How much does your cat cost?

[Magelet]

Simple question. How much does your (single) cat cost you a year? We really want to get a cat, but aren't quite sure if we can afford one, not being totally sure how much they cost. Do you have pet insurance? How much do you save for vet bills a year/spend for vet bills/budget for vet bills? (also I'd be interested in knowing what kind of food you feed it on that budget).

Thanks

[hillymum]

I buy fancy feast wet food (48c each, one a day) and eagle pack dry food ($9 a bag.) the bag lasts a couple of months I think.
$170 wet food a year
$60 dry food a year
$150 vet bills (if something happens which it hasn't plus vaccines)

I am guessing at about $380 a year? You can do it for far less by not giving wet food.

[scbegonias]

we have four cats. per cat per year we spend:

$120 food (innova evo dry)
$50 cat litter

we do not vax, and generally don't go to the vet.

however, as our cats have aged, they have required vet treatment.

cat one - diabetic. during crisis, it cost a bundle (maybe $500 total before we got to maintenance). now we go to vet 2x per year and get labwork ($200 per year). her meds cost about $300 per year.

cat two - uti problems. $1200 in one pop to deal with it. now we have him on the evo cat food, and he hasn't had any issues in three years.

cat three - dental issues. we clean his teeth every three years. averages out to $100 per year, but we paid more once when he needed major extractions.

cat four - fat and happy.

cat five - lung cancer. crisis cost $1600.

[Krisis]

We have two cats, but I think if we just had one it would cost $200 a year. We don't do vets though, and buy our cat food (Iams) in bulk at Sam's where you can get 20 lbs of it for $10. And litter too.

[fireHC11]

Our cat costs about $9/month in food. She goes outside, so litter costs are minimal. Estimate maybe $40/year in flea treatment.

Right before we had our baby, though, she got very sick and cost around $1200.

[Magelet]

thanks.

hmmm that's not so bad, except the vet bills. I guess that will end up being the determining factor. No way, no how, for no reason could we afford $1000 dollars in one pop on vet bills right now. It would be the cat's vet bills, or our rent. We should be able to fit in an extra couple hundred dollars spread through the year for food, litter, and a small amount of vet bills.

I guess the sudden big vet bills are what I'm worried about, and am not sure how to resolve. In DP's family growing up, pets weren't taken to the vet. There was no money for it. Even a small vet bill, could not be afforded. If pets needed to be put down, they did it at home, mostly, their pets were well, they hoped they would get better, and when the get old, the pets died on their own.
In my family growing up, I knew that pets could and did have sudden, huge vet bills. The dog is constantly in and out of the vet, I'd guess 150 a pop, every few months for ear infections or hot spots. We had a lovebird who had to have an egg extracted because she lacked the calcium to lay it after produceing the egg. We couldn't very well just leave the egg in her. The maybe 40 dollar pet store bird cost over $1000 dollars in vet bills in one swoop. After his neutering surgery, my pet rabbit went into shock, and got fluids at the emergency vet, I think it was nearly $500 dollars.

Anyways, I guess it comes down to whether/how much we feel comfortable with not going to the vet/possibility of big vet bills. How we figure that out, I'm not sure....

[miss_sonja]

My boys have pricey food, it's about $80/month for the two of them. Special diet so that my one boy doesn't have diarrhea. :-(. Litter is cheap, maybe $30/year since we use wood stove pellets.

But the vet bills, man! We never took pets to the vet when I was a kid, so I vowed that I would always take any pet to the vet as needed when I grew up. Well, one of my boys (special diet guy) has had thousands in vet bills. He's almost died three or four times, needed surgery three or four times, had a feeding tube installed (and then removed), been on various meds, etc.

My other boy has only needed one expensive thing-a dental cleaning. Those are pricey because they have to be put under general. Still, it was $700!

I would definately consider pet insurance or set aside $. We haven't done either and certainly should have, based on sick boy.

But they're wonderful boys. They're now 11 and we've had them most of their lives. Love 'em dearly and well worth the $$ in snuggles.

[broodymama]

It's the big crisis vet bills that have been killer for us. Cat 1 and cat 2 both had mammary adenocarcinoma, resulting in ~$800 vet bills each for surgeries and the cats still didn't make it because it was too advanced. I initially got these cats when I was in college, though (and was too broke to have any business getting pets ) and they were both several years old before they were spayed. If they had been spayed as kittens that most likely would have been avoided.

Cat #6 just needed ~$600 of dental work and tooth extractions 2 weeks ago. He always had bad breath, though, and I should have taken him in a long time ago for a cleaning. I just wasn't aware of the importance of that (and what it could have prevented) so that's my own damn fault.

Cats 3, 4, 5 & 7 haven't had any problems, though. And they're the little furry loves of my life.

[rhiOrion]

The random vet bills are what will get you. If you want to get pet insurance shop around, for sure. We don't have pet insurance on our guy because he already had urinary problems, and they don't cover pre-existing conditions.

His food is about 23 dollars for a 4 pound bag (special urinary formula). That bag lasts a couple months, though it might last longer if the dog didn't sneak in and eat it if I'm not careful.

We spend maybe 10 dollars a month of flea prevention (frontline)? I'm not sure how it breaks down per month.

His annual vet visits run close to $200 dollars...but he's 11 years old, and with his history of urinary issues I always do bloodwork on him, too.

His litter is currently costing me about 10 dollars every 3 weeks, but that's because I'm just changing the whole box weekly, instead of scooping. Bending over to scoop is not going so well with my ever-expanding belly.

He's long-haired so he gets shaved down every year or so- that probably costs around 50 dollars, but it really depends on the place.

Other than that it's mostly just treats and toys, which don't cost much.

BUT, those crisis vet bills? Wowza. Let's see, I got Squirt (yes, Squirt... with the blocked urinary tract... Squirt can't squirt sometimes) when he was 5 years old because his previous owners couldn't afford his vet bills. I was working at the vet at the time. I seem to recall it being over 100 dollars for us each time he got blocked, and that was with my discount (at, or just above cost). We had a PU surgery done where they removed his penis and rerouted his urinary tract, and that cost about 250 dollars, but I seem to recall that it would've been at least 400-500 if I hadn't worked there. Even with that he still gets UTIs (though thankfully no blockages) occasionally, and that usually costs at least $100-200 dollars now that I don't work for the vet. Luckily he hasn't had any issues with that in a while. He gets randomly itchy skin every year or two and has to go get a shot for it... going to get one Saturday, actually. I'm guessing that shot alone will be around $40 dollars, without any physical exam.

About a year and a half ago we got his teeth cleaned, his vaccines, blood work, etc for about $500 dollars.

Anyhow, my cat is a bit of an extreme, but certainly I've been lucky, too, because the costs have been spread out over time, so far.

If you go the pet insurance route look for something that covers urinary/kidney issues as well as dental cleanings. Urinary issues are common in cats (especially males, and especially fancy breeds- Squirt is a himalayan).

Also, see if you can find a vet that works with one of the no-interest pet credit lines. Obviously if you can't afford a monthly payment it's not going to do you any good. But they can be GREAT if you end up with a crisis. They'll usually give you about 6 months of no-interest loan, if you qualify. It's not like a credit card you apply for in advance, but rather something you get if you need it. But not all vets know anything about it/work with it.

Oh- I just want to add: Squirt is worth every penny.

[Peony]

Yes to the the random vet bills are the ones that sneak up on you. I took our cat in a few months ago, his teeth were decaying rapidly considering his young age. That bill was over $400.00, probably closer to 500. I had to bring him back in today because he has been vomiting for a week, another $120.00 plus even more expensive food for the rest of his life.

[LaLaLaLa]

We have one cat who is pretty cheap most of the time. We pay for litter and food (dry food, whatever brand says urinary health on the bag). But we also got slammed with one huge vet bill about two years ago--same urinary blockage problem it seems like lots of folks have had. He stayed at the vet for a few days and had all sorts of treatments that ended up costing us close to a thousand dollars. We didn't expect something like that and never would have planned on it. Luckily we were in a place where we could afford that. There have been other times when a vet bill like that would have been a serious financial crisis.

[sunnysandiegan]

Our kitten, who is sleeping in my lap as I type, hasn't cost us much at all. She was found outside a 7-11 in an industrial park about 100 miles away by a co-worker of a friend. The friend already had 4 cats and this one seemed "wild", so she took her to the vet in order to get her off the streets. The vet did the vaccines and fed her and fixed up some physical wounds. We paid half of the adoption fee and my friend paid the other half. (She was going to pay it all, but we felt we should pay at LEAST half.) Then, we haven't had a cat in several years, so we had to purchase all the initial supplies: cat box, litter, scoop, canned food, toys, brush, nail clippers.... We switched a raw food diet roughly two weeks after she came to live with us. We had a major flood about 6 weeks after she came to live with us and went back to canned food for about two weeks then. She's been on raw ever since.

The way I do our finances I only know the costs of everything above NOT including her raw food. I budgeted $10 a month for the kitten (got her in early March 2009) and nearly all of those costs ($100) were in the first month when we purchased the initial supplies and in the month where she was fed canned food a second time. We went with the grain-free versions and kittens eat a LOT per pound of body weight since they are growing so fast. Litter is about $6 each time and we've purchased it three times (included in the $100 above).

As for her raw food diet, I don't know exactly how much it has cost us because we include it in our regular food budget since it is mostly the same meat, chicken, and fish we eat (hers is raw; ours is cooked). I can tell you our food budget has been pretty steady. We are a family of three humans and typically buy/cook for four (due mostly to packaging) and have leftovers. We've been working on reducing our intake (adults), so I suspect the kitten's portion of raw meat has been effectively "taken" from our two plates instead of us eating it. A good thing overall.

ETA: Our kitten was too young to be spayed before she came to us, so we will have that expense this month.

[SpunkyMama]

Originally Posted by Magelet

thanks.

hmmm that's not so bad, except the vet bills. I guess that will end up being the determining factor. No way, no how, for no reason could we afford $1000 dollars in one pop on vet bills right now. It would be the cat's vet bills, or our rent.

To be quite honest, I don't think a pet would be the best option for you at this time. It us unfair to the pet if you cannot give it medical treatment if necessary. Think about the stress on the pet if he/she were to get sick and then given up because you couldn't afford treatment? Pets are living, breathing, thinking, feeling entities. Perhaps getting a pet would be better at another juncture in your life?

[WaitingForKiddos]

We have one cat, neutered male 3 years old.

His food is 10.99 for 6 pounds, Chicken Soup For the Petlover...
Cat litter was 11.99 for a jug of silica litter. Franklin, the cat, was sneezing after using the box though so I've switched to clay. 14.99. I hope it lasts the month.

We don't vax because he's VERY strictly indoors. He does have a bit of a cold right now and I'm contimplating taking him to the vet. I imagine the visit will cost about $150.

All that said, my dad had a cat that cost about 10k due to urinary tract issues. After the final treatment, that seemed to be working, they let him out and a coyote ate him. Figures.

[Pinoikoi]

We have two cats. Both spayed. The older one costs a LOT more than she did when she was younger. She has developed allergies, so now she goes to the vet a lot more often and has to eat special foods... I probably used to spend around $25 a month on food and litter with an annual vet checkup. Now it is probably closer to $40 a month and vet visits are three so far this year.

[Pinoikoi]

Oh, my one cat was already spayed when we got her, the other one was spayed and microchipped for $35 I think a couple of years ago through the SPCA's mobile spay neuter clinic. For those still looking to get their cats fixed, the SPCA here has had quite a few grants lately and they were looking for as many cats to fix as they could book.