Can anyone help me with the initial healthcare costs of a kitten?

[DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou]

So injections, microchips, neutering, worming and de-fleeing?

Do vets vary widely? I looked at 4 this morning and none of them have prices on their website.

Before anyone asks why I didn't get a rescue cat - I tried! And tried and tried.

Apparently they have more people waiting for rescue cats than they do actual cats! Which is great.
DH thinks it's because more people are working from home.

I just got 2 rescue kittens & there were lots more locally, and older cats. Crawling all over me right now...
But no worries.
I have rough idea of our local costs:
injections: initial course of 2 one month apart, £120. £45 annually after that
microchips: £5-15? get it done with jabs, only one off hopefully
, neutering: boys £100 each, girls more, maybe £130
, worming £5 every 3-4 months
de-fleaing?: hunt around to get good price, hopefully £3-£4 every 5 weeks. You can spend a lot more with prescription products etc.

Ask around for what vet others recommend & phone them up to get your local prices.

You didn't mention food. Again hunt around. Kitten sachets are stupidly expensive I found out & our local rescue gives kittens adult food, anyway. Best price I found on kitten sachets was still £7-£8/week. Adult cats can probably be fed for £5/week.

You can call them and ask about prices. Receptionist will be happy to let you know.
Costs do vary a bit so you could pay e.g. from £25 to £40 for the first vaccine. This includes health check. Microchips are about £10-20.
Lots of clinics offer kitten packages that include all the things you listed.
I'd encourage pet insurance which then covers the cost of unexpected medical bills/injuries. Its generally pretty affordable for young, healthy cats.

I’ve just paid £200 for vaccines, neutering and micro chipping a female kitten. She’s an indoor cat at the moment so no defleaing or worming needed.

I pay I think just under £15 per month to the vet which covers all vaccinations and flea and worm meds, chipping and a discount on neutering. Sorry I don’t know what it would be to pay for it separately but they assured me it worked out cheaper so let’s hope they were telling the truth!

I also pay £10pm insurance

Our worming and flea treatment is all in one. But....more expensive as we get the prescription one.

Food....little kitten about 1 sachet a day and some dried food. We got the felix kitten agail food and a dried kitten food- high meat content. www.petsandfriends.co.uk/products/natures-variety-selected-dry-kitten-free-range-chicken-1-25kg?variant=37936426516635&currency=GBP&gclid=CjwKCAjwzaSLBhBJEiwAJSRokkFZAZShDRdgCMNhO-yvaTEX-RAKTLT3Y8JsdyW4SJNY4drvsc4QUBoCvsEQAvD_BwE

Our local vet does a kitten package to include injections, microchips, worming and flea-ing for £50.

Spaying - £95
Neutering- £75

Rescue centres always have more cats than they have homes for, no shortage there.

Check with your vet whether they offer a monthly package deal for flea and worming, neutering, microchips, vaccines and check-ups. It’s normally about £12-15 per month, per cat and can potentially be good value.

Based on personal experience, I would have them microchipped while they’re under anaesthetic being neutered. One of my rescue cats screamed while she was awake being microchipped and it broke my heart.

Not forgetting insurance and food, but also...

Litter tray
Litter
Food & water bowls
Toys
Cat crate
Cat bed?

Yes, ours were chipped while under for spaying as well.

Don't forget to account for the decrease in productivity when all you're able to do all day is sit around telling them how cute and adorable they are as they're clawing your arm off.

I did actually have a similar experience to OP with the rescues. I tried for a whole year. Have only ever adopted from rescues previously for ethical reasons. Registered with everyone and called repeatedly. Have a beautiful home, loads of previous experience with cats, secure garden but no luck. I think it was because I have children that I wasn't considered, not sure. Am also in London and heard it was much easier elsewhere. Again not sure but it's what I heard.

I signed up for the pets at home app when I got my kitten and got loads of free vouchers for food etc. The app also had £50 off the vets4pets kitten plan so I signed up for that, it's about £6 a month to start and includes flea/worm treatment and checkups etc

I think I paid £25 for first checks/vaccines
£100 for neutering/microchip
£6 per month for insurance

My cat is 14 now so obviously I'm not going to be any more use than the PPs regarding costs. However I did want to say that most vets now do I monthly payment plan whereby you get your flea and worming treatments, then the annual vaccinations and also 5 or 10% off any bills. Mine is about £12 a month. If you are using good quality prescription flea and worming treatment then this works out good value.

Sorry I should have read the whole thread, I see others have already mentioned the payment plans.

So cats protection was lying?

I have passed your information on to my colleague your information regarding Marilyn but I am unsure if we have any more enquiries on the go. Your enquiry form will be given to a Cat Care Assistant who will be working on a first come first served basis as well as insuring a good match.

We are in a very fortunate position to have more homes on offer than we have cats available for homing at any one time; this is fantastic for the cats but means that there could be a lot of interest in the cat that you have enquired about. It may take a little longer to adopt a cat from us than hoped if the cat you have enquired about is reserved to another applicant.

We pay about £12 per month per cat for a plan at the vets which includes annual vaccinations, flea and worm prevention sent to us in the post, discounted microchip and neutering (can't remember how much those actually cost us though, sorry!) plus check ups with the nurse if we want them.
Insurance is about £6 a month per cat.
Decent quality food with a high protein content isn't cheap but worth the investment. Not least because ours are indoor cats and their poo smells less on decent food!
Unfortunately ours didn't get on with cheap litter so we have to buy the expensive clumping crystal stuff 🤦‍♀️

Thanks foe your help.

Is it worth paying all at once or on a month by month basis?

We got 2 from a rescue centre
We donated £75 each kitten, which supposedly came fleaed, wormed, one set of injections and microchipped.
We paid for second set of injections (maybe £20 each?), neutering (boy £40, girl £70, I shopped around).
They came with fleas, which cost a fortune in sprays etc to get rid of, and now they have a prescription for flea and worm stuff, which was £36 for 4 months each.
One was not microchipped - £15
Cat flap - £50
Insurance - £25 per month for both

It mounts!!

Insurance - £25 per month for both

That's a lot! Do they have Heath issues?

I had a look at quotes and it's around £8 a month

Is it worth paying all at once or on a month by month basis?

I have considered pricing up the vaccinations/ preventatives to see if it'd be cheaper paying as we go rather than paying monthly. The plan is of less benefit once you've taken advantage of the discounted neutering and so on at the beginning. I know you can get flea and worm products cheaply but I've heard they're a waste of money and that you really need the prescription quality- no idea how true that is.

Vets for pets have an annual plan that includes everything and you pay monthly, I have a dog so don't know the price for a cat but we have it on dd

I've never known a time where rescues had more kittens and cats needing homes.

I am glad my prices were off, some were estimates, but some I know for sure so I feel of prices others pay. Definitely need to phone your local vet surgery to ask.

Hard part with rescue cats is "choosing". I find myself worrying about the kitten(s) we left behind. Fosterer also had a very lively tuxedo kitten (healthy, very fun) & some dwarf kittens with SN. I hope they all found good safe homes by now.

I pay £14 for my dog, cats are cheaper

Sorry posted too soon.

We got a new kitten not long ago. Have always used CPL in the past but they seemed really snooty this time about letting people have the cats.

So I followed some smaller local rescues on social media. Got our kitten from one and not still follow them. They're awash.

If you're in the south east I can PM you their names. X