The True Cost of Owning a Pet
A vet-built estimator for what a pet really costs: upfront, every year, and across its whole life. Adjust it to your pet, your setup, and your currency.
Which pet are you costing?
Species sets the lifespan and every baseline figure. Dogs and fish also ask for a size.
How will you look after them?
The tier scales food, gear and the other lines that follow how you shop.
Switch off any add-on you would not buy.
What does the pet itself cost, and in which currency?
Enter what you paid, or leave the suggested figure. Every number on the next screen is shown in the currency you pick.
Pre-filled with a suggested average. It does not change when you pick a different size — until you type your own price the totals use the chosen size’s own baseline.
What it really costs
One-off setup, the running costs behind it, and what the two add up to over a lifetime.
Your estimated costs
Yearly running costs
One-off setup costs
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Track every cost in one place
These numbers are just the start. ASK A VET™ keeps your pet’s health records, reminders, vaccinations and vet chats together, so surprise bills stop being surprises.
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Estimates are indicative averages for planning only and vary by breed, region, individual pet, and provider. Medical costs in particular can spike well beyond the reserves shown here. Currency figures are converted from Australian dollar baselines at approximate rates and are not live exchange rates. This tool is general information, not veterinary or financial advice.
How the lifetime figure is built
Every figure starts from an Australian-dollar baseline for the animal you pick, then follows the same three steps the result screen shows: the one-off setup costs, the running costs for one year, and the two combined across the lifespan printed next to the lifetime total.
The lifestyle tier scales the lines that follow how you shop — food, grooming, boarding, toys, consumables, equipment, filter media, livestock and replacement gear. Budget trims them, Premium raises them. Routine vet care, parasite prevention, insurance, the farrier and the emergency reserve do not move with the tier, because they are priced by the provider rather than by you.
How is the lifetime figure worked out?
One-off setup costs, plus the yearly running total multiplied by the lifespan shown beside it. The first-year tile is the same setup total plus one year of running costs, and the “ongoing per year” tile is that running total on its own, with the monthly equivalent underneath.
Why did the add-on switches change when I changed animal?
Each animal carries its own defaults, and a switch only appears when that animal actually has the cost line. Insurance is on by default for dogs, cats and horses; boarding is on for horses, where it is agistment or livery. Switching an add-on off removes it from the yearly total and greys out its bar.
Are the currency figures live exchange rates?
No. Every currency other than the Australian dollar is converted from the same baselines at the approximate rate printed under the currency selector, and it is not a live FX feed. Use it to compare, not to budget to the dollar.
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