How much does your pet cost?

deepoo

I see lots of people with dogs and cats, but how much does it cost to keep them, and more importantly, are they keeping you from becoming debt free?

How much do you spend on yours?

butler_helen

To start with- jabs, neutering, check up, fleas, worms, carriers, litter trays, food, litter... About £300 then there's the replacement chair leg, the new curtains, the cost of a new joint of lamb...

Yup I'd say they are expensive but they're worth it o keep me happy (I have no debts so not a problem for the cash- but I could have a holiday each year instead!)

(two kittens btw)

deepoo

I just had a though, if someone wanted animals, but not the expense, they could take them in whilst their owners go on holiday - and even get paid for it.

LilacPixie

£300 is probably underestimating it TBH. He is worth it though

annedorst

I'd say at least 800 a year if not more...but like the others, totally worth it and definitely not driving me to debt...just makes you manage your budget

bugslet

5 small dogs - so a rough calculation is around the £1000 mark. That is working on basic vet visits for vaccinations and nothing going wrong with them. If they do need the vets then at the moment I have around £800.00 free a month if I stick to buying necessities and therefore it isn't the end of the world. Paws crossed it's been a good 12 months and nothing has needed to be done.

'Fortunately' I don't go on holiday as it costs a fortune to kennel them or for a housesitter - not that I could inflict our house onto someone!

I'm currently digging my way out of debt - got rid of one cc in Feb, just got rid of another last week, 3 to go *sighs*. I still overpay a bit to the mortgage in the form of a humble £50.00 a month - it's built up to around 6 months repayment holiday should I ever need it,s o I look at it as an insurance.

So after all that rambling - yes it does affect the DF and MF journey but I wouldn't be without them. Mr bugslet would never ask if it was the dogs or him :rotfl:

Mallotum_X

Is this in the right forum?

We have two cats, food, litter etc is about £10 a week, plus other treats and so on.

On top of that you have the inital costs of neutering, scratch post, basket (our never used this), carry case, injections etc.

Then you will have occasional costs for vets, booster injections and then dealing with occasional cuts or injuries if they get into a scrap.

Tabatha_Kitten

4 cats & 1 dog here.

£35 each for vaccinations + £20 kennel cough = £195.
Aprox £50 per month in food = £600
Flea treatment for the year around £200
I only insure the dog @ £12.50 pm = £150


That comes to £1145 before you even start with emergency's or kennel/cattery fees.

I would love to knock that much extra off my mortgage each year but the house wouldnt be a home without them.

misscousinitt

I think my cat costs me between £400 and £500 per year including food, jabs, flea treatment and insurance.

I am lucky that friends come and feed her when I'm away, so no cattery costs.

DH says we should send her out to work to cover the costs LOL.

Worth it though, wouldn't be without her.

HappyMJ

My cat just been through vet treatment for a broken leg and it cost me nearly £700 and that was the middle priced option to put the leg in plaster. Elected against using pins and rods which would have cost a mint. I don't think I would have used pins and rods even if I had insurance. It involved far too much and travel to a different cat hospital. The cheap option was to cut the leg off. Either get insurance or take the hit. Flea treatments cost a couple of pounds per month. Food is whatever you spend. Basic cat food from supermarket for virtually nothing up to better quality cat food from specialist for up to a £1 per day.

My cat has cost an average of £260 per year (£5 a week) for everything. She's 16 so she has cost over £4,000 so far. Is it stopping me from becoming debt-free? Technically yes but I don't care.

Marksy

I don't have pets as such, but we keep chickens.

In terms of expenditure I think they work out at around £5/month... but working out the value of the eggs, in comparison to organic, free range from the shop the cost of the eggs is around £0.05p. So really, due to the number of eggs we eat, they don't cost anything. At least I like to look at it from that POV