HEFTY sums spanning $100,000 for surgery, $11,000 for dental cleaning, and $20,000 for food are among those being spent on average monthly by animal lovers to care for the needs of their furry friends.

While many people see no value in setting aside these significant sums to fund the veterinary and other financial needs of pets — particularly cats and dogs, moreso the latter — the ones who do have actually said that it can be quite an expensive venture.

For Kamique Stewart, owner of a pair of poodle dogs Zoey and Cindy, the average spend to care for the medical and other needs of her pets ranges from $160,000-$200,000 annually.

“Currently I only now have one dog as my other dog died in April 2022. The cost of both per month ranged from $16,000-$20,000. There are also those visits to the vet that would take place at least twice a year — depending on each dog’s health — and those usually cost between $3500-$6000 per visit,” Stewart said in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“When Zoey [the now-deceased dog] was hospitalised in April last year, due to her illness I had to spend more on medical expenses than usual. The total cost for all her medical expenses totalled approximately $38,000. Of this amount, hospitalisation and medication was approximately $27,900. After she passed I also had to spend an additional $10,000 for mortem fee,” she further stated.

Not spared by the weight of global inflationary pressures, rising prices for raw materials have also affected the cost of some animal food, resulting in reduced feeding patterns or even abandonment of a number of pets, more popularly in countries such as the US but also at the local level.

For Ziggy Shirley, owner of a cross breed male dog called Beer, his average monthly spend of $15,000 — the bulk of which is spent on food — was found to be a little above what he could afford and this led him to scale down the dog’s eating habits. The over-60 pound animal, which he described as a heavy eater, mainly eats a mixture of bagged and cook food, with doggie treats in-between.

“After realising that Beer was costing me this much I decided to just feed him more cooked food, and I have found it to be a much cheaper alternative to buy rice, cornmeal and meat trimmings than the commercial dog food,” he said while also noting that he now mainly applies his own basic medical care, opting only to take the animal to the vet when extremely needed.

According to Tammy Browne, managing director of Montego Bay Animal Haven, the cost of caring for a pet depends on the type of animal as well as how far an owner is willing to invest.

“If they get like a little fluffy Shih Tzu they may need to pay for grooming once a month which could be about $5000. Also, the right thing to do is to get the animals spayed or neutered, and if one should take a medium-sized dog to the vet to be spayed an owner will probably look at $30,000-$40,000 for the surgery, which may be too much for a lot of persons to pay out. The result of doing these procedures could also be good [however,] as they may help to eliminate the possibility of future diseases such as TVT, which is a type of cancer that animals can get in instances where they breed too much — especially the pedigree/pure breed dogs which are found to be at higher risk than the more common and tougher Royal Caribbean terriers [more popularly called mongrels],” she said.

Catering to over 200 dogs at the shelter plus several other strays located at feeding stations islandwide, Browne said monthly expenses for food average close to US$4000, and US$2000 for medical at the haven.

“It’s hard to give a [ballpark] figure when it comes to treating animals but for my shelter, it works out to be as much and US$50 a month per dog to treat for parasites, de-worm and feed,” she told Sunday Finance, while indicating that it was cheaper to treat cats than dogs.

“All in all, it’s not cheap to keep a pet in good health but the benefits are good in that you have a friend, company, and even a guard,” Browne said.

For veterinarian and owner of AllPets Veterinary Clinic Dr Audrie McNab, the real cost to treat pets tends to be more dependent on their age, size and needs, rather than breed.

“Between food and regular preventative care, owners could spend approximately $20,000 monthly for the average size dog, which is one that weighs between 26-60 pounds. For bigger dogs — over 60 pounds — the cost will go up as they often eat more and the cost for their medication may also be more, because all the medication for animals are weight-dependent,” she told Sunday Finance.

Outlining a number of the associated medical costs — outside of preventative care which includes de-worming and vaccination — McNab said it’s quite normal to see animal owners spending on average $3000 for routine checks to the clinic, $5000 for grooming, and $10,000 upwards for castration, X-rays, spay and neuter procedures as well as dental care, especially when done privately.

She however said that heavier costs for serious ailments requiring surgeries and other procedures in most cases have helped to push up expenses for pet owners.

“There was this incident with a puppy whose owner had to spend over $100,000 to purchase a catheter and in one week the hospitalisation bill for the same pup also ran over $100,000 due to the nature of the animal’s illness,” the veterinarian shared.

“For certain types of surgeries we do, for example cutting off a limb such as a foot or tail that was injured and is unable to be repaired, this can run anywhere from $160,000 upwards but this will include the X-ray, blood work among other surgical and recuperation costs. For procedures such as dentistry the animal is also often sedated with the service done under anaesthesia which, as a result of the risk, [will] often see costs [which averages about $20,000] trending up,” McNab said.

Amid the high costs associated with pet care universally the veterinarian, like many pet owners, underscored the importance of pet insurance. Citing the roll-out of a recent pet guard insurance by Guardian General as a step in the right direction, she believes greater benefits could be attached if the plan was to be offered as an independent product and not just as a rider — sold as a policy provision or addendum to an existing insurance.

Pricey to sustain in life, the care of animals in times of death can also cost their owners a pretty penny, causing them to fork out funds between $18,000-$54,000 for private cremation services as per the offerings of Faithful Friends Pet Cremation.

“The private service allows owners to get back their ash and comprises different packages — from very basic to very fancy and in-between. We also offer communal packages where several animals are cremated together, and this runs at a cost of $7000 for animals under 60 pounds and $9000 for those over that size,” said Chris Ingledew, founder and CEO of the pet crematorium.

Ingledew, who said he cremated thousands of animals over the past seven years, views his business as a thriving one which has witnessed tremendous growth as demand for his services increase. Cremating mostly dogs, which now accounts for some 97 per cent of the business, he also provides services which cater to cats and other animals including birds, parrots, rabbits and hamsters, which account for the remaining percentages.

“Our packages indicate what is offered for the various services and what you can get for your money, which may include top of the line urns, paw prints, certificate of cremation, or even those as basic as the remains of ash, which is presented in a bag,” Ingledew said.