Pet cost calculator
What your dog or cat costs a month and a year, line by line, from dated UK prices and your own insurance quote. No email needed.
Your estimate
- Per month
- £44.14–£47.14
- Per year
- £529.68–£565.68
Insurance is not included. Add your own quote to see your full cost.
- Food: Burns Original Chicken & Brown Rice£30.72/moPawwala dog food comparison (zooplus price, maker's feeding guide), checked 21 October 2026. Cost per day for a 20 kg adult dog
- Insurance (your quote)Not addedNot added: enter your own quote
- Itch flea subscription (flea and tick; wormer extra)£9.50–£10.00/moPawwala flea and worm subscriptions comparison; Itch (Medium 10–20 kg £9.50; large 20–30 kg £10.00), checked 21 October 2026
- Annual booster vaccination£3.92–£6.42/moPublished price lists of 11 UK practices: £47–£77 a year, checked 21 October 2026
Low and high figures add the lowest and highest price on each line. Vet bills for illness or injury, treats, toys and boarding are not included. Monthly food = cost per day × 365 ÷ 12; yearly = monthly × 12 (£1.00 a day is £30.42 a month).
Pawwala is not authorised by the FCA. We explain how cover works and do not give advice or recommend insurers. Pawwala earns a fee when you get a quote through a link marked Ad. Always read the policy wording. How we make money
How we calculate this
- Food: the cost per day from our dog food comparison (20 kg dog, checked 21 October 2026) or cat food comparison (4 kg cat), × 365 ÷ 12. Other dog sizes are scaled by (weight ÷ 20)0.75, the AAHA energy formula.
- Insurance: only the premium you type in. Nothing is added if you leave it empty.
- Flea and worm: Itch or VetBox monthly prices for your pet's size, or the Vets4Pets Complete Care plan as an example health plan, from our flea and worm comparison.
- Booster: the lowest and highest yearly booster on 11 practice price lists, ÷ 12. Left out if you pick the health plan, which includes vaccinations.
- Grooming (dogs): Battersea's £240–£600 a year unless you enter your own figure. Litter (cats): Battersea's £20–£30 a month.
- Totals add the low figures and the high figures. We never average.
Not included: vet bills for illness or injury, one-off first-year costs (see the cost guides), treats, toys, walking and boarding.
Quick reference: per month before insurance
Cheapest to dearest food and flea subscription, plus the booster. Same functions as the calculator.
| Pet | Food | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| Dog, small (up to 10 kg) | £10–£28 | £23–£44 |
| Dog, medium (10–25 kg) | £17–£47 | £31–£64 |
| Dog, large (25–40 kg) | £24–£63 | £37–£81 |
| Dog, giant (over 40 kg) | £32–£86 | £46–£105 |
| Cat (4 kg), before litter | £14–£96 | £26–£113 |
Sources
- Pawwala dog food comparison · checked 21 October 2026
- Pawwala cat food comparison · checked 21 October 2026
- Pawwala flea and worm subscriptions comparison · checked 21 October 2026
- Dog vaccination cost guide (11 practice price lists) · checked 21 October 2026
- Cat vaccination cost guide (11 practice price lists) · checked 21 October 2026
- Battersea: the cost of owning a dog · updated 13 October 2026
- Battersea: the cost of owning a cat · updated 6 July 2026
Questions
Why does the calculator not estimate my insurance?
Premiums depend on your pet's breed, age and postcode and the cover you choose, so any figure we gave would be a guess. Type in the monthly price from your own quote or renewal, and the calculator adds it.
Where do the prices come from?
Food costs come from our dog and cat food comparisons, flea and worm prices from our subscription comparison, and booster prices from the published price lists of 11 UK vet practices, all checked on 21 October 2026. Grooming for dogs and litter for cats are Battersea's estimates, labelled as such.
How are dog sizes handled?
Our food costs are worked out for a 20 kg dog. For other sizes the calculator scales them with the AAHA energy formula our portion calculator uses, at 10, 30 and 45 kg, so those food figures are estimates. Flea and worm prices use each provider's own size bands.
Does the calculator store what I enter?
No. The sums run in your browser and we do not ask for any personal details. If you accept analytics cookies, we record only that the tool was used and a rounded result band.
For the full picture, including first-year vet costs, read the cost of owning a dog and cost of owning a cat guides. For portions, use the dog food portion calculator; for what an insurance claim would pay, the claim calculator; and for treatment prices, the average vet bill.