Most people can count on around $500 in total expenses to adopt a dog or cat, get supplies, and cover initial medical costs. Then, you should budget around $500 per year in most cases for ongoing costs too. Those costs vary based on the size of your pet, brands you prefer, and assumes your pet is generally healthy.

Basic Costs of Owning a Dog

Monthly Food and Treats Most pets will require up to $50 per month in food for dogs, unless on a gourmet or special diet, which can range into the hundreds. Treats are estimated at about $10-50 per month. Cat food runs from $10-40, with treats ranging $10-50.

For a 6 lb roll of Freshpet, it should cost you around $12-13. For a 50 lb dog, you’ll be feeding them around 1 lb of dog food each day. This works out to roughly $2.17 per day. The bags of Freshpet such as the Freshpet Selects are much higher in price.

To date, the FDA still has not found any science-based causes to link grain-free diets — including Taste of the Wild — to DCM. As they note, it is a complex issue with numerous factors to consider, such as breeds that have a genetic predisposition for developing DCM.

Pure Balance Dry Dog Foods Pure Balance offers comparable dry dog food recipes at an average cost of $1.54 per pound. On average, Pure Balance dry dog food is 19.24% cheaper than Taste of the Wild.

There is a small difference between the fat content of Taste of the Wild and Kirkland Signature. In addition, Kirkland Signature wet dog foods also provide more fat than Taste of the Wild wet foods. There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands.