How much Maintenance is a Cat | 10 Cat Expense Every Cat Owner must know
It feels lovely when you welcome a new kitten as a pet to your home; you get a company a friend and eventually a family member. Overlooking your new kitten’s maintenance is absurd; bring a cat into your home is automatically imposing responsibilities on yourself, which as a new pet owner, you must take care of all expenses and responsibilities.
New cat owners may underestimate the total cost of keeping and maintain a cat. Feeding your cat two-square meals is already an expense; others include pet insurance, cattery bills, vet bills, training items, etc. For an average budget, cat maintenance will cost you roughly about $600-$1000 annually; a kitten would cost twice the amount mentioned as it takes time to grow so does the cost.
However, if you look on the brighter side cats require less fur combing or grooming, except outdoor cats and long-haired, which are much likely to be costly. In this article, we will be looking at the necessary financial costs of adopting and maintaining a cat.
How Costly is a Cat?
A cat cost can vary depending on where you want to get one. The local cat rescue can set up a cat or kitten for free, although they may wish to charge a little as an adoption fee. However, before going into getting a cat, these are the factors you should consider;
Check if your Monthly expenses coincide with the Budget
First, you need to outline your expenses, bills, and your budget for getting a cat. If you spend time in the entertainment part like movies, restaurants, etc, you should consider cutting off those activities and expenses that aren’t necessary to balance the cost.
Emergency Cost
Put off about $1000 to $2000 as an emergency cost or an unexpected vet consultation. Health and your new pet’s wellness should be your priority; set aside some money for emergency bills. It is an ideal choice for pet owners because you may not know what will come up at any time.
Don’t put yourself in trying to pay your due bills and the expenses of your pet. If you get faced with the challenges of paying your rent or the electricity bill, it is only right you reconsider getting a pet, struggling to pay bills, and keeping up with your pet maintenance should be avoided.
Pet insurance is an option to consider
Some cat owners wouldn’t want to obtain pet insurance, or probably they don’t just consider it essential. When you go visiting your local vet, you can get information on how to go about purchasing pet insurance.
Is Pet Insurance a good choice?
Pet insurance is another means of setting down a low budget for your cat expenses; it depends on the type of cat, the policy, and the provider type. A two-year-old kitten will cost about $15-$45 a month.
Owning a cat is not only a responsibility, but it is also a time and money investment. Before you go and buy a cat, ensure you have an account of all expenses and get ready to take full responsibility.
Things to have on Budget while Adopting a Cat
Cost of Cat Feeding
Average Annual Bill: $1500
Food is an essential value for your cat. There are different types of cat food; the dry cat food and the wet cat food. You can budget at least $20 monthly for either or both of them.
It depends on the exact brand of food and your cat’s size and weight. If your cat is younger, it might need specific food and the most expensive foods while it matures.
Click here to know more about wet food and dry food for cats.
Cost of Litter Box
Average Annual Bill: $170
A litter box will cost approximately $20 or less, which will add about $20, which will sum at least $25 to your bills monthly. The annual cost will be around $170. You have to figure out what is best for your set up.
Learn how to make your kitten or cat use litter box.
Toys
Average Annual Bill: $50
Cats are generally known to hunt and prey on mice; they also loved to play and be entertained for a couple of hours, when you are not available. Ensure you set aside some money to get your interactive cat toys to keep it active and happy.
Pet Supplies
Average Annual Bill: $150
The annual bill is approximate for all pet supplies, the bathing and grooming expenses, scratching posts, especially if your cat is long-haired. This bill can vary depending on your location and type of your cat. However, you can manage this and still keep your cat all groomed up.
Cat Training
Average Annual Bill: $170
Cats need training; training your cat will help in their overall growth and development, making them more reliable and active. You will need specific items such as a leash, harness, cat clicker, and others for your cat’s training things. If you decide to keep or maintain a cat, you should add the training fee to your budget.
Exciting Cat tips and tricks you can teach your Cat.
Cat Damages
Average Annual Bill: $300
Cats can get messy while they grow. Because they are still exploring their new environment and new home, they do this and damage some household properties such as furniture and shoes. Including this in your budget will help you tackle this expense when it arises.
Regular Vet Care
Average Annual Bill: $200
Taking your cat for medical examination includes; heartworm prevention and control, vaccination against infections, and topical flea and tick treatment. To minimize cost, you can decide to try a vet school; they offer rates on discount prices.
Pet Insurance
Average Annual Bill: $185
Obtaining insurance for your cat is optional. However, insurance companies have some advantages, including good pet care guarantees and life insurance. There are premium insurances that depend on the breed, age of your cat, and your location.
A cat’s daily life is also a significant factor in the pet insurance option; an outdoor cat is more likely to be hit by a car or attacked by another animal, requiring expensive surgery.
Emergency Vet Care
Average Annual Bill: $1500
If there is no surgery required during an emergency, the cost will be around $1500 to $2000, while emergency requiring surgery would cost $2000 to $4000. To limit this expense, keep your cat safe, don’t let it outside to avoid being hit by a car, or to become prey to other animals.
Also, urinary infections and trauma are common health problems cats often experience. Setting up an emergency fund has been recommended by experts to be ready for sudden funds.
Veterinary Bill
Average Annual Bill: $200
First, you should choose a vet; your vet will put you through a list of medications and the best way to calculate your budget. There may be annual injections, flea medications. There may also be health treatments such as microchipping if vaccinations such as rabies and parasite treatments and exams.
This will, however, increase your bill while you go for a regular check-up, treatment, and health examination. Central diseases that require surgery can be high as $7000. It is why, most times, pet insurance is the right choice.
Cat Food Delivery
Estimating the cost of pet food by using a service that includes a subscription to buy cat food, pet needs(supplies), and pet food have a convenient and reliable option known as food delivery.
Some auto-ship companies will help you save up to 40% on your first shipment. It is a means pet owners used to save money on pet food items, medicine, and treats.
You can consider Chewy for food and medicine supply for pets.
What's going to happen when you are not around?
Are you going to use a family member to help you take care of your pet?
Are you going to take it to a cat home?
Generally, cats prefer to stay at home in their surroundings. It is only right if you get a suitable and affordable cat sitter for your cat.
Are there other Costs involved in Owning and Maintaining a Cat?
Your cat doesn’t need a lot of packaged luxury to be comfortable and happy. You only need to provide its basic needs, and it would love it if it has many toys it can play with and the valuable means of keeping it entertaining.
The primary needs include food, treats, water bowl, litter box, collar, bed, some toys, carrying box, and cage. These items would amount to a range of $90-$100. If you choose to go for luxury, you can spend much more. Things such as feeding bowl timers will knock up your budget. Cats are amazingly low- maintenance pets every family can afford.
Adopting a Cat or Kitten from an Adoption Center or Rescue Center
The price of cat adopting a cat seems to around tend $50-$150; this depends on your location and the cat’s age.
The fees cover some cat vaccinations, so you don’t have to spend much on injections while bringing home your new pet.
It is a lot cheaper, adopting a cat from an adoption or rescue center. Sometimes, rescue centers can have free weekends of giving out cats without charging fees; you can also be on the lookout for that one.
Cost of Adopting or Buying a Pedigree Cat or Kitten
Purchasing a pedigree kitten or pedigree cat can cost you about $100 – $200. The given charge price will depend on the pet’s family, breed, and the seller’s price. Some breeds can be more expensive than the other.
Cost of Purchasing or Adopting a Non-Pedigree kitten or Cat
A non-pedigree kitten or cat will cost within the range of $50-$100. This price is focused more on the type or nature of breed more than any additional charge.
Cost of Neutering a Kitten or Cat
Adopting a cat from a shelter or rescue will not require neutering (often referred to as’ spaying’) if you prefer paying for the whole operation yourself, which along with certain vaccinations and treatments, your budget for this should be around $150 and $250.
Budget Options
Pet experts and organizations have studied and proved that you can use a pet worksheet to serve as a budget for pet owners. This worksheet has been adopted by parents and families to tackle the cost and maintenance of a cat. You can use this as a means of determining where your estimated cost will fall.
These figures that will arise from the worksheet are an amount including the obtaining of pet insurance, which sadly most cat owners ignore. If your cat gets sick or develops sudden flu, your vet bill becomes too expensive to handle. Pet insurance helps you to save up a little out of your pet expenses.
Conclusion
It is always an exciting decision to own a cat! Owning a cat is a decision any pet lover will want to take into consideration. It is essential to outline every single expense you are going to encounter. Food and vet visiting is the baseline and critical to get covered.
Also, ensure you have carefully planned and balanced your financial situation and your estimated budget before embarking on having to keep a cat. Keep up with your budget and make your new cat happy and healthy.
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