Useless poll: How much does it cost to own three pets for 10 years?
 

When I met my wife she had a little green parrot (conure). Before long she wanted a cat. A few years later she wanted a dog.

Today, the bird is 15 years old. The cat is 12 years old. The dog is 9.

I recently ran a report on Quicken to see the financial cost of animal ownership. Record keeping started in 1995. How much do you think it costs to own three animals for ten years. I'll post the number soon.

The bird will out live you...but they are cheap. The cat and dog are on borrowed time soon. My guess would be 10-12K at least. got two big dogs, a cat, and an African Grey parrot myself. Going to the vet is $300.00 a pop sometimes.

1 female Bullmastiff
1 male Blue Russian
1 female Tabby

$1200 per year for food, vet., and misc. bones and toys - including pruchase price of the animals.

I'd imagine that 2 goldfish and a hamster might be a bit cheaper.

i have a very good friend who is a vet some my costs have deminished greatly over the last couple years. infact i may need him to come by tonite to knock the cat out so i can clean his feet. they are packed with tar from a slurry seal of my street this week. seems he walked throught the oiled road. its a F'ing mess.

i'd say 2500-5000, not including food.

To date we've spent $11,444.77!

The bird is about middle aged now. He could live 30 years or more. The other two are slowing down a bit, but still going strong.

still cheaper than kids. i got two dogs, and a cat. 5 years and i am knocking on your amount. but not fair, one dog has a tumour on it's adrenal gland. cushing's disease. but you cant tell, she is a fighter.

The more fair question to ask is how much do people benefit from the pets' companionship over their lifetime ?

11K sounds about right for standard care and maintence.

I highly recommend pet insurance.

Had always thought about it but never did anything till the pooch blew an ACL. Dakota was only 4 1/2 so putting her down was not an option as far as I was concerned.

Got her a TPLO, tibial plateu leveling, $3000, ouch, but I made a commitment to care for her when I took her in so what are you gonna do?

The vet tells us that they blow ACL's because of the angle of the joint and if they blow one they are almost garaunteed to blow the other.

Got some pet insurance right away and sure enough almost a year to the day that she blew the first knee the other one went. Only this time it cost me a $1000 and insurance covered the rest.

Insurance also partially covers medication, vaccinations and regular check ups.

You can usually get the forms from your vet.

Scott

What's the typical cost for insurance?

It pretty much depends on the animal, breed, age, etc...

Dakota is a 9 year old Mastiff/Newfie cross so she's pretty much a sr. citizen these days.

We are paying about $35 a month and probably break even for the year.

Dakota is on a couple of meds and is a bit high maintence so for her it's worth it.

We don't have it for the 2 cats cause they never break. Worst that happens with them is the female gets a UTI now and again.

You should check with your vet for the specifics.

Scott

I read one time that the amount of money that is spent on pets in the US exceeds the GNP of Mexico.

We have a newfoundland and a big cost is wear and tear on the house and anything else he comes in contact with. He is definatly high maintenance but I think the wife would get rid of me before her dog.

Still cheaper than kids! I'll take cats or dogs (or birds I suppose) any day!

I had TPLO done on BOTH my Airedales knees about 5 years ago. same situation, too young to NOT do it. How is your dog doing now? Mine can walk real good but he has good and bad days depending on the weather. He is also a bit bowlegged from the surgery. But he is still alive and kickin'. I got a deal...$5 K for both knees. ...The things we do for our animals.

wish we had insured the 2 cats. one was recently diagnosed with renal failure - all said and done it was a $3.5K bill. unfortunately he has a brother.

Targa,

Dog is doing great. She has bad hips though. They've been a mess since before the TPLO's. Dakota is also slightly bowlegged. Never thought about it till you mentioned it.

It's been 4 years since the first and 3 since the second operation.

Depending on the weather she gets a bit stiff now and then so we load her up on Rymadyl. Good stuff but expensive.

dmcummins,

I hear you on the house wear and tear. The hair is the worst part. We vacuum every other day and sometimes every day. Then there is the "spooge", Dakota's native american name is "Dripping Face". It's easy enough to clean off the walls before it dries but when she gets it on the ceiling that's another situation all together.

Still she's not as bad as the male English Mastiff that we had, he was 225 lbs. Even though we kept his nails clipped short the shear weight of him walking around destroyed the wood floors in our last house.

Scott

Scott.. I can't believe we are talking about the same things. Yes Henry is a big guy 105 lbs. He blew one knee out and then the other before we could get him to the vets because he was so damn stubborn. It's a terrier thing. We had to walk him with a towel until we could get him hooked up with the operation. We have all tile floors and just lately he decided not to walk on them, so I had to put runners throughout the house so he could get better traction. Amazingly he walks with his weight shifted to his front legs so he has gotten really broad across the chest. We use the Rymadyl also. I have learned to just give him a half though. It eases the pain but dosen't make him stupid. I feel sorry for him sometimes but the alternative is unthinkable. He still keeps his little (85 lbs) brother in line.