You Won't Believe What the Average Pet Owner Spent in 2023

If you're going to adopt a pet, you need to make sure you have a decent chunk of cash sitting in your savings account. Not only is caring for a pet a lot of work, but the cost involved might exceed the amount you initially budgeted for. So it's important to have cash reserves to tap in case your costs come in higher than expected.

Data from SWNS Media Group reveals that as of last year, the typical pet owner spends about $4,800 annually on pet care. Of that, more than $1,200 goes toward visits to the vet.

Now, some of those visits may be totally routine. Like humans, it's a good idea for pets to have a yearly wellness visit. And there are certain preventive medications or vaccines you may need to pay for to keep your pet healthy.

But still, you never know when a healthcare emergency might impact your pet. So it's important to make sure you're covered financially for that sort of situation.

Make certain to put pet insurance in place

Human health insurance usually entitles you to different types of preventive coverage. Many people, for example, are entitled to an annual physical they don't have to pay for, because that's covered by their insurers.

Pet insurance works a bit differently. Many pet insurance policies do not provide coverage for routine or preventive care.

Granted, some policies may have an add-on or tier that does include these benefits. But the cost might exceed what you'd otherwise pay for preventive care, so it may not be worth buying a higher-tier policy. However, the value of pet insurance is that it might protect you from the catastrophic costs that could otherwise arise when caring for your pet.

Let's imagine your pet falls ill and needs a $2,500 surgery plus $1,000 in medication to recover and go on to live a reasonably typical lifespan. You might have some money sitting in savings that's allocated to pet care. But do you have $3,500 you can use for that purpose? Maybe not.

And in this example, we're talking about a single incident or illness. It's conceivable that your pet might need medical care to the tune of thousands of dollars year after year, especially once they reach a certain age.

That's why it's such a good idea to put pet insurance in place. Your policy may not cover all of your pet's medical expenses. It's common for policies to put coverage limits in place, and you may be subject to an annual deductible you have to pay before your insurer starts picking up the tab for your animal's care. But at least this way, you have some level of protection.

It pays to shop around for pet insurance

Whether you spend $4,800 a year to own your pet, more, or less, you should ideally be factoring that cost into your budget. So while you're at it, shop around for pet insurance, get some quotes, choose a pet insurance company, and then incorporate the cost of your premiums into your budget as well.

You never want to be in a position where you have to choose between driving yourself into serious debt or caring for your pet. With pet insurance, that dreaded situation may be avoidable.