he, for the most part, is reasonable when it comes to expenses.
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  15. Sharon says

    That makes me so sad that your dog was found tied up 🙁 Both of my dogs are rescues. I spend $70 a month on their food. I was using a cheaper brand, but Jinx developed an allergy so I have to splurge. Oliver (my other dog) can't tolerate rawhides, so I only buy them femur bones which are more money but last a looong time. They're a lot of money but I think it's worth the joy they bring to my life. 🙂

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  17. Teddy says

    We spend around $1300 a year for the dog — we raw feed, give her all of our vegetable scraps (no onions or grapes). She is groomed every six weeks and gets to the vet yearly. In the interim, she generally needs and RX ear wash to prevent swimmers ear. This year we avoided a staph infection but in really humid and wet summers, that adds about $200 bucks on to her vet bill. I brush her coat almost daily and also brush her teeth. She is 4.5 years old and looks like a puppy. Feeding raw costs us about a dollar a day. I uploaded a picture of her to dogshaming.com today — she is healthy and naughtly.
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  20. Crystal @ PET says

    You know we spend some major moolah on our rescues. I didn't sign up for it, but I knew it was a possibility. Mr. Pug needs $150 of medicines a year, $450 a year on just his food, and $300-$400 just for his two main checkups to make sure his steroids aren't killing his liver too fast. And this $1000 a year is just after the $3000 we spent on figuring out all of his problems over the last 3 years…

    But by far the most expensive pet we ever had was Oreo the Pointer…had her for 2 weeks and spent nearly $3000 on carpet, vets, medicines, and kennels. She had pneumonia, passed that on to our two dogs, and had severe separation anxiety issues. She literally pulled apart a metal welded kennel and dug through to the subfloor in less than 3 hours…

    But at least our first dog together, Ms. Doxie, is a pretty healthy one. We've had her for 7 years, she is now 14 years old, and she costs less than $500 a year total.
    My recent post Identify Your Money Motivations

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  25. MakingSenseofCents says

    haha awww! Yes register for a pup! That would be so cute. I think they are worth it. They are great dogs. If you do end up getting a Frenchie, you should try looking up French Bulldog rescues around you.

    Reply

  26. Amanda says

    We probably should start adding up how much we're spending on Louie, but we haven't yet, as we're still trying to figure out what food to stick with. We do spend a good amount on bones and toys, but stopped buying any stuffed ones because he'd destroy them in minutes. As for getting him fixed, it was close to $700…
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  29. CF @ OutlierModel says

    My cat is pretty cheap. He eats cheap food and litter is not too expensive. All in all, about $15 a month. He likes the taste of the cheap food better and he doesn't eat wet food (he drinks a lot of water for cat). *shrug* My previous cat liked wet food and preferred a more expensive brand of cat food, so I probably spent a bit more per month on him.

    We adopted him at age 7 after his previous family decided to give him up.
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  30. thethriftyspendthrift says

    Right now I have two cats and since they are strictly indoors, they don't really need much in terms of vet care.

    I love dogs. My husband is super allergic so I may never be able to have one but they are very pricey. My poor dog (at my parents' house) just got treated for tapeworm from eating a flea.

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  31. Erica says

    Eeek, please try and budget for a better dog food. Iams and Beneful are all corn, wheat, and meat by-products (a Google search on this will make you gag). Dogs cannot digest corn and wheat and this kind of food usually causes them to have more frequent bowel movements, gas, and other issues down the road.

    We feed our dog Natural Balance and it's about $50/month (but this is also in Hawaii, so I imagine this food is a tad cheaper on the mainland). Natural Balance, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Orijen, Innova, Canidae, etc. are all great and slightly more expensive options. A good rule of thumb is to at least never purchase a dog food you can find in a grocery store. And beware of treats from China! There's been a lot of recalls on these lately. Don't be fooled into Science Diet either, it's just as crappy as Iams. Vets are paid to promote the brand.

    But to get back to your original question, we spend about $75/month on our 1 1/2-year-old Pointer mix. Food, toys, treats, monthly heart worm prevention. We also have health insurance for him at about $350/year, well worth it, IMO. His annual vet visits usually cost us about $20 at the vet clinic on the military base we live on.
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    • Stephanie says

      Just wanted to second Erica's sentiment on the food!! We give Elvis Natural Balance's L.I.D. (limited ingredient diet) line and it's been great. We usually switch flavors each time to keep things interesting for him, but the great thing with the L.I.D. is that they have little or no grain (depending on the flavor). It's more expensive, ranging from $48-59 for a 28 lb bag (again, depending on the flavor), but our 51 lb pointer only needs 3 cups a day to keep his weight up. And not to be gross, but the lack of grain in his diet makes his poop more solid, so it's easier to pick up. 😉

      Between the food, treats, toys, heart worm prevention and flea and tick prevention, we probably spend just over $100/month. His yearly vet appointment usually runs us $125-175 depending on what vaccinations he needs.
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  34. Lesley says

    aww, you should post more pics of your babies!
    we only give our dogs science diet so i would say we spend about $600 a year on food, but you can tell from their fur that they get the good stuff. i think good dog food is totally worth it compared to the generic versions.
    we rescued a dog and she died 8 months after we got her so i can totally relate. it's so sad but knowing you gave them a good last few months of life really makes it easier.
    what would we do without dogs?! i know i probably would be very unhappy.
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  35. Mary says

    Several vets have recommended Nutro to me, since it doesn't contain corn and the first ingredient is meat. It ran me about $50 for a 35 lb bag every 2 months. I did some research, and it turns out Kirkland's best has the same ingredient list and is $26 for 40 lb, which lasts 10 weeks around here.

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  37. Christa says

    I have a Great Dane and two cats, so you can imagine I spend a pretty penny on my furry children. The Dane is now about $40 per month for food/treats/toys and the cats $20 per month for food and litter. Vet bills run about $500 per year. Boarding costs about $500 per year as well because I always treat the dog to a day of doggie daycare when she boards. We bathe the Dane 2 to 3 times per year outside, so I only have to take her to the groomers once in the winter at $40. All in all, we spend a lot on our pets, but they are definitely worth it!

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  38. Madison says

    We feed our dog Fromm Adult Gold. http://frommfamily.com It's a grain free dog food made in small batches at low temperatures to help keep all of the flavors and nutrients in the food. She refused to eat Iams or any other cheaper food I gave her. This is the first she will eat. A 15lb bag is about $22 at my local store and it lasts about a month. So only a few more dollars more than the best Target/Walmart brand and SO much better for them.

    My dog definitely likes chew toys but will destroy any cheap one I give her within ten minutes. I've found that the Kong brand squeaky toys hold up REALLY well. We have a long fetch stick and a little donut type one for months and they're still in perfect condition.

    We also bought this other squeaker from Petco that's in a shape of a gummy bear that she's had about a month and still is holding up well even though the squeaker is broken now.

    I'm considering buying one of these: http://www.dogsgonuts.com/ They're supposed to be super tough.

    Also, I've tried Tuffy brand plush animals. http://www.tuffietoys.com They hold up much better than any other plush we've tried. She loves soft toys but I hate buying something she's going to destroy in minutes… So I get these occasionally and they last a week or two.

    Have you tried those Nylabones? They have various 'toughness' types. My dog chews threw the flexichews in a week but she's still working on the same durachew I bought her in March!

    So, uh, as you can see I also like to buy toys for her. haha. I buy her so many things and then find out that she either wont play with them or she chews them up too quickly. *sigh* But she's worth it. 🙂

    sorry, long comment is long lol
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