What your pet really costs you/13 ways to save big on pet care

It's easy to forget about long-term costs when you first see that fluffy tail and those big eyes. Educate yourself first, choose the right pet or breed, and learn how to reduce the expenses.

By Liz Pulliam Weston


If you've ever owned a big dog, you know they're expensive to feed.

So you might be surprised to know that your petite pussycat, who turns her delicate nose up at every other meal, is likely to cost you more over her lifetime than the typical large dog.

• Talk back: Would you go into debt over aging pets?

How can that be? Although cats typically eat less than most dogs and usually incur lower vet bills, they tend to live longer. So while dog ownerships translates into a financial commitment of about $8,000 over the animal's lifetime, the typical cat will set you back more than $10,000.

Lifetime pet costs:

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/3199/uowppib9.png

*Annual expenses

Sources: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, MSN Money research

The annual totals include food, recurring medical care, litter (if required), toys and treats, licenses (if required) and pet insurance (on which I have mixed feelings; read "Should you buy pet insurance?" for more).

Setup costs include various gear, training classes for dogs, spaying or neutering, and other initial medical costs, such as worming, basic blood tests and insertion of a microchip ID tag.

These estimates don't include:

• The expenses of purchasing or adopting the animal.
  
  
• Modifications you may make to your home, such as a dog door or gates.
  
  
• The sometimes extraordinary price tags of veterinary care if a pet suffers an accident or develops a serious disease.

Now, anytime I write about the financial costs of pet ownership, I inevitably hear from outraged animal lovers who say you can't put a price tag on the unconditional love a pet offers.

Perhaps. But those of us who advocate responsible pet ownership -- including the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA, which provided the cost figures I'm using in this column -- believe it's important to be realistic about the expenses involved so you can budget appropriately for your pet.

"Finding the love of your life in a dog or cat body is the easy part," said Stephanie Shain, the Humane Society's director of outreach. "The hard part is slowing down a bit and really thinking about what this involves. . . . Can you afford this pet?"

Unfortunately, it's the folks who don't think about the costs who are doing their pets and themselves a disservice:

• Shelters are filled with animals abandoned because their owners can no longer afford them. The nation's mortgage crisis has increased the number of "foreclosure pets," those left behind because families can't find apartments that will accept them or can't afford the increased deposits required. As the economy deteriorates, Shain said, more owners discover the costs of food, litter or veterinary care are too much for their shrinking budgets.
  
  
• Pet owners pinched by costs may be tempted to shortchange their animals by not getting regular veterinary care, for example, or resorting to cheap foods that can cause health problems.
  
  
• At the other extreme, pet owners can sacrifice their own financial stability trying to care for pets they can't afford.

If you're deep in debt and struggling to make ends meet, you may long for the comfort of some furry companionship, but now isn't the time to add another pet to your household. Get your finances on track first.

If you're overwhelmed by the expenses of the pets you've already got, Shain recommended contacting local shelters, animal rescue groups and human services agencies, such as food banks, to see what help might be available.

"Shelters and rescue groups understand there's a problem, and they're trying to help," Shain said. Such aid can include pet food banks, free litter and programs that include discounted veterinary care, including spaying and neutering "so six months from now you don't have six cats instead of one," she said.

If you're considering getting a pet, here's what I'd recommend:

• Get a detailed cost estimate.The ASPCA guidelines are just a starting point. Costs and life span can very enormously by breed. A Great Dane, for example, can easily cost three times more to feed than a typical large dog. Some breeds are also prone to genetic or other health problems, which will affect your vet bills. Talk to your vet and people who own the breed you want for details.
  
  
• Consider the time commitment as well. Cost isn't the only factor that leads people to regret pets. You may discover you don't have sufficient time to devote to the animal. Think about the animal's needs -- for walks, grooming, training (a must for dogs) and how that will fit with your lifestyle.
  
  
• Reduce costs on the front end. Adoption from a shelter or rescue group is typically far less expensive than buying an animal from a pet shop or breeder However, rescue groups may require "donations" of hundreds of dollars for a placement (do your research).
  
  
• Save up in advance.You should be able to pay those acquisition costs, along with all the other setup expenses, in cash. If you don't plan to buy pet insurance for your dog or cat, set up a special savings account for veterinary care and transfer a few hundred dollars to it each year.

Liz Pulliam Weston's latest book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

Published July 17, 2008

There are more pets than people in U.S. households, and businesses are continually crafting ways for humans to spend more on their four-legged friends.

By MarketWatch

Few pet owners consider the years of spending ahead of them when they first pick up that puppy with the limpid eyes, but the costs can add up quickly.

U.S. consumers spent $36.3 billion on their animals in 2005, up from $17 billion in 1994, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. That jump hasn't been fueled so much by pet-cost inflation as by human shopping weakness.

"There's a whole lot of new ways to spend money that you don't need to," said Stephen Zawistowski, the executive vice president for national programs at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York.

"All of the basic stuff you need for your dog or cat -- they haven't really changed," Zawistowski said, pointing to good food and veterinary care. "(But) all of the other bling that's come out -- that's for you; it's not for your dog. Your dog couldn't care less whether you got a Gucci collar."

Though prices for pet supplies generally have risen slower than the overall inflation rate in recent years, pet-services costs, including veterinary and grooming, rose more than 5% a year from 2000 through 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pet-food costs, after rising just 0.4% in 2005, appear ready to complete this year more than 4% higher.

Rising costs aren't stifling Americans' desire to own pets: About 63% of U.S. households own a pet, up from 56% in 1998. The number of dogs, cats and other pets now totals about 359 million, according to a consumer survey by the pet-products association.

But it never hurts to save. Here are 13 ways to pare pet costs:

1. Take care of some pet needs yourself. For instance, brush your pet's teeth regularly to reduce the number of vet dental-cleaning visits, which can run about $200. Also, ask your vet about trimming your pet's claws, Zawistowski said. "That runs up real fast, and it's not all that hard to do." In addition, if you regularly brush your pet's coat, you'll reduce grooming costs, and "your cats will have fewer hairballs," Zawistowski said. If your dog is prone to ear infections, ask your vet how to clean your dog's ears.
   
   
2. Ask your vet whether that annual vaccination is necessary. The American Animal Hospital Association changed its guidelines, recommending that "a number of the core vaccinations (be done) every three years," instead of annually, said Thomas Carpenter, a veterinarian in Costa Mesa, Calif., and the group's president-elect. That change was to prevent over-vaccination, but it helps pet owners save a bit, too. Carpenter's practice charges about $18 for a rabies vaccination.
   
   
3. Shop medications. Call your local pharmacy or look online for lower prices. Walgreen (WAG, news, msgs) fills prescriptions for millions of animals each year, said Carol Hively, a company spokeswoman, in an e-mail message. When comparing prices, be sure the quantity and dosage are the same.
   
   
4. Shop for a veterinarian by comparing fees. Carpenter's practice charges $54 for a routine visit. Nationwide, pet owners average $211 for dogs and $179 for cats in routine vet visits each year. But don't sacrifice quality, and compare the same service by finding out what that routine visit covers.
   
   
5. Shop around for pet supplies. Don't assume the pet superstore, the local mom-and-pop or the online market has the cheapest prices. For example, a litter box cost about $25 at a large Petco outlet in San Francisco, while a small mom-and-pop store nearby charged about $18. But that Petco sells cat litter in bulk, offering a good deal.
   
   
6. Do you really need it? "Forgo the fashion," said Jennifer Fearing, the director of economic research at the Humane Society of the United States. "Clothes and fancy bags are a completely unnecessary expense." While 80% of pet owners report buying gifts for their pets, a better gift might be some playtime, she said.
   
   
7. Avoid emergency clinics when possible. "At most emergency veterinary clinics, almost every procedure and medication and boarding fee is marked up," Fearing said. "If it's an emergency, go. But if it's between 8 and 5 and your regular veterinarian is open, give a call and ask for advice."
   
   
8. Consider pet insurance. Check the policy's exclusions carefully to see how well it would fit your lifestyle. Some "plans cover every routine visit, every vaccination," with premiums of about $25 to $30 a month, but you don't necessarily need insurance for costs you know you'll incur, Fearing said. Pet-insurance policies aimed at covering catastrophic events -- they usually have high deductibles and lower monthly premiums of about $10 to $15 -- make sense for more people, Fearing said. Still, consumers with problems managing their cash flow may want a plan that pays a portion of routine services.
   
   
9. Think twice before adding pets. You might get a multipet discount on insurance, but regular costs will increase. "There are not huge economies of scale with multiple pets. When you look at the big-ticket items -- food and vet care -- those are items that every animal needs in their own right," Fearing said.
   
   
10. Save for end-of-life care. "End-of-life issues could run $500 to $1,000," said Catherine Williams, the Chicago-based vice president of financial literacy at Money Management International, a credit-counseling firm in Houston. Some insurance policies cover the cost of euthanasia and cremation.
    
    
11. Don't buy the cheapest food. Higher-quality food helps keep your pet healthier, and you might save on training costs, Fearing said, as cheap food with fillers can lead to hyperactivity.
    
    
12. Don't overfeed. Many people feed more than the package guidelines, Zawistowski said. Feeding the right amount saves on food costs -- which average about 40% of a pet owner's total costs -- and reduces the likelihood of obesity-related ailments.
    
    
13. Spay or neuter your pet. "Spayed and neutered pets have fewer health problems down the road," Fearing said, pointing to prostate and ovarian cancer. Also, once neutered, "they roam significantly less, so they're not getting hit by cars."

This article was reported and written by Andrea Coombes for MarketWatch.

Wow, thanks for this.