I regret getting a cat

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It is too expensive. Annual vaccinations, insurance, flea and worming. I wish I hadn’t got her to be honest. How do poor people afford pets?

You ‘didn’t think’ and you assumed that, because you know people on low salaries have pets, it’d be ok? 🤔
Why? Why did you not just spend a bit of time actually looking into what it would involve and cost? It’s not hard.

For anyone saying just dump the cat back at a shelter - shelters are full to bursting as it is. The Sspca where I am are so full they are only accepting abused or neglected animals - not owner surrenders

You don't need to go to a vet for flea and worming treatments. You can buy them online

You don't need monthly flea and worm treatment from the vet.

If your cat is an indoor cat you don't really need to give it preventative flea treatment unless it or you are coming into contact with other pets. And if this cat is a rescue - it's already been surrendered once.

I underestimated the costs too op and won't be getting another cat when this one goes. I do adore him though.

My insurance is only £10 a month (company is called Agria) and that covers me for £6000 worth of vet treatment per year.

But what about when they age? Surely commonsense says you may be up for vet visits and medication and prescription food to manage diabetes, thyroid issues, renal problems etc. Did you not think of this?

My (adult) child got a cat. They went through all the possible things that could go wrong from start to finish, factored in top tier pet insurance and top quality food. Decided it was possible, even taking into account things like possibly being made redundant, breaks in employment etc. Then spent a shedload on the cat itself.

There are sensible shortcuts though. Such as spot on treatment (heartworm/fleas/mites/some worms) and worming treatment, they see what the vet uses and then orders the same stuff online and it costs around a third of what is charged at the vet. Can’t do much about the vaccination cost, but for other medicines that are the same as used for people, they ask for a script and take that to a regular pharmacy and it’s cheaper (here regular pharmacies will accept vet scripts but hardly anyone knows this). If there is compounding they take the script to an animal pharmacy they found (only does vet scripts), and actually found them to be even cheaper than regular pharmacy for general non compounded stuff.

Yes I agree. My cat had licked his fur off. He didn’t seem to have fleas but the vet said even one bite can cause an allergic reaction which irritates the cat and prescribed Stronghold (?). Really good stuff. He’s been ok since but I’ve used supermarket flea treatment (not very regularly as it upsets him)

Off the shelf flea treatments worked on my cat when he had FAD.

But it’s an animal though. Diabetes, renal, thyroid - animals living in the wild manage.

Two weeks?

Poor bloody cat.

Sorry no. If you have a domestic cat you can't ignore things like renal issues or diabetes.
I unfortunately have lost all of my previous cats to cancer. One died of pancreatic cancer. One died of Felv. One died of a fast growing tumour that basically grew and burst and killed him within a month

My other boy who died four years ago - probably died of cancer. He was eating and drinking and going to the toilet until the end. If I had thought he was in pain he would have been at the vets straight away. Cats mask pain as do other animals - sometimes you only know that a cat has cancer when it's in the advanced stages

Cats in the wild don't manage. They'll die the same as other domestic pets.

But what about when they age? Surely commonsense says you may be up for vet visits and medication and prescription food to manage diabetes, thyroid issues, renal problems etc. Did you not think of this?
All the cats I have had lived to around 18 years and never had any of these ailments. The cat I have now is 19 and has never had any problems. But if they needed treatment I would get it.

Which is basically fucking appalling in my view unless someone is really struggling financially to the point where they absolutely can't cope - pets are pts daily all over the world because owners think that a change of circumstances warrants surrendering their animal - or worse

Same. My oldest boy is 20 and my 19 year old girl died last year. I basically don't think we should get to a place where people on low incomes should not be able to have pets

Jesus Christ.
Animals living in the wild don't 'manage' with renal or thyroid issues, they die. Have you never wondered why pet animals' lifespans tend to be so much longer than wild ones?

It's the same all over the country. Even cats giving birth in gardens can't get into shelters.

Would you have your pet put to sleep if your pet insurance didn't cover treatment of a particular condition? Do you think that people who can't afford a good pet insurance policy should not have a pet, because there is a possibility that the cat will become ill and they won't be able to afford to pay for treatment? Where would you draw the line? What about if the cat is 16, 18 or 20 and develops an expensive illness? My 18 year old cat has a medical issue, and the vet drew the line herself - she did not even suggest carrying out tests and simply told me that the decision on when to have the cat put to sleep was mine.

No, they don't manage, they suffer and die painful deaths, As they do from being unable to eat and mouth infections due to rotten teeth, blocked bladders and many other conditions.

Bizarrely, the shelters where I am are almost completely empty. I have a look online regularly, and the local shelter always just has 2 or 3 cats. The cats are very elderly and incontinent, or they're hostile to people and need to live outside. But somehow the shelters always need more financial donations.

My point is that the OP seems very ignorant about cats and animal health in general.
If she was better informed she could have made a more informed decision about whether she could afford to take on a cat. That decision would involve thinking of things like how much insurance she could afford, how much risk she was willing to take on and in what circumstances she'd consider or have to take the option of euthanasia.

Heavens. Where are you? Perhaps we can ask them to take in some London cats.

People are much more "precious" about pets than they used to be. Pets never used to be thought of as an expensive luxury, or as the equivalent of children. Pets are a lifesaver for elderly people living alone, and I hope that we don't reach the point where it is deemed unacceptable for those people to be pet owners. Cats are particularly suitable pets for elderly people, as they can go outside by themselves.

It's possible that not all the animals details are being posted online - because there's a crisis all over the UK just now. Not just cats. Other pets as well