Cost of Kitten Vaccinations

Sam_Spends_Too_Much

I've recently 'acquired' a new kitten and haven't had time to contact a vet yet. Does anyone have a rough idea of how much the jabs are going to be and how many he's going to need. Also, are they all necessary?? I know you need them if you're going to board the cat in a cattery. Would it be possible to give him the initial dose and not the booster(?) each year??

Sorry to sound a little dim, its been many years since I've had a cat in the house and I've lost touch a little.

Is it possible to get jabs/neutering done at the PDSA?? I get Council Tax benefit and I believe this is the eligibility.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I'm pretty certain tht if you're on any benefit the PDSA will do jabs, spaying and treatments for a donation, and will recommend annual boosters.

Becles

Shop around vets as prices differ greatly.

Mine is located in an industrial estate unit. It's basic - row of cheap plastic chairs in reception, hand written record cards instead of computer system, etc. However it's the cheapest in the area, and the staff are lovely which is the main thing.

I don't know about cats, but dogs certainly need all the jabs and their boosters. If the kitten goes outside unvaccinated, he could pick up some very nasty diseases which will cost a lot of money to treat, assuming they don't kill him. I think it's better to vaccinate yearly to protect the animal from diseases, and also to stop him spreading it to other cats.

You might not think you need a cattery but situations arise when you might need one, such as illness, or family celebrations. I never thought I would use kennels, but mine have been in twice - once for my brothers wedding and once for mine, when all my dogsitters were also at the wedding guests! The kennels I used would have charged 50% extra on their fees to cover barrier care for unvaccinated animals.

arctic_2

Being in receipt of Council Tax Benefit would make you eligible for PDSA services. Website, with centre locations and more information here

I'm not sure whether they will do vaccinations, as this is preventative care. You might need to pay for it. If so, prices vary in different areas and different vets. The most important thing is to find a veterinary practice you are happy with. For an initial vaccination, your kitten will need two jabs. The yearly boosters are needed to keep vaccination current.

IMO if your kitten goes outdoors, vaccination is a must. Please also consider neutering your cat.

More information on jabs and cat health can be found on the cats protection websitehttp://www.cats.org.uk/

HTH, and enjoy your new member of the family!

EDIT: Keeping in the MSE spirit, some cat food manufacturers offer kitten packs. You can apply online hereWhiskas and Felix and get some free grub for your kitten

lister

Jabs will probably set you back £25-50, depending on where you are and what the local vets are like. It also depends if you just have the flu/enteritis jab or have the feline leukaemia jab as well (you'll need two jabs, 3 weeks apart if you are doing both to get the kitten started off).

Castration will set you back another £25-50 - probably more towards the bottom end of that range if your vet is at all reasonable. Male castration is a much simpler process than spaying females, so quite a bit cheaper.

If you are in financial hardship, you can try contacting local RSPCA or Cats Protection branches and seeing if they have any support for neutering. All CP branches get vouchers from head office which they can use as they see fit to support neutering in their area - these cover about half the cost of neutering at the moment. Each branch will have a different policy on what they use them for.

You might also find that local charities can help with microchipping as well (normally £10-20 and the best investment you can make - the vast majority of cats I reunite with owners are because of microchips). Again, as far as CP goes, branches can buy chips at a much cheaper price (about £5 each if I recall correctly), and some have volunteers who are trained in chipping cats, so they might be prepared to do it cheaply or even for free.