Cost of dog vs rabbit

[Michelle&Lolli]

So which is cheaper on a monthly basis?  Vet bills?  Annual wellness checks? 

I would like to get a dog sometime.  NOT NOW….it wouldn’t be fair to Lolli to have some small yapping dog running around, barking at her.  lol  Plus I only want a dog when I have a fenced yard for it to run in.  But I have always been curious as to which is cheaper in general if one is. 

I had dogs growing up but I never had to PAY for anything.   So I have some clue but I’m sure I don’t know completely what their cost is. 

[LoveChaCha]

weh! when i was searching for pet insurance, i ran into this site that compared all domestic animal prices by year. i can’t find that site anymore!!!!!

but if i recall, rabbits and dogs are quite close price wise – depends on the size of the animal. dogs were approx 1000.00+ a year for a big breed.

it is unknown ya know? with vet stuff. unexpected things happen!

[Lintini]

Pheww…ya unexpected things are right, just recently all in the same week, Wickett the pomeranian got a foxtail up his nose and had to have surgery to get it out, Leia the rat terrier had a very seriously allergic reaction and almost suffocated because her wind pipe was swelling shut and then had to go on steroids for a month, AND THEN our horse Opie had colic! That was a well over a thousand dollars my parents had to pay in a week span. I think it’s just a real safe assumption that all pets are expensive Remember to not only consider the expense but also the time you need to spend with a dog compared to a rabbit, potty and obedience training, all the shots, licences, dental, heart worm prevention meds, flea/tick prevention meds, etc ….gah my dogs need more help with potty training.

[Beka27]

It really depends on many different factors. I think spay/neuter is cheaper on dogs, and some treatments are cheaper b/c they don’t have the “exotic” status. But then like Lintini said, there are various preventative things that rabbits don’t generally require (vaccinations, worm/flea meds, etc…) Any dog breed will have potential health issues later in life.

In terms of food, it would be cheaper to feed a smaller breed, BUT there is a lot of back and forth about the quality of dog food (especially in light of recent dog food recalls) so some people are moving towards a raw or “homemade” diet for dogs… the equivalent of feeding our buns fresh veggies.

[Heather&BabsyBooboo]

 Over here I luckily didnt have vet bills when I had my dogs as I Qualified for free vet care as I@m classed as unable to work through a charity. Unfortunately it was just basic cat and dog vets nothing ‘exotic’. They were fully trained vets and were brilliant with my dogs. I realise I’ll have to use a private vet for Babs but it’s something I have thought about long and hard and will probably insure her. So for me Babs is going to be MUCH more expensive!!! (but well worth it!!!)

[blackfang]

Well, in my opinion, it is more expensive to take care of dog than rabbit.

You’ll have to pay higher vet bills for dog than rabbit because heart worms, shots, and etc. Rabbits don’t need shots or anything if you live in USA.
I only pay like around 500 dollars for two rabbits yearly. Dog normally cost around 600 to 1000 depends on the size of dog and other reasons. If someone claimed that they only pay around 100 to 300 dollars a year for a dog, don’t listen to them because I’m sure they feed lousy cheap food for them to eat. Their dogs will live shorter because of bad diet. Higher quality of diet = more expensive = longer life spam.

Dog is higher maintenance than rabbit
You’ll have take dog outside multiple times a day. However, rabbit is litter trained
You’ll have to take your dog outside to exercise but you can sit and watch rabbit in the house!

[jennyrabbit]

it really depends, on both the dog and where you live, dog food if the biggest thing, most popular foods are horrid..Purina, Iams/Euk, Pedigree etc.. are horrable quality food, the expensive science diet is even worse! its a major thing you need to research, many opt to go homemade/raw..I personaly feed raw..nothing to do with the recalls though, I have been feeding raw for 10 years lol. vaccines need to be heavily researched as well, not all vets have converted to the new protocols, do NOT just do what you vet says!! not doing your reseach on this can actually endanger your dogs life..I am very big on this after one of my dogs nearly died from her puppy vaccines and her rabies vaccine caused a personaility flip, from friendly to aggressive(which when you do you reasearch is one of the top recorded reactions to the rabies vax) this flip is something I have been dealing with her whole life..worked hard to socilaize her, she was awsome, she got her rabies vax, and bam..I have been wrestling with serious aggression ever since. you also need to take into account the laws in your area..here licencing is $25 a year for neutered dogs and $100 a year for intact dogs. neutering cost depend on where you live, I pay about $120 for neuters and $240 for spays..using small town vets..in town its $2 something for neuters and $3 something for spays.

[Deleted User]

It depends on the size and health of the animals as well as on your vet’s fees.

[FluffyBunny]

I’ve never owned a dog, but I think that it would really depend on the breed of the dog. With a very small dog, I wouldn’t think that it would very different from a rabbit, cost-wise. But with bigger breeds of dogs (like the giant mix breed dog one of my friends has…seriously, that dog’s head is at the same level as my chest, and I’m 5″4″), I’d think that the food costs would make the dog much more expensive than a rabbit.

[lwayne]

There’s also the time costs.. as my S.O. put it: Bunnies have a high fun to maintenance ratio, meaning they make very good pets with minimal maintenance (he doesn’t do the ‘maintenance’).

Dogs also require a lot more attention and have to (well should be!) walked at least twice a day to get exercise and let out every couple of hours for potty breaks, and such. While bunnies love human attention, they are quite content with just morning/evening attention.

So there’s more than just the money aspect.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

My experience so far-dog is WAY cheaper then the bunnies-especially in terms of vet care. However there are much more ‘dog accessories’ so that can increase your costs if your an impulse pet shop shopper!

But it totally depends. My parents dog had cancer and her treatment, well nothing my animals ever do will hold a candle to that expense (knock on wood knock on wood). And subsequent expenses-her ear infection she went in for today was a four digit excursion :p {{{Healing Vibes Mandy}}}

I’d say in general -because vet care for rabbits is so specialized, and in my experience at least, rabbits seem to get things wrong with them more frequently-AND when they do get things wrong with them it’s often very critical-it’s more cost. Dogs have vaccines and worming schedules and are generally healthy….well that’s totally my experience. Kahlua hasn’t cost me a dime outside of regular exams…(knock on wood) whereas my geriatric buns did and do cost more. So a young bunny in good shape and in good hands will do well. As they get older, and depending on genetics and diet and yada yada-that could change. A dog can be cheap-sometimes never needing a vet. And sometimes they need hip replacements or hypoallergetic food, or diabetic shots…

Cost for my dog-to quickly price it out not including his treats (I buy meat and veggies and cook his treats for him-comparatively that’s about the same cost as buying treats and I think a lot healthier):

About 200$ twice a year-we go for an exam twice a year, once in spring where we get all his worming stuff for the summer and another exam in the fall for vaccinations.
About 100$ every two months for his food. We feed Orijen which I really think is a fantastic food. BUT My dog is small-45lbs. A bull mastiff eats about 3 cups a meal several times a day. LOL I think Petzy said she feeds Orijen too and her dogs are bigger then some people’s horses …so it totally depends on that too.

And those are the basics. Just like bunnies-dogs need toys, treats, beds etc. They also need collars and leashes, harnesses, doggy seatbelts, kennels, dog tags, microchip, -AND training. Even if you are a pro trainer it’s prudent to take some kind of class with your dog. The intructor will often see things you are missing.
And then there’s doggie sports. Mikey starts flyball this week

All in all-Dave covers Mikey (besides accessories and what I cook for him) -so food and vet. And I do the bunnies. And I spend WAYYY more then Dave.

Now-I want to qualify this by saying also that-it doesn’t matter what pet you add-that cost is in ADDITION to what your paying…and variable…and unexpected. I can’t tell you how good I feel now that I have a savings account and don’t have to ask mom and dad to bail me for every vet trip! I’d say start a savings account so your all set

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