Pets–Adding a Little Extra

I know that not all families have pets. Some people have allergies that prevent them from taking that step while others just choose not to have any, for whatever reason. When I was talking to my dd, Lee, about what things she thinks of when she hears “Making a Home”, pets was one of the first things she thought of {doing dishes was the very first lol}.

Growing up I always had dogs and cats. Sometimes we even had birds. My mother loved fish as well. My dh also had dogs and cats. His were outside animals where my were a mix of both inside and outside animals. When we had kids, it didn’t take long for them to start asking for a pet.

The title of my post is about the little extra that pets add to a family. When our kids asked for a cat {they figured that a cat was the safest to ask for- dogs you had to clean up the yard after they went pooh; they dig holes in the yard; they had to be walked, if you didn’t have a yard; dogs chewed on shoes and furniture; dogs are more dependent; etc.} we made them list all the new responsibilities a cat would add to our family.

The obvious costs {literal in terms of money as well as of time} were food, litter and cleaning up after the cat. They didn’t quite figure in all the time that the cat would take for play or how much sleep would be lost while it roamed through the house at night, jumping on counters and tables, knocking over the trash… Those ‘costs’ were figured out soon enough though.

Fortunately our cat, Kawaii, has been a very good cat. She rarely jumps on counters and never on the table {so far}. I do pay a little more than I like for food for her but she doesn’t cough up hairballs and isn’t sick very often {only once so far and she’s almost 3 years old}. If she’s happy, then I’m happy {for the most part}. When we were seriously considering if a cat was right for us, we found a checklist for us to fill in the costs and responsibilities of cat ownership. I wish I had saved the checklist. I did not but here is a good page to give an idea of the costs {financial} of cat ownership. For us in particular, I will break down our costs:

Food: $13.00 (about, with tax) once a month. It’s not specialty food but it is what we’ve found that works for her; she doesn’t have hairballs and stays relatively satisfied
Litter: $9.00 (about, with tax) every 6 weeks. There is less expensive brands but it keeps the odor down –a must for us.
Vet: Initial visit, $65-70 (we even got a ‘free’ collar); subsequent visits, once a year, (for shots) $16-30; emergency visit, $25 + a few dollars for medicine (she had a respiratory infection)

If we figure that in a year (including the emergency visits –which we’ve only had one but it’s good to have it in there anyway as a buffer for if you do need it):
Food: $156
Litter box: $34 (ours is a nifty one that you just turn the entire box and do not have to touch the litter)
Litter: $36
Vet visits for the first year: $70
               for subsequent years: $55
Total first year: $296
        subsequent years: $247

Of course we also buy her a toy now and again (nothing more than $5) and some treats (usually $2). That is very rarely though so it might add to the total $14 a year. She doesn’t go to the groomer and she’s not required anything out of the ordinary.

But an animal, –cat, dog, fish, bird, tortoise/turtle, etc. –can add a lot to a home. For us, having a cat, the joy of seeing her when we come home from an outing, her purrs, her ‘headbutts’ {which we consider to be signs of affection}, the smiles she brings when we play with her, all those far outweigh the cost and responsibilities of having her. She’s even weaseled her way into dh’s heart –they have an understood relationship.

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.