Pick your pet type and current ownership stage to instantly estimate a rough monthly and yearly cost range — a quick way to figure out a reasonable pet budget.
Before getting a pet, most people naturally think first about the "one-time" costs: a cage, a litter box, a leash, spay/neuter surgery. These items have clear, visible price tags, and they're often the only numbers anyone seriously calculates before deciding to adopt. But what actually adds up to the biggest total is the day-to-day spending that looks small in any single month — food, litter, routine deworming and vaccines, toy replacements. Any one month might only be a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars, but pets commonly live 10 to 15+ years, and once you multiply that ongoing spending by time, the total dwarfs that initial one-time cost. That's exactly why this tool deliberately shows both a "monthly estimate" and a "yearly estimate" side by side — to surface the easy-to-overlook long-term ongoing cost as a number you can see before you commit.
Two people can both pick "dog" and end up with wildly different actual costs, and the reason is usually size and breed. A large dog eats far more per day than a small one, so food costs scale up accordingly; medication dosages (deworming, anesthesia-related costs, etc.) are also often scaled to body weight, pushing routine medical costs higher for bigger dogs. Long-haired breeds also tend to need more frequent, more expensive grooming than short-haired ones. Because this tool only asks you to pick a broad "pet type" without asking for weight or breed, the range it returns covers dogs of all sizes — if you own a large breed, your actual cost is likely to land toward the high end of the range or even above it; a small breed is more likely to land toward the low end. Factor that in yourself when reading the result.
The "one-time setup" range for fish/aquariums is set deliberately wide (NT$1,500 up to 5,000+) because tank size and equipment tier can vary enormously. A small betta bowl with a basic filter might cost only a couple thousand dollars all in; but a mid-to-large aquarium with a proper filtration system, heater, lighting, and aquascaping can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars — well beyond the upper end of this tool's range. That's exactly why the fish/aquarium estimate emphasizes "varies enormously" so prominently: tank size is by far the biggest variable driving total cost, far more than the species of fish itself.
Take a dog with ownership stage set to "Established Owner." The tool sums the four ongoing cost categories: food + treats NT$1,500-3,500, routine medical care (deworming/vaccines/checkups) NT$500-1,500, grooming supplies NT$300-800, and toys/other NT$200-500 — adding up to a monthly estimate of roughly NT$2,500-6,300. Since "Established Owner" is selected, no one-time setup cost is added, so the yearly estimate is simply the monthly range × 12, landing at roughly NT$30,000-75,600. If the same dog were switched to "Just Starting Out" instead, the one-time setup cost (cage/leash/bowls, etc.) of NT$3,000-8,000 would be added on top, pushing the first year's range higher still.
No. The "medical care" category in this tool only covers routine, preventive spending — things like regular deworming, vaccines, and basic checkups — it does not include emergency medical costs from accidents, sudden illness, or surgery. Emergency vet bills tend to be large and unpredictable — a single emergency procedure can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. It's strongly recommended to keep a separate emergency fund or consider pet insurance rather than relying on this tool's routine-cost estimate to cover unexpected situations.
Only roughly. This tool only lets you pick a broad "pet type" (e.g. dog, cat) without asking for weight, breed, or age, so the range returned covers a wide spread of sizes and breeds within that category. Larger breeds — especially dogs — will typically land toward the high end of the range or above it; smaller breeds are more likely to land toward the low end. Use your own judgment to place your actual pet within that range.
The difference comes down to whether the one-time setup cost is included. "Just Starting Out" assumes you're about to get this pet and will need to buy items you only purchase once — a cage, food/water bowls, a litter box, a leash — so the tool adds that one-time cost into the first year's yearly estimate. "Established Owner" assumes you already have that gear and only estimates the ongoing costs — food, medical care, cleaning supplies — that recur regularly, which is why its yearly range comes out noticeably lower than the "just starting out" case. That's expected, not an error.
These are round, approximate ranges compiled from generally observed pricing in the Taiwan market, meant to give you a quick starting point for budgeting — they are not derived from a formal market survey or statistical report. Actual costs will vary meaningfully based on where you live, which retailers you use, which food or supply brands you choose, and your individual pet's health. Treat these numbers as a rough reference range, not a precise budget.
No. All calculations run locally in your browser — there's no code on this page that sends any dropdown selection or calculated result to a server. Refreshing the page resets every input, and no lookup history is kept anywhere.