The Unexpected Cost of Pet Care Has Young Adults Rethinking Their Finances

This is so unfair. At least you don't need to send Muffy (the feline) to Cornell (with a can of mace). Plus they may shit on your furniture but don't end up drunk in the ER after prom.

The Unexpected Cost of Pet Care Has Young Adults Rethinking Their Finances

Pet ownership among Gen Z has spiked, but many are unprepared for the inevitable vet bills

By Oyin Adedoyin, WSJ

Sept. 5, 2026

When we found blood in our cat Gumdrop’s stool earlier this year, my boyfriend, Ean, and I rushed him to the vet. The doctor couldn’t tell us what was wrong with him, but he said an $800 ultrasound might give us more information.

As Ean and I looked at each other warily, I couldn’t decide which was more ridiculous: that pet care could actually be this expensive or that we were considering paying the $800.

Turns out, a growing number of young adults are just like us, bringing home furry friends to then be shocked by the cost of caring for them.

Some are like me. We didn’t grow up with pets so we didn’t know what to expect when it comes to the expenses and how to plan for them. Others are like Ean. While they had a childhood pet, their parents shouldered the responsibility and expenses, and the costs of pets were never included in lessons about personal finance. Regardless of our profiles, caring for our furry family members is complicating our budgets.

Households spend an average of about $1,700 annually on their pets, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. That can be a strain for younger owners who are just starting out in their careers and juggling other bills.

Pet ownership spiked during the pandemic as social distancing and a loneliness that a Zoom call just couldn’t fix prompted people to get a pet. But while pet ownership eventually stabilized overall, the growth continued for younger Americans. The number of Gen Z households with a pet was up 43% last year compared with 2023, according to the American Pet Products Association. Young adults also were more likely to own two or more pets.

“The real expansion is coming from Gen Z and millennial pet owners,” says Pete Scott, chief executive of the American Pet Products Association.

Rethink an emergency fund

Even though Ean and I passed on the ultrasound for Gumdrop, we still had to pay for the office visit and anti-nausea medication. We then decided to get a second opinion from another vet, who took a blood test and encouraged us to put Gumdrop on a wet-food diet. That meant shelling out for an automatic wet feeder since we’re both at work during the day.

We spent more than $1,200 combined on our pets in that one month—more than the $1,000 I try to save monthly for my emergency fund. So that got me thinking how I could better prepare for the inevitable future pet bills. After all, as our cats grow so will the potential for other medical issues.

Ashley Bleckner, a wealth adviser at Ellevest in San Diego, says incorporating pet care into a younger person’s limited budget means your emergency fund isn’t just for your own emergencies. It should be expanded to include your pet’s emergencies. She recommends deciding how much of an emergency pet expense you’re willing to cover while your pet is still healthy and keeping that amount where you can easily access it.

So in addition to food, litter and toys, I’ve added an additional $100 a month for potential emergency vet visits to the pets part of my budget.

Arran Reid crouching next to a cat named Chaplain in a park.

Arran with Chaplin, one of his two cats Arran Reid

My friend Arran budgets $200 monthly for his two cats, Chaplin and Mila. He spends about $80 a month on food and two big bags of litter. Regular vet and vaccine visits typically run him about $200 annually for both cats, but that can easily double or triple if one cat gets sick, he says.

Arran also has a side hustle—where he 3-D prints plant pots and sells them on Etsy—that earns him anywhere from $300 to $1,000 monthly. And the proceeds have now become his emergency fund for the cats.

The indirect costs

Pet insurance is one way to mitigate some costs, says Bleckner. It allows pet owners, especially younger people on a tight budget, to spread out the risk a little in the event of an emergency. But she adds that insurance isn’t the best option for everyone. Policies typically have limits and exemptions and usually only cover reimbursements, meaning pet owners will still need to cover an expense upfront.

I briefly considered pet insurance for Gumdrop, but he doesn’t qualify for a lot of the policies because of his pre-existing condition. We are planning to get coverage for our other cat, Omelette, while she’s still young and healthy.

My friend Brenna pays $77 monthly for pet insurance, which she says saved her thousands of dollars when her dog Honey had a bladder infection last year. Still, she says caring for Honey is by far her biggest expense aside from rent. That includes $1,000 a quarter on doggy daycare and $300 on annual vet shots, even with pet insurance. Brenna says she sets aside $300 in her monthly budget for Honey.

There are other indirect costs of pet ownership that particularly impact younger adults. Arran recently got a new job that requires him to move from Tulsa, Okla., to New York City. Living with a roommate would be significantly cheaper than living alone, but he hasn’t found a potential roommate who doesn’t already have pets or who is OK living with two cats.

He’s currently searching for a studio or a one-bedroom apartment instead, and expanding his rent budget because of it.

And a pit bull named Malta is part of the reason that my friend Anna and her fiancé, Liam, have a car in Brooklyn, where they live. Having a car makes it easier to take Malta to the vet and to visit family and take her along.

“I guess it’s like another little toll but it’s obviously worth it,” she says.

Anna and Liam each have $500 saved in case there’s an unexpected expense. And that emergency fund came in handy when Malta started limping shortly after Anna suffered an ankle injury. By the time a vet examined her, she was running around normally. The vet suggested that she might have faked the injury after watching Anna. Still, that false alarm cost them about $160.

The long-term benefits

So as my friends and I work through the shorter-term strain pets are having on our spending, we can take solace in some longer-term benefits. Research suggests that having a pet can save people money on healthcare costs in the long run.

Omelette the black and white cat sits next to a lit Christmas tree.

Omelette Ean Beyer

Having a dog gets you out on regular walks, for instance. And pets can help alleviate conditions like anxiety and PTSD.

Before I moved to New York, my therapist at the time suggested I consider getting a pet since I would be living solo for the first time. I was skeptical at first. But then I found a pet adoption company online and a photo of a tuxedo cat named Omelette caught my eye. When I met her in person, it was what I could only describe as love at first sight.

Omelette and Gumdrop are now both an important part of my home—and my budget.