What expenses are there around having pets?
We asked our members to breakdown some expenses they incur for having pets in Ireland and here are some responses:
Vet expenses
When emigrating with animals there are a few initial things you need to budget for when you get here.
You need to register your pets’ microchips. You can do cats yourself online, but for some reason a vet practice has to do this for dogs. It is about €15 per animal, depending on who you go with. We went with Fido.ie.
In addition, you need to purchase licenses for your dogs (not required for cats). Dog licenses are €20 each, paid annually. These things are checked, so please don’t think you can get by without like you probably did in SA.
And sign up for pet insurance where applicable right away – there are several different providers. Vets are not allowed to promote one over the other, but chat to them anyway about the differences between the options. Our cats are both young boys with no pre-existing conditions, so it was a no brainer to sign them up. It’s costing us €25 a month for them. We decided to take a different approach for our dogs because they are older (13, 10 and 7) and premiums would therefore be pretty pricey; and because they have pre-existing conditions, which would not be covered anyway – and are likely the things which would send us to the vet. So we aim to set aside a certain amount a month in a pet medical savings account, and dip into that when necessary to help pay for vet bills. And in the 4 months we have been here, we’ve already had many.
I would suggest having emergency money set aside for your animals as a matter of course. You do not want to have brought them all this way, and then not be able to afford to look after them. I mentioned mine had to have their annual vaccinations and rabies shots here. I was not charged consultations for this, but annual boosters are €50, and Rabies boosters are €50. So that’s €100 per animal. At the same time I did tick, flea and worm treatment (these are very real things here – don’t be fooled!), which needs to be done every 3 months. Bravecto spot on for cats is €25 each, and includes the wormer. I paid just over €80 for tick, flea and worm stuff (Bravecto and Milbemax) for the 3 dogs. So, call that €105 every 3 months for parasite control for 5 animals.
As mentioned, my cat Gandalf was at the vet a good few times in the early days for treatment of his chronic constipation and dehydration. A consultation is €45 and follow up consults were €31,50 each at my vet. The IV was €60, sedation and procedure was €80 and overnight stay was €25. When my wanderer, Baggins, was sprung from jail, he had a run in with the local bad boy. He got bitten on the bum, and it got infected. Consultation was €45, and meds came to €35. That was for two injections and take home stuff. I don’t think meds are too expensive here vs. SA, but there are some things that are much more expensive.
Frankie’s chip went from working at her preflight check in Jhb, working in Dublin at vet clearance there, to not working when I took them into the vet to get her chip registered. Bizarre, but it can happen. We had to re-chip her, which cost us a consultation – par for the course.
Frankie also has Cervical Invertebrate Disc Disease, and had a disc removed in October last year. She recently started displaying the same symptoms as she showed last year. In Jhb, she was immediately sent for an MRI which is (globally) more expensive than a CT scan. The MRI cost R15,000 in SA. Her operation in SA was R18,000. She was sent for the cheaper CT scan here, which cost €1038 (R20,000 plus!). They told me that an MRI would cost a few thousand Euros!! WAY pricier than SA. I hate to think what surgery would cost here. We have her on cage rest now, which is the suggested conservative approach in the hopes that we can avoid an MRI and surgery. I may have to sell a kidney.
The point is, having animals in Ireland is expensive! If you bring them, make damn sure you can support them.
Holistic or raw Feeding:
Regarding natural, holistic or raw feeding we use Fetch Your Pet Needs – prices can be found on their online shop – absolutely brilliant to use!
Mira is an adult cocker spaniel weighing about 10KG so she eats 300g per day + a natural chew like a rabbit ear and some small treats so we get about 6 meals per kg = €70 for food for a month (we get 10% discount and loyalty points so that helps).
A box of natural chews last me about 3 months if not longer and cost €20 from a crowd in Northern Ireland.
For toys we use Homesense or Petstop (up to €10 per toy).
We do a holistic flea and tick treatment so source that from Fetch as well. We have to do a 1 year vet visit soon so can send that on when we get the bill.
Her boarding is €17 a day for doggy daycare or €30 for 24 hours boarding.
We pay about €70 for a full groom – but it is a mobile dog groomer that parks in our driveway and includes the whole shebang.
Her pet insurance is €300 with Allianz (haven’t had to use it yet luckily) as she is very healthy and not accident prone (yet).
Microchip issues:
We had a terrible experience when our dogs landed last year and our one dogs microchips failed to work. We had to put him in quarantine, re-vaccinate, re-chip and pay €25 a day for 4 months. Please make a note that everyone looking to bring their animals over must have them double checked and scanned at the time of departure and ensure it’s working. I am not confident mine were scanned at the airport before they got on the plane.
We pay €20 a month for parasite/de-worming tablets for both dogs. €200 a month for food (we have a Great Dane and an Anatolian Shepard) €40-45 a grooming session. Vet bills have varied from €200 being the minimum and €450 being the most. My Dane is 10yrs old so can’t be on medical insurance.
Pet Insurance:
Definitely get pet insurance. One of our cats got a bladder stone, had to have surgery and spend a couple of nights at the vet. Set us back €1200-ish. I got about €950 back from Allianz, thankfully.
And shop around for food if you’re able. Our cats are now on a special diet thanks to the bladder stone, so now it’s about €100 for 7kg, but for regular food (we had them on Fit 32 until the change) we used to get it significantly cheaper by buying it off ZooPlus.
Vet Plan:
We have two springer, monthly food cost about €100 a month, a vet plan monthly for €50 that covers vet appointments and vaccination for the year, €130 for Grooming and the wonderful unplanned vet trips around €400 -700. We spent a lovely night at UCD vet hospital for a little springer in our house that ate the raw rusk dough
Natural food:
I have 2 cavaliers and one is in stage 4 mitral valve heart failure. We were told he was on his last days three years ago! He is on homemade diet – butternut box type but made by me which costs around €15 per week. His meds cost around €120 per month. Other than that grooming costs around €50 per dog per session. Rarely see the vet but when we do its around €70 plus
Dog food:
2 types of dog pellets, senior and adult.€86 for a 12 kg packet. Grain free and chicken free. €172 every 6 weeks
Around €50 a month for heart meds and anti inflamatories for my 11 year old daxie
Around €100 a year for worm meds and flea control for 3 smallish dogs. 2 x Daxies and a Staffodil
The Staffie eats twice the amount of the Daxies so it works out perfectly
Vet costs: 2 random vet fees
