My cat’s £4k vet bill has left me unable to pay rent and they still don’t know what’s wrong – how to cut pet costs
SOARING vet bills and pet food prices are taking a colossal bite out of owners’ finances.
Some brands have put the price of food up by as much as 35 per cent over the past year, analysis by Sun Money has found.
Animal rescue charities are seeing an increase in dogs and cats given up for adoption by owners who can no longer afford their upkeep.
Dogs Trust says it received 51,805 handover requests in 2022 – a record number.
And Tesco Bank Pet Insurance research found that 44 per cent of owners don’t have cover in place for their animals.
When disaster strikes, desperate people are appealing to strangers on websites such as Gofundme to help pay emergency costs for sick pets.
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Fundraisers that mention “vet bills” are up by 11 per cent compared to last year.
The Competition and Markets Authority revealed this week that it will be investigating whether pet owners are getting a fair deal from vets.
Here, Leah Milner and Laura Purkess look at how to save money on pet essentials.
Vet bills
TREATMENT prices for poorly pets have been rising faster than other living costs, according to the Competition and Markets Authority.
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The share of local practices that are independently owned has shrunk from 89 per cent to 45 per cent over the eight years to 2021 as a handful of large firms have swallowed up smaller ones, it found.
The watchdog is looking at whether this shift is causing prices to rise because there’s less competition.
Insurers paid out a record £1billion last year for pets, driven in part by “the high cost of veterinary treatment”, according to the industry trade body.
Cover is the best way to protect against shock bills but it won’t pay for regular check-ups, jabs, flea and worming treatment and there are normally caps on payouts.
For major treatments, if it’s not an emergency, you can shop around by phoning different vet surgeries.
Costs can vary dramatically. One reader told Sun Money how quotations for treating her cat’s broken leg ranged from £500 to more than £7,000.
If you are on Universal Credit or other low-income benefits, you might be able to get free vet help via the PDSA or Blue Cross — use the eligibility and postcode checkers on their websites.
Non-profit group Animal Trust runs practices that don’t charge consultation fees — only for treatment or meds.
See if there’s one near you at animaltrust.org.uk.
You can often save on medication by getting a prescription from the vet and then ordering online — check the site is accredited at vmd.defra.gov.uk.
Some vets charge around £89 for a six-month supply of Advocate flea treatment, but ask for the prescription on its own and you’d pay around £28.
Then order from a site such as Pet Drugs Online, where the same pack costs £23.45 — a saving of nearly £38 after prescription charges compared to buying at the vet.
Food
DOG food costs are up by almost ten per cent compared to last year, according to the comparison website trolley.co.uk.
Cat food and cat litter prices have increased by a similar amount.
But our analysis using the website found that certain products had jumped by far more.
In the worst examples we spotted, the average price of a box of Go-Cat tuna and herring mix with veg dry cat food 750g, was up by nearly 35 per cent from £2.23 to £3 over the year to August.
A pack of six cans of Pedigree mixed variety selection in jelly dog food was up by 26 per cent from an average of £5.37 to £6.79 over the same period.
And a bag of 5L Catsan non-clumping odour control cat litter had risen by almost 32 per cent from £4.87 to £6.42.
To save, buy in bulk and use sites like trolley.co.uk to compare costs weekly and shift to own-brand products where possible.
For example a 20L bag of the same Catsan litter, highly rated by consumer group Which?, is £15 at Asda, Wilko and Sainsbury’s.
That’s a saving of £10.68 compared to buying the same amount in 5L bags.
If you don’t have much space at home for big bags, team up with pet-owning pals and decant into smaller containers.
Any dog or cat food that uses the word “complete” must by law meet UK Pet Food guidelines and contain complete nutritional requirements, according to the British Veterinary Association.
Dr Nick Horniman, founder of MyPetsVet says: “Look for foods with a primary protein source like chicken or fish, with at least 18 per cent protein for dogs and around 25 per cent for cats.
“Avoid products with excessive plant-based fillers like soy or corn.”
Animal charities such as the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, PDSA, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and lots of other local groups run petfood banks and you normally don’t need an official referral as you would with an ordinary food bank.
Insurance
PET premiums haven’t changed much over the past year, but as other costs have risen many families will find them harder to afford.
The average annual bill for insuring a cat has dipped slightly from £75 to £74 over the year to August, according to figures from Comparethemarket.
For a dog, the average cost has ticked upwards from £134 to £138.
Use a comparison website and increase your voluntary excess to try to bring down costs.
Don’t allow your insurance to lapse as if there is a gap in cover you might find it difficult to get insurance with another company.
Make sure you read the small print carefully so you know the limits – there will normally be a cap on the total that can be paid out for a particular condition or in an emergency.
Some health conditions common to particular breeds will also be excluded.
But going without insurance can prove costly.
It left one owner with a bill of more than £4,500 and unable to pay her rent.
Opera singer and music teacher Beren Fiden, 30, from East London, was struggling with the cost of living and did not have insurance in place for her six-year-old rescue cat Lasagna when he became seriously ill last weekend.
He stopped eating, was breathing heavily and peeing blood.
He’s been on a drip and cared for at a vet ever since, with mounting bills, but medics are still not sure what is wrong.
Beren has paid out £1,000 and still owes £3,500, but the bill is rising by the day.
She said: “I’ve had to ask my landlord for more time to pay my rent. I don’t know what to do.”
Beren, originally from Turkey, added: “Lasagna is my only family here.”
She has set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe and donors have already pledged more than £1,285 to help with costs.
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She says: “People have been so generous.”
Lasagna’s fundraising page is gofundme.com/f/lasagna -to-live.