Cats are incredibly popular pets, loved all over the world. There’s no doubt that bringing a new cat in the house can bring excitement and joy, however, cat guardianship also represents a huge financial responsibility that all potential feline parents must be aware of!
Whether you purchase your cat or you adopt from a shelter, the initial and subsequent cost of caring for a kitty cannot be overlooked. Before committing to a cat, it is important to make an assessment of these different costs to help you prepare for the various expenses that come with owning one.
If you’re thinking about welcoming a new cat to your home, debt help experts, Creditfix, have put together some of the financial commitments that need to be carefully considered.
The essentials
As its guardian, it is your duty to supply clean food, water, toys, hygiene facilities and other essentials for your cat. However, when an expensive month strikes, cat parents are forced to look closely at exactly how much they are spending on their pets. Many are now searching for ways to save money on these regular cat supplies.
By shopping smarter, you can find great prices without lowering the quality of your kitten’s necessities. And by cutting costs at this stage, you can save up extra cash to spend on things such as tasty treats and special toys in the future!
Here are some tips on how to save money on your kitten’s essentials:
- Shop around in all pet stores in your local area. Once you get to know prices offered in each one, you can work out which shop offers the best deal within the constraints of your budget.
- Some shops and online stores offer a huge discount on pet supplies, particularly if you order in bulk. Many pet guardians purchase goods monthly or yearly to make the most of bulk-buy deals.
- Coupon shopping is one of the most efficient ways to save up money when buying cat essentials. These vouchers often come from email newsletters and online offers, so join as many pet store membership clubs as possible to unleash these discounts!
- Avoid overfeeding your cat as it can waste the food you have bought, as well as potentially leading to obesity and other health issues (which eventually costs money to treat).
Veterinary treatment
Every responsible cat parent will register his or her pet with a vet right away to ensure they are kept fit and healthy. However, if illness does strike, regular veterinary treatment can turn out to be financially and emotionally exhausting. Here are some ways to prepare for the medical costs of your kitten:
- Opt for home remedies to deal with the basic health problems. Common complaints including conjunctivitis and diarrhoea can be easily treated using home remedies – but always check with a vet first.
- If you adopt your cat from a shelter it will usually have been neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. If your cat has not had this treatment, you must be aware of the initial costs. Before deciding which vet to register your cat with, consider the ‘new client’ packages they may provide to learn which vet offers the best deal.
Do I need insurance?
This would depend on your circumstances as well as your particular cat. Vet fees and medicine for even minor injuries and accidents can quickly become costly. If your cat becomes ill, you will have financial security and peace of mind with pet insurance. Having pet insurance allows you to fund the best medical treatment for your injured or sick cat however, there are a number of factors to consider before committing to the regular monthly payments that pet insurance requires.
The other thing to consider is that kittens do grow up and can get quite old so if you don’t have an insurance costs can quickly accumulate over time.
Different breeds of cat are more prone to illness than others. For example, heart disease is common in purebreed cats such as Maine Coons, Persians and Rag Dolls. Manx cats are prone to sacrocaudaul dysgenesis, a neurological disorder and many Abyssinians are affected by a disease that causes blindness. Research the health history of your particular breed of cat to try and understand its risk of developing a costly illness in the future. If the risk is low, it may work out cheaper to simply pay for treatment when it is needed, rather than financially preparing throughout the lifetime of your cat.
If you do decide to take out pet insurance, it can be paid in monthly, quarterly and annual installments, which allows you to budget better. However, it is also worth noting and researching the various excess policies that different insurance providers offer in order to choose the one best suited to you.
I hear you re bulk buying food but ironically cats seem to only want one kind of food for a week quite happily but the next week won’t have a bar of it. Most frustrating thing ever about cats. Cheers,H
This is why we bulk buy a few different flavours and rotate LOL. 😉
Damn cats! Its why we love them…….
Indeed. 🙂
Very useful post. Just today was news that in Estonia lot of elder, old people ask vet put cat ” to sleep”, because of cost 🙁 to keep a cat is expencive 🙁
Most of these cats find fortunately a new home, but some… not 🙁
Oh no. :(. So sorry to hear about those incidents
There have got to be better ideas than putting your cat to sleep if he/she is costing too much. We adopted adult cats, others will too. Search, talk to friends, find sites that will have the cat fostered and adopted. Go to where the animal action is on Facebook,Linkedin and Twitter. Post photos and cute short videos of the cat. Fundraising can also help 🙂
Very true. :/
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Very informative post. I do feel that some people still take on cute, fluffy kittens without considering the financial implications. ?
Agreed. There’s your normal vet bills + unexpected costs that can come up without warning. Either way always consider the financial cost before taking on a cute, fluffy kitty.
Indeed.
There’s always unexpected vet bills.
Unfortunately yes
Something to consider before adopting or buying a pet.
Indeed. :/
Indeed is right.
Indeed… we just had a big bill for Oliver’s teeth 🙁
We paid £700 yesterday for chest xrays, lump removal and histology on Cookie. We’re keeping fingers and paws crossed she doesn’t have mammary cancer. Thankfully she’s insured, so we’ll get most of that back. But her being OK is most important of course.
Our treasured Tika wasn’t insured as he was born with a bad heart. We spent a few thousand on him during his short life. His company and happiness was worth every penny too! Thank goodness we had savings!
It was a but more for Oliver’s teeth :s it’s shocking how much those things can cost.
Wow! Sounds like vet fees are much higher for you there! Our dentals are around half that generally, depending on how many teeth removed. Cookie and Flash both have a bad mouth, so have had to have regular dentals since having them. Thankfully they’re insured.
It were 5 teeth very suddenly as well. And while Oli is insured the insurance is being difficult about it… probably going to switch to a different provider after this. :/
We’ve found Petplan are good with dentals, as long as your cat’s teeth have been checked by vet within last 12 months. – This is done with booster checkup, so always covered. Had no problems with them so far, and made a number of claims with them. Have a refer a friend code somewhere, let me know if you want it.
We are thinking of going to Agria
Actually what does the refer a friend code give? Might be worth comparing the two!
You’d get 2 months free pet insurance, I’d get £20 M&S voucher. Let me know if it makes it worth it for you.
Will do some comparisons this weekend. 🙂
Remember to check out Ts&Cs for dentals
Indeed!
If you don’t care, you should not have.
True indeed but it’s not always that black and white to people hence why these kind of tips are useful to have.
True but many people care and forget the monetary impact.
good information. thank you!
🙂
Thanks for posting this! I’m all about supporting local businesses (in this case, locally owned pet food stores), but needed to economize. So I started ordering food and supplies from Chewy.com. So much cheaper (available only in the U.S., at present)! And if you do Autoship, I think you get free shipping.
Sounds a bit like Amazon’s auto shipment on food and similar stuff in the UK.
You need to realize as well you may be paying out for 20 years on each kitten!
Ha very true!
Interesting post. Something think about. Shared on LinkedIn.
Thanks so much!
Sure
MOL – Meow Out Loud!
🙂