I wanna adopt a cat

Dee123_2

I've been thinking about this for 18 months since I bought my house and looks like I will get around to it in January.

What I would like to ask of you all is the cost involved as I don't have much cash to spare. How much do your cats cost you? I know this is a random question as medical bills are unpredictable, but I would like your opinions, please.

I intend to adopt from the Cats Protection so it may be that I take in an slightly older animal. Do you think a Pets Health Insurance policy will work out good value?

Is there any advice you can give me? I've never owned a cat before (or from what I understand been owned by one of them!) and am reliant on books for guidance at the moment.

Thanks

Dee

Rikki

How about this one.
Sleeps alot of the time.

Magentasue

Couple of things. Our local RSPCA charge about £35 to come and check you out before you adopt. The Cat Protection People didn't used to but may do now. This may include the cost of neutering - much more expensive for a female cat.

I've never had insurance, have had cats for years and would reckon on them living 15 years (had one died aged 10, another aged 20) and needing a couple of visits for antibiotics or similar in their lifetime. You could be unlucky and end up with worse, one of mine was run over and had to have her leg pinned and that cost over £100. If they live over 15, you can expect more vet visits, but cats are generally healthy.

You will almost certainly have to buy worming and flea treatments and you will probably want to vaccinate - ring your nearest vet and ask for prices. You'll need a cat carrier for trips to vet etc and a litter tray at least for the beginning, a couple of food bowls and that's about it.

Go for it! Couldn't be without my cats - have to say I like to have more than one.

Dee123_2

Thanks for that Rikki!

I couldn't afford Sheel though, methinks......berets and thick glasses are expensive :rolleyes:

[Deleted User]

Congratulations.

But before you go any further - if you live on a busy main road and do not plan to keep the cat as an indoor cat only - please don't adopt . (You will probably be turned down by a charity anyway if you live on a busy road).

Pet insurance is a good idea and there are many past threads on this subject under the insurance part of this site.

Cats are ideal companions and can be very affectionate. I could write a book on my experiences of owning them over the past half of my lifetime.

It is true to a certain extent - cats choose you. Don't be under the misunderstanding that many people have that they only require minimal looking after. What you put into your relationship with your cat - you get back tenfold. Cats need interaction with their owners.

Cats are easy to care for and reasonably inexpensive when they are fit and well. It's a learning curve food-wise when you first adopt a cat in trying to find out what they like so you may end up throwing away some food in the beginning.

Warning - cats can be great time wasters!

Be prepared to waste ooodles of time doing nothing other than getting to know your new friend or simply enjoying playing with them.

good luck.

Rikki

Dee123 wrote:

Thanks for that Rikki!

I couldn't afford Sheel though, methinks......berets and thick glasses are expensive :rolleyes:

I don't think she will be hidding for long.

If you are looking at taking on a kitten they live for a long time. My cat passed away last year aged 18.

raeble

I don't have pet insurance. I only take my cat to the vet if it is ill which is very rare. There are vacinations that they are supposed to have which can be quite pricey £100+, so pet insurance can be very useful in that instance. Also if you are ever going to put your pet into boarding? Kennels? they'll need to be fully vacinated. I've never had to do that so I don't bother. Grew up with cats and they rarely went to the vet and were never vacinated, lived to be a ripe old age.

The last time I checked a checkup with my vet is £40 and the snip is about that as well but if you are getting an older cat that will already be done. You also need to get your cat microchipped - so that you'll get it back if lost or stolen and returned to the rspca for instance - think this was about £30 when I got it done, not too sure on that.

I spend about £2 a week on cat food, you shouldn't need to spend much more on one cat. My cat goes outside so I only have a bit of litter for rare occasions, there is supposed to be a woody type of cat litter that is best but I've only recently heard about that on here.

You can get pet carriers and litter trays with hoods from Argos - check the price there before going to somewhere like petsmart (?) In my experience they have been more expensive. You can also find pet stuff in various pound shops and Wilkinsons, this will also be cheaper than petsmart but not always.

Cats will let you know when they want something. And they frequently try to kill you by running between your legs when you are walking up and down the stairs but other than that they are fine. Much better than dogs.

That's all I can think of for now.
HTH

zincoxide

There's loads of places you can go for advice, check out all the local animal shelters and get them to do a home visit before you take on any cat, they will have a look round your property and tell you if anything could pose a danger!!

We're just in the process of adopting another two cats, we've had one since a kitten, rescued another from a cat den and want a couple of older cats. I've weighed up the general costs per cat below:

To start with:
1. Cat bowl (£1-£5)
2. Litter Tray (£1-£3)
3. A nice cheap cushion (50p upwards)
4. An old blanket (free if you already have one, else go to oxfam)
5. Toys (can be found from as little as 25p)

Ongoing costs:
5. Litter (about £6 per month)
6. Cat Food (about £12 per month) [see advice below]
7. Worming/Flea Treatment (£20 per quarter)
8. Cat Treats (£2pm)

Cat Food:
DO NOT give your cat IAMS, my cousin who owns two tabby and one persian had started feeding the cats on Iams andone the tabby cats ended up with crystals in his stomach, cost over £800 for the operation to have him back to normal. Problem was, they only insured the persian as they assumed the tabby cat would be fine.
Science Plan, although a bit more expensive is the best dry food to give, Tesco's own meat variety is just as good as the other tinned & packet food.

Insurance:
YES!! Like the incident above, would cost you a fortune. Once you grow close to a cat you will pay anything to keep them if a simple operation will keep them healthy. A simple operation can cost anywhere upto £5k. Compare that to cat insurance of roughly anywhere form £6-£10 per month.

Overall my cats cost me about £35 a month each but they are well worth it, no need to buy expensive beds for them, a nice big cheap cushion and old blanket will do.

Good luck!! And remember that cats can live upto 20yrs old so think it through before commiting yourself.

Dee123_2

Magentasue wrote:

You will almost certainly have to buy worming and flea treatments and you will probably want to vaccinate - ring your nearest vet and ask for prices.

Thank you for the excellent reply Magentasue. Not sure if I'll have to vaccinate if they are coming from a shelter - maybe I am being naive but I thought they would have done that already.

Magentasue wrote:

Go for it! Couldn't be without my cats - have to say I like to have more than one.

One of the reasons I hesitated so long was that a) I live in a teeny shoebox and thought two cats would be too much b) I work two jobs which are equivalent to slightly more than one full time role. Then I read in two books that cats are happier being the only cat in the household and that they sleep 14 hours a day anyway.

A neighbours cat keeps sneaking in to play round my house and I was so charmed I want my own now!

Edit: To add that I dont go out all that much when I am not working so please dont think I will be depriving it of attention!

SnowyOwl_2

Hi there

You're about to start the longest love affair of your life!!
Cats are so fantastically affectionate. Like you I went for older mogs - a pair who were seven years old. Unfortunately when I moved (to a QUIET) road one was run over and died, but the other is 18 years old now. She isn't too expensive to keep, about £12 on thyroid tablets per month, plus all the other items as described elsewhere.

If you are going to have a totally indoor cat then you won't need vaccinations at all. However you will have to be 100% sure that your kitty won't ever be in contact with another cat. The vaccinations are against feline influenza (can cause blindness and be fatal), feline AIDS, feline leukaemia, and so on. These are all caught from other cats, even healthy cats can transmit these deadly viruses. The jabs are pricy, but they are worth it if your cat is going outside. The animal will need an annual booster jab - this is about £30 or so, depending on your vet. Some people insist boosters aren't required, but if you insure your animal then read the small print - no boosters given may mean invalid insurance. Buy a few "My Cat" or similar magazines - this topic often comes up.

At the moment I have three cats...mrs 18 year old granny, and two recent arrivals who are a 1 year old boy and a little baby 2 month old male kitten. The two young ones snuggle up and sleep together while madam sticks her nose in the air.

You'll never be sorry you let a cat into your life, they are fab!

SnowyOwl

Magentasue

If you get a cat from a charity, it probably will be vaccinated, maybe neutered and microchipped to - depends on age for neutering/spaying. If you want to vaccinaate though it's annual cost.