22 years old, and college graduation approaches. I can’t think of a more perfect graduation present to myself than a dog. I have a job lined up, a house with a yard- why not?
Well this infographic might make me think twice. It outlines the first year cost of dogs and cats (I’m not a cat person, so personally I’ll be disregarding that but it’s useful info for you cat people).
My first instinct told me that food would probably be the biggest cost. Not quite. Health insurance and reoccurring health related expenses together cost nearly four times the $120 it takes on average to feed a dog for a year. The numbers for cats are significantly lower than that- but it still costs quite a bit more to keep a cat healthy for a year than it does to feed it.
Remember Bob Barker, “Get your pets spayed or neutered!”- that’s good and all, but he never mentioned how much that costs: $200 for a dog and $145 for a cat. I guess that’s s small price to pay to avoid running a puppy mill and or kitten haven, but that’s definitely not chunk change.
Looks like getting a dog might cost a little bit more than I thought- this infographic estimates that it would cost about $1,500 in the first year. Yikes. Good thing I got that job. It’s less than that for a cat- $1,035, but cats are nowhere near as cool as dogs (sorry!). When was the last time you saw a cat fetch? Anyway- if any of you out there are thinking of acquiring a pet, take a look at this infographic first and make sure you can afford it, otherwise you’ll be eating ramen every night to make sure you can feed that furry friend. [Via]