Chow time: Prices of pet food have gone up over the past few months, putting an extra burden on owners. — Photo: 123rf.com
FOR pet owners, the welfare of their fur babies comes first, and this includes making sure they have adequate food and are in good health.
However, the increasing price of pet kibbles, supplements as well as vet and grooming bills is raising concerns among animal lovers on the cost of pet ownership.
This has resulted in some pet owners, especially those with more than one animal under their care, trying to save money by cooking food for their pets and grooming them at home.
Raja Nurulhani (right) and her sister Raja Nurul ‘Ain bear the cost of raising their 13 cats, including 12 Sphynx cats. — ILI AQILAH/The Star
Raja Nurulhani Raja Badiuzzaman, a 34-year-old engineer, is sharing with her sister the cost of caring for 13 cats.
The Rapat Setia resident has 12 Sphynx cats and one domestic short hair cat. All of the Sphynx cats are kept indoors while the short hair is allowed to go out as she pleases.
Raja Nurulhani did not set out to have so many pets, but nevertheless has embraced her feline brood.
“When she was returning home from Russia, my sister decided to get one male Sphynx cat, and a few months later we decided to get a female one from Ukraine.
“They reproduced and we now have 12 Sphynx cats. The father cat has now passed away,” she added.
With so many cats, you would think that the siblings would be buying a cheaper brand of kibble. But that is not the case.
“We have been feeding them with a special type of kibble from a specific brand,” said Raja Nurulhani.
“These cats are considered a special breed, so we don’t dare to give them any other type of kibble as it may affect their digestive system.
Lee spends about RM400 a month on her ageing poodle dog. — Courtesy pix
“Once, we tried mixing their kibble with another brand but that led to watery stool.
“In a month, we spend more than RM900 just for their food and cat litter, which is made out of wood pallets,” she said.
She has noticed the increase in kibble prices over the past few months.
“We previously spent RM800 a month for kibble and cat litter but now, that seems impossible as prices have gone up,” she complained.
The one area where the sisters can save some money is in grooming.
“If we send them for grooming, it will cost us about RM50 per cat. So we groom them ourselves,” said Raja Nurulhani.
“Because Sphynx cats don’t have hair, that saves us some time and cost. We just bathe them every now and then and cut their nails as well.”
There are also other costs involved in pet ownership.
“All of our cats are neutered and we send them for vaccination every year. For vaccination, we have to fork out RM400 a year.
“Two of them have skin allergies, so they require extra attention and medicines. So far we have spent about RM300 for their medicines and vet visit,” Raja Nurulhani said.
Despite the high cost of keeping her cats, she has never considered giving some of them up for adoption.
“Yes it can be expensive, but because I am sharing the amount with my sister, it doesn’t affect us much.
“Plus these cats have been with us since day one and we love them very much. There are people who wanted to adopt them but we decided to raise them ourselves,” she added.
Meanwhile, a retiree in Jelapang who wished to be known only as Has, said she was taking care of one of her daughter’s cats.
“My daughter used to have four and forked out about RM300 a month for their food and litter.
“She spends about RM150 on their kibble, RM100 for canned wet food and RM50 on cat litter. A visit to the vet would cost her an extra RM50 to RM400 a month.
“She also spends another RM30 to buy kibble for the stray cats she finds on the street. It is costly because she is not earning much, but she is really concerned about the plight of the stray cats,” said Has, who decided to take care of one of the cats after her daughter married.
“I wanted to ease her burden a little. She did tell me about the increasing kibble price, but what can we do?
“To save money, we make our own wet food, bathe and groom the cats ourselves,” she said.
Struggling for funds
Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals president Ricky Soong Wai Chiew told StarMetro he could barely afford to buy kibble for the dogs at the shelter.
“We have over 200 dogs at the shelter and we need RM15,000 a month just for their food and pay a worker who cleans and feeds them every day.“It is a struggle for a centre like us since we rely fully on public donations. I was just told that the price for kibbles will increase again,” he said.
Soong says the Ipoh Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals needs at least RM15,000 a month to feed the 200 dogs in the shelter.
“The kibbles we buy are the regular ones; the price used to be below RM60 for a 10kg bag. Now, it is nearly RM80. If it increases again, I don’t know what to do,” said Soong.
“When we have extra funds from donations, which is seldom, we spend it on neutering the dogs.
“We also need money to pay electricity and water bills.
“The vet bills alone can go up to RM100 per dog. Some dogs here have special needs, so they have their own medicines.
“The steep price hike for dog food is definitely affecting us badly. I hope there can be a ceiling price for kibbles, maybe not the expensive brands but just cheaper ones that are often bought by animal shelters like us,” he said.
Meanwhile, sales executive and animal rescuer Lee Guet Lu, 30 recalled the days when she had to go hungry just to be able to feed her animal rescues.
“During the movement control order, I lost my job after returning from Singapore. I had to rely solely on my part-time work where I earned only a few hundred per month.
“It was difficult for me to survive but these dogs needed help.
Leong says she barely makes any profit from pet food as the price of kibbles continues to increase. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
“The longest I fostered a stray was a senior dog for five months. Someone from Negri Sembilan wanted to adopt her but at that time we were not allowed to travel interstate. So I had no choice but to spend my salary buying food for the stray and it cost around RM100.
“Besides the dogs I rescued, I also have a poodle who has been with me for more than 10 years. So between making sure that the strays are well fed, my poodle also requires special kibble for her digestion.
“Right now, I am spending up to RM400 for my poodle because she is ageing, therefore she needs supplements and those aren’t cheap,” she added.
Lee said the price hike for kibble and supplements wouldn’t stop her from providing the best she could for all the dogs under her care.
“For my poodle, her biggest expense is the kibble. The second would be her supplements and lastly, grooming. Luckily, the veterinarians in Ipoh are not as expensive as the ones in Kuala Lumpur.
“While dog maintenance is getting pricier, I don’t mind. I want to only give the best for my dogs because I love them,” she said, adding that she would sometimes receive donations to care for the strays.
“Because my family and friends know what I do, they are the ones who donate money if needed,” said Lee.
“Sometimes those who want to adopt the rescued strays would also chip in,” she said, adding that she would keep on rescuing strays from the streets no matter what.
A check with several pet stores in Ipoh confirmed an increase in price not only for kibbles but also canned wet food, supplements and pet accessories.
According to a pet store owner who wanted to be known only as Leong, she had to repeatedly explain the price increase to her customers.
“Just take a look around. Everything is getting more expensive, from food and clothes to even medicines.
“So it makes sense that there is a price hike on items for pets.
“As a business owner who has been here for nearly 50 years, I am making less profit every day.
“The prices I pay to my supplier are getting higher and I cannot cut staff salaries to keep costs down. So we have no choice but to raise our products’ prices accordingly,” she said.
She cited as example a can of dog food which used to cost RM3 but had gone up to RM3.50.
“Among all the pet food I sell, the highest increase is for rabbit kibble. It used to be around RM29 per kilogramme but now it is RM39.
“I spend every day thinking about how to lower the prices so that my customers will still buy them, but I don’t think it is possible if there is no ceiling price set.
“Hopefully, something can be done,” she said.
