How much does it cost to own a pet in Chicago?

Living costs and food prices are rising for many Chicagoans, and the increases are hitting pet owners particularly hard.

Owning pets can be expensive as people have to juggle pet food, vet care and insurance costs.

But how much could it really cost?

Here are some of the prices owners, and potential owners, can expect when caring for a dog or cat.

Veterinary care

Kelly Cairns, a board-certified small animal internal medicine specialist and incoming president of Chicago Veterinary Medical Association, says owners should get their pets preventative care, especially wellness visits.

Wellness visits should be done once a year until your pet is a senior, then likely twice a year, she says. These annual exams can cost $400 to $600 and include vaccines, parasite prevention, blood, urine and fecal testing.

“Flea, tick, heartworm, those things cause significant illness, and they’re very easily prevented,” Cairns says.

Dental cleaning, which Cairns says can pay off in the long run, can run around $800 because it requires general anesthesia. Teeth become “very quality of life limiting,” she says.

“[Diagnostic testing] is designed to not only give a baseline but to identify diseases that we can see when a pet starts to get middle-aged or older,” Cairns says. “Through the testing we have options proactively that actually not only help the pet live longer and feel better but also save money because of early diagnosis and intervention.”

When your pet is sick, a visit to the vet may be warranted. Cairns estimates a routine outpatient visit with lab work, imaging and medications could be anywhere from $500 to $1,000. In an emergency animal hospital, that number could climb to $2,000, with testing and treatments, she says.

Pet insurance

Veterinarians often urge pet owners to consider pet insurance for those costly vet visits and unexpected illnesses.

“There are several amazing companies out there that offer insurance plans that will save lives ... when that pet has a chronic disease or when that pet has an acute emergency,” Cairns says. “I have seen it save lives because we are no longer needing to euthanize because it was not affordable for the family.”

But it can be difficult to find the right plan as pet insurance policies var more in what they cover or don’t, according to Consumer Reports. It also found most policyholders, in a nationally representative survey of about 3,500 people, “felt their coverage was worth what they paid for it [but were not] very enthusiastic about the particulars.”

Average premiums for dogs and cats in the U.S. depend on what kind of plan you choose. Typically, there are accident and illness plans, or accident-only plans. Accident-only plans cover issues like foreign body ingestion, lacerations, motor vehicle accidents, ligament tears and poisoning. Accident and illness plans cover accidents, plus illnesses like cancer, infections and digestive issues.

On average, dog owners paid $62.44 monthly for accident and illness pet insurance coverage, according to 2024 data from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Cat owners paid $32.21 per month.

For accident-only coverage, dog owners paid $16.10 per month, and cat owners paid $9.17.

While other categories of pet insurance have stayed stagnant since 2020, data from the insurance association shows accident and illness coverage for dogs went up by 11% between 2023 and 2024. The year prior, premiums went up by 5.5%.

Pet boarding

Planning a vacation? Rover and other pet-sitting companies, as well as dog boarding businesses across Chicago, can help take care of your pet but it’ll cost you.

Dog owners can expect to pay anywhere from $60 to $100 each day to board their pup. Most places offer add-on services for a fee like larger rooms, individual play time and grooming.

Boarding options for cats are slightly more limited, but cat owners can expect to pay less than their canine counterparts. For example, Hill Family Pet Care in River North charges $100 per night for dogs, while cats are priced at $70 per night.