To think having a pet is not affordable these days?

[cadburyegg]

So as not to drip feed, I completely believe that once you have a pet you are 100% responsible. I grew up with pets and had many animals over the years. We don’t have pets anymore but when we had rabbits, one of them had long term health problems and we were often at the vets with her, until she died.

We had insurance, but the cost of that plus yearly vaccinations, vet check ups, other appointments that the insurance didn’t cover - it all added up. So we haven’t had animals since our last bunny died.

I think my DH would quite like a cat but I can’t see us being able to afford to pay out for everything that it would need.

So, AIBU? How do people manage the cost of a pet?

Well it's more like £120 over 6 weeks. We feed them granata and applaws. Altgough now it is just granata and royal canin (the rc for the one with the new diet). So it might be a bit less now, or the same can't remember the change is recent. They would prefer to eat applaws all the time but can't afford that.

Treats are nature's menu and one called innocent or something? Little jerky looking things. Will eat dreamies and webbox, but prefer the nature's menu treat. Will not eat felix or whiskers treats. Turn their noses up. Prefer the applaws tuna/mackerel loin to cheaper alternatives like encore.

Bought them some home made treats from Switzerland the other week and they adore those so might have to fly back to get some more. (Just kidding!)

Weirdly the most prissy ones are the ones we got from Portsmouth who grew up eating Tescos own brand. Who basically went through a long list of food teddy kept refusing after 2 weeks as kittens before settling on granata.

The boy who came from somewhere a bit posher, grew up on royal canin , less fussy, now back on rc and doesn't bloody like it.

Probably my fault for spoiling them rotten. Well it is. Not probably.

Seriously, the cats don’t need any treats at all.

My dog cost a fortune because I feed a good quality kibble and treats, insure with PetPlan, have a monthly vet health plan to cover fleas/worms/vacs/health checks, pay for a dog walker who has him 3 days a week from 9:30 - 12:30

A colleagues dog doesn't cost much as they buy a huge bag of shit dog food for £9, don't insure, don't vaccinate, don't use flea/worm treatments, leave dog at home all day alone while working, wouldn't think twice about leaving the dog without vet treatment unless really needed/PTS if serious.

Pet costs are more these days because standards of pet ownership and care have risen, if you want a pet cheaply it is possible if you neglect some basic health and care needs (like my colleague, and my parents in the past) and PTS when vet bills look too expensive.

Our cat is high maintenance!
£2 a day food = £60 pm
£14 pm Insurance
£12 pm cat litter

Bloody hell £86 p/m
And she is a pain in the arse..

We've got a rabbit and 2 dogs.

The rabbit has cost us nothing really. We were given it for free and it lives in the garden, under the decking (it has the choice of hutches in the garden, leftover from when we had guinea pigs, but has made it's own space to live). It's not insured as we have savings, but in the 4 years we've had it, it's never needed the vet. I'm not sure how much it costs in food, but not much as it eats grass and I buy a huge bag of food which works out cheaper in the long run.

The dogs were both rescues, so not much to buy and already neutered when we got them. They're not insured either, and luckily, in the 5-6 years we've had them they've never needed the vet. They get their vacs and that's it. Again, I buy their dry food in bulk and they get all our leftovers. They get the occasional treat, but they're not a regular occurance. I bath them and walk them myself and when we go abroad we get sitters in from trustedhousesitters, which costs us £80 a year for membership.

I've never added up how much they cost per month but they're definitely worth it and we can definitely afford it.

Our dog isn’t too expensive. We found her on the street as a brand new puppy (I thought she was a mouse) so she was free (yes we did call rescue centres and vets - no one was interested due to her age and told us to basically let her die and we did put out posters and a social media post).

Her insurance is £9 a month. It cost £80 to neuter her. Food is around £10 a month but it is bought as part of the food shop so it’s not seen as an expense I guess. Grooming is probably the most expensive, as it cost £30 every 8 weeks to trim her hair, nails, clean her bum gland and ears out etc (she’s a Yorkie so her fur mats very easily)

As a puppy she cost us a fortune in classes though, because we hand raised her her social interactions with dogs is poor, and she would bite and growl, so we had to pay for her to basically learn puppy social skills!

Our dog did cost us £130 at the emergency vet last week too because she got a blade of grass caught up her nose! Our moll is so dramatic!

I have 3 cats who are happy to eat supermarkets own cat food. Their favourite is Lidl at £2.29 for a box of 12. Their buiscuts are 89p a box and I get a packet of their own treat style dreamies which I mix in to the basic buiscuits. So spend around £10 per week to feed them.
When I had to put one on a special diet whilst under the vets care one box of food was £15 and the dry was £25. Lucky he was only on this diet for about 8 weeks before he was healthy enough to have his operation. All in all I paid £1400 to restore him to health.
Some thought I was mad and should have just had him put down but he is a young cat and although he is fiv positive he could still live another 10 years or more. He might just be a cat to some but to me he is part of the family.

We have a second hand cat, got him for almost free. Came already neutered, I have a DD for £12 per month for check-ups, jabs and two extra consultations. Maybe £10 a month in food (he eats dry food, believe me we attempted to spoil him rotten when we first got him but he has simple tastes).

No insurance. I have a generous figure in mind that I would go up to if he needed veterinary care, I cannot justify lengthy (or expensive) treatment for a cat that would mean he was in pain recovering from. I fully support euthanasia under these circumstances.

We love him but would not want to see him suffer even if treatment gave him extended life.

Red

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Breakdown of monthly costs for our rescue cat
Insurance £20
Cat litter £10
Dreamies £10
Cat food £40
Vet bills not covered by insurance £20 - £30
Our cat struggles to keep weight on so we feed her frequently and she is picky. She was much cheaper to feed when younger.

Oh and cat sitting costs for holidays

A family member has 2 dogs and 3 cats. It never occurred to her to get any insurance, and now one of the dogs is epileptic, needs medication at 30 a week, and frequent vet stays. It's just a constant round of begging for money and guilting people into paying. It really boils my piss - it's so important to consider the cost of pets!!!

I'd rather pay up if vet treatment is actually needed. If I'd paid insurance for my cats I calculate I would have thrown away £7,000 by now.

I'm going to get flamed for this but......

If a pet of mine had a long term, serious or terminal condition, I would have it put down.

It's an animal not a human. I would not bankrupt myself if insurance wouldn't cover it. Plus I think invasive medical treatment is unfair as the animal doesn't understand why it's happening. It's kinder to just PTS.

We have two gerbils. Cheap as chips.

Obviously bigger pets like cats and dogs are going to cost more. And you'd need a remortgage for a horse.

No flaming from me Firstimpression DH and I feel exactly the same.

I’ve had cats all my life but never insured until this one we have now (age 4). Insurance is £8 per month, I buy flea drops from vet (works out about £10 per month), vaccination boosters about £40 every couple of years and then food (I buy in supermarket). Holiday care, we’re very lucky as my in-laws house/cat sit for us. I work so the agreement with dh (who isn’t really a pet person but loves this cat!) is that I fund her. I’ve never wasted money on accessories, cats live on farms after all so they’ll always seek out a comfy place to sleep and something to play with (a piece of string). My boys adore her, she’s worth it.

We have a dog, 2 cats, 2 rabbits and a lizard. The six of them don’t cost £200 a month. They are my hobby. I follow adopt don’t shop, never buy off gumtree too many people breeding their pets for a quick pound. Rescues overflowing.

It cost me £100 to bring home my elderly rescue dog.

We signed him up to the monthly vets all inclusive payment which covers vaccinations/ boosters, flea and worm prevention treatment, kennel cough vaccination, and among other perks got him discount on dental, which he needed urgently when I got him.

The treatment was just over £700 (I think) with discount. Between that and £800.

He doesn't play with toys and won't sleep on a bed or anything made for a dog; he was probably spoiled by his previous owner (who was elderly and couldn't take him with her to a home) so I don't begrudge him space on my bed.

We enquired about insurance but he's a very very senior dog with a heart murmur and four teeth. It wouldn't have paid out for the dental treatment either. I accept that if he gets a serious illness ie cancer, then we will probably have him pts once he has no quality of life/ is in pain. But if he was a much younger dog, he would be insured.

He's had to have a few treatments since we've had him, nothing huge though it mounts up, but the cost has been managed by missing out on take away, eating out or going anywhere with an entrance fee etc. The benefits to my mental health, having him here with me 24/7, outweigh us having a few more quid.

Which makes me feel a little bit guilty but we all enjoy him and if he's the price of putting a smile on my miserable chops then so be it.

I struggled to afford a dog before I was with my partner though.

I have 2 dogs, 2 hens and 6 chicks. I find it affordable. We bulk buy food and they hardly ever need the vet.

We have two rabbits which cost us the best part of £80 a month, it's all relative to income. For us it's worth it, for others it's a big expense they cant afford.

I would say that costs over the years have really increased. I didn't think about that when we got our dog. When we bought the dog it cost £19 pm for insurance, its now £45. Pet groom was £24, now its £45. We used to get specialist food from vet, now she gets aldi!! The cost of flea, worming and tick treatments have all increased. We didn't factor in any dogs sitters as my family said they were happy to do it but after nearly killing her and their total lack of care we just can't risk that again. So that's about £400/£500 a year. We haven't claimed anything on the insurance in 5 years ....

The cost is something that has weighed on my mind I've tried downgrading the insurance but it was impossible without staying with the same company and having to reduce the cover substantially. Had I known before getting the dog that the costs would only go up and up then I wouldn't have got one.