Pet ownership costs

[bunn]

... a dull post

I spent £232 on petfood in the last month.

I reckon this works out at:
approx £3 a day for all 6 cats (50p per cat)

approx £2.55 a day on food for 2 dogs (£1.39ish per dog, but then the dogs weigh about 4-6 catsworths.)


The remaining £63 seems to be mostly tripe sticks, oxtails, dried fish and other dogsnacks. I knew they were getting rather a lot of dried tripe, but that's ridiculous! From now on I resolve to spend not more than a pound a day on dogsnacks.

I also have insurance for the dogs, but not for the cats, costing a total of £460 pa, or  £1.26 a day.

Mollydog is on Previcox for her bad wrist, which is not covered by the insurance.  That costs 69p a day. 

They both have glucosamine supplements as well but I can't remember how long a £15 bottle of that lasts. Say 20p a day for that

So daily cost of running 2 dogs: £3.54, pushed up to £5.64 by insane quantities of tripe.  Not including vaccinations & checkups.

Total yearly routine cost of pets, not including vaccs, etc : £2387.10.  No wonder I have no money!
 

Comments

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Yup. Damn things cost a fortune. I try not to think about how much mine cost me. Now that the toms are getting on a bit their excesses have gone up to £100 and £85 respectively, so doubtless now that Magnus is 10 it will be even worse.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I was quite surprised working this out how relatively cheap the cats work out. Of course they could get something horribly expensive at any moment, but the Liverpool Mogs are in their teens now and the Hairy Bears are 9 I think, and none of them has ever had anything expensive. They get pretty good food, but still 50p per cat per day is not bad. Of course, they supplement what we give them with their own supplies of rabbit...

I suspect that we should start saving to cover the Bungles now, I just bet that they are going to develop pricy and obscure ailments as they get older.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

A lot of the expense on vet fees are due to Mikka and his habit of developing cystitis at the most inconvenient and expensive times. Although Magnus has been doing his bit with his unexplained weight loss.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't be without them, though.

Also: if you cut down on the tripe sticks etc, would you end up buying more (other) food for the dogs, or not?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I don't think so - tripe is pretty much pure protein, not much fat or carbs, and it doesn't seem to make much difference to their weight. It is good for their teeth as it requires a lot of chewing, but they probably don't need to be eating it 6 times a day!

Mollydog is happy to eat the tripe but she doesn't demand it, it's Az who is an addicted little tripehound. If he thinks I'm going near the tripe box he's there, giving paw with menaces!

I certainly wouldn't be without them, but the financial check is a wise move to make sure that 2 is enough!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Actually, looking at him just now, little Mr Tripehound could stand to lose a pound or so. No ribs are visible! Though of course it is hard to say exactly what shape a lurcher should be when you don't know for sure what breeds are in him.