The Pet Guide: Cost of Care: Pet Care

In this article

• Average yearly costs for dogs
• Average yearly costs for cats
• The bottom line

If you want to know what people in the U.S. are spending on their pets, a good organization to ask is the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

It does a survey every year on pet costs.

According to the latest survey, Americans spent an estimated $40.8 billion on their pets in 2007.

What your pet will cost you is dependent on the size of your pet, how exotic it is, how exotic your pet food is, how devoted you are to your pet, and how you define devotion.

There are people who choose not to treat an elderly dog or cat that has contracted cancer, and there are other people who are willing to invest in cutting-edge oncological science in the same situation.

However, those variables didn't stop the APPMA from fearlessly breaking down the average yearly costs for dogs and cats.

Dogs

• Surgical Vet Visits...$453
• Food...$217
• Kennel/Boarding...$225
• Routine Vet Check-ups...$219
• Groomers and grooming aids...$127
• Vitamins...$77
• Treats...$66
• Toys...$41

Cats

• Surgical Vet Visits...$363
• Food...$188
• Kennel Boarding...$149
• Routine Vet Check-ups...$175
• Groomers and grooming aids...$18
• Vitamins...$31
• Treats...$40
• Toys...$26

The APPMA hastens to add that it did not ask the pet owners to total up their annual costs.

And it allows for the possibility that some pet costs were omitted, given how the survey was constructed.

If the above figures seem sort of "low-ball" to you, keep in mind that people being surveyed have their own reasons for underestimating (or overestimating) their expenses.

You know how people being surveyed are.

The ASPCA breaks expenses down on its site by pet type and pet size. Thus the annual food cost for dogs can run from $160 to $350 and total medical costs from $150 to $200.

Depending on where you live and who your vet is, a visit to an animal doctor's office can set you back anywhere from $30 to $70, a vaccination regimen from $50 to $100, and a spaying or neutering from $50 to $200.

A broken bone can set you back $1000.

Major surgery and the subsequent recuperation can cost you $2000.

The bottom line

Many folks treat their pets as part of the family and, as you can see from the above figures, keeping a pet hale and healthy can entail financial commitments comparable to those you make for the humans in your household.

Steve Penhollow is the Arts and Entertainment Reporter for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in Indiana. He has written for a number of publications, including the Advocate chain of newspapers in Massachusetts and Connecticut.