I've never stopped to add it up, but I'm sure it's quite a bit more than $500/yr. each for food, heartworm & flea preventative, liscences, shots, grooming, etc., plus emergency vet trips for things like hot spots and broken toes ! It's not too bad spread out, but I know if something major happened that was going to be thousands of dollars at once, my hubby would probably not go along with it. At least, that's what he says now, he might feel different if his Star-girl had an emergency.