Percentage of Homes with Pets over Time

There are a lot of pets in the US.   The other day a commenter on another blog said that they thought the rate of pet ownership was going up.    So I decided to research that and quickly found some data on the Census bureau.   I found a document with figures for 1981 to 1996 and newer documents  with the 2001 numbers and with more recent year 2006 numbers.  

The census data shows dogs, cats, horses and birds separately.  It doesn't discuss what % of homes own any pet.  The range must be between 40% and 70% based on how many of the dog an cat owning homes overlap.   Its hard to know how much overlap there is between homes with dogs and cats or other pets.   I'd bet that there is a fair amount of overlap between the figures as there are a lot of homes that have both a cat and a dog.   But there are also a lot of homes that have only one or the other.    I am guessing that something around 50-60% of homes have a pet of some sort.   I'm going to show the data for dog and cat ownership below.   The % of homes with birds and horses is around 4% and 2% respectively and if you want more detail you can visit the Census links above.

Put it all together and we can see the trend over the past few decades :

Here are the #'s in table format :

	dog	cat
1983	42.5%	28.4%
1987	38.2%	30.5%
1991	36.5%	30.9%
1996	31.6%	27.3%
2001	36.1%	31.6%
2006	37.2%	32.4%

This is the data for all homes.   The % pet ownership rates also vary based on income levels and the # of people in the homes.

Here's the data broken down by income and size of household for 2006 :

	dogs	cats
Under $20k	30.7%	30.1%
$20-35k	37.3%	33.6%
$35k-55k	39.8%	34.1%
$55-85k	42.8%	35.5%
over $85k	42.1%	33.3%

	dogs	cats
One person	21.9%	24.7%
Two persons	37.6%	33.4%
Three persons	47.5%	39.1%
Four persons	51.9%	38.5%
Five or more	54.3%	40.0%

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Can You Afford a Horse?

My wife loves horses.   One day it is her wish to own a horse (or two).  However we live in the suburbs and don't have space to keep a horse plus horses can also be pretty expensive.   Its still a long term goal for her to get a horse.    The upfront cost of buying a horse is only a small part of the total costs.    To know if we could really afford a horse at some point we'd need to know what the total long term costs would be.

What does a horse cost?

The cost of buying a horse is just the start.   The bulk of the costs for a horse are in the ongoing expenses.  
There are a lot of ongoing costs related to the keeping of a horse.   You will have to pay for :boarding / stabling, food, gear, routine vet bills, etc.     I found a few references to what horses cost.   
The cost of horse ownership at Alpha Horse
Horse Cost Calculator at WOW Horse
Learn the True Cost of a Horse at Equine.com

Altogether I think if you're stabling a horse then you can expect to spend something around $400-$600 per month.  

Of course that is just a broad estimate number and the exact amount you spend will depend greatly on the situation.  If you have your own acreage and stables then the cost will be a lot less.   I'm sure that some people spend a lot more on their horses.


Horse Insurance

You can insure horses for both mortality and major medical insurance.   I think that getting major medical for a horse would be a good idea.  I only did a little research on horse insurance, but it appears that major medical policies are issued as as an addition to a mortality policy.   A couple more references to health insurance:
Horse Insurance, You Bet! at Five Star Ranch

Choosing to Insure Your Horse at Horse and Horse Information

Total Costs last Decades

If you're planning on buying a horse then you have to plan affording the monthly expenses.  Horses can live 25-30 years so you need to cover the costs for a LONG time.    If you assume $500 per month cost then that is $6,000 per year.  If the horse lives 30 years then the total cost is $180,000 not accounting for inflation.   Maybe you've got $6,000 extra to spend this year but will you have that money to spend in 5 or 25 years?


One way to figure the total costs over a long period would be to calculate the Net Present Value.   You can figure the NPV using the NPV formula in a spreadsheet.   The NPV will give us an idea of the present cost of a series of cash flows over time.  I assumed 5% interest and 3% inflation rate and came out with a Net Present Value of about $131,500.   So if you started with a sum of $131,500 and made 5% on your money then this would give you enough to pay $500 monthly costs adjusted for inflation over a 30 year period.   Therefore using this calculation we could say the long term cost of a horse in today's dollars is about $131,500.

Again though I must point out that every situation is different.  I'm assuming a $500 monthly cost and everyones individual costs will differ.  We also don't know for sure how long the horse will live and I'm just using 30 years as a guess.

Photo by peter pearson

PetPlan : FAST Customer Support. Looks like Good Pet Insurance.

I've looked at pet insurance before and decided it wasn't a very good value.   The problem seemed to be that the policies had maximum payouts for specific procedures that were lower than the actual costs.   But a recent comment on FreeMoneyFinance made me look again.  Someone recommended PetPlan insurance and pointed to a website with very positive reviews.   The site PetInsuranceReview.com has many customer reviews and scores for different pet insurance providers.   PetPlan has the highest rating with a 9.3 out of 10 average score and many hundred reviews. 

First impression: FAST and Good Customer Support

While researching PetPlan I was looking for the 'fine print' details of their coverage but couldn't find it on their website.  So I decided to send them an email and ask for it.   ONE minute later I got a response with the document attached.   Usually when I write a company an email asking a support question I expect to get an automated response that tells me that they got my mail and will answer me as soon as possible.  And in the world of customer support that usually means I'll get a reply within a day... or two.   Then when you do that the reply half the time it seems like they didn't read your question or just copy/pasted a semi-related FAQ off their own website that I just looked at.   But right off the bat PetPlan has way exceeded my expectations for customer service  by giving me a useful and clear response almost instantly.  He answered my request with an attached document detailing the terms and conditions of the policy, filled in details on what they do and don't cover and gave me his phone # if I want to ask questions or sign up.  I mean seriously it was ONE minute later and heres' a screenshot of my email inbox showing my message at 2:20 and their reply at 2:21.

This definitely counts as a point in their favor.

Reasonably affordable

I checked out the PetPlan website and got a quote for coverage for my cat.   You can pick between Bronze, Silver and Gold coverage plans.   The Bronze plan has $8000 benefit max in a year while the Silver pays up to $12,000 and Gold max is $20,000.    You can also pick different deductibles of $50, $100 or $200 and reimbursement rates of 100%, 90% or 80%.   I figure the higher deductible Bronze plan with 80% reimbursement would be the best value.   Our cat is 9 years old and a 'Bronze' plan with 20% coinsurance and $200 deductible and annual maximum of $8,000 would run about $185 a year.  That seems like an OK price to me.      I got a quick quote for another pet insurance company and their rate was $189 a year for their 'basic' plan with $50 deductible but they have limits on payments for individual illnesses or injuries.   PetPlan does NOT have limits for individual illnesses or injuries.   Overall Petplan looks like a much better value and a reasonable price than the other pet insurance I've seen.

What does PetPlan insurance Pay?

If I got a plan with a $200 deductible then of course I'd have to pay any bills under $200.   THe coverage also doesn't cover routine care so I can't get insurance money for stuff like normal checkups.   The insurance should help kick in when you get high bills.   The PetPlan website has a 'claim calculator' that estimates your benefits.   I used that to see what I'd get for insurance payment on a $5000 vet bill with my example Bronze plan coverage with $200 deductible and 20% co-insurance.   They would pay $3800 of the bill.   I would have to pay $1200 which is the $200 deductible and 20% of the total bill. 

No 'catch' found.

I tried to find a 'catch' in the terms of the PetPlan policy but I don't see one.   You do have to meet the terms of their coverage and that means getting annual checkups and some misc. things like that.   They don't pay routine care which some people might assume they would.   You gotta read the policy contract so you understand how the insurance works and what they do and don't cover.   Whats in their terms doesn't strike me as unusual or odd and there no surprise fine print that I can see.   No I don't see a 'catch'.  

On a slightly humorous note, when I looked at my old article discussing pet insurance where I decided it wasn't worthwhile, the Google Adsense showed a banner ad from PetPlan right under my article.

Bottom Line:   PetPlan pet insurance has high customer ratings and their insurance does look like a decent value for pet insurance.   They have already impressed me with their fast and high quality customer service.

Our New 4 Legged Money Pit

Recently my wife and I adopted a dog.    She is an older small dog whos owner was no longer able to care for her.  So far we've fairly quickly spent north of $2000 on the dog in the first few weeks.      I jokingly call the dog a "money pit" but I don't have that kind of negative feeling about it nor do I feel that the money we spent is wasted.  A large part of the expense has been vet bills.   I talked a while ago about what pets cost.   So it shouldn't have come as any surprise to me that the dog might end up being expensive.  

Here is what we've spent thus far...

Vet Bills
We've had vet bills $160, $350 and another for over $1100.    The first bill was just a routine checkup when we first got the dog.   But then she got sick and we had to get her tested and then some minor surgery done.  No need to worry, it wasn't anything too serious (teeth problems) and she seems to have recovered fine.   Hopefully the dog's major health problems are over both for her comfort and for our financial well being.  

Dog house & "stuff"
We spent $250 on a carrier and dog house.   We also spent about $100 on other miscellaneous dog stuff.   We have a couple bills from Petco and Petsmart on dog stuff.   I know we bought leashes, dishes, dog bed, a dog toy, and I'm sure some other stuff.  Somehow that all added up to $100.   I think when we talked about getting the dog I somehow just discarded thoughts of having to buy much "stuff". Maybe I assumed we woulnd't really need any of it.   But then when we got the dog I found out we did actually end up having a need for a bunch of "stuff".

Boarding
Then there is the $150 we spent on boarding her when we went out of town for a long weekend.   Boarding the dog is one of the expenses that I actually thought about before we adopted her.   We can generally leave our cat at home without worrying about her since she has a litter box. But the dog has to be taken outside so we're looking at dog sitter or boarding. Then every time we go on vacation or are out of town we will have to pay for boarding or find a friend/relative to dog sit.

Food
We're spending about $15-$20 a month for food.   The food for the dog is actually not very expensive though it will add up.   She is a fairly small toy size dog so she doesn't eat all that much.   But we do have to buy her canned ground food since she is pretty old and has fairly bad teeth and can't handle dry dog food very well.

Expenses thus far total $2,130:
Vet = $1,610
Stuff = $350
Boarding = $150
Food = $20

Now over half of that is vet bills due to the dog getting sick and needing surgery.  If she hadn't gotten sick then we'd have spent only about $700.

A good chunk of our spending thus far is not ongoing costs and so our future expenses shouldn't be as bad.
Future annual expenses will probably run us around $750 to $900
Vet $200
Boarding $350-$500
Food $200

My wife and I had not really budgeted for the dog.   I don't know why we didn't think it through, but we didn't.   When I wrote about what pets cost I clearly recommended that people properly budget for a pet and I then totally failed to use my own advice.   I had in my mind a clear expectation that the dog would cost us a chunk of money but we didn't sit down and talk about the likely or potential costs. On the day we decided to adopt her I would have probably given a ballpark guess that she would end up costing us "a few hundred dollars a year" based on nothing more than my basic perception of the cost of animals.   I wouldn't say that getting the dog was a 'financial mistake' since we're able to handle the additional cost and we would have gotten the dog in any case.

The cost of a pet can easily add up and you really should make sure you budget for the expense before you get the pet.   I didn't take my own advice in this matter but we really should have.

Sick Cat = $160 Vet Bill

We noticed recently that our cat was sick with something. She was sneezing a lot, her eye was a little runny and she was acting a little weird. My wife took her to the vet and they said she basically had some sort of flu virus. It doesn't seem serious and the cat should be OK thankfully. The vet gave the cat some antibiotics and fluids and also gave us a couple different medicines to give her. Overall the bill ended up about $160. Thats not bad in my opinion for an office visit and medicine. Thankfully our cat should be fine.

This is a reminder that pet expenses can get high. You never know when a pet may get sick or injured and vet bills can be significant. When my previous cat got sick the vet bill was a few hundred dollars. I have friends and relatives who have had vet bills for over $2,000 level.

Previously I looked into getting pet insurance but I didn't find a policy that seemed like a good deal. My preference for paying for vet bills is to have a designated pet emergency fund. By this I mean that you should set aside some funds in a savings account labeled pet emergency fund. You can put $100 or so into the fund automatically every year to keep it funded. I don't officially have such a fund setup myself but have a large standard emergency fund so we could dip into that if we need to pay a large vet bill.

What do pets cost?

The cost of owning a pet can be quite a bit. There are a lot of people out there who don't realize exactly how much a pet can cost. Vet bills can run several thousand dollars if theres a serious injury or ailment. This is a topic that Free Money Finance has covered numerous times with several discussions on the potential high costs of pets. FMF has numerous examples of high bills from pets. The main thing about the costs of pets is that people should be aware of the costs before getting a pet. Its more than a bag of dog or cat food every month or two.

But what does it really cost to own a pet? I think the answer really depends a lot on how much you want to spend. Its like answering how much does a car cost? Well it depends on if you buy a used economy car or a brand new luxury car. You could buy your cat a 16 bag of Friskies for $12 to cover 2 months food at about $6 a month, or you could buy individual 3 oz. cans of Newmans own organic cat food at $1.49 a pop for almost $45 a month. So your food costs for a cat could range from $72 to $540 annually.

While there may be no single answer about how much a pet costs, you should be aware of the potential expenses and account for it in your budget.

There are some sites that estimate expenses that can be used as a reference:

The Raising Spot website estimates that the annual cost of raising a dog is :
"For the first year of ownership, dogs cost anywhere from $660 to $5,270 or more." and then later years "The yearly cost can start at $360 and rise to $2,520 or more." That is a fairly broad range of costs. Some people spend little over food while others spend thousands a year on various things.

SPCA has a page with estimates of annual costs for various pets. They say the annual cost for a dog is $1071 per year. That falls into the middle of the figures that the Raising Spot site gave. (note that the SPCA site is in Canada and those might be Canadian dollars)

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, in 2007 the mean annual expenditure on vet bills per cat was $81 and for dogs $200.

So that can give you an idea of what costs might be. What you should do is identify the expenses associated with a pet and then make sure they are accounted for in your budget. Make sure to consider the possibility of a large veterinary bill if your pet falls ill or is injured so that way you won't run into a big surprise.


Photo by emdot

Consider getting pet insurance for an older pet.

Previously I decided that pet insurance wasn't a good buy financially. The policies out their paid out too little for how much they cost. I couldn't see spending $100-300 a year over the life of a pet for a policy that would only pay out $1000 or so if you ever needed it.

But I think it makes sense to get a vet policy if your pet is older. Life expectancy of indoor cats is around 15-20 years now.

But you have to shop around for a good policy for an older pet. The insurance plans may either not cover older pets and/or they may increase the premiums significantly.

I did a little shopping around for insurance for older cats for comparison purposes and this is what I found:

• VPI pet insurance charges $128 annually for a 6 year old cat and $166 for a 9 year old cat. But they won't offer quotes for pets over 10 years old.
• Pet Care Insurance has a policy specifically for older cats called QuickCare Senior. They also have a policy for indoor cats called QuickCare indoor. I was able to get quotes on both of these plans for cats of any age. I even tried a cat thats 22 years old. Also the monthly premiums don't increase with the age of the cat. Their indoor cat plan is fairly reasonable at about $12 a month. They pay up to $2500 per incident for several illnesses with a $200 deductible.
• Pets Best Insurance will also cover older cats. I got a quick quote for a 20 year old cat and their basic coverage was $24.62 a month. That plan has a $100 deductible and $2500 per incident limit. They have higher limit plan that covers up to $7000 per incident but it runs $40.20 a month.

The QuickCare Indoor policy from Pet Care Insurance looks like the best deal to me. For $144 a year you get coverage up to $2500, however the plan has some restrictions on its coverage. The specifics for your pet would vary so I'd make sure to shop around and read the full insurance policy.

When a pet gets older it gets more likely to have a severe illness. For a cat or dog in their later teens the chances of a $1000 or $2000 vet bill get pretty high. Considering the high likelihood that you'll be facing a large vet bill for a teenage pet it makes sense to pay $100 or $200 a year for an older pet if you can get a $2000 or more in coverage.

Getting help with vet costs.

The other day Free Money Finance raised the question of how much would you be willing to spend to save you pets life? I think its a pretty tough question. For me its a matter of how much I think is too much to spend. Thankfully I have the resources to cover almost any kind of vet bill we might encounter.

But for many Americans if they are hit with a high vet bill they simply may not have the money to afford it. They are faced with the choice of cutting back their quality of life, going into debt or euthanizing a loved pet. For a beloved family pet this can be a very difficult situation to deal with.

But there are ways to

First I would make sure to shop around a little and get quotes on the cost from multiple veterinarians. The prices charged by vets can vary widely. If it is an emergency situation than first ask your vet if they know of more affordable vet services, they may be understanding and quickly refer you to a lower cost peer.

Second I'd ask the vet(s) if they can help subsidize your costs, help with financing payments or know others who can help you. If you explain that your financial situation won't allow you to pay the full bill up front then the vet may work with you to reduce the rate or at least provide an option to pay over time. They may also know an organization that can help.

Finally you can look into getting help from non profit organizations. There are a number of charities that offer assistance to help people with financial need pay for their vet bills.

I found this site with a list of organizations that might be able to help with financial assistance to save the life of a pet. I looked through there list and

Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program - helps with cat vet costs
Feline Outreach - offers aid for cats
Help a Pet - offers aids for households making less than $40k
The Pet Fund - offers non emergency aid, has a wait list
United Animal Nations - provides grants for animals in need

It is important to understand that the cost of a pet can potentially include a substantial vet bill. You should keep the cost of vet bills in mind when you are getting a pet. If you have lower financial means then consider at least buying a lower priced pet. Cats are generally less expensive than dogs. Keep your cat indoor to improve their chances of a longer, healthier life. A small bird or rodent is even less expensive.

20 ways to cut vet costs

Below is the text of the article from Consumer Reports : 20 ways to cut vet costs
Its from July 2003 but the tips are just as good now.

VETERINARY SERVICES

1. Pay vet bills of $50 or more by credit card. That gives you federal Fair Credit Billing Act rights to dispute a bill for unsatisfactory service, which you don't otherwise have.

2. Choose a vet before you need one. Ask for price quotes for annual exams plus nonroutine big-ticket items, such as repair of a broken limb, surgery rate per hour, and gastrotomy.

3. Ask for discounts. More than 60 percent of vets cut the cost of annual checkups if you bring three or more pets; nearly half offer a 10 percent discount for senior citizens.

4. Talk to your vet about giving booster shots every three years instead of annually.

5. Check prices for shots and spay/neuter services at a humane society or SPCA, which can be less expensive than a vet. Some also provide free or low-cost services to low-income and senior-citizen pet owners.

6. Keep copies of all itemized bills and health records in one folder so you can easily change vets if necessary.

7. If you must use a higher-priced emergency veterinary hospital after hours, schedule follow-up visits with your regular vet during business hours.

8. Get a second opinion before approving pricey treatments.

9. Research pet disorders and consult a good pet-health-care reference. The detailed Merck Veterinary Manual is free online at www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp.


PHARMACEUTICALS

10. Ask for a written prescription from your vet so you can shop for the best price.

11. Shop for pet drugs at regular pharmacies, which often beat vet prices. But don't dispense drugs from your medicine cabinet without consulting your vet. Ibuprofen can kill a dog; acetaminophen, a cat.

12. Ask your vet to prescribe a generic drug when possible. And buy in bulk drugs that you will be refilling long term.


PREVENTION

13. Get a cat. They have fewer serious health problems and genetic diseases than dogs.

14. Exercise your pet, and don't overfeed it.

15. To fight tartar and plaque, buy dry cat or dog food or specially formulated treats. Check teeth for fractures and gums for bleeding. Treat dental disorders so bacteria don't spread and cause bigger problems.

16. Keep pets fenced or leashed when outdoors to prevent them from getting hit by a car.

17. Store drugs and chemicals out of your pet's reach.

18. Ask your vet about giving your pet heartworm drugs.

19. Use a flea and tick product.

20. Choose your breed and breeder carefully to reduce the risk of genetic disorders.

Is pet insurance worth buying?

Yesterday Free Money Finance had an article on the cost of pets. That lead me on a tangent thought about pet insurance.

I have been considering buying pet insurance for my cat. I know that vet bills can be pretty expensive if theres a serious injury or illness. I've shopped around and found I could get a basic insurance policy for about $120 a year. So I've been thinking of doing it. My logic being that I didn't want the risk of my cat getting a serious problem and being faced with a $5k-10k vet bill.

But I ran across this article from Consumer Reports titled Is Pet Insurance Worth the Price? They concluded that pet insurance is not indeed worth the price. Read the article yourself for the full story, but the basic conclusion is that pet health care will not cost you as much as the insurance in general. One big point they make is that the insurance policies have deductibles, coinsurance and maximums so overall they don't really pay you out that much.

There's two pet insurance providers I've seen: VPI Pet Insurance and Pets Health.

I've gotten a quote on the VPI and the rate for my 6 year old cat is $128 a year for their basic plan. A 7 year old dog would run $198 a year. They have a $50 deductible and then pay 90% up to their maximum. VPI's benefits summary lists the maximums paid out. VPI has an example of benefits paid for a claim with the standard plan. The vet invoice total is $1451 and the insurance only pays $755. If you look through the benefits summary the maximums there are not all that high considering how much procedures can cost.

Pets Health basic plan is described as:
The Basic Plan covers treatment and medication for injury and illness.
The Basic Plan has a maximum benefit of $8,000.00 per year, with a $1,500.00 per incident limit.
The Basic Plan includes a FREE Lost Pet Recovery Service Tag.
Coverage starts at $11.58 for cats and $16.61 for dogs.

I've thought about getting insurance as a safe guard against an expensive bill. But overall it looks to me like the insurance companies don't cover that much of the cost and have some low maximum limits. Looks to me like Consumer Reports got it right that pet insurance is NOT worth the cost.