How Much MY Basenji Cost is His First Year:
I have always been the type of person that keeps a close eye on their income and expenses. Basically I like to count MY money; I want to keep the little that I have. Naturally with that mentality I wanted to see how much my Basenji will cost me over his lifetime. Especially, over the first year of his life. So I decided to look into the cost and looked into the cost and did some research.
After looking high and low all the estimates I was given were lacking some, in my opinion, key costs. Cost of living, raw vs. dry vs. mix, travel, treats, groomer (if needed), toys and bedding, cleaning materials? the list goes on but you get the point. The costs I found seem to give me information in pieces or assumptions. The good cost I found where for other dogs with much higher grooming requirements. Feeding is the most important but what type of feeding didn't would I use? So, to be honest, I winged it. I just went forward with getting the dog. Side note, the perfect dog found me and I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I had to reserve my pup then.
There is the background now for the meat of this post.
I have been tracking my spending habits on my dog from the day of the first deposit to the day of pick up to his first birth day, Aug. 28th. The numbers your about to see are dang close to the total I have spent on him. I wanted to share this with everyone and specifically the new and future Basenji owners.
So far we have spent $2617.29 on Kenji from Oct. 3rd, 2010 to Aug. 28th 2011. I know this isn't a full year of expenses but this post is about how much he has cost by his first birthday. The above number includes some non-standard cost. So this isn't a budget for a full year of a Basenji. Some of these costs will only come once.
Kenji's Purchase Price = $800. His Neuter operation was $209.69 at Banfield Pet Hospital at Petsmart with Banfield's Wellness Plan (more about this later). AKC Registration = $35.00, this was a standard registration none of the extras. Avid microchip registration was $19.96, he came already chipped so there was not cost there. Kenji also forced me to make a few modifications to my dining room chairs. So I made an $11.44 purchase at Home Depot for some ply wood and nails. I was also given 2 wire crates; a 200 and a 300. These can range from $50 -$150
The monthly purchases are more meaningful to some. To me these were the ones I had to budget for and make sure I could hit. These costs are mostly affected by the food you buy, the treats you get, the grooming needs, classes you are signed up for. We didn't take him to the groomer or sign up for classes. We did everything in house so we spent time and not money here. The type of food we purchased as Kenji's base food, which lasted about 3-4weeks, is Diamond?s 6lb bag of Small Breed Puppy food which is $13.77 per purchase. We also tried other dry kibble and raw chicken on Fridays. This would extend the life of one bag but add the price of a second food. Food and treats averaged about $29.21 per month.
Additionally, we signed up for the Wellness Plan at our vet which covers doctor visits and we get a discount on standard procedures. There is a monthly fee but it beats having to pay full price for shots, and operations. Without this plan; when Kenji was neutered it would have cost me nearly $800, but it only cost $210. The monthly fee for this is $23.95 and worth it. Kenji also costs us monthly for rent. That?s an extra $25 tacked on to our already over priced apartment.
We did take Kenji to the groomer once, it was $20 and I feel we could do just as good of a job. He is already low maintenance and they didn't do much but give him a bath and trim some hair. So we saved there. Aside from this the rest of the money spent is on toys, bedding, leaches, treats, more bedding, more toys, collars.
This is yet another guideline on how much I have spent on my Basenji. It is different for everyone and every dog. Hope this post helps someone.
Good post. It's very for anyone to have an idea how much this 'extra mouth' will cost. You didn't have a couch or expensive shoe replacement so you are actually doing really well, haha!
And best of all, you have Kenji, and that's priceless!
Yup, dogs aren't cheap, but they give so much love back in return…
We got Shaye at 10 weeks, and a companion mix for her when she was 9 months. The first total year, with all vet visits, including spay and hernia operation, everyone's shots, food, etc. was around $4,400. Of course that's Shaye and Gemma, who is the mix we got later.
I have older basenjis and I do not not to add anything up; better not to know how much they cost! Food and routine vetting are fairly stable, but a trip to the emergency vet and a couple of days in the ICU…
So the first year is expensive with spay/neuters, and the older years can be expensive with dentals, issues. The in-between years have been 'cheap' for us. But worth every cent for the love and fun.
Probably a good idea to put aside a set amount ($20 or more) every month or payday in a special cookie-jar, to have on hand for emergencies or old-dog issues. Wish I had thought of that a few years ago!
IProbably a good idea to put aside a set amount ($20 or more) every month or payday in a special cookie-jar, to have on hand for emergencies or old-dog issues. Wish I had thought of that a few years ago!
That's a great idea! I will say, after that first mind-boggling year, I have stopped paying attention to the "Animals" category of my expenses - no sense in knowing, because it isn't going to affect the needs when they arise!:eek:
What's amazing is how lucrative the small animal veterinary business has become. For less than I pay on a "routine" health check for my Basenji…..wherein I transport him to the vet, wait (invariably) for some time in the waiting room, then get "seen" for ten or fifteen minutes, my horse vet will come to my farm (yes, and in the middle of the night or weekends for an emergency.....my small animal vet wants me to attend an emergency clinic in those cases) and wrestle with a large, sometimes uncooperative animal (risking his own life and limb), float teeth, give injections, or in the case of a colic, medication by stomach tube and perhaps stick his whole arm up the horse's rectum......and invariably I end up with a bill that is less than I paid for my dog! (It's also cheaper to get a colt castrated than a dog neutered......go figure!!!)
And best of all, you have Kenji, and that's priceless!
My sentiments exactly. I could never put a price on what Kipawa has done for me personally and our home/household. As I sit on the couch now and watch him chew up a tough fabric frisbee, I wonder if he knows how valuable he is and how much we love him.
oh my goodness, if I tried to tally up the expenses of the treats and toys for my baby boy… I love to shower him with fun things to play with. But on the plus side, he has yet to ruin anything in the home after 9 months (crosses fingers)
very cool….and I can tell you this...Pippin has been WAY more pricey...starting from day #1..up until now..and he is 10 months old...but...A) you can't put a price on his love, 
I won't tell my husband all of the involved costs and C) I will do it again!!
How Much MY Basenji Cost is His First Year:
Without this plan; when Kenji was neutered it would have cost me nearly $800, but it only cost $210.
Yikes!!!
It only cost us ~$384 when we had Blaze neutered…and that INCLUDED having him microchipped, his rabies vaccination, repair his umbilical hernia, pre-anethestic blood work, and the after-surgery medication.
Yikes!!!
It only cost us ~$384 when we had Blaze neutered…and that INCLUDED having him microchipped, his rabies vaccination, repair his umbilical hernia, pre-anethestic blood work, and the after-surgery medication.
I know prices around the country vary, but $800 for a neuter in KY seems really high to me too. Z's spay was significantly less than 1/2 that cost (including pre-op blood work, pain meds and the surgery). And often spays are more $. I would bet the cost of living in co is about the same or slightly more in co compared to ky.
In Northern Ca, average spay/neuter is around 400 to 800.00. There are cheaper, however as they say, you get what you pay for.
I don't want to count the shoes I have had to repair/replace…our fault for leaving them where the b's can get them.
Yikes!!!
It only cost us ~$384 when we had Blaze neutered…and that INCLUDED having him microchipped, his rabies vaccination, repair his umbilical hernia, pre-anethestic blood work, and the after-surgery medication.
Wow… you did not too bad compared to our costs on the west coast of Canada (we are basically in a suburb of Vancouver). Along with pre-surgery blood work and urinalysis, our bill was almost $700.00. And that was with nothing additional done. Rabies had already been done, no hernias to repair and Kipawa was already microchipped by his breeders.
I know I could find a less costly vet, but I have built up a very good relationship with them and trust them totally. They were so wonderful when my angel cat Barney got cancer, arranging for us to see a specialist two days later. Everything they do provides peace of mind for me and my animalsis, and I just can't put a price on that.
A good vet is worth the price of their services, IMO.
Wow, I must confess that I'm often shocked by how much spay/neuters cost on this side of the world, since I never had to do one. Bowpi was already spayed when we got her, and Bowdu was neutered when we were living in Taiwan – for the oh so exorbitant cost of about $60USD. S/Ns are actually subsidized there so the gov't will PAY vets for every spay/neuter they perform, and so vets stand to make a decent chunk of change even when they charge clients such a small amount.
Anyway, I do think it's important to keep track of expenses like this, and it'll probably help others who want a more realistic idea of the expenses incurred in raising a dog. There's always more than that cute face to worry about, especially for the first year!
I have Voodoo now for 3 months, and he is 9 months old now, but here it has been a lot cheaper. Had most of the stuff he needed allready from my other dogs, so only expenses I had was food and getting him ready to enter Sweden (rabi?s-titer, de-worming…). Over here his food is free, vet is free, so now he doesn't cost me anything. With some quick calculations, I spend a total of 140 dollar on him so far.
It is important to be able to explain to people the cost of proper care… Many are so hung up on the price of a pup, they do not realize that proper care way out spend the cost to purchase. And when they understand those costs, they can more understand why the price might seem high to them.
So many people question the price saying "I only want a pet", but the cost to breed that pet is no different then a show/performance puppy if you do it right.
It is important to be able to explain to people the cost of proper care… Many are so hung up on the price of a pup, they do not realize that proper care way out spend the cost to purchase. And when they understand those costs, they can more understand why the price might seem high to them.
So many people question the price saying "I only want a pet", but the cost to breed that pet is no different then a show/performance puppy if you do it right.
Excellent comments, Pat!
