Average cost of a cat per month

[Thirtyrock39]

Hello we are currently looking after my parents cat as they had a break in their property chain and have to live in a hotel for a month and it has made me and the kids desperate to adopt a cat of our own . Dh is a tad reluctant and his main arguments against are not being able to go away (we rarely do and live next door to a pet sitter) and the cost . I have calculated it'll cost no more than £50 per month averaging out insurance, vet bills, cat food, litter etc... yet some websites say it's about a grand a year - what's a realistic budget? I would want to buy the good quality food and hope to get an outdoorsy older cat so hoping won't need gazillions of toys (dh has included £10 per month of toys in his budget!?)

We, adopted ours from the RSPCA as a kitten. We paid a donation of £90 which included all first year vaccinations, chipping and spaying.

I pay £10 a month to Vets4Pets which includes monthly worming drops and flea drops (the one that's prescription only and actually works), annual vaccination, and 6 monthly health checks. Insurance is £11 a month, food £15 for wet and dry, no litter as she started going outside at under a year. We live next to woodland so I hope she goes in there. Neighbours have never complained. She has never been interested in toys indoors. Seems to happy to chase butterflies and moths outside!

So less than £40 a month with occasional new bowl, placemat or bed thrown in bi annually. She doesn't do collars. Gave up when she 'lost' and 4 in one week. Doesn't do laps or being picked up either, the ungrateful bloody thing!

That's a great tip about the vets4pets scheme

A cat costs just as much as you want to spend. The vast majority of moggies are not vaccinated or insured and are fed on supermarket food, so about £4 per week. Advantage flea stuff bought on line is £3 per month. They don’t need toys or a bed as they sleep where they please.
You probably want to do more than this for your cat.

I pay £11 a month per cat to my vet’s “Healthy pet club” which includes monthly flea and worm treatment, their annual vaccinations and a health check every 6 months. That really helps spread the cost of everything. For food, Butcher’s wet food is a cheap brand and is one of the best you can buy.

Indoor cats need toys and playtime as essentials. Cats that go outside only need indoor scratching posts really. Insurance-wise, I pay about £5 per month but my cats are young moggies - the costs go up for pedigrees and older cats.

Looking at all your posts, I'm definitely spending way too much on food p.m. I've been meaning to do a calculation and now I def will. Thanks all. Hope you get your cat OP.

Ours costs probably about £30 a month, and his food is top quality stuff. Sadly he's getting older now and has cost us probably about £2500 or so in the last year or two for tests, medication, etc. Fortunately we can afford it, and he is worth every penny, but if you don't have spare cash stashed away, insurance is a must, though it can be problematic getting an older cat insured.

For 2 (one is a pedigree) kittens I pay:

£37 per month insurance (lifetime cover)
Litter - £12 for a big bag
£25 for both their vets health scheme (covers annual boosters, health check plus all flea and worming treatments)
Food I'd guess about £30 for wet and dry (currently using Encore as its grain free)

Initial outlay was a bed/scratch post combi (£30), litter box £20, £15 for a seperate bigger scratch post, £5 for a mixed bag of balls and mice toys, £4 for a kong kickeroo toy, £3 for a tunnel toy and £3 for a fishing rod/feather toy they adore. Plus I get them cardboard scratch pads for a couple of quid in B&M, they last about 3-4 weeks

A bit less than £50 per month per cat. We don't bother with insurance, the largest part is a lot of Felix pouches.
Includes food, Litter, vet visits, vaccinations, flea treatments and a bottle of whisky for the neighbour for cat sitting over the summer holiday..

Harry is quite expensive, but here goes:

Insurance - £27
Food - £65 (Natures Menu wet and James Wellbeloved dry)
Litter - £10 (one box of clumping litter lasts a couple of months)
Savings - £45 (vaccinations, pet sitter for holidays, flea and worming treatment)

We cancelled the healthy pet club membership as we couldn't have the products we wanted, hence putting money aside each month.

Initial outlay was just over £100; £80 fee to the rescue centre (they had paid for neutering and vet check up, and initial injections), £12 on cat carrier, and about £15 on things like scratching post, and a few toys. We already had things like old towels and fleece blankets, and some old crockery to use as food bowls, so didn't spend anything on that.

I think we now pay around £6 per month for insurance, and £12 per month worming/fleas/injections/vet check ups.

Food we feed a mix of wet and dry, and we get through around 350g dry and 700g wet food a week. We get premium dry food at around 60-70p per 100g, and normal wet food - the one we have at the moment costs about 21p per 100g - I tend to get what's on offer. So roughly speaking about £10 per month on dry food, and about £5.50 on wet.

So we pay a bit over £30 per month at present.

Oh I forgot about £10 a month for his Ipakitine for his kidney problems.

One off you'll need: food bowls, litter tray, carrier, scratching post(s) and/ or cat tree. I think we got all those for around £90. Please adopt rather than buy - we paid £50 to adopt PuffinCat from the Cats Protection League.

Ongoing costs:
Wet food (we have Felix as that's what she was on when we got her) £30 for two months (£180/year)
Dry food: £10 for a bag that lasts about a year (!)
Litter: £8 for two bags a month (£96 a year)
Insurance: appr. £15 a month (£180/ year)
Vet club (all vaccinations and worming treatment): appr. £15 a month (£180/ year)
Random vet visits that fall under the insurance excess: appr £100/ year (PuffinCat is an awkward sod for this though - she gets all sorts of minor but really unusual ailments)
Feliway: £40 for a 3 pack that lasts 4 months (£120/year)
Cattery: £11/night (around £110 a year for us)

Total ongoing cost per year £976 (eek! It's very spread out though and wouldn't dream of not having her. Some of these costs are optional as well!)

I spend over £200 a month on my two... they're elderly, were never insured and now have all kinds of health conditions, regular checks and medication required. Not insuring them was the right decision until a couple of years ago but boy, are we paying for it now?! It's a huge amount to find every month.

Well I think dh is finally on board and we are going to a cat sanctuary tomorrow to meet some cats fingers crossed we find one that likes us ! So excited !!!!

Good luck finding a place where you meet its criteria! A lot won’t rehome if you have children etc. I’d sort that out over the phone first if I were you. It might save you a lot of trecking about!

Good luck finding your new family member 🐱

Exciting! Remember the rules; you have to post a photo of your furry master(s).

Before you look and fall in love, ask if there are any that might be more relaxed with children around. Hope it goes well!

We have chosen a lovely 3 yo white and tabby cat she has been in the rescue place since June bless her and is super friendly . We collect her on Monday I will post pics then as don't want to post till she's 100% ours !

Yay! She sounds really pretty!

She has arrived and made herself straight at home

Awww she is gorgeous, what is her name? :) Is she microchipped? Have they told you how long to keep her in for?

All these questions lol Congratulations you are now officially enslaved, welcome to the catlady world!

Yes microchipped neutered vaccinated. They said at least a month inside. She's very friendly though she has found a number of hiding places.
Now to sort out vets and pet insurance

She looks lovely . Make sure you keep the litter tray updated.

She's lovely!

Oh she is lovely -