About 4 years ago I brought home my first puppy – a 6 week old black lab named Charlie (Charles). I had always grown up with dogs and figured I knew how to take care of them financially. So I budgeted $20/mo. for food and planned for a vet check-up once a year. This fit into the entry-level income budget I had, so I thought financially supporting a dog would be no problem. Ever since day one Charles has proved this theory wrong and has been busting my budget ever since!
62% of American households have at least 1 pet and collectively spend over $50 billion dollars on their pets each year! (Money well spent!) On average each vet visit costs $231 for dogs and $193 for cats. While originally I planned for one vet visit per year, I have since learned that the majority of our visits are the result of unexpected or medical emergency situations. As the ASPCA says “Dogs are curious, playful and perky—and those traits we love can also lead to injuries”
How can you financially prepare for your current pet’s expenses?
1. Know your pet’s medical expenses: Do you know how much pet food costs? What about diet specific food? Is there set prescription medicine your pet takes? Don’t forget monthly flea/tick and heartworm medicine! Make sure you have these items included in your budget and even consider having money set aside in a separate pet account!
2. What non-medical expenses are there?
- Many times we need someone to take care of our pets when we are out of town or at work. While your pet may not get to experience luxurious accommodations (complete with $5 belly rubs), most of us need a reliable place for our pet to stay while we are away.
- Installing an underground fence for you dog
- Some apartment complexes have extra fees for pets
- Toys, treats, bed, leash, collar, etc.
3. What about Insurance? Did you know you can get pet insurance? Whether you get pet insurance or not is based on an owner’s preference. You likely know the tendencies of your pet and the likeliness that pet insurance would be beneficial to you. There are many companies that offer pet insurance, and I encourage you to research them further to see if it would be a good fit for you and your pet. Here are the top 5 insurance claims from the ASPCA for dogs:
Knowing what your pet expenses are and where they fall in your budget will enable you to financially care for your pet and decrease the chances of them busting your budget! This increases the happiness of you as a pet owner and the overall well-being of your pet, which we all know are members of our family – just a little furrier!
