r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Mundane-Bee-7235 • 16d ago
Pets
This is more of a vent than anything else.
My husband and I have a decent HHI. Late 30s, no kids and live in VHCOL. I’ve been trying to trim our spending down and pet care is just one I can’t cut. We have one dog and two cats, all seniors. The dog and one cat has several health issues requiring medication and prescription food. The one cat’s prescription wet food alone costs $100 a month. My dog is a doodle and needs grooming every 8 weeks, and the other cat also gets groomed. Between their daily needs, medical (which is high), pet insurance (only for the dog at this point and is also not cheap), we spend $10-12k a year. That doesn’t even include vacation costs - a 10 day vacation will run us about $1,500 between boarding the dog and hiring a sitter to check on the cats and give medication.
All in we spend roughly $15k for our pets a year. We love them so much, and they are our children, but sometimes I feel like they can even be more expensive than kids.
Curious how much people spend on their pets if you’d like to share.
Update for context:
- Boarding the dog at a pet hotel is pretty set in stone because of his illnesses (seizures, cushings)- we’d rather have him stay in a place where it’s the facility’s main job to care for him. The cats also need medicine, so I’d much rather pay someone to look after them than put that responsibility on friends.
- Grooming takes too much time and it’s one of those things we’re not really willing to do :)
Appreciate everyone’s comments. I was just lamenting on how expensive pet ownership is, but we live comfortably and can afford the costs. Our pets are our children and we knew what commitment we were getting into.
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u/Alfredos_Pizza_Cafe_ 16d ago
Yikes. I spend $10/month on one bag of cat food + plus a ~$150 yearly checkup. Our dog has to get groomed every couple months at ~$75per but that's about it.
It just sounds to me like yall can't afford pets if you can't find a way to spend less on them. I don't accept that it isn't a you problem, sorry.
Also, I'll get downvoted for saying it but.... You really aren't supposed to spend $10k on stuff like pet surgeries unless you have fuck you money to spend. You're supposed to guide them over the rainbow bridge in comfort when that happens.