this post was submitted on 29 Nov 2025
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Chapotraphouse
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If you're too poor to properly take care of a pet then I think for the sake of the pet it would be better not to get one. But some pets are pretty cheap. Mice are cheap and lovely buggers
Same goes for budgies and guinea pigs, equally lovely buggers
Budgies are wonderful and you can get them really cheap at rescue centers, but I probably spent at least $200/year on my little friend every year til he died. Well worth it to keep him healthy and try to give him a good life.
CW pet death and the cost of it
Also do plan ahead for what happens if you have to have a pet put down. I got a bird from someone who was taking very bad care of him, but I didn't realize how bad of care until a few days later he was visibly ill and needed to go to the ER, where they diagnosed him with renal failure from long term heavy metal poisoning from... The water? Or eating paint chips? We were looking at $3000 (which I did not have) to keep him on life support and do some treatment, see if he could recover, but his quality of life would be shit after, or idk how much to euthanize him. Vet recommended euthanasia as the only humane option. All total this bird cost me $800 in the 3 or 4 days I knew him, plus the grief.
RIP lil dude, you deserved better
Absolutely, and I think compared to what a dog will cost you in the same amount of time, it's still comparably cheap.
Concerning your CW
It is beyond me how anyone could neglect an animal like this, but I appreciate how much you tried to take care of the little one despite the short time you had with him. As soon as it comes to specialized treatment for heavy metal poisoning and the likes, it become so ridiculously expensive. I'm sorry you had to watch him suffer, that's just heartbreaking.Rodents require vet care like any other animal, and because of their relatively short lifespans, the vet expenses per year of life may be greater than that for cats or dogs.
I say "may", because there are many modern, expensive treatments available for cats and dogs (like chemotherapy) which are not available for rodents, so the expense comparison is variable and complicated.
Where I live mice aren't really taken to vet and especially put under a knife or something like that. They're so small with weak hearts, combined with their short lifespan that it's not worth it for the mice to do that. Especially something like surgery is just horrible for the mouse for very little care. And most common way to go is to get a cancer lump and there's not much to do about that than take them to be put down.
So the expenses there aren't big. You get most meds you'd need from apothecary or from people raising the mice (don't buy mice from pet stores) and they also put them down when they get cancer or otherwise sick in a way that requires it.
They're low cost buggers but their short lifespan does break my heart often.
Maybe it's different for mice or in your country, but I've lived in several rural and urban areas in the US and was able to find an exotic vet for my rats (or a general vet willing to treat exotics) within an hour's drive of each location, albeit after significant searching. I've also had a mass surgically removed from one of my older rats and he went on to have another year of quality life.
Edit: Euthanasia is important too. Mice and rats are prone to respiratory failure, which is a slow and agonizing way to go. I watched one of my rats die from pneumonia inside my oxygen chamber just two hours ago, and it was horrifying. I deeply regret not making the 90-minute drive to the emergency vet for a euthanasia last night, as I have done many times before. It usually costs me about $150-200 these days.
Rats are different to mice in that respect. They're bigger and live longer so it makes sense to treat them. Mice are so tiny, pretty delicate and live for a fairly short time so from the perspective of giving the animal best possible life it doesn't (in our opinion) make that much sense.
Not many vets are familiar with mice, there are those that are but it's just often not thought of as good for the animal to necessary start intensive treatments or especially do surgery. Usually the issue is cancer anyway and surgery for that just puts the small bugger in stress and pain for very little gain.
that's me with possums they're so cute but they only live like 2 years :'(
Anyone can take care of a tarantula