Inflation has also hit pet owners in the pocket. Grozdan Volodiev has been raising a dog and a cat for years. Regarding the maintenance of the animals, he pointed out to the National Radio that last year it was about BGN 20 per month, and now it is BGN 60.

"Until last year, the cat was the cheaper option than the dog. Now things have turned around. If the price of certain food for the dog used to be 8 BGN, now it is 17-18 BGN, it can even be found for 20 BGN. For the cat, the biggest increase is for toilet supplies. Before, silicone was BGN 4.60, now it's BGN 12," he pointed out. According to him, not only is the price going up, but the quality is also going down.

The increase in prices can also be detected in large chain stores, where pet food is also offered. The price of a 10-kilogram bag of dog kibble from a popular brand in the mid-range segment has been BGN 55 for a month, and last year it was BGN 41 for several months. Before that, it cost BGN 30, and often with the discount it was offered for BGN 19. Examples of a significant increase in prices can also be cited for another favorite delicacy of four-legged friends - canned goods and the so-called "pouches".

The drastic triple jump in pet food has only one explanation for Grozdan:

"There is speculation here as well. Because many of the large warehouses have a lot of resources that were in stock, now they are artificially making their products more expensive and thus making a much bigger profit."

Suspicions about the speculting prices can be confirmed indirectly. In the conditions of total inflation, it is understandable that pet food also increases in price, but the question "By how much?" is suspicious. It turned out that it is possible that the increase is within the officially announced inflation index, but it applies to specialized dog and cat foods, which anyway have a high cost.

Doctor Iva Georgieva is a veterinarian with her own clinic. According to her, there is no significant increase in the price of the specialized food for sick animals that they use in the clinic. Every year there is some price growth in the range of 5 to 8 percent, she added, and said there was a price update in the fall, and she expects there will be one in the spring as well. If taken in total, it will be below the growth rate of the declared inflation, pointed out Dr. Georgieva.

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