What costs do I need to consider if I were to take on a Kitten?

[RubyLovesMayMay]

I've been thinking about it for a while but am aware its not just food and cat litter. We used to have a cat when I was young but obviously my Mum took care of all of that.

What I need to know really is:

What treatments do kittens need? (and cats I suppose when they get a bit older)

How often?

How much do these kind of things cost?

Any other information you think I would need to know

A friend of a friend has some kittens and I like cats and DD (17months) LOVES them. But I dont want to be naive about it and want to see if we can even afford to have one.

So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If all goes smoothly, initial vaccinations and boosters - but if all doesn't go smoothly, all sorts of other vet fees. One of our kittens got sick just as we got him, so we spent a three-figure-sum getting him well again before the insurance kicked in.

Insurance - we pay just over £20pm with Petplan. There is a £70 excess on the policy for any given condition.

Worming and flea treatment. I can't remember what either cost (urgh, I am NOT helpful) but you can look up the cost of flea treatments online easily enough. Small kittens can't have spot-on flea treatments though.

Neutering and microchipping. Can't remember what the chipping cost, but neutering was in the region of £50 per cat - at our vets at least, boy cats are the cheapest to neuter, cheaper than girl cats, dogs or rabbits!

Local vet does a puppy/kitten advisory service if you're thinking of getting one, where they will advise on various things, and would obviously be pretty good at saying what the costs are likely to be (as most of the money ends up with them). Can you find anything like that locally?

I pay £12 a month insurance, about £10 a month (dry) food and £5 a month on cat litter. Bits and bobs here and there for treats like tuna or salmon. That's for three cats though.

Jabs are £30 ish and spaying/neutering anything from free to £50 ish depending on your income and if you contact local cat charities they may be able to send a voucher to your vets for free spaying.

Spot on frontline flea treatment is about £20 for six vials and it needs doing monthly so £40 a year. Worming tablets like Drontal are about £2 a tablet, needs doing every 3 months so £8 a year. Buying online that is.

Obviously getting stuff like worming tablets from vets is more expensive, but can be worth it - our vets administer worming tablets bought from them for 'free'. Worth the extra cost NOT to have to give the cats a pill (disclaimer - despite the well-known joke, apparently not all cats are a complete nightmare to medicate, however mine are, bless 'em).

Mine are easy [smug]

My parents cat OTOH, even the vet won't try to pill. Spot on wormer only and she currently needs a blood test but vet said they'd have to sedate her slightly before they would try it. She's the sweetest little thing, except for when she doesn't want to be.

But don't let that put you off Ruby, I'm sure you'll have lovely easy to pill cats and can join me on the smug bench.

Well the first set of jabs are about £50.

Neutering was £45 with a microchip inplanted in case he went AWOL.

Worming is around £4-5 every 3 months or more often if they eat a lot of mice (apparently mice carry worms).

Frontline is around £5 a month depending on where you buy it, you can get it cheaper over the internet.

Actual medical treatment (so far)

Falling off roof, no injuries but a check up £30.

Blocked anal glands, consulting fee and antibiotics £40ish.

Infection from bite wound £35.

Cattery fees £7.50 a night, but it's FAB approved and he doesnt mind going there too much, we saw cheaper but they were full of miserable moggies, the cats in the approved one looked so relaxed.

Cat carrier for trip to vets, £12-20ish depending on where you buy, last time I looked Wilkinsons were really cheap and the box looked ok to me.

Covered litter tray £15 in argos so it doesnt smell. We use smart price litter from asda.

Ping pong balls from sports shops make excellent kitten toys, as does white string.

You must make sure however that you dont have lillies in your house and garden, they are very toxic to cats and cause acute kidney failure so DH knows to avoid lillies if he gets me flowers.

Dont get conned into kitten milk, they can drink water just fine, they dont actually need milk in their diets and some are badly intolerant to it anyway and get a runny tummy.

I cant think of anything else.

Thanks for all the advice, I would usually look up on the internet and research but been having the day from hell at work today and only found out about the available kitten this afternoon. Besides I'd rather hear from MNers as to what their experience with cats is like.

Havent discussed with DH yet other then when we had mice in our kitchen he said "we need a cat" . So Im sure he wouldnt be totally against the idea.

Now the other thing I have to consider is that we live in a flat, only a small block of four but we are on the 1st floor. Both neighbours downstairs have cats and can be seen wondering about the block.

So talk to me about indoor cats and outdoor cats and how do they come to be one or the other?

My cat caught a mouse in my cupboards when next door had pest control round for "moles". No mole hilsl though which I thought odd. I took it off him in case it was poisened.

I think you need a docile kitten if it's going to be in, not the one whos climbing the curtains. If the current owner describes a kitten as "a little bugger/sod/devil" assume it's into everything and quite adventorous (sp).

Some cats are just not interested in going out and some are miserable if kept in.

If you let the cat out it would prob prowl around the block yowling for attention when it wanted to come back in. They have a way of letting you know exactly what they want.