cost?

how much, on average, does it cost each month for a cat, with food and everything. i'm 14 and found a stray cat and i'm trying to convince my parents to let me keep her if i pay for everything, but first i need to know how much everything costs

YOu're 14 years old... you shouldn't have to pay for everything involved with cat care. Where would your money come from?

Try negotiating with your folks. Offer to work off the cat in chores or be the one to look after the cat - litter box, feeding, etc.

If you don't have a pet right now, tell them it is a good learning experience ... teaches you responsibility for another living creature.

My estimation for cost in the PM I sent may be a little bit high. I am thinking that you should feed her the best food you can afford. That'll make a difference in cost, too.

As far as food and litter goes, I spend about $25.00 a month (that is for good quality dry, wet food and litter). but that doesn't include vet care. Would your parent's be willing to take the cat to the vet if it becomes sick?

Ditto to the other poster's statements and questions...

About $25 a month per cat for food and litter... I spend $8 a month for the flea control (advantage, the kind you put on the cat). So $33 a month.

Vet bills are something else entirely. Yearly vaccines usually run around $125 here and spaying or neutering (if it isn't done already) can be as much (but many areas have low-cost or free spay/neuter available).

Art

You can feed your cat perfectly acceptable food available at Wal-Mart for not a lot of money. If you keep her inside, it will help you keep down the vet bills; she won't be exposed to a lot of the dangers that can cost you a lot of money. But first you have to be sure she's healthy, and that will take a vet visit, probably some treatments for parasites (worms, fleas, etc.).

Keeping an animal is a big responsibility. A cat is much less expensive than a dog, but it IS an expense. And remember, you're taking on a friend that may live another 20 years. That's like having a baby! Quite a commitment.

I figure 90$ a month per animal under 100 lbs ( ie cat or dog )... rabbits are a bit less , ferrets from what I have heard a bit more

I've been spending $50-$60 per month. I budget about $1/day on canned food. And they get that 2-3 times a day. $10/month on dry food (but I usually try to get a bigger bag on sale). And about $20 on litter (especially since we're giving World's Best Cat Litter--it's a little more expensive, but I found a store that has really good prices on it).

I'd have to say at least $60 per cat per month if I don't count the treats and bottled water nor the vet visits, vaccinations and flea medications. Considering the joy and pleasure we get from them, that's a pretty low price.

I told the young lady around $100/month at the high end, including the cost of regular vet care. I also told her that was a higher-end estimate for food, etc. But it's good to give a range.

For instance, my boyfriend's vet was excellent, but not cheap. Office visits, plus blood and any meds, etc. ran between 150- 180 dollars and that was before the cat got sick with renal failure.

And then there are one-time costs to fix the animal, plus buying a carrier, bedding and any other goodies for the lil baby.

Real cat experts - would you take a look at the foundling's pic in Fur Pics? How old do you think the kitten is?

AB

At 14, you shouldn't have to be responsible for the cost of caring for the animal. Instead, talk to your parents about being willing to do the everyday things for the cat, like cleaning the litter box. Also, offer to do extra chores around the house and keep your grades up, that sort of thing.

(the picture of Boo that you posted is adorable )

Expenses:
Food:
While this can be very cheap, you don't want to feed the cat the least expensive food you find. I would rather you feed cheap food than re-home the cat though, just because so many cats need homes. If you live by a Costco, the Kirkland Signature dry food is not bad. It's manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. You can get a huge bag (something like 40 lbs. I think, it would last several months) for I think only $15. It's better and less expensive than most grocery store pet food brands, at least as far as I can remember. You'll want to feed your cat wet food, which ranges from $0.30 - $2.00 a can, varying widely in quality. I spend a minimum of $45/month on mostly premium wet food for 2 cats. For one cat's wet food each month on a tight budget, I would set aside $10-15.

Litter
This can be very cheap if you use pellets from a feed store (I believe this would be less than $5/month). If you want clay clumping litter, it'll be maybe $20/month?

Vet Care
This is the tough part. Keeping the cat indoors will keep vet bills down immensely, plus you won't have to buy flea/worm medication. For spaying/neutering, a low-cost clinic will be able to do it for not too much. The one by me charges $45 for females and $28 for males. Micro-chipping they do for $15. Most vets will do the initial first check exam for free. Vaccines can be done usually at low-cost clinics also. This is basic vet care, if your cat has any health problems that arise and you want to keep the cat, your parents must be willing to take responsibility for them.

I hope the kitty can stay with your family

Originally Posted by Sakura

At 14, you shouldn't have to be responsible for the cost of caring for the animal. Instead, talk to your parents about being willing to do the everyday things for the cat, like cleaning the litter box. Also, offer to do extra chores around the house and keep your grades up, that sort of thing.

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Yup! I told her the same thing! Great minds think alike, eh?

Ace - you sound like a real nice kid. I hope things work out.

I think Sakura gave some great advice on how to do things cheaply.

The most expensive thing with owning a pet is vet costs. We probably spent clost to 400$ on Moses to get all of his shots and neuter. (And I shopped around for the cheapest vet!). Of course, he didn't get that all done at one time, it was $100 one month, etc. But it does add up.

I feed Moses high quality dry food, maybe $15 dollars a month tops. (I buy the huge bag of Royal Canin at Petco, works out to be cheaper in the long run.) I spend about $5 a month on wet food. (I buy whatever's on sale at the grocery store - and don't feed him a whole can each day. Works out to be like 17 cents a day for wet food)

I use silica litter, which isn't the cheapest, and it works out to be around $20/day.

I could easily spend $50 on toys every time I set foot in PetsMart....this takes some self control!

But like I said before, I think Sakura gave some great advice. If you can get cheap food at costco and use something cheap for litter, it'll be really affordable. The tough part is vet costs.

If you could work out some kind of chore exchange with your parents, maybe you could get them to cover vet costs, and do extra chores for the food/litter?

Originally Posted by Ashley45

I feed Moses high quality dry food, maybe $15 dollars a month tops. (I buy the huge bag of Royal Canin at Petco, works out to be cheaper in the long run.) I spend about $5 a month on wet food. (I buy whatever's on sale at the grocery store - and don't feed him a whole can each day. Works out to be like 17 cents a day for wet food)

I use silica litter, which isn't the cheapest, and it works out to be around $20/day.

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I guess from this response it truly matters where you live. My high quality dry food costs much more then $15 per month and I buy the large bag of Orijen. For wet food I feed one can per day shared 1/2 morning and 1/2 evening between the cats at $1.69 per 5.5 ounce can so I spend more than you in 2.96 days.

Silica litter at $20/day seems excessive to me ($608.33 per month) so I'm hoping you mean $20 per month. I use WBCL and it is much, much, much more economical than this and is excellent cat litter.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I guess from this response it truly matters where you live. My high quality dry food costs much more then $15 per month and I buy the large bag of Orijen. For wet food I feed one can per day shared 1/2 morning and 1/2 evening between the cats at $1.69 per 5.5 ounce can so I spend more than you in 2.96 days.

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I wonder if they mean budgeting that much for dry each month? A big bag of good food is easily $30. I don't buy every month, so I budget $10 per month on dry food and still try to catch it on sale.

sorry for the confusion! I meant $20/month for litter.

The huge bag of Royal Canin is about $40 I think. It lasts at least 3-4 months. So...about $10 or $15/month.

Ace - I tried to see the pics of Boo, but got a message that they'd been removed because they're too big. Can you post them again?