I love having a cat. Our Molly is a proper part of the family, we all talk to her and love her. A lovely cat who has bonded particularly with my daughter.
When we adopted Molly two years ago, I can honestly say I didn’t realise how out of touch I was with the cost of having a cat.
When I was young through to mid 00’s, it was so much cheaper. Less risks meant your cat went outdoors and you fed them and that was it. A rare visit to the vets was probably to neuter them.
Times have changed requiring many to keep cats indoors. Nutters that poison or even shoot cats to hurt them are on the rise. Keeping your cat safe is now the priority and avoiding expensive bills for accidents. Though this then attracts additional costs like cat litter.
Combined with the cost of living increasing, looking after a cat costs so much more these days.
Reviewing our monthly costs, we worked out:
£17. Food
£20. Insurance
£15. Vets Plan
£15. Cat litter
A monthly cost of £67 which comes to £804 annually and that’s before an average of about another £400 a year for house visits when we are away and any insurance excess for vet treatment. The result being it takes us up to about £1200 a year.
A bit different from the days when you would just buy some whiskas and that was it. A quick google and you discover that catteries are seeing a surge of abandoned cats as well. While an exact cause is not known, many speculate that the cost of living doesn’t help. Kittens in particular are being abandoned as the cost to neuter is too much for some.
Thankfully for little Molly, we feel she is worth it but it would be good if it was cheaper. That is quite a lot of money after all.
While ownership is great, certainly consider how costs can mount up. You could in theory reduce some of the costs but if your cat gets ill, you pay through the nose at the vets. Thanks to our insurance, a recent tooth extraction for Molly would have nearly been £500 but thanks to the insurance, it was less with a £100 excess. We still had to pay up front but at least we can claim.
All Incan say is that in the past we must have had a lot of cats with medical issues going untreated. At least now regular vet checks should spot health issues sooner.
I hate to think how much others are paying as I expect this still may be cheap compared to others.
