I have two senior cats, and while I never completely cheaped out on their food and care when they were younger, I still managed to find a lot of ways to save $$. Now that they're 15ish, that's basically no longer possible.
Both of them have had numerous teeth pulled, and therefore have to eat mainly wet food. One of them also has thyroid issues and a sensitive stomach, so the cheapest wet food is not an option or we're cleaning up the results shortly after. Between the two of them, we go through an average of 6 small cans of food a day. When you add litter, treats, and dry food for the third cat (who's only 4 and thankfully prefers it to wet food), it's not uncommon for us to be spending $400-600 a month just on supplies for the three cats. Then when you factor in vet visits and health expenses, the cost goes up even further.
I don't regret this money at all. I love my cats, and we can afford the expense. I just think that more people should recognize that while they can get away with minimal budgeting for pets for the first half of their lives, the cost goes up exponentially after that.
September 13, 2021 at 10:46AM
