Responsible Pet Parenthood

Are you one of those who got a cute little puppy or a nice fluffy kitty as a gift for Christmas? Great, then I hope you know that these furry little friends are not just for show and that you actually have to take care of them responsibly.

Pepper is my first rescue. He’s been with us since 2013. And while I give him and my 3 other rescues the best that I can–including these fancy GPS tracker on their necks, I cannot deny that sometimes there are challenges in maintaining our pets and making sure they are always healthy.

Throughout November and December of last year, I was in and out of the vet week after week for Pepper. Sadly, he has suspected FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Track Disease) and his urethral blockage recurred. So there we were, at the vet, as we had to take him for catheterization and flushing per visit

This is Pepper with his catheter and bind, which looks like he’s wearing a G-String, since he’s too smart and naughty to always yank out his catheter as soon as we get home.

Apparently, aside from struvite stones, Pepper is also suffering from inflamed bladder lining because of the crystals causing micro wounds on his bladder lining. This is Pepper having ultrasound to check his bladder.

As soon as we get home, we gave Pepper a diaper since his catheter is still attached and we wouldn’t want him to be able to remove it by himself. He doesn’t look too psyched about it, though.

Pepper’s multiple trips to the vet over the last two months have accumulated us about Php15,000 worth of bills–including confinement, catheterization, ultrasound, medicines, etc. Here’s a quick infographic to show you interesting facts and figures relating to how much it costs to take care of our furry friends.

While most of us would gladly welcome to take in a cute puppy as a gift, it is important for you to be mindful of your budget and take control of your expenses. Luckily, we can now use the help from Personal Capital’s financial tools, a mobile phone app that helps track your expenses and keeps you on track with your finances.

Personal Capital has helped me keep my pet budget on track. This app conveniently shows you a chart to see if you are over spending on, let’s say, clothes or accessories that might not be too necessary especially when you are spending on more important things like meds or buying quality, more expensive food. It shows you your monthly cash flow and it segregates expenses per category so you can check if you are overspending on clothes or treats, etc.

So whether or not you are taking in a new pet, check out Personal Capital. The app helps you monitor your expenses and greatly helps your monthly budgeting. Available in App Store and Google Play.

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