The Cost of Pet Adoption
I’m a sucker for dogs. It doesn’t matter if the dog is a Great Dane or a teacup chihuahua – I’m going to love it just the same. There’s just something about those wet noses and wagging tails that never gets old. And despite the fact that Shannon and I already have 4 cats in our family, we made the decision last week to add a dog to the mix.
Meet Foucault, the latest addition to the Freewomyn-Randall household. Just look at that little terrier’s face and tell me you could say no. We weren’t expecting to add a member to our family until later this year, but Foucault was on the e-list and needed a home. Be still my bleeding heart.
Thankfully my mother-in-law has already paid the adoption fees and gotten little Foucault all checked out by the vet and up to date on his shots. But Shannon and I just dropped $80 at the pet store this weekend getting all of the things a little dog needs – food, water dish, biscuits, chew toys . . . I’m all about assessing wants and needs, but dogs need a lot to keep themselves entertained and out of trouble. And let’s be real, we could have easily spent $200+ at the pet store if we had allowed ourselves to go hog wild.
Shopping for Foucault’s accouterments reminded me of Andrea’s series about reducing pet costs. She had some really great tips for DIY pet toys and budgeting for medical costs. We’re definitely considering obtaining pet insurance since we have 4 senior cats and now we’ve added a dog. We already buy our pet food in bulk, but we’re going to have to cut back on our entertainment spending to make up for the added expense of feeding a dog versus just feeding our cats.
Despite the added pet care costs, Foucault is totally worth it. We’re going to make great walking buddies, and I just know he’ll love gardening with me. I don’t plan to have children, so focusing my affection on four-legged friends is actually a way of saving money. I don’t have to set up a college fund for any of them, and I’m never going to have to pay $500 to get their car out of the impound lot because they neglected to pay their parking tickets.
For all you pet lovers out there, do you feel that the payoff of having an animal in your life is worth the extra cost? I’d love to hear about your furry family members in the comment section.
Thinking about adopting a dog…
Love the name ‘Foucault!’ He’s beautiful.
I too have no kids except those of the 4 legged variety. We have 3 dogs in our home: a 30lb terrier mix, a 65lb fox hound and a 140lb great dane. All of our dogs are rescue and I am happy to see your new friend is too! They are worth every penny we spend, even if my house is full of hair balls the size of small chihuahuas!
Candirn, your family sounds like a handful – but only in a good way, of course!
Leo, glad you like the name. We thought he needed a name that suited his intelligence level. You should totally adopt a dog. There are many dogs in need of a home right now. I volunteer with our local animal shelter to walk the dogs. They are way over capacity. The long-time volunteers I talked to said that with the rise of foreclosures and evictions, many animals are just being abandoned. You county animal facility is a great place to find a dog, and they will spay/neuter the animal, get them up to date on their shots, and get them chipped at a greatly reduced price.
I love my (now grown) children, but I could more easily imagine having a life where I had chosen not to have human children than one where I had chosen never to have furry ones. Just like our human kids, the fuzzy ones are unique and bring so much joy to my life. And I’ll never have to put them through college, although vet bills for senior kitties can sure add up. Both the college and the vet are worth it to me.
Good point, Crunchy. That’s why we’re getting serious about pet insurance. We had $800 in vet bills last year for just 2 kitties who got sick. My partner and I made the realization last night that it would be a sad state of affairs if our pets had health insurance and we didn’t. But isn’t that a commentary on the state of health care in America? It’s cheaper to insure your dog that it is to insure yourself.
My one pet in my entire life died in 1992, though she’s still with me every waking day (yes, I am that kind of dog owner…) Given my life today, I’d much rather have a cat (although I would also give anything to have T., my dog, back), and have been very attached to one in particular, a wondrous feline who “belongs” to a friend of mine. I babysit friends’ cats whenever I can, and love having them around.
But I have no insurance, a freelancer’s income, and very little to no money for extras for myself – so I feel it would be unwise to have a cat I might not be able to provide for in case of an emergency. A friend of mine once had to borrow $1500 for her cat’s surgery – and that was back when people actually had money to lend! All of which is to add to your point and say, yeah, it sucks that it’s cheaper to insure your cat than to insure yourself, and it sucks that things like a cat’s health care could send you over the financial edge.
I mean, it’s not like I’m pining away desperate for a cat to fulfill my empty, single life (and here I evoke everybody’s favourite stereotype), but I’m sure there are lots of people who’d like to adopt and can’t for financial reasons (and, I’ll admit, I plan on travelling a lot in the future, so a pet might not be a good idea for that reason either). But yikes, what have we come to?
And to add: I think Foucault is, no doubt, aptly named and a beautiful lad. He looks adorable and I can see him sitting patiently by you as you garden. Enjoy him!
Another thing that might help you keep pet costs down is ordering their flea and heartworm prevention online. My vet’s office sells Frontline for $15 each dose and Heartgard for about $8 each dose, so I started browsing online for sites and found it cheaper to stock up. The site I ended up ordering from was http://www.petshed.com
Stephanie, thanks for the tip.
Yasmin, you’re such a stereotype. ;^)
Congratulations Serena! What a cutie you have adopted. Having just recently adopted two kitties, I completely relate to the budgeting challenge but I have found that we need less out-of-home entertainment because they are such a hoot! Especially at night (we call 11pm the witching hour) when they come alive and put on a righteous cat show. We are looking at finding the right balance between quality and affordability when it comes to food and litter. Thanks for the link to Andrea’s posts. I had not seen those.
It is a sad state of healthcare affairs, I have to agree. 🙁
I love our two cats. They were expensive at first, even though we adopted them from local shelters. But now, being healthy one-year-old cats, they only cost us food and the occaisional torn-up kleenex.
The next pet I’d like to get is a snake. While it is expensive up-front (if I buy and don’t adopt), they’re actually really inexpensive to maintain. They eat once or twice a month once an adult, many species hibernate, and they stay in their terrarium and don’t wreck the furniture. Plus they’re way-cool.
Serena: Cute kid! For those in California that can’t make a long-term financial commitment to caring for a pet, there’s a service that allows you to rent a dog or participate in “shared pet ownership” as they like to refer to it.