Absolutely agree!
I buy 800 gram cans of catfood. They prefer the pouches but we have 4 cats so that would get too expensive.
We also have a vet that has moderate prices fortunately as oldest cat has now health problems and will need another surgery.
I usually organise a house sitter who wants to visit Switzerland so they live in our house while we are away. Boarding the old cat doesnât work and with 4 it would be too expensive.
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We only give dry food to the cats. They eat 1-2 mice a day to complete their natural need of wet food.
But this arent some special breeds. And this is where I see lots of saving potential. Go for a normal kitten, doesnt matter if they know the father and the full pedigree. Its a fact that many pure bloodlines suffer from much more sickness etc than normal cats.
Also maybe go to a vet on the countryside who also does big animals (cows etc). They have a different price level than the pet vets. But not all of them take small animals. They probably will if you also bring a cow as client though.
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Mixes are healthier than purebreds, because there is more chance of genetic defects being corrected.
Our vet does farm animals as well also. Those types of vets are often more pragmatic and offer a more grounded view when MY WITTLE BABY IS DYING!!!
Call me heartless, but I donât think those two things are compatible. You can get a new dog for example for like 1 thousand franks (even cheaper), so spending as much in maintenance of an old one, only due to sentimental value, is a bit strange to me personally - that said, I see animals as animals, so a dog isnât more to me than a cow, a chicken, etc.
I still think you can probably safe a bit if you shop your stuff in Germany (toys, food, etc.) and limit yourself in the amount of liability you accept for the animal. If you want to go through and treat your dog/cat like a family member and worst case spend like 10K+ per year for it, then mustachian is definitely off the table, as I wouldnât want to limit the expenses for my kid before âI let it run the course of itâs faithâ.
Youâre not heartless, you just donât see any benefit in having a pet. Which is absolutely fine; Iâm not saying you should or that you miss out on something.
I myself however refuse to scale down my expenses to the absolute minimum just to achieve FIRE â and I believe nobody does, or else I would meet people clothed in burlap sacks in FIRE meetings (or maybe those are too cheap to come to meetings?). What good does achieving FIRE five years earlier do if the years leading up to it (and most likely all those after it as well) are miserable?
Iâve had a dog for a bit over three years now. I would have never imagined the amount of joy she brings me and my family. So for me it is absolutely worth it, even before considering the health benefits.
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Just the thought of all the extra work puts me off getting a dog.
But thatâs just the thing. The costs, hassle etc. you can can of imagine up-front. The joy it brings is harder to explain/quantify.
I guess similar to having kids: if you look at the raw statistics of it, it would be insane to have kids.
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I would argue that the folks in âGeisteswissenschaften" are able to put emotions into statistics. Imho it is fundamentaly wrong to put only money related questions to decide if you do one thing or not.
I also believe this approach is reflected in the idea of FIRE. Dont forget to have joy in your life.
Still, there are thousands ways how to have a cat (same with kids..) and how much they cost. Ours are 8-14 year old. They dont go to the vet for any checkupâs and they are perfectly healthy. So for me, some cats arent a expensive pets.
Most health issues with pets (and by thus probably most cost factors) are wrong breeding (âQualzucht" in extremis) and inappropriate housing
True FIRE people wouldnât piss on their burning mother if it cost them.
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I just donât have a pet - that said, I used to have birds as a kid, they are cheap.
- protects the house and people respect borders
- got to know many interesting people because of him
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Or are they cheep? 
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My wife and I are doing the real FIRE way! We both love animals, and we wanted our kids (who are now 4 and 2 years old) to grow up having lots of experiences with them. Since we donât have the space or the time to have pets of our own, we do the opposite of what @Erma mentioned above.
We stay in other peopleâs homes while theyâre on vacation and take care of their pets and houses. Itâs been an amazing experience. The kids absolutely love it and remember every animal they meet.
As an added bonus, many of the homes are in beautiful locations and have amenities that we donât have at home, so it feels like a holiday for us as well. Itâs been a win-win for everyone!
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Your post reminds me that in many animal shelters, youâre able to take dogs for walks. I know a few people who want to own a dog but canât, so they just go to the animal shelter once a week.
The ultra-Mustachian way would be to then ask the shelter to give you a donation receipt for your services, so you can deduct it from your taxable income 
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I am happy to read that Mustachians are not cheap with their pets. So we kind of all agree they deserve healthy food, bought or hunted.
We order food online via zooplus - Do you have adresses with better offers?
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