Can I ask how much a cat costs you (roughly) each month?

[SallyStarbuck]

Just so we have a fuller picture - there's a cat that needs rehoming near us. Between insurance and food, as a very rough average, how much a cat might cost?

Food is about £10-20 a month depending on what you feed them. If the cats over a certain age you wont get insurance anyway.

Jabs are yearly at £40 and a cattery is £7-10 per night.

Our cat's insurance costs around £25 per month with Petplan, (but that's because of health issues) and his annual booster jab is £25.
His cattery is £12 per night, but might be cheaper in other parts of the country. Food is around £20 per month.
Our little cat was abandoned, injured and starving to the point of near death when we found him, (the vet didn't expect him to survive) and the joy and love he has given us since then is worth every penny spent, and more. Go for it!

I have two - very low maintenance as they have free access to outdoors and so don't need litter tray and such like.

I spend about £6 a week on food, £8 tops (and that is for 2 of them).

Annual jabs is about £80-90 (again for 2).

Cattery, which I try not to use as they don't like it, but if I have to (never more than 2-3 weeks a year) is £14 a night for 2 cats sharing, £8.50 a night for one cat.

I don't have insurance. They are both 10 years old and, apart from annual jabs, have been to the vet maybe 3 times in those 10 years (one cat). Vet visits are expensive though - about £40 just to look at them!

€40 a month for two, including wet and dry food, litter, vet and occasional toys and treats.

For mine, an eight year old moggie.

Food=£8 a week-v fussy and only eats Felix as Good as It Looks so shop around for deals.

Insurance £10 a month

I have an Animal Healthcare plan with the vets for £10 a month which includes monthly flea and worm treatments and vaccinations plus money off healthchecks and dental work.

Cattery is £9 a night, book well in advance.

My mum has an indoor Ragdoll ,he's 14 , no insurance but costs about £15 -£20 for litter ( will only go in the tray if it's got a particular white litter) , £12 for vet plan for worming / flea stuff and has a special diet so about £40 for prescription food and biscuit and about £30-40 for prawns . All costs are per month . So the moral to this tale is don't get a fussy pedigree with digestive issues .

It's £4.50 per cat per week, so call that £20/month? Even including one expensive injury incident. Over last 4 yrs. £40 Jabs each, every 14.5 months (frequency my vet is fine about). £5/each every 5 weeks for fleas (shudder).

The vet bill for injury was about £500. 4 yrs of single cat insurance = £480 and there would have been an excess to pay with insurance. We have 3 cats. So I'm quids in for not having insurance.

Our 19 year old cat has become very expensive recently as she has renal disease. Medication is about £60 per month, special pet food is another £50 and various vet visits at £120+ a time.
We don't have pet insurance for her, although until recently haven't had many vet bills, so it all evens out in the end.

Thanks everyone, this is just what I hoped. Have convinced DP, now just need to wait for a cat they think will be ok around a 4 year old!

Yay!! We will need pictures.

cheap food, say £20 month. Insurance, £12 a month. flee treatment £5 a month, vet bills, say £80 per year, check up and immunisation. Initial vet bills more, due to micro chipping and spaying.

worth every penny 1000x over

Insurance is about £30pcm with PetPlan. Fussy cat eats Hills Science Dry and Sainsburys Encore wet food so I'd say closer to £30pcm on food. Allow £10pcm for Vet Bills. £15pcm for pet feeding when away. We recently moved and fitting a microchip cat flap in a French door (nowhere else for it to go) cost £332.

I think we must have a very spoilt cat.

we don't insure our rescue cat
over 6 years she has cost us £40 per year annual MOT and jabs (this cost wouldn't be covered by most insurance policies)
maybe 2-3 vets trips at about £60
plus dental treatment at £400.

I'm not sure dental work is covered by most insurance policies, so by the time you factor in premiums and excesses I think we're doing ok compared to insurance costs.

we buy worming and flea treatments online from Vet UK for a fraction of the cost of buying at the vets.

Our two rescue cats have both been diagnosed with renal failure so cost a fortune in vet bills and expensive food but they are worth it :)

I have two cats and in total they are about £100 a month. £50 is pet plan, I have the highest level of coverage for various reasons but you can get insurance cheaper. The rest is food/litter.

Annual injections are about £60 each, dental work can (and has been) expensive if needed.

You need insurance - one of my boys has had two procedures, one cost £1500 and one was £2000. Pet plan paid for both, I would never have been able to afford it.

Well done for looking into this, so many people take on a pet and never realise the ongoing costs and end up dumping the animal when they get sick.

You can't forecast vet bills. Ours is 7 and in that time we've had the following emergencies:

Amputation of 1.5 inches of tail due to getting it caught on something. £950

Complete system flush out and three days as in-patient and abdo scans, etc due to poisoning - nearly died. £2,200.

System flush again after eating lilies £1225.

On balance we have broken even but have an unusually bold and inquisitive cat.

Our insurance is at the top end of costs but I was advised many companies expect a disclosure and exclude lots of things once the animal is 8. Also if ours develops a long term condition the limits aren't linked to the condition but pegged to time. For example £4k annual limit resets to zero at the start of another 12 month period.

If I had two cats I'd put the insurance money into a savings account instead.

We have two (rescued this summer). Around £50/m plus a few hundred a year incidentals, including replacing stuff they break

Ours are insured, to make vet bills more predicable.

Worth their weight in gold, though.

Around £4 a month for worm and flea prevention (offer on Amazon) each
Cat litter around £20 a month - do recommend the liners which are roughl 90p for 10 or so.
Food £15 a week both
Initial vet £85 each which includes jabs (first and booster), initial treatment, micro chip.
£30 each for neutering

if they went out insurance would be an additional £21 each a a month.

Google locally for costs.

About £20 a month on food, £15 a month on cat litter, £5 a month on flea/worm treatment and £12 a month on insurance. Plus neutering and vaccinating/micro chipping. The cattery I use is £18 a night, expensive but they are good with the cats.
Vets bills can quickly rocket, I've only had my cat 2 months but he's been at the vets 4 times already. Once with stress induced cystitis and then due to suspected asthma. He's only 2 so I'm hoping this settles down and he gets a bit cheaper!
Some tom cats can get injuries from fighting and need the vet frequently ( like my old cat, neutered and kept in at night, but still managed to get into frequent punch ups).
Insurance covers the huge bills but the excess is about £50 and I don't bother claiming if its a normal bill (say £50/60).
It can get very very expensive if the cat lives to an old age.

They are worth every penny though.

A cat costs what you want, or are able, to pay. Most moggies are fed supermarket food, are not vaccinated or insured and don't go to catteries.
We were told not to bother vaccinating our rescue cat as she'd already been exposed to all the usual cat diseases. When we're away she is happier at home, fed by a neighbour.

When it is averaged out across the year I'd say £40. It's £10 for insurance, £10 for food, £5 for litter so £25 a month. Some months obviously she has to have injections (£28 a time), nails clipped (£11), Flea and worming (about £15 for both) and trips to the cattery (£8 a day), plus treats or toys.

About 80 quid a month. I got the vaxs for life so that doesn't cost.

Pet insurance with John Lewis for 4.97 a month.

I won't count vet bills up just because I'm an utter fanny and was whisking her off for any little thing until the husband had a stern word.

I pay extra for the spot ons for everything possible as can't be arsed with getting tablets down her.

Good luck.