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.

My cat costs around £42 a month for his food, insurance and flea and worm treatments. He's worth every penny. 😁

I have a horse, this type of question is one we do not answer or think about because it will reduce us to tears. 😂

The cat is cheaper by far, but don't know how much to be honest. His food arrives every 3 weeks by Amazon as Tesco was just irritating on not having it in stock. Buy cat litter when needed, he doesn't often use the litter box.

Cat about £60 per month. Expensive as she mostly prefers to be in and won't use a cat flap and so gets through a lot of cat litter. She is also a fussy eater and has a dreamies habit. Dreamies have gone up significantly this year!

The vet has said she probably only has a few months left. We won't have another one, but only because my husband isn't keen.

1 dog and 4 rabbits, all insured. I think the insurance is about 8 quid a month per rabbit and the dogs is around 40 although we need to shop around as it's gone up a lot.

They are all on pet plans with our vet which covers annual vax and monthly worming for the dog I think that's about 15 quid a month means we can spread the cost of vax over a year and it's cheaper than doing it annually.

Rabbit plans are about 5 quid a month per rabbit and that covers vax and also fly strike treatment for summer.

Just switched to Aldi wet dog food which is significantly cheaper that nature diet which we were buying before.

Rabbit food doesn't cost much, in winter I buy massive bales of hay from the farm shop for about 8 pounds and they last a month or two.

We have a ball python. He costs us:

£0.79 x 4 = £3.16 per month for his food (1 x small weaner rat per week)
£10 approx per month for bedding
Heating costs - varies per month but can't quantify - it's a 150W ceramic heat emitter, but it doesn't run all the time - it goes through a pulse thermostat to keep the temp correct. It doesn't have to work too hard unless it's particularly cold. Ball pythons don't have the really high temperature requirements that some reptiles need.
No insurance but if he needs vet treatment we'd be into our savings to pay the exotic vet for that.

Large 7yr old dog here.
£60 food (raw food)
£57 insurance
£15 pet plan for wormer, flea treatment, tick treatment
£50 groomer (optional - I can do it myself)
£15 treats

Also, remember that vet consults cost £43.50!

Bloody HELL. Our GSD girls died some years ago & we've thought off & on since then about getting another. I so miss having a furry friend or two, but hadn't realised costs had gone up SO much.. :-0

Cats are very cheap until they need medical attention.
£3.50 a week to feed (small cat, indoor by her choice so not using up calories).
Litter
Insurance
Multi-meal feeder copes with all trips away bar main holiday

old dog for the last two years of his life, 200 quid a month plus extras for things like bed replacement, car ramp, vitamins and supplements and so on.

I would also advise to take advantage of offers - butternut box offer 50% off first 2 boxes (yes I will admit I’ve had a couple of family members order boxes for me!) and his yumove supplements (he takes 3 different ones) normally cost £50 a time, got an 80% discount code for new customers in an email… cancelled my subscription and got 3 months worth for £12… needs must!

Cat is £12 a month insurance, £2-3 depending on how many collars he loses, about £15 every three weeks on food and £2.50 a month on the flea treatment. So £35-40 a month. Extra £50 a week to have cat looked after if we holiday and so far one trip to the vets in six year, which cost £85 and there wasn’t much wrong.

We have a dogs a German shepherd and a golden retriever. They are raw fed £220 for 30 days, vetbox £16 monthly for flea and worm, £32pm insurance. Jabs once a year £45 each. No idea how much I spend in treats and snacks.

Just added up for our dog- insurance, food, supplements, vets fees, grooming etc

Averages to £130.00 a month

Hmm... <glares at hairy freeloader>

I have a 14 year old cat, safe costs around £110 per month to run 🤣

*she

9 year old lab here, costs per month:

Insurance - £120
Food - £60
Yumove supplement - £60
Pain injection - £80
Anti Itch injection - £180
Anti inflammatories - £30
Vets written prescriptions - £20
Skin treatment oil - £30
Skin treatment shampoo - £20
Flea & worm treatment - £40

We won't be getting another dog once she's gone

My cat is the same

he is 18 now insurance is £40 then £15 for vaccinations and frontline/worming tablets. my friends who’s car is 19 they can’t get insurance for under £200

and he is so fussy with food end up throwing a lot away, I add a tiny knob of butter when he turns his nose up at his food he will then sometimes carry on eating. The vet wasn’t impressed but ffs he is 18 no health issues so added to our food bill too

but he is worth it 🥰

there is a lovely Netflix programme about cats

Three cats. I only give them good quality food, comes to about £300 a month. Insurance is about £50. One of them is an ex-stray with lots of health problems, so vet bills not covered by insurance + excesses is probably about £500 a year. He had dental surgery recently, which isn't covered, and that was £1,500. He's an expensive boy, but worth it.

For our 12 year old greyhound, probably over £100 a month, minus vet checks:

Insurance is £400 a year, but he's now excluded from a lot of conditions due to his age. Also most insurance policies don't cover dental work, so if you can get that through a separate plan your vet offers I would recommend looking into it. We just paid £1500 to have some teeth out and general cleaning work done.

Food is probably around £75 a month, but he's a big lad and fed a good quality raw diet and natural treats.

Don't want to think about the costs of the reptiles at the moment with electric prices being what they are. At least they havn't needed much supplementary heating during the heatwave!

We have two dogs and a cat, this is about right fir us too. One of our dogs also needs regular injections and so that all costs a lot too.
I think you are being so wise to give this such consideration, OP. We all love our furry family to bits however I have said to DH and DD that these are the last now because of the expense which is really sad.

Horse.
£80 a week livery (including feed and bedding)
£50 every 6 weeks farrier
£50 a year vaccinations and working.

Training and Competitions on top.

2 cats, £30 month food, big bag dried food. Flea treatment £10 month. No insurance or vaccinations, one is 18 other is 7.

I have a Cavalier King Charles. Insurance £80 a month (paid for itself many times over!): food about £60, flea and worming £19 per month (vet plan which also includes his vaccine).

then the additional costs are if he needs a walker (£12 per walk) and if I go away £30 for someone to stay and sit him.

i just spent £2k on vet fees for a lump removal and teeth issues - but all covered by insurance.

i reckon to be safe - and making sure you get insurance - you’d need to make sure you can pay £200 per month. You probably won’t need to. But I’d say that’s a reasonable worst case scenario estimate

2 non-pedigree cats =
£60 Insurance (may go up next year)
£15 for medication rising to 70+ once insurance stops covering early next year (old cats with short term policies)
£70 food (one cat is fussy the other has digestive issues so only the expensive stuff or homemade meals will do 😭)
£20 cat litter

Fucking hell, that's scary seeing those figures 🤦‍♀️