Monthly costs

[StephyMei1112]

I just came across this article - and made me think it would be interesting for everyone to tally up and share how much they spend on their dogs per month.

http://www.torontolife.com/features/big-love/?pageno=1

For Katalin - it's about $160 roughly. It consists of -

*30 lb bag of Firstmate large breed food
*Two to three packages of treats
*Anti chew spray/cleaning product
*A toy/set of balls
*$40 a month for group training glasses

The cost goes up slightly if she gets a new collar/leash/training gear - which isn't that often. She's only on her second leash since I got her and third collar.

[CaliTerp07]

$150 - agility classes and training
$10 - food (she's small, she doesn't eat much)
$20 - string cheese (training treat of choice)
$15 - other treats
$20 - flea and tick/heartworm meds
$30 - averaged out vet cost ($350 bill once a year...)
$75 - daycare (average 3-4x per month)

So around $320/month? Ugh, I don't like seeing it that way. Plus, every time she needs a trip to the vet because she ingested something bad, or is sick, or whatever...plus $100 in trial entry fees any time we decide to trial...

Yeah, okay, my dog is a money vacuum.

[Red Chrome]

No way in hell am I doing this. It would make me cry. LOL

[crazedACD]

I spend about $120/month on dog food, cat food, and cat litter. Maybe $20-30 a month on extras...BUT I get a lot of free stuff from where I work (toys, treats, some food, medical stuff). The vet care varies so wildly, they are mostly healthy though. $60/year on licensing, heartworm prevention...for the amount of creatures here I really don't do too bad. I'd say about $200/month on the dogs and cats.

The birds are getting up there...probably $50/month with food and toys. Pronto eats two freeze dried raw patties a day, that in itself is pricey to maintain.

[JessLough]

Rosey is easy

$52 - food
$20 (rough estimate) - treats
$10 - raw

$82.. That's really it. Then just whenever she ends up needing to go to the vet -- had to go 2 weeks ago and will be back there in 2 weeks. Granted, she's been to the vet like 5 times in 15 1/2 years.

The ferrets aren't so bad now. It'll probably be

$25 food
$10 raw
$25 treats
$2.50-$15 litter (summer is more expensive cause wood pellets aren't readily available)
$20 training pads
$5 meds (melatonin)

$82.50-$95 per month. Also have to add $40 every four months for blood tests for the older two. Granted, they all get a yearly checkup which is $450 for all three with vaccines for two, and they tend to enjoy getting sick and costing me more. When Rascal was alive, I was paying $150 for his meds for one of the most common Illnesses they get.

[Romy]

Mine eat about:

$50 in food
$10 for flea stuff (we get the largest dose of Comfortis and split the pill between them)

Other than that, they get a lot of homemade treats and stuff. So... ???

Kaia has had the same collar since she was born and it was a present from Moxiecollies. Strider's had the same collar for four years now. They're both due for new ones, which will run about $48 including shipping. That's going to be a long term saving thing since I want to get them both at once.

[Southpaw]

Mine are cheap. Food for Juno is like $60 every 6 weeks or so. But we haven't had to buy food for her for 6 months because I was getting it free from work, and I have a couple bags stockpiled, soo.... at the moment she's pretty much free to take care of lol. And it takes Lucy an eternity to go through food.

Any other extra expenses are too infrequent to really factor in. Maybe throw in an extra $10/month for canned food/chews/other random objects. Heartworm and flea/tick prevention are free. I don't really buy treats because I seem to accumulate free bags. I don't buy toys.

Both dogs cost maybe $50 a month when food is factored in.

The cat, on the other hand...

[Maxy24]

Tucker is like

$15 for dry food (but I think it lasts longer than a month)
$6 for wet food
$10-$20 (sometimes more) on treats depending on if he gets bully sticks or runs our of his NB roll treats.

He occasionally gets a new toy, but certainly not monthly.


The cats cost much more. Feeding high quality wet food alone cots about $100 a month for the two of them.

[Taqroy]

About $200/month for all three dogs. So, $66/dog? It doesn't look so bad when I do it per dog. I got the total from everything marked Pet on Mint...so since last year was RIDICULOUS for us in terms of vet costs I bet we're a bit lower than that usually.

[BlackPuppy]

Last year I spent $651.17 a month on my 3 dogs. $217 was on food alone. Luckily, no health problems last year.

I keep a spreadsheet of everything I spend and break it down into categories.