The Burrow
Dec 22, 2025
We all want to give our pets the best life possible, but many owners are unprepared for the long-term investment when they first bring a furry friend into their home. While looking after a cat, dog, or other animal can bring a range of emotional benefits, there are plenty of added expenses beyond the initial price of buying a pet, and it’s important to budget for the 10+ years of care you’ll be committing to.
To help pet owners understand the potential risks of poor financial planning, the pet insurance comparison experts at Compare the Market Australia decided to look into the average costs of caring for a pet across their whole lifetime. From medical bills to food, and even insurance and accessories, we’ll weigh up the total price of caring for an animal in your home. We’ll also highlight some common areas where owners overspend and provide you with tips on how to save money.
The lifetime cost of a pet depends on a variety of factors, as each animal has their own personality and needs. For example, the lifespan of different pets can vary, as well as their health, build, training, and more. This means, while there’s no concrete price of a pet, a range can be calculated instead.
In terms of initial costs, there’s a significant difference between cats and dogs. Pet owners can expect to pay between US$2,553 and US$3,256 for a cat on average (AU$3,929 to AU$5,027), while dogs are considerably cheaper, with an average range of US$517 to US$2,819 (AU$796 to AU$4,339).
In the long term, however, these end up becoming reversed. Dogs are more expensive to look after each year, with average annual costs ranging from US$1,032 to a massive US$7,467 (AU$1,588 to AU$11,491). Cats, on the other hand, can cost as little as US$675 (AU$1,038) each year, with more expensive cases costing US$3,760 (AU$5,787).
This means that, although dogs can be bought for low prices initially, their lifetime costs can be considerably higher than cats, despite having a shorter average lifespan by three years (cats live for an average of 15 years, compared to 12 for dogs). Overall, a cat can cost between US$12,678 and US$59,656 (AU$19,513 and AU$91,817) across its life, while dogs have a similar lower average cost of US$12,897 (AU$19,850) – but can cost as much as US$92,419 (AU$142,242) in more expensive cases.
French Bulldogs came in as our most expensive dog breed, jumping to an estimated lifetime cost of US$40,720 (AU$61,588). French Bulldogs owe this price point to being the second-most expensive breed in our index to purchase on average at US$2,068 (AU$3,123), as well as the seeing the highest annual insurance costs according to our data, at US$1,300 (AU$1,970).
Doberman Pinschers can reach the highest initial prices of any dog listed in our dataset, though, with a typical purchase price of US$2,229 (AU$3,367).
Rottweilers and Boxers follow French Bulldogs closely as the three dog breeds which typically see the highest annual insurance costs, at US$1,263 (AU$1,913) and US$1,193 (AU$1,807), respectively.
The dog breed with the lowest lifetime cost is the Shiba Inu, with an estimated lifetime cost of US$25,200 (AU$38,083). This is largely due to relatively shorter lifespans, alongside typically cheaper grooming needs and insurance costs.
Beagles came in as our dog breed with the lowest upfront purchase cost at only US$670 (AU$1,011).
For those looking for dog breeds with lower ongoing insurance costs, Cavapoos, Australian Shepherds and Border Collies took the cheapest three spots in our index, with estimated annual insurance costs of US$491 (AU$744), US$547 (AU$829), and US$561 (AU$850) respectively.
Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market Australia, Adrian Taylor, notes how pet insurance doesn’t need to break the bank.
“It can be tempting to spoil your pet with gifts and the highest-quality items, but these can add up in the long run, costing thousands of dollars each year,” Mr Taylor said.
“You can still take great care of your pet without overspending, so if you’re worried about the long-term investment of owning a cat or dog, consider researching your options to keep the cost down.
“When considering taking out pet insurance, it’s important to shop around to find a policy that suits your extended pet family.”
All information was gathered through desk research using publicly available pricing from retailers, service providers, and animal organisations across the four study regions. Regional figures will be averaged or median-smoothed to create representative global prices.
Factors
Every factor includes three spending levels – low, mid, and high – representing different owner behaviours and product or service choices. Additional distinctions such as breed, size, or hair type are also included
Calculation
Lifetime cost = (Upfront purchase + initial accessories) + (Annual food × lifespan) + (Annual insurance × lifespan) + (Annual veterinary × lifespan) + (Annual grooming × lifespan) + (Training one-off) + (Accessories annual × lifespan)
Average lifespans examples:
Currency and comparability
Currency converted at a rate of 1 USD to 1.54 AUD on 22/10/25.
Outputs
The dataset will generate several outputs to support both insight and storytelling. These include:
Indexes ranking dog and cat breeds by lifetime cost under consistent spend scenarios (for example, all mid-tier values).
Lifetime cost ranges that allow individuals to calculate their own totals by mixing different spend levels across categories.
These indexes are illustrative rather than definitive. The core purpose is to give a clear, data-driven framework that lets people understand the true cost of pet ownership and estimate it realistically according to their own habits.
Sources