How much to keep a bloody cat?

[OfficiallyUnofficial]

Because we suddenly have one. Used to have cats years ago but no pets for a while now, too busy with work and 3 young DC.

Anyway DH has come home with a cat that his old "mate" was going to put down because he's a cunt is moving. Not on the top of my "stay in touch with" list now.

So, we have big house and garden, rural so roaming room but it'll have to be hard to take on the local farm cats.

Mate says she's spayed, chipped and vaccinated.

So if I give in and keep the cat what kind of cost are we talking with litter, dry feed (apparently), vetting, insurance etc? How can I check she's spayed and vaccinated? How do I re register the chip?

Help oh oracles of cats?

He says she's 8 months ish.

DH bought her Dreamies, that's it I'm financially screwed aren't I?

Seriously though thanks all, she's not been out tet, chasing for the name of her vet but if we come up empty I'll check out cats protection league and pets at home thank you x

Somehow everything costs more expensive for me:
Litter £12 month
Life insurance £16 month
Food, treats £20 month
Flea, deworming £5 month
Total: about £50 a month??
This is not to mention toys, annual vaccination (£80 a year?) and most of all - cat care when I go away!! That is £10 a day and in the next 12 months I will be travelling for 6 weeks at least which is at least £420!!!

In fact I find it far too expensive :( :( :(

I worked my pair out at £82 a month but that includes all vaccinations/flea control/worming/insurance and food.

We don't make it financially easy on ourselves though. They are both very much outdoor cats and the neighbourhood is cat central so insurance and flea control is not really negotiable. They both get Program flea jabs and Broadline dot-on since they are both flea magnets and I'm the human who gets bitten to shreds by the buggers

Luckily we have a lovely neighbour who misses having cats of her own and who looks after them if we're away. Mooncat also spends a lot of time there during the day to avoid Moonkitten (who is now three, and a hulkish hunter of feathered and furry things).

Look into a pet plan with your vet... I pay £10 a month and that covers jabs, fleas, worms and twice yearly checkups!

I wish my vet did that but unfortunately they don't. If they did I would sign up straight away!

Stop- yes, we have that plan too, it's great! And they text you to remind you when to use the treatment.

I've just worked out how much it is to keep Harry per month:

Insurance = £21.00
Wet food = £38.00
Dry food = £9.00
Flea/worm treatment = £10.00
Litter = £5.00

Then there's his jabs at around £50 a year and a cat sitter when we go away is approx £250 for a two week holiday.

Nearly £1300 a year and that's without any extra vet visits or treatment! He's worth every penny though.

PinkSparkly good to hear that yours is worth it. I just spent my time cutting stuck poo out of my cat's bum - that's the most interaction I've had with him today. Oh and spent ages to try to get him inside before bed time. Not sure if it is worth it 😞

You can get free care for your cats by hiring a housesitter (use an organization like myhousitter.com and get references, obviously, and check their experience with cats from references). It's generally animal lovers who want to travel - they get free accommodation, you get free pet care.

This reminds me of a colleague of Dh who took a call from his wife saying she'd arranged to view a puppy and Dh chiming in "you're having the dog mate, just accept it" while his colleague was telling his dw "we are NOT having a dog!"

They have the dog.