Running costs - of a cat?
Discussion
5 or 6 boxes of Felix Sensations pouches a month and a big box of Whiskas dry food - comes to about £20. That's about it, although every now and again we get her some worming tablets which cost about a fiver and I think the flea spray we have passed its expiry date in 2004.
She went to the vets once in 1998 to be spayed.
She spends most of her time prowling the fields around the house so I wouldn't dream of putting her in a cattery - we'd never get her in the car anyway. We just have an electronic feeder for going away for 3 or 4 days.
I would have thought an indoor cat in a city or built up area will cost more to run that one that lives in the countryside and is free to come and go as it pleases, though we've obviously been very lucky in that ours is as tough as old boots.
She went to the vets once in 1998 to be spayed.
She spends most of her time prowling the fields around the house so I wouldn't dream of putting her in a cattery - we'd never get her in the car anyway. We just have an electronic feeder for going away for 3 or 4 days.
I would have thought an indoor cat in a city or built up area will cost more to run that one that lives in the countryside and is free to come and go as it pleases, though we've obviously been very lucky in that ours is as tough as old boots.
hornetrider said:
Wacky Racer said:
hornetrider said:
The most expensive cost of 'running' cats is the bloody cattery bills. We have 3 of the little bleeders and a if we go away for a fortnight we come back to a bill for ~£300 squid.
We have two cats and a magnetic cat flap in the back door.We just leave them a enough dry cat food to last a week or so, plenty of bowls of water all over the house, and leave 'em to it....never had any problems in over ten years.
Cost?....£00.00
You are taking the piss!
We're ok with doing that for a weekend (but usually lock them in the house in case they get injured in our absence) but a week! That's out of order imo.
You're just soft
As has been said get it insured.
We have 4 and occasionally you go through a year and don't use it and then you have brain surgery like this year and then you are very grateful. We still paid quite a chunk but not nearly what the bill was.
But she's still here and happy as larry which is the point after all.
We have 4 and occasionally you go through a year and don't use it and then you have brain surgery like this year and then you are very grateful. We still paid quite a chunk but not nearly what the bill was.
But she's still here and happy as larry which is the point after all.
I have two cats, charlie is a neutered male 8 years old. Gracie is a female four years old and black. I live away from the main road, live close to countryside and canals. Cobbled street at back and no road at the front just an old railway embankment.
the only time I have been to the vets is when charlie has had a fight and got an abcess.
Feed mine on asda dried food, or go cat, whatever the offer is on at the time.
I also treat them to some wet food at weekend but not too much.
Charlie has not had an injection since a kitten.
I dont have pet insurance because I dont need because of the lesser dangers where I live.
Both cats go out at night and are happy, not overweight because if they dont empty the bowl I dont give them anything else. Charlie has also caught baby rabbits and eaten them and birds and voles. Gracie does not catch anything.
the only time I have been to the vets is when charlie has had a fight and got an abcess.
Feed mine on asda dried food, or go cat, whatever the offer is on at the time.
I also treat them to some wet food at weekend but not too much.
Charlie has not had an injection since a kitten.
I dont have pet insurance because I dont need because of the lesser dangers where I live.
Both cats go out at night and are happy, not overweight because if they dont empty the bowl I dont give them anything else. Charlie has also caught baby rabbits and eaten them and birds and voles. Gracie does not catch anything.
Just in case it hasn't been pushes enough... take insurance! We bought two kittens in Nov '09 and have been paying a combined £19.50 to PetPlan. Poor things have had Ring worm twice which has cost us only the £70 excess rather than 3 times that.
Other than that first year costs are always more with spaying etc. Ongoing I think dries food is costing £10 a month and that's it beyond the insurance.
Other than that first year costs are always more with spaying etc. Ongoing I think dries food is costing £10 a month and that's it beyond the insurance.
My flatmate bought an approved used cat from a franchised cat home. She had to pay a small donation fee for it but it came with a full MOT and so far servicing bills have been very low. Rather than go for a mass market model, she decided to pay a little more for a prestige breed. The cat definitely handles better as a result and it always starts first thing, even on cold mornings. To keep it in good condition though, it's best to store it overnight under a warm duvet. This cat should have good residuals should she ever have to sell it. The only downside so far is that being an older model (M plate equivalent) it's not particularly efficient on fuel and those bills have been higher than average. So essentially it all comes down to what make and model you go for, service history etc, but whatever you decide, running a cat can offer many years of happiness.
Just to add to the sound advice - please get insurance.
I have paid around £20 a month for my pair of cats since I got them (6 months old, both now 11). I thought about cancelling the insurance for them when it came to renewal time last November but carried on regardless. This year - landed with a £2,000 bill for eye surgery when one of them develoepd a corneal ulcer. Pet insurance will be picking up the tab for this (minus 10% excess). Thank Christ I carried on with the policy.
I have paid around £20 a month for my pair of cats since I got them (6 months old, both now 11). I thought about cancelling the insurance for them when it came to renewal time last November but carried on regardless. This year - landed with a £2,000 bill for eye surgery when one of them develoepd a corneal ulcer. Pet insurance will be picking up the tab for this (minus 10% excess). Thank Christ I carried on with the policy.
evenflow said:
Riknos said:
I know there's a lot of cat fans on here, so hopefully this should be a good place to get this answered; I'm after getting a cat - probably a kitten round about 12 weeks old, and hopefully house trained and wormed etc prior to purchase. I was just wondering what are the standard running costs of a cat (typically) in people's experience? Including vet bills etc.
Thanks.
Pet insurance! PetPlan will be about 10/month and will cover you for most nasty vet bills (ours certainly has).Thanks.
Food is probably somewhere between 20-30 / month.
We've kept cats for around 30years and are presently on the 3rd generation. We've always had at least two .
My advice would be to get a young adult cat from a rescue centre. All the early expenses such as neutering will have been taken care of and your cat is likely to have been house trained. If you get a 'mog' rather than a pure breed you are less likely to have any congenital health issues.
We've never bothered with pet insurance. Perhaps we've been lucky, but the cost of premiums over 30years would have far, far exceeded what we've paid out in vets bills over the same period.
We took on another 2 cats 12months ago and I looked at the sums then.
The cost of feeding them, getting their annual jabs, using proprietory worming and flea treatments and putting them in cattery for up to 4 weeks a year is around £900 for 2 cats.
My advice would be to get a young adult cat from a rescue centre. All the early expenses such as neutering will have been taken care of and your cat is likely to have been house trained. If you get a 'mog' rather than a pure breed you are less likely to have any congenital health issues.
We've never bothered with pet insurance. Perhaps we've been lucky, but the cost of premiums over 30years would have far, far exceeded what we've paid out in vets bills over the same period.
We took on another 2 cats 12months ago and I looked at the sums then.
The cost of feeding them, getting their annual jabs, using proprietory worming and flea treatments and putting them in cattery for up to 4 weeks a year is around £900 for 2 cats.
Just to add - Insurance = critical.
The Mrs had 2 moggies when we met, one got jaw cancer and was ill £1000 bill paid up but ultimately it was curtains. The 2nd just got sick one day and investigation takes time and costs money, then add in any treatment (an operation for a blocked bile duck) and you have a £4500 bill.
We had insurance with Tesco (they have very limited pay outs maximums) so we copped nearly £2k of that bill.
Go for an insurance with unlimited payout per condition and ongoing support to long term illness.
Just remember £10pm vs a £1500 bill is more than 10years of payment in one hit.
The Mrs had 2 moggies when we met, one got jaw cancer and was ill £1000 bill paid up but ultimately it was curtains. The 2nd just got sick one day and investigation takes time and costs money, then add in any treatment (an operation for a blocked bile duck) and you have a £4500 bill.
We had insurance with Tesco (they have very limited pay outs maximums) so we copped nearly £2k of that bill.
Go for an insurance with unlimited payout per condition and ongoing support to long term illness.
Just remember £10pm vs a £1500 bill is more than 10years of payment in one hit.
Again on the insurance side. One of our has a heart condition diagnosed when he was 7 months. He has 2 different drugs each day and a ultrasound scan every 6 months. The Insurance have been paying out a minimum of £100 per month for the last 5 years, ie £6k to date.
His brother was run over and killed and although he was irreplaceable the insurance paid out £600 (his purchase price), which we used to buy a new kitten for my daughter.
Insurance is about £9.00 per month for each cat
His brother was run over and killed and although he was irreplaceable the insurance paid out £600 (his purchase price), which we used to buy a new kitten for my daughter.
Insurance is about £9.00 per month for each cat
trace1967 said:
I dont have pet insurance because I dont need because of the lesser dangers where I live.
It's very quiet where we live and we back onto a soft fruit farm.One of them this year was diagnosed as having an over active thyroid gland. Blood test to determine the problem, two weeks of tablets to stabilise it, operation which involved slicing the poor buggers throat open from top to bottom and removing the offending item which had grown so large it was starting to crush his wind pipe and another blood test a few weeks later to determine the success of the op.
Nope, no need for insurance where we live as it's nice and quiet.
trace1967 said:
I dont have pet insurance because I dont need because of the lesser dangers where I live.
Its very quiet here too. 8 cars a day down our lane and backing onto fields and woods. Nearest main road is over 2 miles away. But see what I said about insurance above. You can live in all the quiet places you like but animals can still be ill!Famous Graham said:
Riknos said:
I was just wondering what are the standard running costs of a cat
Depends on the model. A long wheel-base Maine Coon will consume more fuel than a Smart-esque Devon Rex. Similarly, the more flamboyantly coated examples will require more upkeep in terms of detailing - both regularity of application and work involved to preserve shine.Unusually, this is one of the few areas where a cut'n'shut is actually your best bet.
Those of you spending between £10 and £20 a month on food I'm truly envious of!
GnuBee said:
Famous Graham said:
Riknos said:
I was just wondering what are the standard running costs of a cat
Depends on the model. A long wheel-base Maine Coon will consume more fuel than a Smart-esque Devon Rex. Similarly, the more flamboyantly coated examples will require more upkeep in terms of detailing - both regularity of application and work involved to preserve shine.Unusually, this is one of the few areas where a cut'n'shut is actually your best bet.
Those of you spending between £10 and £20 a month on food I'm truly envious of!
I couldn't cope with your food bill, the local rabbit, mouse and shrew population around here would hit an all time low if I had to let a greedy guts like that out on the prowl because my wallet would be empty.
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