What would it cost to own four cats?

[Isheabastard]

Im getting divorced after a very long marriage.

Ive had cats in the past, but my last boy died 2020.

Ive always wanted to have at least 4 cats, now I can.

Ideally they would be rescue cats, possibly the much older cats that no one else wants. I realise 4 cats getting on is not a given and I would work with the rescue on this.

But I know vet bills and insurance have gone up drastically. Can anyone give me ball park figures on this, and perhaps cost of special diets. Or would rescue charities let me do long term fostering?

I am fully expecting to become a cat lady stereotype.

Thanks everyone for the info ref insurances and I agree with all the pros and cons mentioned.

For instance, when I got my dog, non pedigree puppy I signed on with M&S pet insurance. These were in the days before insurance sky rocketed. I bought their gold standard (with no excess!) and £7k limit and was grateful as she turned out to be pretty accident prone.

At 10, she had a bone cancer, and again I was glad of insurance. She went into remission and was on regular medication, but due to her age the premiums and excess ramped up to silly money. I stopped insurance and just started saving instead. Luckily there were no massive bills again and she died age 14.

My cat was the opposite. Fairly cheap insurance for 10 years, but I never used it. So I cancelled it, and he only got expensive for the last two years, but I reckon I broke even.

I will have to check what conditions they come with and what is excluded by insurance to decide. But vet bills and thus insurance premiums have rocketed, I read this was because Venture Capitalists had bought up vet practices as they realised most vets weren’t making as much profit as they could have done. Does anyone know if this is true.

I had thought about £200 a month for food etc etc, but excluding insurance. So I guess I need to budget at least another £100 plus for insurance or savings.

Thanks for reminding me about catteries. Do proper Cat Ladies go on holidays? I’m also getting the really scratched up sofa on divorce, so I don’t have to worry about it getting ruined.

And you are right, the pleasure I will get can’t be measured.

My 2 cats eat a mixture of Aldi tins of chicken/salmon, Aldi pouches in jelly/gravy, Lidl tins in gravy and a bit of kibble for lunch time fish flavour. They have a chicken breast between them on Sundays. They cost me about £8 a week for foods and salmon treats so £32 pcm and flea/worm tablets £4 pcm. I don't insure them but I've got enough in bank to pay for any treatments they need and would not hesitate to pay for medical care.

If you get kittens you are less likely to get age related illnesses for a few years which would allow you to build up a cat fund.

We have four indoor cats food is about £150 a month, cat litter £32 we buy the cheapest and change if a lot but am looking at changing this. Annual vaccinations and check ups £80. Huge cat trees £600.

Had to replace dining table, carpets, sofas
can’t have wallpaper they scratched it
can’t shut doors in the house they rip up the carpet
knock over drinks
eat plants and flowers so having a nice vase of flowers is out
hair is everywhere there is no point in banning them from worktops or the table they don’t care

But I love having four cats 🤣

I have 3, they cost me around £150 per month. Two indoor cats and one who likes to go out for a few hours in the spring/summer.

Just be careful getting four rescue cats, if anything like my own local rescue they'll limit you on how many cats you can have.

Our vets was taken over and within a couple of months prices had nearly doubled. Was used to paying £400 - £700 for dental work and now their starting price is £700. Private prescriptions used to be £10 and are now nearly £30. Still worth it if, like one of ours, his medication is over £200/month from the vet but we order from an online pharmacy for £40 plus the cost of the prescription. Same for flea and worm treatments - always buy online from vetuk as it's 1/3 of the price at the vet.
If you take in older rescue cats insurance is probably not worth it as pre-existing conditions aren't covered. We take in a lot of strays and set aside an amount every month for cat bills.
Don't forget the other financial and psychological costs. Carpets and furniture shredded, solid wooden kitchen cabinets enthusiastically used as scratching posts, weird fur sausages that leave luminous yellow stains on lightish carpets, unreasonable demands at 3am (6am, 9am,...), finding it funny/entertaining to push over water bowls and other cats, and If you're really lucky you'll end up with an asbo cat who breaks into peoples houses to steal roast chicken.

@Isheabastard holidays - no we don’t do them unless it’s on our narrowboat and they come with us. Cattery for five would
cost more than a holiday for two adults!
(plus I hate holidays). Dh will holiday alone in the caravan whilst I get up to no good (diy and no need to daily tidy up) in peace!

I would have asked for a refund for the rest . I guess it was all in the small print though .

I did that . The cats only cost money at the the end of their lives luckily.

I'm not sure cats like to be in multi cat households. Two, preferably acquired together, are fine.

Good lord you must be rich!
I had two cats who both lived well into old age. By the end, a couple of years ago, it was costing me about £135 per cat every month to keep them fed, littered and treated / medicated for their various ailments.

And we couldn't go on holiday as one was diabetic and needed regular insulin injections - too much responsibility for any neighbour / cat feeder. Competent and reliable cat sitters don't come cheap either.

Adopting four older cats is a lovely and noble thing - but go into it with your eyes (and wallet) open.

We have three - they're 3, 6 and 8 and they probably cost on average around £150 a month for everything.

I bulk buy food and litter online but the youngest needs urinary food as he suffers from crystals so they all eat urinary dry food which costs £50 a bag 🙈 it lasts us around five weeks though.

Wet food is about £30 for six weeks worth of pouches.

Litter is £35 for 60l - that lasts us a good 8 weeks, so about 50p a day when you cost it out. It's a big bulk expense though.

Insurance for all three cats is £50 a month with Tesco lifetime but now the older two are becoming seniors I can see that rising soon.

Flea/worm treatment we buy online - it probably averages out to about £10 a month in total.

What about fostering old cats for a charity such as cinnamon trust? They'd usually cover vet bills etc. You get your horde of cats, give some old cats a peaceful life for their last few years and the charity gets more space for more cats.

I do understand that not all cats get on. I adopted a pair that came together years ago and they didn’t get on at all. The shyer one only came into her own when the other one died.

I actually saw four of cats all from the same home on a rescues website. The owner had gone into hospital. The timing is wrong for me as I’m still in rented, but the thought of keeping these older cats together made me feel good.

I have this fantasy of going to bed with all four cats snuggled up with me. I am aware that cats don’t generally like living together. But I have seen from farm cats and feral colonies they get on much better if related.

Im thinking after all these answers that I will check out the fostering route first, so thankyou everyone for your information.

Just wondering how many fosters they’ll let me have at once.

I have this fantasy of going to bed with all four cats snuggled up with me.

Not once in 8 years of feline ownership have my cats ever snuggled up with me at bedtime. They don't even approach me on the sofa, lofty bastards.

4am,when they take 20 minutes to make a comfy spot an bugger off again 20 minutes later, sure.

Or 3am when they're bringing and releasing a mouse in my bedroom for me to catch... Great fun.

Can offer no advice, but I like the way you roll 😀

With four cats I would look for someone to come in and feed them and change litter trays once or twice each day rather than a cattery. Pet shops often have adverts if you want a guesstimate at the cost.

Yes, not all cats are snuggly. My last pair never sat on a lap and hated being picked up. If you let them in the bedroom at night they would walk on your head and then wander off. The greatest honour was to have a cat sit next to you on the sofa and kind of lean against you. Furry bastards.

I have this fantasy of going to bed with all four cats snuggled up with me.
Be careful what you wish for - it's bloody uncomfortable 🤣.

I have one elderly rescue cat and he is the last one I am having.

He's been a nightmare with food, currently he is eating Meowing Heads which is pretty expensive but quality is good, he seems to love it. Previously, I was throwing large amounts away. He'd eat the brand one day, then not the next, then eat it for a couple of days, then not the next day.

He is due at the vets today and I've just cleared my credit card as I'm expecting he will need some additional treatment to his regular check up. He has become quite thin and I suspect he might have kidney issues.

In the past I had three together and they cost me very little in comparison to this one.

Owning just one has become too much now so once he has gone, that's it.

Holy crap insurance isn’t a scam . It only doesn’t work if you haven’t chosen the right one. I learnt the hard way the last few months. Our policy only went to 4k per year- our indoor cats random illness out of nowhere cost us £6k (and then passed) so we had £2k to find.

the amount of paid in over her lifetime would never have been enough to cover 6k.

Good insurance costs, however, and 4 cats would be substantial. I have had no trouble with Pet Plan, it was just unfortunate I was so naive to how much medical conditions could cost when I first insured.

new cat, new policy, good quality premium food. I’m a bit wiser now

Insurance is definitely not a scam. You just need a good policy - I always get lifetime insurance with high limits. Actually took my cat to the vet today and so glad I have insurance because it's going to cost hundreds just for the consult and blood tests, let alone if he needs more investigations. It's stressful enough when your pet is ill or injured without having to worry about the cost.

I agree with PPs that you should try fostering first if you want loads of cats. I think multi-cat households can work but can also very much NOT work. So you would need to choose and introduce the cats carefully. Also think about making your home "cat-friendly" so all the cats have cosy spaces, escape routes etc.

Would you mind sharing your insurance provider?

I'm looking into it properly, and really would appreciate guidance from those in the know.
My friends experience was clearly down to her having the wrong product, by the looks of things.

ManyPets. I've been happy with them so far.

If anyone wants to get insurance with ManyPets, I can refer a friend which means we both get a £20 Amazon voucher. Just reply to this message or PM me and I'll PM you with my referral link.

I have 4 cats. They cost about £350 a month including insurance and I would definitely get insurance as my 2 youngest have racked up £16k in vet bills over 4 years. I have pet plan at the highest level and they just pay out on the operations without quibbling at all.

they don’t all get on and they all worry me to bits as they all seem to have different health issues. I’m sure owning cats used to be easier!!