Blake, our Cairn Terrier, is due for his checkup. Our vet books him and Sydney (our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) months in advance for their regular visits, so we can plan ahead for the added expense. Each time, I'm reminded that taking care of our four-legged friends isn't cheap. On average, dog owners spend $1,000-2,000 each year per pooch, while cat owners spend about $800 annually.
Have you seen the news about people giving up pets during the recession? Rising home foreclosures are forcing families to relocate—many can't bring their pets with them. It's so sad. In Boston, the ASPCA reported a 45 percent increase of pet owners surrendering animals due to housing and economic concerns, and the number of people giving up their pets from home-loss has doubled. It's not a just a problem in the Northeast, either. Recently, shelters in California and the Pacific Northwest have reported a huge increase of abandoned pets. My brother Ronic, who lives outside Seattle, just adopted a new dog. But, unfortunately, he's in the minority as animal shelters around the country are overflowing with abandoned pets.
Pets are such an important part of our families. We would all be very sad without Blake and Sydney. It's hard to imagine being in the place of owners who have to give up their pets and experiencing the pain they go through. In light of all this, I wanted to share ways to save money and avoid giving up your four-legged family members as the country braces for more economic troubles.
Save on Pet Care
If you use a pet sitter or dog walker, consider sharing their services with a neighbor as a way to split the costs and save money. If you can, try arranging your lunch break so you can go home for a quick "hello" and a walk.
Remember that you can be creative about reducing costs without sacrificing the quality of care for your pets. As pet owners, we have to balance saving money with making sure our animals still receive the exercise and attention they need.
Cutting Costs at the Vet
Pets need regular doctor visits, shots, and checkups, but you can save money while making sure your animals have all the medical attention they need. Ask your veterinarian if you can work out a payment plan to spread out the costs. You can also make sure your dog has a tailored health plan—not every pooch needs every shot, so make sure she's only getting what she needs. Going for regular checkups is not only good for your pet, but it also helps solve immediate health issues, while preventing them from building into bigger issues (and higher expenses) in the long run.
Also, there are local organizations, charities, and funds to help pet owners pay medical bills. This Care.com article on saving money on pet care gives great tips if you're coming up short on expenses.
Create a Pet Budget
Pet accessories, fancy leashes, and expensive toys can add up quickly. If you're feeling a budget squeeze, make sure your animals have what they need, then cut out the extras. Replace a new plaything with a little extra one-on-one attention and they'll never know the difference.
Make sure you're also scanning the supermarket circulars for coupons and sales. If you can get your brand of pet food at a discount, it'll go a long way toward helping make ends meet.
A "Petcation"
If you find it's too expensive to keep your pet in the home, why not find a friend or relative to temporarily care for them? Instead of giving them up to a shelter or stranger, someone you trust will look after your baby. This arrangement doesn't have to be permanent—think of it as a vacation for your pet. It can also be a chance for another family to experience the joy of pet ownership. Maybe they'll even adopt a companion pet, too!
Pitch in to Help
Shelters are losing funds as sponsorship and donor money dries up. Here in Massachusetts, three animal shelters just closed their doors. There wasn't enough money in the budget to keep them open. This problem will just get bigger as more families are forced to give up their pets.
You can help by supporting your local chapter of the ASPCA. Even better, have Care.com make a $20 donation to the ASPCA in your name—at no cost to you!
We love our pets and want to make sure the have the best care possible. I want to hear how you're saving on pet care these days. Leave a comment and share your tips, hints, and pet stories with the community!
Bathing dogs at the local groomers' can be costly as well, especially the large breeds. Something that my husband and I came up with to save some money years ago was a make-shift outdoor bath tub for dogs. By using an x-tra large sized rubbermaid bin with drain hole cut out, mounted on top of a base of large interconnected PVC piping, we were able to raise the tub high enough to save our backs. Tub was placed near outside water line and hose. Winter baths were still done at the groomers but Florida summers provided many uses. For easier accesibility and entry of dog, a large opening can be made on side of bin and have dog walk up via ramp or other structure leading to opening. We are now using a commercially sold doggie tub which we purchased on-line. Great for anyone with more than one dog.
Posted by: sylvia | July 03, 2009 at 03:43 PM
I really appreciate that you wrote this piece. I work in the veterinary medicine industry and have seen clients shrug off veterinary care as unnecessary. I hope that people really understand what it takes to care for a pet properly. I know that the economy has affected everyone in one way or another, but the health of a person, their children, or their pets should never fall to the wayside. Also, for those who are able to, adopting a pet at this point in time is one of the best things that they could do. Shelters are having to humanely euthanize more pets each day due to the economic downturn. The tips that you give are great, but I hope that people don't think that by talking with a veterinarian about tailoring a vaccination protocol to their pets means that vaccinating their pets is not important. Please continue posting great information like this to educate your readers.
Posted by: Ashley V | July 09, 2009 at 11:53 PM
I have lived here for going on 14yr's.in Kansas.I've always worked at least 2 job's,took care of my father for 6 yrs of that also.till he passed. I'm now on disibilty and unable to work.Durting the 14 yr's I have resued several animals.I have several dog's and cat's,goats ,and 2 horses.My dog and cat food bill is taking every dime I have. If anyone knows of anything or anywhere that I could get some help,please let me know. I love each and every one of them.I saved some of these animals from horrible lives.It breaks my heart to think about putting them down.I took these animals on to love and care for them, not kill them..Piease help me! Thank You, Nancy
Posted by: Nancy | July 25, 2009 at 02:28 AM
It is great if you can turn your dogs into breed rescue organizations who often have foster homes who keep the dogs until they can be adopted (or non-kill shelters.)
For adoption One can look up __________ rescue on the web for whatever the breed. It is also great if you can be a foster parent until the dogs are found homes.
I currently have four dogs, one is a rescue Dalmatian from http://www.dalmatianrescue.org/. One a rejected pet and two I raised from pups.Over the years it seems that about half my dogs have been rescues of some sort or others. I also have 2 feral cats who knew a sucker when they saw one. Adopting a dog is no longer only getting maltreated rejects.People are forced into untenable situations in hard times.The animals suffer. Nonetheless, they all have their histories and idiosyncracies so if you know a particular breed and can adopt that breed it helps you and the dog.
Breed rescues often have mixed breed dogs as well. Dalmatian rescue takes almost anything with spots.
Corgi rescue takes anything that looks remotely like a Corgi etc.
Also if you see a dog of a particular breed in a kill shelter, and you can't adopt, you can notify the appropriate rescue group and they can often get the dog out of the shelter.
Hope this post helps would be adoptors and a few dogs.
Posted by: Jan | October 20, 2009 at 11:54 AM