Should I get a cat?

LittleMissAspie

My cat has her own budget in the household finances, it's £15 per month. This covers her food, litter, yearly vaccinations/checkup, flea stuff and worming stuff. We don't flea and worm every 6 weeks like you're supposed to though, more like every 2-3 months.

Insurance would be another £10-15 I'm guessing, we don't have insurance, we save a lot instead.

Buttonmoons

It works out about £20 per month per cat in my house. Would of been cheaper (I actually thought it was lol) if I hadn't just got insurance.

I buy 4 bags of Tesco value litter a month. I go through about 10kg a week :eek: but I scoop 3 times a day and give them thick layers. 2 big trays though.

About £12 for 2kg bag of hills from the vet (but may start buying on offer at Pets@home, just change type slightly) that lasts about 6 weeks though.

£15 on wet food for fusspot cat, thats a mix of sachets and cans, they seem to only like the cans when it's first open but TOUGH!

£13'ish for both cats to be insured.

They probably end up getting more than this a month, random toys I'll buy, treats, raw meat for them, replacing things they have broken.....

Actually I don't like this thread because I was happier living in my ignorance that they only cost £2.50 a week to feed :rotfl:

spike7451

paddypaws101 wrote: »

Well...I was rounding it up rather! Food is only part of it....worming tablets and flea control can add up Over a life time they do cost a bit more as they get older and I suppose if you factor this in, plus those occasional larger vet bills, smashed ornaments, stolen sunday roasts, hair remover lint rolls, fleece throws to cover all horizontal surfaces etc etc......
But if we round it down to £5 a week...what would that buy you? Sunday paper, bar of chocolate and a fizzy drink gets rid of most of it with very little reward.

Certainly less that a pint of Beer & a Gin & Tonic down your local for Sunday lunch!
Daisy now prefers the Purina One dry & even tho it's three times the cost of a box of Go Cat,to my mind it's worth it!

BitterAndTwisted

My boy Stanley is a dry-food only fan. It's what he was brought up on and he's getting the same here with me because any wet-food is ignored. He's an indoors-only boy so I don't need to give him any anti-flea meds and his upkeep in food and litter is about £2 a week.

Set-up costs can be a fair bit: spaying/neutering, innoculations for outdoors-going pusscats, microchipping, insurance but the running costs can be very low as long as you don't get carried away with luxury radiator-beds and climbing-trees and the like. It's a bit harsh not to buy him the odd box of Whiskas Temptations and cute toys, though. There's alway a quid to be found for some of those.

rita-rabbit

Liddles, Aldies & Argos do pet supplies cheaply: grooming, feeding, litterboxes etc - they all have websites so you can check who is doing deals. I have a scratching post tower & think it was worth the money as the smaller one sits at the top like a tree & she is fond of being high up (I didn't spend alot - it was from Argos but it was larger/more expensive than the smaller scratching post).

~Chameleon~

rita-rabbit wrote: »

housecats (moggies) can be cheaper - less chance of RTA's, fight damage & wanderings. Depends on how mischievious the cat/kitten is however....

I think you'll find that's the complete opposite!

Pedigree cats are often confined to house/garden so have far less chance of getting involved in fights and RTA's

~Chameleon~

Those who have indoor-only cats and are saying they don't need to buy flea treatment.... just remember you can bring fleas into your home on clothing/shoes etc so you're not totally immune to them

rita-rabbit

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I think you'll find that's the complete opposite!

Pedigree cats are often confined to house/garden so have far less chance of getting involved in fights and RTA's

so no:eek: chance of being in an RTA....

please read before posting I wrote housecat (moggie)

spike7451

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Those who have indoor-only cats and are saying they don't need to buy flea treatment.... just remember you can bring fleas into your home on clothing/shoes etc so you're not totally immune to them

Soooo right!
When I was at NTL,I had a service call in a particulary stinky house where the hygene,well,you'd see cleaner homes on 'Life of Grime' was non existant.The dog was eating out of food encrusted Quality Street tin!
As soon as I left I started itching & scratching & ended up going home,I stripped off to my grundies in the communal hallway of my apartment block & binned my work clothes,still did'nt stop Orbit getting covered in fleas tho!:mad:

Fire_Fox

Eeeeewwwww Spike.

Luckily I know I am allergic to flea bites as I once moved into a severely infested house. :eek: Also one benefit of an all white cat, you may see the hairs on all your dark clothes but you will also notice fleas or flea-dirt more quickly. I live in a city centre so few other animals or green spaces about BUT we have had rats in the rear courtyard!