Pets can make great companions and bring joy to your life. Unfortunately they can also take a toll on your personal finances. This can range from the expected costs, like the cost of food and regular veterinarian visits, to unexpected costs like treating a heart condition or allergies.
As some of you may know, we have a 22 year-old cat. My wife has had Lena since she was very young and she’s the only pet we currently have. Over the past couple years she’s started to itch quite a bit, particularly on her ears.
We’ve brought her to the vet a number of times (we found ours on Angie’s List and are really happy with them) and tried various treatments. They have been successful short-term, but giving your pet steroids and topical treatments for the rest of their life is not ideal.
What we found out is that she most likely developed a food allergy. This isn’t terrible news, but it will mean her food takes up a bigger part of our budget. The prescription food, which is made primarily out of duck, is approximately $2 a can (and that’s after getting free shipping). She eats half a can in the morning and half a can at night, so $2 a day or $730 a year. This would be much more costly if we had a dog, as they eat much more than a 6 pound cat.
About four weeks ago we ran into another problem with our cat. We woke up and she had blood pooling at the bottom of one eye. The pupil was tiny compared to the other one, and she was not opening it very much. Unfortunately it was Sunday, so we had to bring her to a 24/7 clinic which inevitably was more expensive.
We were there for three hours, which was unfortunate because it definitely wasn’t making her feel any better being there that long. The financial damage was $275. The vet had also offered an additional $750 worth of optional tests that would help us identify the problem, as well as suggested we go to an eye specialist. We declined.
The only other financial cost from this was a visit to our regular vet that cost us $80. Our vet is amazing and if you have a pet make sure you find one that you can trust and that is on the same page as you.
This experience serves as a good reminder that pets can be expensive. It’s important to consider these costs before taking on the huge financial and personal responsibility of a dog or cat. I know people who have had to pay anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 to treat an injured or sick pet. Most young adults are prepared for that sort of financial responsibility or sacrifice.
There are options available such as pet insurance that can help alleviate the financial risk. Besides that I’m a big advocate of setting aside a small amount each month and building a “pet emergency fund.” It doesn’t have to be a large amount of money, but any amount can help.
Have you had to deal with a pet developing a food allergy, needing to seek emergency care, or that has become expensive for one reason or another?
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Photo at top by Chris Bartels
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We’ve definitely been there before! One of our little Lhasa apsos got a dental bone stuck in her esophagus one day last spring- she spent in total about 8 hours at our vet before they decided they needed to send her to the emergency vet for a procedure. Total cost for the whole day- over $700. We promptly threw away ALL the dental bones! Never again!! You definitely need to be prepared for unexpected expenses like this when you bring a pet into your life.
colormefrugalWow I’m glad that they are okay! That sounds like quite the traumatic experience. $700 sounds reasonable considering everything that had to be done in your case!
Yep we’ve been there! Our dog Ruby has a thyroid deficiency that took a long time to diagnose and until the vet figured it out, we were dealing with all sorts of side effects like ear infections and such. That was a crazy expensive summer when she got sick. Thankfully she is much better now!
BudgetforMore Good to hear she is better now! It’s hard to see a pet suffer and not know what the underlying cause is.
Wow, sorry to hear about your cat – especially with the eye issue. Our cat is 11 or 12 and we’ve had to have him on some special food for the past five or six years as he got an infection years ago and this is the only food he can eat. The bag is around $75 per bag which is well worth it to keep him from having to see the vet.
FrugalRulesYeah the wet food definitely isn’t cheap but it could be so much worse. Plus she’s so old that we will do pretty much anything to make sure she is comfortable at this stage in her life. Thankfully the eye is better now *fingers crossed*
I’m sorry to hear that your cat is having trouble. It’s always hard at this stage, but 22 years is incredibly impressive! We have two cats and got our last one just over 2 years ago. He had a lot of GI trouble for the first few months and we were spending a ton of money. My wife and I were starting to seriously talk about whether we could keep doing it when we finally found something that (mostly) fixed the problem. It’s definitely important to remember that while pets can bring us a lot of joy, they really can cost a lot of money.
Matt @ Mom and Dad Money Yeah going past 20 is really incredible. She’s very resilient. Must be her 22 hours of sleep she gets a day ;) Your story is another good warning. I think you have to be fully invested in a pet before you get it because I don’t think it’s fair to the pet to be anything but fully invested. You need to be willing to lay out the cash if they need care. I’m glad you found something that fixes the problem for the most part!
We do the pet emergency fund just like you suggest. It saved us this past month when one of our dogs developed an ear infection. Big expense at the vet taken care of with cash. That was a good feeling.
Brian @ Luke1428 Good to hear your dog (and wallet) are okay! The thing about pets is if something is wrong they can’t tell you specifically what is going on. Like with our cat’s eye. We were lucky the drops worked, but they literally had $750 of tests they were willing to run to try to identify the problem.
I’m still amazed your kitty is 22! From the picture she looks like a sweetheart :) I like the idea of a pet emergency fund – it’s smart if you’re going to take on the responsibility of owning pets. Our cats haven’t had any health issues yet (knock on wood!) but I know animals can develop costly conditions just like people – my parents have an 11 year old lab who has bad allergies and diabetes on top of that.
CSMillennialThis is one of the best pics I’ve seen of our cat for sure. We used it on our Christmas card haha. The nice thing about cats is they seem to develop less problems than dogs. I have no proof or evidence of this, just what I’ve experienced.
Pets can be a real money drain, but absolutely worth it in my opinion. One of our cats is prone to UTIs because he doesn’t drink enough water. We tried everything from a cat water fountain, special foods, “force” feeding him water in a syringe. When we moved to our new place he magically started drinking water again. After hundreds of dollars in tests and “stuff” our vet decided that he was just stressed out and needed more space (our new place is a two bedroom, our last was a one). Go figure. We still love him :-)
StudentDebtSurvivorGosh that sounds so terrible! My cat is very picky about her water source, so I refill her glass cup twice a day with cold water. She drinks it then. In response to your cat not being stressed in the new home, ironically my parent’s cat was SO stressed when we moved when I was a kid that she went blind soon after the move. Isn’t that terrible???
So sorry to hear about Lena’s health problems!! Our lab, who we had to put down nearly 11 years ago, had huge allergies to just about everything and cost us lots of money as we tried to treat them. Not only did we feel so bad for him, itching all the time, but it was expensive!
Laurie TheFrugalFarmer My father-in-law’s dog had allergies and I felt really bad when he was itching all the time. Our cat itches quite a bit but it’s gone down some with the medications and special diet.
Poor baby! Hope she feels better!
BudgetBlondeShe is feeling better now! I thought she was a goner a few weeks back and it was a very sad night, but she’s resilient and recovered – pretty amazing if you ask me!
We had a little Shi-Tzu up until a couple of years ago.It’s amazing how seemingly small issues can add up to big dollar signs. I remember one time where she was having some issues with her eyes, we ended up having a weekend vet visit and a $400 bill.
Like others have mentioned, when we still had a dog we saved an emergency fund just for pet expenses. You never know when you’ll have a need!
moneymattersThose weekend vet visits are killer. I bet they charge more for dogs, too. It’s incredible how expensive the bills can get, though at the same time it’s like ‘what do you expect?’ Vets have years of school/training as well as the fact that health care is something people are willing to shell out money for, even if it’s a pet.
I just got a puppy two weeks ago! He’s not expensive yet but could definitely be in the future. The last dog I had was pretty expensive. She was a Siberian Husky and needed tons of exercise so after purchasing an invisible fence and shelling out vets fees we had $600 in her the first week!
SingleMomIncomeHuskys are awesome!!! Also, congrats on the puppy! I’m surprised you haven’t posted pics yet : )
Wow..I did not know cats live that long. We do not have any pets so I have never experienced any pet emergencies or allergies. However, I hear from my friends who have pets that it can get expensive sometimes.
BorrowedCentsThey typically never live more than 20 years, that’s for sure! It definitely can get expensive at times.
I don’t have any pets but my sister has a chihuahua and she has told me all about the expenses they incur. Hope your kitty is feeling better.
Raquel@Practical CentsLena is feeling a lot better, amazingly! Veterinarians definitely are not cheap, nor is the food and medications they need, either.
I don’t have cats, but I never realized they could be so expensive! I learn something everyday…
moneyconeIt’s not always like this. Lena was pretty inexpensive most of her life, but as she’s gotten older things have come up. I guess it’s hard to complain when in the first 20 years she only had to go to the vet twice.
22 years old?! Could cats live that long?
Well, I’ve never seen a cat that old, I thought snakes are the ones who could live that long as pets.
moneysavingdudeAlmost never. haha. I actually have never personally known of a cat living more than 20 years. Snakes would be terrible pets.
We have been fortunate to avoid too many big expenses with our golden retrievers. But as our oldest continues to age, we know big bills might be on the horizon. We are self-insuring, for now, but when that first big bill comes in we may think otherwise. Thanks for the reminder.
DonebyForty I have also considered purchasing pet insurance but so far have not. I don’t think our cat is insurable because of her age haha but if we get a dog I’ll probably consider it.
I feel your pain David! We had a cat 10+ years ago that developed food allergies. We fed it this special venison cat food and it was also quite expensive. Once our first child was born the cat became and inside/outside cat and was eventually eaten by coyotes (we think). It was a bitter/sweet moment…
RatherBeShoppingYikes…I’m pretty sure we’ll never have an outdoor cat because they tend to be a lot rougher (for obvious reasons) and seem to have more potential medical problems.
I know exactly how you feel. My cat has IBS and it’s very expensive to treat and manage. Hope kitty feels better!
PlungedinDebtLena has been doing better! IBS sure does sound like it would be quite the expensive condition to treat.
It always happens, DC.. With every single pet.
I love my little puppy with all of my heart, but she is far pricier than I ever thought she would be when we got her. Vet bills, grooming, food, toys.. Plus boarding when we go out of town.
seedebtrunAt this point in our cat’s life we may have to pay someone to ‘watch’ her while we’re gone on vacation. If something goes wrong it will need to be treated within a day I’m sure and who knows what could go wrong at this point in her life. We plan on getting a dog eventually and I’m fully aware of how expensive that can potentially be!
I’m sorry to hear about Lena. Hope she is feeling better! Our cat, Prince, is just a few years old so he’s still in good health and we haven’t incurred any huge bills yet. But I do know people who have spent thousands takings care of their pets. It’s a tough, personal decision. It can get expensive quickly when they become ill but they are also members of the family too.
ShannonRyanLena is doing much better! I personally think that if you have a pet you should be prepared to spend the money you have to spend to get it the proper care. Yes, it can be expensive at times, but hopefully that’s something most people are aware of before diving into owning a pet.
I am sorry to hear about your cat, but totally agree with the “pet emergency fund” planning idea. It’s amazing how people plan for kids but not for pets. The hard part is that both give us such joy; however, both also come with extra costs.
blonde_financeI agree with you about the kids comparison. Yes, they aren’t kids and are not as expensive as kids, but even with that being said it’s important to make sure we have the money to pay for them in the event they need medical care.
Oh wow I had no idea about the age of your cat! I’m so sorry about everything that has happened.
We have two dogs. One is a mutt and has always been healthy, but the other we know will have a lot of medical problems in the next few years :(
SenseofCentsYep 20+ years old! I’ve heard quite a bit about your dogs through your blog. My wife really wants one and we may get our friend’s goldendoodle because she’s moving to Japan for 5 years. I’m on the fence on whether I would want that sort of responsibility just yet : )
I quickly decided as soon as I got my cats that the vet can just have all my money right now because I never want these little guys to be in any pain!
Also, interesting that your regular vet visit is $80. What city is this in? Mine in Brooklyn is $50 and I have no idea if that’s high or low; it was just the closest to my apartment.
lintaciousI live in Minneapolis, MN. It was $80 but that included cleaning her ears and testing a sample of the crap that was in her ears. I’d say $50 is about what I pay for a visit.
Awe poor little thing. You are totally right about the expenses though, and have had to deal with two emergencies with Pepe over his life so far. It’s worse then when something happens to your car. And I love my pet so I’m willing to do A LOT to keep him healthy.
BeachbudgetI remember you blogging about your cat and it’s issues. I would be willing to pay a lot to keep Lena healthy. It’s funny because at this point I would decline expensive things like going to a cat optometrist mainly because she’s so old that it would be a VERY traumatic experience for her! She’d be better off having her pain managed at home where she’s comfortable. But when you have a young cat some of those pricier care items make sense.
Wow, a 22 year old cat. That is really impressive and crazy at the same time. I’m simply hoping we can have our dogs around for 15 years but if they make it in the 20+ range, I’ll be a very happy individual. I’ve already given my expensive pet account and will be dealing with the last bit today. I have to run both of my dogs to the vet to get the stiches out and they can finally move around again without the cone of shame.
MicrosMissionsHaha the cone of shame, so sad. I hope your dogs live for a long time as well. When I thought Lena was passing a couple weeks ago it was very difficult. It made me question if I should even get dogs because I’m not sure how I will deal with them passing.
Pets are so precious. If you can afford them, they are definitely worth the money! They can get pricey, though.
Suburban Finance I agree, definitely worth the money.
We have an 18 year old handicapped cat, so I am very familiar with vet visits. A few weeks ago we took him to have some fluid drained – after hours, so it was $179 to remove a syringe of fluid.
Alicia @FinDiffraction 18 is really getting up there! My parent’s cat lived from 16-19 completely blind, so it’s pretty impressive how resilient cats are in general. Thanks for the complement too, she’s very photogenic haha.
They really can be expensive, but so worth it if you can afford it. 22 years is incredible and I wish her many more healthy years!
A 22 year old cat??? Wow…my daughter will be happy to hear that cats can live that long – she is VERY attached to both our cats (who will turn 11 this year). I’m sorry to hear that Lena has had some issues of late. I used to shrug my shoulders when people would talk about spending hundreds of dollars on a pet and wonder why they’d do that – now when I think of our furry friends having issues I’m positive I’d do the same thing. :)
DebtChroniclesYeah good news for your daughter, some cats do live a long time! My parents cat lived until 19 and was completely blind the last 3 years. If that’s not impressive, I’m not sure what is haha.
So sorry to hear about your cat’s health. As a board member of an animal rescue, I see how quickly one little health issue can add up. I’m a firm believer in pet insurance or emergency funds for pets, if you can afford it.
fitisthenewpoorPet insurance is a great idea, and I probably will get it if/when we get a dog (maybe as early as this Summer!). I think most young adults are not prepared for the financial responsibility that comes with having a dog or cat.
so sorry to hear about your cat. We’ve just adopted a kitty (and possibly her mother?) via a semi-feral alley cat who moved her and her baby into our apartment after Thanksgiving. The kitty had a bad eye infection in both eyes and we had to take her to the vet and got prescriptions for it. But I’m finally at a place in my life where a kitty is something we can afford and I cherish the relationship. The mother comes and goes and may or may not move out of our apartment but we’d be happy to keep her if she stays too.
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