Desenvolvimento de modelo para cálculo de custo de manutenção de cães

Abstract

Although the human-animal relationship is beneficial for both parties, some factors can cause behavioral problems. Therefore, it is extremely important for the owner to always be aware that when acquiring a dog it takes time, commitment and responsibility. Having a dog comes at a cost and few owners seem to be aware of this. For a responsible and informed adoption, it is important that future guardians are aware of all the expenses that are necessary to guarantee the well-being of the pet. Therefore, the development of the tool aims to help owners with annual costs to better plan expenses and raise awareness about how much it costs to have a dog. The construction of the tool consisted of 5 stages, thus in the first stage a bibliographic survey was carried out to define the items. In the second stage, the items for cost calculation were organized. In the third stage, data were included. In the fourth stage, methods were developed to automate the tool and impose indices for better cost accuracy. And in the fifth and final stage, market values were quoted. Therefore, a fully automated electronic spreadsheet was built to calculate the cost of maintaining healthy dogs. Tabs were included, such as animal characterization, pet food, pet vet, pet food and final costs. The characterization contains important information for the next steps. The pet food was designed to calculate the dog's annual food cost, with the inclusion of automated formulas for better accuracy of the animal's requirements and calculation of consumption in grams per day. The pet vet has vaccination camps, veterinary consultations, deworming, ectoparasitic and essential exams to guarantee the animal's well-being. In this tab, purebred animals received indexes according to genetic diseases, to ensure greater precision in veterinary consultations and mixed breed dogs receive an index of 1. Called pet care, the tab was intended for annual costs with hygiene and grooming of the animal and fields to be completed by the owner such as daycare, hotel for animals, disposable items and toys. According to the size of the fur, presence or absence of undercoat, the animals will receive rates for bathing and grooming, to ensure accuracy in calculating the cost. The final costs were prepared to account for all costs in all areas. The tool can help owners and future owners in calculating the cost of keeping a dog, and can be fully edited to always guarantee users comfort in using their preferences in products for their dogs and improvements are planned in the future.