To be nosy and ask how much your pet costs you per month?

[phoneybaloney]

We very sadly lost our dog recently and we are all really missing having a pet.

I am currently very torn about getting another pet in the future, purely due to the rising costs of living. This feels sad to me as we definitely feel all the benefits of having a pet. My old dog was such a boost to my mental health, and I think I'd sacrifice other things like TV subscriptions etc to prioritise having a pet BUT I am thinking cautiously about it from a finances point of view.

If you have a dog, a cat (we may go cat instead of dog, it's a current family debate), or any other pet and are happy to tell me your monthly costs I'd really appreciate it.

Food, insurance, flea and worm treatment, vaccinations, vets, etc. It all adds up doesn't it and I want to be aware of costs. Even since my dog passed with everything going up it's definitely my main thing to consider.

The dog probably costs around £100 a month, the cats probably £30-40 each.

We have 4 indoor Guinea pigs. I wanted to reply because people often think Guinea pigs are a cheap option - they’re really not. They’re classed as exotic pets and if they need vet treatment the prices are extraordinary. And you can’t get them insured either. We recently had to have one of our piggies eyes removed as it was badly scratched by some hay and it cost us £650!

Border terrier owner here...
£200 a year pay plan lifetime insurance.
She eats anything so I'll probably put her on the wet Chappie we have for our elderly dog as it's good for them if they get pancreatitis later in life. It's £1 a day for a can and she needs 1/2 a day.

We have her vaccinated once a year for £25 and the pet plan covers all illness and accidents.

She goes to work with DH

But on the occasion he's not available and I'm in work she goes to a wonderful day care for £20 a day. So it can really add up, but it's worth it because she's tired afterwards.

We did have her on butternut box and that is expensive but she loved it. I might have to have a think about re ordering it tbh. Think it was 48 pouches for £50 but she would eat it in seconds!

@Afterfire omg!

@phoneybaloney my mum has just rescued an ex racer greyhound and he is the laziest dog ever. Just let him run round an enclosed park for 30 mins a day and he sleeps the other 23.5 hours a day!

I spend £30 a month on food, £10 litter, £27 every three months on flea and worm treatment and £29 a month on insurance. This is per cat We were paying £15 a month insurance but learned the hard way that we only got 3k cover for that and a cat hit by a car on the weekend would cost around £12k to save (it actually wasn't possible to save her, but if it was, we would have ended up in horrible debt,) so we've upped insurance for our remaining car to the highest level.

We also spend around £100 every three months at the vet on some minor ailment or another! (Eye infections, wound from fighting etc etc)

The cat lady who feeds him when we go on holiday and plays with him for a bit costs £10 per day (she feeds him in the morning, then sets food in a timer bowl for the next meal)

We have a lhasapoo.
food 50 ish a month
vet plan 14 a month
insurance 44 a month
daycare 200 a month
treats toys etc 30-50 a month
grooming 35 every 8 weeks
plus any vet treatment that we don’t claim on insurance for. Last year that was about 500.

Older cat - £100 a month. It was a tiny fraction of this when he was young and much healthier. Insurance, health pet club (worming and check ups) and food.

We have a medium sized dog here. He needs grooming every 6-8 weeks which is £40. Insurance is £22 a month. Food and treats about £40 per month. Maybe an extra £10-20 per month for things like toys, flea and worming etc. We've been lucky enough to only need a couple vet visits the 3 years we've had him and that's just for ear infections.

Overall I haven't found the cost too bad but I know we're lucky due to working patterns etc we don't need a dog walker and we haven't been away without him yet so haven't had boarding costs or anything like that yet.

I have dogs, chickens and gerbils. Chickens are cheap and easy. Gerbils have been very expensive lately (one had a tumour removed costing £200, another was just unwell and cost £100 but was nurser back to health).

Dogs are retrievers and decent insurance is £50/month. Mine are raw fed so about £45 each on food/month. We don't routinely buy many treats or anything else for them, but my last dog had skin issues and cost £100 every four weeks for a cytopoint injection 🤦🏽‍♀️ it just wasn't worth keeping him insured for the price of it so when he got to about 9 I just paid for all the vet bills myself.

Cat costs £30-40
dog costs me £60

both have good food (burns/royal canin)& both insured.

tgis isn’t including vets bills.

if you got a rescue cat or dog they will already be chipped/vaccinated/neutered etc so you wouldn’t have the big initial outlay

Both absolutely worth it & I see it as a necessary bill.

Big dog and senior cat here:

Cat - food - £20 a month, meds - £30 a month, vet checks - £200 over the year, holidays - friends come in to feed and medicate.
Dog - food - £50 a month, daycare - £250 a month (3 days a week), insurance - £80 a month, vet - £300 a year inc meds. Holidays are £400 extra for his boarding.

We'd love another dog but can't afford it.

We have a cat, I pay £20 per month insurance and £14 for a vet plan which covers flea treatment, worming and the yearly vaccinations. Probably about £10 per month on food. So £44 pcm.

I have a 12 and a half year old CKCS that I’ve had from a puppy. I work from home 3 days a week, on the 2 days I go to the office, she goes to a superb doggie day care

her current monthly costs are:

£14.00 - vet care plan (all flea&t icky treatments plus vaccinations)
£74.54 - Petplan insurance
£30.00 - heart medication
£90.00 - special stomach friendly food
£160.00 - doggie day care
total: £368.54
(excludes treats😁)

I have a doodle breed dog - I pay around £14 a month for insurance (just a pup at the moment), £18 a month for pet plan at the vet which includes free 6 month check up, dental checks, free flea and worming every month, free annual vaccinations. I pay around £50 a month for butternut box but also another £50 I would say on dental chews and treats (natural products such as rabbit ears, chicken feet etc). 4 hours a week daycare costs £75 a month, he is also on a multitude of supplements and herbal remedies for his anxiety and his skin and coat issues (dry and itchy) which costs another £40 ish pound a month (buy them every 2 months so split the cost in half to make it monthly).

So yeah I would say around the £200-250 a month mark

Our elderly 16 year old staffy costs us 10-15 pounds a month and has done since forever.

She is fed on wagg the cheapest dry food available, she is uninsured and never visited a vet other than her initial vaccinations.

We realise we have been incredibly lucky and at 16 if she was to fall ill now she would be getting PTS. We will not be getting another pet after she dies.

Forgot grooming! That’s £45 per month

Oh yes I forgot grooming too! Around £50 a month!

Horse £700 (she’s old and has health issue, it’s a nightmare). Don’t get one of those!

Hens £10 although they had a new house recently which was £400

3 Cats were £130ish but we have recently lost them all (2 younger ones to accidents and an older one) we are getting another imminently but are debating 1 or 2 due to cost.

In short, far too much.

I have a golden retriever, his joint insurance policy with my cat is £49, food is £60 a month, vet plan for jabs, worming and flea, and check ups is £15 a month, classes and toys / treats £40 a month. So £164 a month.

I have a dog and two cats, and spend roughly £150 a month on the three of them together. Tbf, it could be cheaper - I feed them grain free food which is more expensive, but then they seem healthier on it, the dog gets probably too many treats, and it includes some activities/classes I do with the dog too. I have insurance with Many Pets, and chose the policy where you get some money back if you don't claim for the year, so that should hopefully offset some costs too.

One cat is cheap to run as she is only eats dry (and roast chicken) so about £5 dry food £3 chicken and £15 insurance.

Old rescue is not insured as she was old when I got her and had no history - about £20 a month food. Plus a chicken as she complains if she get left out.

Then about £5 a month flea

Dog - about £80 (young lab) all in.

Horse - hahahahhahahahah. We don't talk about that. That's non negotiable though.

We have cats

It's about £100 each for flea treatment

£35 each for vet check up once a year each

£41 for vaccinations each

Food is £133 for dry food
Wet sachets about £200

Treats £10

Cattery for one week in the summer £200!!

So basics are £650 approx plus Cattery.

It was about £300 a year for one before the price hikes so it's an extra £50 per day now over a year.

forgot the grooming.

She costs £35 twice a year because her coat needs hand stripping

Maybe around £100-£120 a month or a bit more. That's everything - dry and wet food, treats, insurance, healthy pet club which is a monthly payment that gets her 2 vet check ups a year, includes all her monthly flea and worm treatments and her annual boosters, litter (that she never uses because she always uses my strawberry patch 🤬) etc except her Christmas presents, which is maybe £50 ish a year.