How much does it cost to keep a cat?

chuckie79

If you have a local RSPCA centre contact them and ask them if they do microchipping. Ours does and it is only £10 compared to £20 at the local vets.

£76 seems a lot for vaccinations so you could ring a few vets to see what they charge, where I am it is approx £46 inc feline leukaemia (although maybe costs vary in each region).

I'll second what everyone else has said about bedding and toys. Our first 2 cats slept in a box with cushions and a blanket in it. 3rd cat was lucky and got a £4 cat bed from Wilkies As for toys they've had some but favourites are bows to stick on gifts and pieces of string/ribbon.

Fleaing/worming stuff - buy from the vet. Supermarket/pet shop stuff isn't as good and you'll probably end up back at the vet so spending twice as much. See if the vet has any deals on such as box of 6 frontline works out cheaper than 2 packs of 3 and 4 worming tablets for the price of 3.

Lastly.......... enjoy your new kitties

Leopardlady

Well done for taking in two kittens, i realise how difficult it must have been to go to the rescue place and only want one cat but see two, you couldn't separate so you took both, i understand that saying you were conned into taking two is only meaning that you couldn't leave one without the other.

Anyway, we took in our cat just over two months ago and yes they are not cheap, we spent more on his food and litter on saturday than we did on our food for the week! But hey he is happy and healthy.

I think you do need to spend money on jabs, microchipping and insurance, but you don't need to spend much on stuff.

we bought the cat starter kit from argos and so had a usable carrier and litter tray and food bowl, i do use a large bowl for water as the two bowls are quite small. But our cat does not use the bed that came in the kit and spends more time sleeping on sofas and or beds if he can get to them. His favourite toy at the moment is a long piece of grass from the garden and the little black ties that came round the cables for my computer.

I have not bought any toys for the cat and yet he is very happy and plays with whatever he can find, as long as i play too.

Enjoy them i hope that they do not prove too expensive and are just a great addition to your family. well done and don't listen to people saying you shouldn't worry about the cost, that is impossible when on a budget, but as mentioned there are ways of cutting the cost without risking the cats wellbieng the most important thing is that they have a home and are loved.

Sorry to sound a little annoyed but it is difficult to budget and every little bit helps and this place is where to get help with all of it.

Wickedkitten

When we first got our two, we made the mistake of buying them toys. One hardly bothers with toys at all, and the others favourite thing to play with are wine corks.

Freckles

Hello

I have a lovley cat called Molly who i adopted when i bought my house, the previous owner had left her behind and when we moved in 3 days later her and her sister were still there. Unfortunatley i lost Jess 9 months later, she went out one morning and never came back.

I have never taken molly to the Vet as my mum has always told me that unless she was ill she really didn't need to go. i know she has been neauterd and had her original vaccinations and since i have had her she has never been ill. as far as i am aware i think she must be about 7 or 8 by now (a friend of mine knows the previous owner) but i am not totally sure.
Although this has recently caused me a problem, i wanted to put her in a cattery and because i have no paper work no self respecting cattery will take her in, and i respect that, i don't want to put her somewhere that hasn't asked for her record. I am now stuck with having to put her through the trauma of taking her to the vet and on top of that i have no idea how much it is going cost me to get her boosters done or anything else they may throw at me, can anyone hels me out as to how much this may cost me ??
I do love my cat dearly and i am sure my boyfriend thinks i love her more than him sometimes but i do want to do the best for her and if that means having to take her to the vets after all this time then i will.

Also, with a note to de-fleaing, i alway so this with frontline, i do the house each year too and (touch wood) she has always been fine. I get my frontline from the following website http://www.thevetshed.com.au/index.php
it is an Australian company but i get 6 applications for £21 then with postage its about £25 and arrives within a week. They have all the other stuff on there for de-worming and even the spray to treat your carpets. It's worth it and its frontline plus which is slightly stronger than what you get from the Vets over hear. it really does the job

spookylukey

Hi Freckles

Vaccination prices vary depending on where in the UK you are, my vets (fairly expensive) charge:

£41.50 for the first set of vaccinations (Flu and Enteritis) or
£74 (Flu, Enteritis and Feline Leukaemia).

The boosters one year later are:

£28.50 (Flu and Enteritis) or
£46.50 (Flu, Entiritis and Feline Leukaemia).

The minimum requirement for a cattery to take her in is to be vaccinated against Flu and Enteritis as these are airborn, Feline Leukaemia is tranmitted through biting etc so not essential for catteries. As Molly does not have her previous vaccination record and it sounds like you have had her more than a year she will have to start the course again as though she were a kitten.

With regards the Frontline you used to only be able to get it from a vet at inflated prices but now the law has been changed and you can buy it online without a prescription (but still not in pet shops or supermarkets). A 6 pack of Frontline is £15.49 including delivery http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=118

Frontline plus is called Frontline Combo in the UK and you can also order this online but you will need to ask the vet for a prescription (he/she cannot charge for doing this) http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=538

You can also buy worming tablets such as Drontal and all the household sprays online without a prescription, loads cheaper than from the vets.

Freckles

Hi Spookylukey

thank you for that

yes you are correct i have had Molly for 3 1/2 years now and from what i gathered from the brief talks i had with the previous owner Molly was in perfect health when i adopted her.
I do know that she is registered with a local Vets as i searched around, she was in an accident as a kitten and the vets i came across had fixed her up nicely. As they will have a record of her from previous i should think they will know hen she was last vaccinated, do you think this would avoid me having to start from scratch with her ??

Freckles

spookylukey

I'm afraid you will definitely have to start from scratch in that case as the vaccinations are over a year old, if they were 13 moths old you might find that the vet could continue with a booster set but being 3 1/2 years you'd definitely have to start again.

There's some argument over the fact that boosters actually last longer than a year anyway but in reality boarding catteries would only accept cats that are fully up to date with their vaccinations and that means having a booster every year. As I said my vets are fairly expensive so it may be cheaper in your area. My cats are insured but I save £5 a month each for their boosters (two cats) which I don't miss in the slightest instead of having to find £60 (for two) when it's booster time. If you save £2.50 a month in a jar or something after she's had her initial jabs then you won't have to worry about finding the money next year.

Freckles

Thanks again spookylukey it was worth a try i suppose but i don't mind shelling out a little extra cash where Molly is concerned i wouldn't think twice about doing for me so why should i for her :rolleyes:

one more question i am afraid, once i get yearly boosters for Molly i will be able to insure her won't ??

spookylukey

Freckles wrote: »

Thanks again spookylukey it was worth a try i suppose but i don't mind shelling out a little extra cash where Molly is concerned i wouldn't think twice about doing for me so why should i for her :rolleyes:

one more question i am afraid, once i get yearly boosters for Molly i will be able to insure her won't ??

You can insure her without being vaccinated, there will just be a clause stating that illnesses arising from not being vaccinated would not be covered ie) if she got cat flu you would not be able to claim for that. Equally if you insure her after vaccination then everything would be covered (apart from pre-existing conditions).

Tortieshell

EasilyAggravated wrote: »

dont be givin it tuna. the stocks are dwindling.

just kick it out an let it go catch mice for sustinance. thats the only thing they do right. if theyre not doin that then theyre sleepin. cant see the point in em miself. get a dog. at least a dog will do as you tell it. wont feel an urge to fetch dead animals as presents and doesnt need a stinking litter tray.

At least cats are clean animals .... dogs quite often eat their own s*** .... always lickin their "bits" and leaving you forever picking up dog poo, no thanks!