I regret getting a cat

[tellmesomethingtrue]

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?

I honestly think if you’ve only had her a couple of weeks you should return her to the rescue. You should have researched properly before getting a cat - rung round vets, googled stuff, got quotes for insurance etc.

We have a rescue cat and he has a flea and worming plan with the vet for £20 per month. You only have to see the many frequent posts on the pet board where people have used over the counter flea etc treatments that don’t work and their whole house becomes invested. Then everyone is quick to tell them they must use vet prescribed stuff. Complete opposite to this thread.

I would never have a pet without insurance unless circumstances changed and we literally couldn’t afford it (we have been on benefits before due to dh losing a job so I do know what it’s like to have a very low income - at one point we had no lights / electrics upstairs for 2 years to a damp issue we couldn’t afford to fix!) If you can’t afford a sudden massive vets bill and live too far away from a pdsa etc your only option is to put them to sleep.

Our insurance is £50 a month with Pet plan for the top £12k cover ongoing and it’s peace of mind for us.

You regret her after only two weeks ☹️

How did you not realise you were making a long-term financial commitment?

Poor cat.

The rescue probably won't have space to take the cat back

Yes, that may be true but surely it’s better to ask now than let the cat become settled and then disrupt them all over again many weeks down the line.

My mum had insurance for her cats for years and of her cats needed an operation. He had a haematoma, not a pre existing condition and she was told insurance would cover it then they didn't. It's surely people's personal choice whether to insure a pet or not?

The issue is that the OP seems to have expensive insurance - and could possibly look around for cheaper quotes

If the cat is an indoor cat - again it could have worming treatment less often - every 3-6 months or so for so

@tellmesomethingtrue

i have 4 cats and they are all around 14 years old…..they cost £13 per month to insure. At age 3 I was paying less than £10

Because you don’t have to get monthly flea and worm treatment from the vets? Flea treatment can be bought online, mine have only ever caught fleas from being in the bloody vets anyway. Worm tablets again can be bought online but generally don’t need to be given monthly?

I insure 2 cats for less than £20 a month in total, how much is your insurance for a 3 year old?

Decent dry food can be bought in large quantities from Amazon or Costco.

The upkeep of any pet is reasonably expensive, even a hamster if you factor in good quality substrate, food, etc.

I think this is relatively new? When talking about pet insurance with a relative they scoffed and said that they just wait until their cats get run over. Views like this have changed thankfully since but it's costly. So maybe it's not unreasonable to not foresee the costs involved.

No, they usually die of other things, such as infected wounds due to fights or taking down prey, before reaching the age where they are affected by these things. Or, if by a miracle they do get to old age, they would die painfully and horribly with such things.

I’m staggered you can think to compare animals in the wild to pets though. With pets, you take an animal on, knowing you have responsibilities to it. That doesn’t apply to the fox that comes and shits on your path. In any case, you could then say why neuter any pet, no wild animal is neutered, why euthanise a pet when required as no wild animal is euthanised etc. It’s such an odd argument.

You, the humans, can bring fleas in on your clothes, so be vigilant for signs of fleas if you choose not to flea treat your cat.

Whether they work depends on the resistance levels of the fleas in your locality.

It’s appropriate management of anything you are responsible for though. Your argument could equally apply to someone on a low income living in a 2 bedroom flat who wants 10 children. Why can’t they have 10 children if that’s what they want. Why would it be irresponsible and inappropriate for them to have 10 children when they are in this situation? Pets are no different, you have them if you can responsibly afford them, if not you don’t. That will realistically mean some people should not have pets just like some people should not have 10 kids, such is life.

Pre-children I also had an 18yo cat who was diagnosed with cancer. He was euthanised, not because we didn’t want to spend money on him, but because if we put him through painful and uncomfortable treatment he would have likely died of old age during or soon after, plus he was starting to develop other geriatric conditions. So, that was in his best interest, not because we couldn’t be bothered, didn’t want to spend money on him, or had the odd mentality that wild animals never visit vets for treatment.

I wouldn’t get insurance for a house cat again. We probably spent £6k on insurance from kitten to 16 and claimed less than £500 by the time she died.
I’d stick the money in an account just in case instead.
As house cats we only flea and worm when they go to cattery about 3-4 times per year.

Pet ownership is an expensive luxury though.

I don't have pet insurance but I'm a responsible owner. When they've needed vet treatment they have got it. Also - peoples circumstances can change. People can become unemployed after getting a pet.

If there were a pet food bank near me for people struggling - I would donate.

You do need to vaccinate your cats. One of mine I adopted when she was 8 from a rubbish home caught a disease that is easily prevented by vaccination before I could take her for her first one. She probably came with it.
I spent £10,000 om medical treatment over three years and then she had to be PTS. I was heartbroken. Also not covered by insurance as pre-existing condition.
If you can't afford vaccination and insurance dont get a cat.

Absolutely, I don’t believe pet insurance should be a given in all situations. In some scenarios putting money aside to cover any necessary and unanticipated medical treatment is just as, if not more sensible than getting pet insurance. That’s entirely different to not being able to afford either pathway though.

In that situation I would, to be honest, probably have had the cat put to sleep earlier.

pet insurance is a huge gamble. I didn’t want to bother when we got two kittens but dh decided to take out the highest from Petplan, two weeks later one of the kittens was diagnosed with FIP. Cost Petplan £12k to fully cure him.

I always say if you can afford to feed/flea/worm and take your pet to the vet to put him/her down when the time comes, it’s worth doing.

I got pets when I was in work and I'm not in work just now. I have never had insurance for them - but if they have needed vet care they've always had it. My mum spent a fortune on insurance for her cats and rabbits for years - thousands - when one cat needed an operation the insurance wouldn't pay out

I'm not going to rehome my pets just because I'm on a low income.

That's not the issue here in my view. It's the fact that the OP needs to shop around for vet care before deciding that their cat is too expensive

Why ‘poor cat’? She’s enjoying a lovely life in my home being petted and fed. Lazing around in the sun. Better than when she was in the shelter.

You paid £10k of your own money??? Blimey. Your insurance didn’t pay out. Exactly - it’s a scam.

Annual vaccinations for cats?! I only flea mine in summer and give a worm treatment off Amazon every 3 months - had cats all my life and they’ve all been healthy!

Thanks for this. I feel like the vets are just to scam me out of so much money

i do the initial baby vaccinations then don’t bother after that. Flea and work as required. Food that’s on offer.