Cats and cost to have a pet?

Landlord say we can get a kitty. But before we can get one I need to see what costs are here (as I am only use to SA stuff and over here it seems to be way way more expensive.)

So how much does a kitty cost. Mix breed one as such.

Then how much does kitty sand normally go for?

Food cost and what type of food. We use to feed our cats Royal Cain.

And what does it cost to spade a cat?

And how much does a normal vet visit go for or how much have you paid for vet costs?

And vet insurance and what does it cover more or less?

If you are going to get a cat, get one from the SPCA. If you get it from an SPCA in a major city (such as Auckland or Wellington), the cat is already desexed and vaccinated. The adoption fee (from memory) is approx $80. The cat is also dewormed and defleaed. This is a better option, as the SPCA do a lot of fantastic work in animal welfare, and you will be adopting a kitty that was abandoned

I got my cat from the SPCA, and I just love her to bits

Kitty litter varies in price, depending on what sort you want to get. The generic, budget stuff is about $10 for a very big bag, and normally lasts a month with one cat. The ones that clump and reducing tracking are a bit more expensive, but I think are worth it in the long run, as they absorb smells better. It is really up to personal preference and what price you are willing to pay.

When it comes to food, I feed my cat Iams, which is about $15 for a 1kg bag. This lasts her for a month. I only feed her dry food, as it keeps her teeth in top condition, but also because I have to control her weight. You can buy cat food from the supermarket, but would recommend buying only Purina One. I buy my cat food from the vet every two months.

I'm not entirely sure of the price to desex a cat at a vet, as I got my cat from the SPCA who had desexed her for me already. You will need to probably call some vets to get quotes. But for reference, female cats cost more to desex than male cats.

I pay $50 a year for my cat's yearly health check up and vaccination. This cost can also vary between vets, depending the area that the vet is in. But whenever I have had to take in my cat for other things (such as she has got into a fight with another cat and needed surgery to get stitches), it can cost around $200. I also get my cat's teeth cleaned, scaled and polished once a year, and that cost is about $220, as they need to be put under GA. Normally over a the year, I take her to the vet about four times a year.

I don't bother with pet insurance, simply because I put money aside each week for her vet costs. Vet insurance is only really good if you have pure bred cat, as they tend to have higher vet bills. It is really up to you. I have a friend who has vet insurance, and I think she told me that she pays about $40 a month for it, as she has three cats!!! You are best to shop around for pet insurance, compare costs, cover and policies on offer. Most have a $50 excess.

You also have to take into consideration other costs of having a cat, such as using a flea treatment every month and also deworming your cat every three months. I use Advantage for my cat, as she has flea allergy dermatitis, and I pay about $35 for four months worth of treatment. For worming, I use to use Drontal, and you get four tablets for about $20 (and you only use one tablet every 3 months). I recently changed to Profender for worming, as it is a topical treatment. My cat is really hard when it comes to sticking tablets down her throat Profender is about $28 for 4 tubes, which is applied every 3 months.

Hope some of that info helps!

You just have to be sure about what you are prepared to pay for if anything goes wrong - if they are seriously injured in a fight/by a car/by a dog, the cost can run up to the thousands (to return full quality of life).

There are also illnesses that can cost a fortune as they age (which is over a shorter time period than us of course), so what are you prepared to pay there.

If you are aware of possible one off costs like that and accept that if it happens, it happens and you can pull the money out, it makes it a lot easier to cope if something does happen.

Alternatively, loook into the insurance, though I am not sure what the costs ar -when we last had a cat it was still pretty high, but I believe it is coming down as more people use it.

I used to laugh at people with pet insurance.
But then I got Womble.

He's an SPCA moggy who is now 8yrs but was my nana's kitten, and mum took him in when she passed on. He came with me as soon as I was allowed cat. As far as I remember he has always been in good health.

This year however he cost us about $650ish with a reoccurring abscess that required 3 vet visits then surgery, and then he decided to go and be an active puddy as they do, and as a result of jumping around too much he has arthritic kneecaps that slide in and out of place. They will need surgery in the next few years, but are sorted for now - $400 later.

He's now completely insured except for his kneecaps, and it costs us $20 a month with Ellenco. I would say I put money aside, but thats pretty much it, money aside ends up going on baby or power or something, and $5 a week is much easier to budget for then a $500 bill at once!

We keep thinking about getting pet insurance, but haven't gotten around to it!    Ours haven't been to the vet in a while, but each time it usually runs us $80-200 (ours were fighters for a while).

So I have 2, both were free!! One was a stray, who then got pg, so we kept one kitten. Cost to spay/neuter was $80-100 I think - just get it done quickly if you have a girl! We left ours and thought she was too young, and suddenly she pops out 5 babies!

We don't use litter either, I find it pretty icky to be honest. Our house is small, so you could smell a poop through the whole thing as soon as it was done. Ours were trained to go outside.

We spend money on cat food each week, maybe $10-15 for two? But honestly, we love them to pieces. They are so special to both of us, esp now with ttc problems, it's nice to have someone to "mother".

Gosh, I never realised cats were so expensive We got both ours free as kittens from other people we knew. They have only been to the vet once (to get spayed) and eery now and then we have wormed and de-flead. We feed them the cheapest food too, sound like we really love our cats

Daizy wrote: Gosh, I never realised cats were so expensive We got both ours free as kittens from other people we knew. They have only been to the vet once (to get spayed) and eery now and then we have wormed and de-flead. We feed them the cheapest food too, sound like we really love our cats

 

I'm pretty much the same Daizy.  Although we got Oscar from the vet and paid $100 for him (including de-sexing and vaccinations).  For the first couple of years I took him in every year for vaccinations but havn't in the past few years.  We feed him supermarket cat food and I buy worming tablets and flea collars from the supermarket too.