How much does your cat cost you a month?

[HouseIsOnFire]

A friend was mulling over subsidising her neice for cat care (neice having rough time and unable to afford herself) and asked me how much I spend on my cats.

For my pair, health plan and insurance = £50
Litter = £30
Food = £60

(And then £££s on toys obviously!)

I said I thought it would cost probably £200 for the beginner kit (litter boy, cat bed, carrier, scratchpost etc)

Do you think £70 a month a reasonable estimate?

I spend just over £30 a month on insurance, about £4 a month on cat litter (she prefers to go outside in my garden), about £30 a month on food. Can't remember how much the flea/worming treatment is as I buy several months worth at once from the vet. Also annual vaccinations, cattery fees etc

Also microchipping, neutering costs if not already done

Oh true (i think the start up costs easier to cover, i imagine a lot of us would "find" vouchers and equipment etc), but yes would need to factor in!

One cat...

No insurance
No litter (she does her business outside)
Food €15 per month (I buy pouches from Lidl)
Vet costs every 3 month for flea/worm treatment. €50

Oh yes vaccinations are annual
Can't remember how much that is
And I don't buy her toys...the shrews in the garden are her entertainment

£14 pm insurance (he’s 9 but I’ve never needed to claim, thankfully)
£8 pm flea and worming
£30 pm food
£4 pm litter (total guesstimate, he generally goes outside)
I paid £100 upfront for lifetime vaccinations and boosters, also includes twice yearly check ups.
Then there’s toys, beds, blankets, and bits throughout the year, plus gifts for cat sitting friends

£60 - £70 per month at a guess

I think your estimate is pretty close but I'm sure she'd be grateful for any help.

I have two. Insurance is the biggest expense, one maine coon kitten (£44) and one 5 year old British shorthair with a grade 4 heart murmur (£35). We have a health plan with the vets for vaccines, 6-monthly checkups, flea & worming treatments which is £13.50 a month each. I buy a huge bag of royal canin food for £48 every few months and spend another £20 a month on wet food. Cat litter is around £10 every two weeks.

1 cat.

I’d say about £30 on food (Sheba and Iams).
£3 on flea treatment
£3 on worming
No litter tray
No insurance

Dreamies of course, but they aren’t expensive.

Annual check up and vaccinations, £80ish

Bloody hell some expensive pet insurance here!

My cat is £5.26 per month insurance,
£20 every 2.5 months for her food,
£20 every 4 months for flea/tick and worm stuff
Occasional treats with the weekly shop ?fiver? No litter as she's an outdoor cat.
She has 2 beds and a scratch post which get replaced no more than yearly £50
Occasionally visit to the vet, this is where she costs a bit more. She needed a few teeth removed and her vaccination which cost £200 but hopefully a one off.

Should have mentioned my insurance is the highest level I could get. Having claimed £10k for another cat I couldn't be without it.

Less than £10 a month.

Insurance- £15
Pet plan at the vet's - £10
Food- £40

My pair;
Insurance £125
Vet plan £28
Food £10 (10kg bag lasts 3 months)
Litter £5 (12 kg bag lasts 6 weeks ish)
Groomer £40 3 monthly.

I think I have the most expensive cats ever.

@MilduraS same! My 21 year old was £400 a month on meds and eye treatment at the end, would not be without insurance since then!

Thank you everyone, I didn't want to over/under estimate and get it wrong - it'd be a lovely gesture from friend but a huge commitment!

@HalloHello You do tend to get what you pay for with pet insurance. The cheaper ones have a low annual payout which wouldn't even cover one major accident/surgery etc. They also have a limit per condition whereas the more expensive policies cover a condition for life.

My gorgeous 1 year old:

£5 insurance
£20 vet plan - included spay, flea/worm treatment
Approx £25 - £30 food/litter

Last year I did get beds, toys etc. The biggest unexpected expense has been kennels though - £12 a night. Not that that is a necessity!

[quote Sleepinghyena]@HalloHello You do tend to get what you pay for with pet insurance. The cheaper ones have a low annual payout which wouldn't even cover one major accident/surgery etc. They also have a limit per condition whereas the more expensive policies cover a condition for life.
[/quote]
Which one do you recommend?

I've used HelpuCover and Pet Plan. Both have paid our vets directly without trying to wriggle out of it. Between 3 cats we've claimed for two eye infections, fixing a broken leg with a titanium plate, a visit to a heart specialist, 2 check up heart scans with our own vet, emergency treatment for a blood clot at a specialist in London and monthly prescriptions.

@SwimmingUnderwater I use Petplan. They paid out £3600 for an afternoon of scans and tests at a veterinary specialist hospital. Even though the condition diagnosed is rare and not much documented.
I have the middle level of cover (I think £9000 per year) and it's a covered for life policy.

Honestly this sounds like a bad idea. Cats can (hopefully) live for over 20 years. That’s a huge commitment. When would your friend stop subsidising their niece?
We had a cat who needed £60 of meds a month in her old age. What about costs not covered by insurance etc?

Blimey, just realised what a cat cheapskate I am. I buy ours a huge 15kg sack of Dr Hills stuff, as recommended by a vet (for another cat years ago), £80 I think, lasts about eight months, so £10 a month on food. Advantage to ward off fleas, about £5 a month. I think that's pretty much it!

We wing it "self-insure" which in my mind means anything costing a few hundred we pay for, anything approaching four figures it would be farewell! So that would need to be factored into the overall cost I guess. Our cats always seem to be remarkably healthy (until they die).