Having Pets as a Mustachian

Life Hacking
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So today I realized (again) our pets are very expensive.

We have 2 cats, very cute, the children and the parents love them, they are part of the family.

We do the regular check at the vet (vaccinations etc), and of course need to go once in a while for emergencies- I do not see any savings possibly here - any ideas?

We look for good/healthy food without sugar etc and buy everything online via zooplus -That is quite expensive!

How do you guys do?

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No pets, aside from a cactus

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You will get softer. You will surrender.

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My wife and i are aligned: no pets

we have observed animals right outside the house though: snake, turtle, fox, mountain goats and hawks or falcons flying around the house

we had a dog at home when i was young
 fun, but you’re a hostage to the dog

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You will be hostage to your child anyway :grimacing:

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It’s quite difficult to be Mustachian about pets.

  • dog tax: no way around it
  • vet: has to be near, so Swiss prices (unless you live near the border)
  • preventative medicine like vaccines and tick/flea protection: needs a prescription, so needs to be bought from/administered by the vet

Food is probably the only thing that can be significantly influenced. Going for kibble instead of wet food saves a lot and is usually fine (except maybe for cats who don’t drink enough water). The cheap kibble from Aldi and Lidl often wins comparison tests, so healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. We wanted food made from Swiss meat, which narrowed our choices massively and only left a few rather high-priced options. Our dog is small, so doesn’t eat much, which makes these premium options hit less hard. And we regularily bake our own dog treats.

We also spent quite a bit of money on training; this was a non-negotiable expense. Having a well-behaved dog is absolutely worth the time and money. I’d rather have no dog than one of these little terrors always trying their best to dislocate their owners’ shoulders or eating my face.

Oh and don’t buy an animal from some shady dealers on eBay, this is animal cruelty. Buy a stuffed animal instead.

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When I had pets I just paid for whatever I thought was best for them.

I’m content with all that I spent, so will do the same again.

They are living beings that I’m responsible for so yeah.

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I’d add: if your cats go outside and hunt, there’s absolutely no need for wet food. You also don’t need to feed active cats on a fixed schedule or in regulated portions, they can often self-regulate. We’ve had cats for years, kibble was always available free-choice, and we never had any issues with them becoming overweight. Does not remove the financial burden, but at least easier to manage.

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Just one note here about food.

I also concluded that food for our two cats was the only opportunity for savings and tried to switch to cheaper foods. The cats however were occasionally throwing up and we had to take them a few times to the vet (including once on a Sunday).

Anyway vet got us on special food for intolerant cats and now they are healthier looking (better coats etc) and even happier. They need to go to the vet less. Overall costs are lower.

Just have to be careful you don’t get stuck in a local minima.

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Pets are expensive, no two ways about it.

Had a dog for 12 years, he passed away last year having outlived his life expectancy, and that of all of his litter, lovely bullmastiff. Top grade kibble, bone broth, training, dog hotel when we’re on holiday. Total cost at least 12,000 over his lifetime and considering he never required any serious medical intervention other than neutering aged 7 (due to prostate inflammation, which revealed precancer). Doesn’t sound that much in hindsight given the emotional hole he left.

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I think you shouldn‘t save on pet food, especially with cats. I used to BARF mine.

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Agree 1000%, BARF is objectively the best, but can be super pricy. Typical supermarket kibble and known brands like Purina etc are usually catastrophically bad quality, essentially it’s milled off cuts like feathers etc bound together with starch and drenched in the worst quality fat and artificial scenting. I always went for organic kibble, >50% fresh meat listed as the first ingredient, grain-free (I used to buy Canagan in Germany, 90EUR/12kg bag, and bullmastiffs eat a lot!), and made bone broth on top. Bullmastiffs have a life expectancy of 7-9 years, mine made 12, great breeder helped for sure, but food, exercise and overall care can’t be skimped on to have a long-lived, healthy pet.

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All things considered, in comparison to other costs, cats and dogs still seem to be pretty low cost actually, considering they are living family members. I guess it depends on what value you attach to them.
Just compare Mirager’s dog to for example running costs of a car, medical insurance or a kid.
(As you said, you must have lucked out on medical bills though because my cats cost about as much (~1k/year per cat) in an EU country years ago so I think a dog in CH at the moment would probably cost more. Still less than a typical car, and much less than medical insurance or a kid :woman_shrugging:)

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Actually, you might make up the cost of (a) pet(s) or even “earn money” by going on vacation less because you find that you don’t want to leave your pet at home :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

 unless of course it’s a dog and you buy a camping car for the same reason which may inverse the math :smirking_face:

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I recommend paying attention to the breed, and avoiding breeds that are known to develop arthritis or similar problems later in life. This is bad for the animal and increases vet costs.

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True, a good breeder can mitigate this to a large extent. Bullmastiffs often develop hip dysplasia, I had mine checked at the appropriate age and thankfully the joints and sockets were perfect, and he never developed any problem during his long life. But overall, if we were to get a pet again it’d probably be a cat, and if it was to be a dog it’d be from a shelter and not a breed.

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Something else I’ve heard: When you adopt an animal from a shelter, then

  • a) the animal has been checked and yo know beforehand whether it’s healthy, and
  • b) they’re happy if you follow up later (by phone), so you have a point of contact before vet

But I don’t know if that’s always the case, it’s just hearsay.

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Most likely I’d want to get a puppy, we looked at animal shelters and sadly see many dogs who are described as “shy”. Having quite a bit of experience with dogs in my life I don’t like “shy”, can indicate abuse, I’d be worried that the dog may become aggressive due to an unknown trigger at some point, so I’d need to raise the dog myself.

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I used to have dogs before moving to Switzerland, for security in addition to company. Since they were pedigree I covered all of the costs by selling the pups.

But I can’t imagine keeping dogs in an apartment and without a (really) big garden for them to run and play in, so was never an option for me in Switzerland. An aquarium is a good alternative for apartment dwelling, and cheap if you don’t get carried away
and no fish taxes or costly mandatory training, etc.

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We found a good source in Bern. 10kg for CHF 200 including shipping for high quality BARF that lasted roughly 5 weeks. It‘s not mustachian, but you shouldn‘t cheap out on living beings that you consider as family members.

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