Pet Financial Considerations

PET FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS- DOGS

Pet financial considerations vary with the species and size of pet acquired.   As a general rule, a smaller dog will cost less to take care of than a large dog.  There are several reasons for this:

• The cost of food is less for a smaller dog. Small dogs eat less!
• Medical care for a small dog is less because the quantity or strength of drugs needed to treat a condition is less than in a large dog. This includes heartworm prevention and oral/topical flea/tick preventatives.
• Surgical procedures cost more on larger dogs because everything is bigger plus the anesthetics needed, in volume, are much greater due to the larger breathing capacity of a large dog.
• Boarding a larger animal costs more because a larger dog needs more space than a smaller one.
• Grooming a larger dog costs more than a small dog. This can change though if you consider the cost of grooming a Pomeranian vs just bathing a Labrador Retriever!

PET FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS- CATS

Pet financial considerations are much lower when treating a cat.  Cats are much smaller animals than the majority of dogs, weighing in usually between 7-12 pounds.  They are usually uniform in size.  From a grooming perspective, long-haired cats will cost much more to maintain than a short-haired cat.  After having practiced for years, it seems that cats seem to be overall healthier than dogs; meaning more things go wrong with dogs than cats. The cats main hangups are respiratory infections, urinary tract issues and hairballs.  Half of everything that goes wrong with cats is anything related to its urinary tract.  By keeping the cat on low ash diets such as Hills Feline Maintenance® or Royal Canin SO® diet will save you tons of money over the years.

Pet financial considerations do not always have to be bad.  Prevention is almost everything in veterinary medicine.  The best way to save money and wisely allocate financial resources is by LISTENING TO and taking the ADVICE of your veterinary professional!  After offering professional advice to a client, I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard a client say: “but my neighbor thinks this is what is wrong with Fido……”!  Do not do that.