Friday, February 18, 2011

How Much Does It Cost To Raise A Few Monkeys?



After reading an article in the Orlando Sentinel about the annual costs of owning a pet, I got curious about how much I spend on mine. According to the article the average annual cost for a dog is $695 and for a cat is $670. I had a hard time believing that, I thought the dog average would be higher and the cat average would be lower. Here's my breakdown:

Mia's total cost for the year (from February 2010 - February 2011) = $1523!
To be fair, it was the first year I had her, so there were a lot of "start-up" costs, such as her crate, bedding, collars, leashes, bones, etc. I also calculated the totals for "essentials" and "non-essentials."
Mia's essentials = $1031 These items included things such as those pesky "start-up" costs, medical expenses, food, toys and treats
Mia's non-essentials = $492 These items included things such as extra treats, leashes and collars, accessories, trips to the groomer, etc.

The cats' total cost for the year (January 2010-December 2010) = $505 (or about $250/cat)
Unfortunately for them, their "non-essential" column remained empty the whole year. Maybe this year I'll spoil them more :P All of their expenses were on food, litter, medical, new food/water bowls and 2 new scratch pads.

Sooo, my suspicions were correct! I'm curious to see how much Mia will cost me this year...

3 comments:

  1. are those "out of pocket" expenses, or before coupons? poor Peanut and Nick!

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  2. A pet's cost per pound is high! :-) If you've budgeted for it, the rewards are great, though!

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