Buying

Before

• 🔍 Check a breederPapers prove parentage, not health. What to look up before you pay, and the questions that end the call.
• 🏠 Check a shelter or rescueWhat to look for on a visit, which papers should come with the animal, and the signs that should make you walk away.
• 🧬 The tests to ask for, breed by breedEvery breed page lists the health tests the parent club requires for a CHIC number, or the DNA tests for the cat breed, and what a CHIC number does not mean.
• 💵 The true costFirst year, every year, and the lifetime figure most owners get wrong by $50,000.
• ⚖️ Compare two breedsHead to head on size, lifespan, energy, grooming and the honest downsides.
• 📋 Trait listsBest with kids, lowest shedding, longest lived, and the rest, ranked from the breed pages.
• 🐾 104 breed pages72 dogs, 32 cats. Size, lifespan, health, and what nobody tells you at the sale.
• 📖 The species guidesSixteen animals, from dogs to axolotls: what they cost, how long they live, what they need.

After

• ✅ First-week checklistsWhat you actually need before they arrive, and what the shop will try to sell you on the way out.
• 📦 Starter kitsThe gear each animal needs, bundled. Ships from the US in 2 to 7 days.
• 📏 Size finderThree measurements, and the harness, collar, coat and crate sizes that follow.
• 📅 The first yearVaccines, worming, the socialization window and the neuter decision, dated from the birthday.
• 📋 My PetStart the record on day one: weights, dates, photos, and a sheet for the first vet visit.
• 💉 What a vet bill costsSo the first bill is not the first time you hear the number.
• 🧾 What the lines on it meanWhich items are required and which the practice decides, before you are standing at the counter.
• 📄 What insurance pays forRead the clauses before you buy the policy, not on the day you claim on it.
• 📛 Pet namesThousands of dog and cat names by color, origin and theme. Shortlist a few, and the first one starts the record in My Pet.

Last reviewed October 2026. Written and maintained by Petdeals.io. General care information, not veterinary advice — for a sick animal, call a vet.