How much did you pay to adopt your cat?

All of my cats were "free", either from people giving away kittens or dumping them in my back yard. Of course "free" means paying for shots, spay/neuter, microchip, dental, etc.

The local shelter where I volunteer has a $100 adoption fee for dogs and cats. This includes spay/neuter, shots up to date, and microchip. The website doesn't have anything else on the list but I know the packet that goes with each animal has an insurance brochure and I think 30 or 60 days of insurance.

The fee is reduced 20% for senior citizens and for the "Lonely Hearts Club"--any cat or dog who has been waiting more than 90 days for adoption. They also run specials 2 or 3 times a year: "Big Black Dog Month", "Black Cat Month" "Old Fogeys Month".

Nebula said:

When we got Bandit from the shelter we paid $50. It included his first round of shots, being neutered, and a bag of cat food.

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I think the cat food may not have been added cause the shelter needed the cat food for others.

My two whom I adopted from shelters(the others were ferals, a stray, a vet dump, and directly from his former family):

$50(kitten) which included neutering, vaccinations, deworming, FeLV/FIV testing, and a cute homemade blanket.
and
$80 which included neutering, vaccinations, deworming(I believe), FeLV/FIV testing, and a giant packet of information(I wish every shelter/rescue did this). He didn't come from a shelter but from a wonderful foster home for a feral rescue group, about 8 years ago.

I adopted Winston from our local shelter in April 2013. His adoption fee was $95 and included his neutering, shots (rabies & distemper), microchipping and a voucher for one free vet visit. Since my boy was little larger than most kitties and he wouldn't fit into the typical cardboard carriers they also gave me a small dog carrier to take him home in. The best $95 that I ever spent.

$100 each for both of my cats, two different shelters. With their shots and spay/neuter.

Jason cost us $70 as a kitten from animal control.  This included the kitten, spaying/neutering, first round of shots, rabies voucher, microchip, and a "kitten pack" with a small bag of food, some various coupons, and a couple of cat ownership/training dvds.  I think the price for an adult cat is $60 and includes the same things.  It is really a super deal considering the amount of money I spent on Stella's initial care when she was found as a kitten.  I wasn't really given a choice in acquisition methods when I got her, but if I had to adopt a cat now I would definitely go back to animal control!
 

Zero since I got them from a feral colony.

I fell in love with them at first sight, and my wisdom and good judgment were temporarily disabled. ;}

That said I got so lucky, as they are on great health and are as friendly and loving and gentle as two cats can possibly be. Tonight I witnesses them taking turns eating their dinner out of the same bowl, as someone forgot to split their food into two bowls. They were so polite and accommodating with each other, it melted my heart.

Feral kittens get a bad rap sometimes but the two I was blessed to adopt (for free) are heaven sent.

Here's a pict of them (18 months old). Too precious for two freebies.

They really are a gorgeous pair, my2wins

In Queensland, Australia:

Animal Welfare League (AWL) charges $120 for cats, and $200 for kittens.  Mature or special needs can be cheaper.

RSPCA has a special as they are desperate to rehome cats, so they are just $20, with kittens anywhere from $120 to $200.  (The $20 is pretty unprecedented).

Little Paws (a foster-only rescue) and Pets Without Partners are around $150

Of course they are all desexed, microchipped, registered, fully vaccinated and worm/flea treated.

The Aussie dollar is about the same as the US dollar at the moment.

my2wins said:

Zero since I got them from a feral colony.

I fell in love with them at first sight, and my wisdom and good judgment were temporarily disabled. ;}

That said I got so lucky, as they are on great health and are as friendly and loving and gentle as two cats can possibly be. Tonight I witnesses them taking turns eating their dinner out of the same bowl, as someone forgot to split their food into two bowls. They were so polite and accommodating with each other, it melted my heart.

Feral kittens get a bad rap sometimes but the two I was blessed to adopt (for free) are heaven sent.

Here's a pict of them (18 months old). Too precious for two freebies.

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beautiful cats.

Our cats, other than Mollipop, have all been neighborhood cats or kids of said neighborhood cats. We really didn't pay anything for them (other than their maintenance: food, vet bills, and the like).

We got Mollipop from our vet. She was born at the hospital and she came home with us at seven weeks old. For a $25 fee, which covered her first set of kitten shots. We also received $25 off her spay when it was her time, since we got her from the hospital.

When getting a kitten from a friend you don't get the shots,spaying cause they have to get rid of them anyway. But from a vet you get all of those problems taken care of.

We haven't gotten a cat from a shelter in a long time.  Sneaky Pie came from the inlaws, Jasper came from the neighbors, and Holly came from a friend who rescued a cat that she found out was pregnant.

She got Holly her first shots, and then we paid $50 at a spay clinic through the Humane Society to get her "fixed".  She could have gotten chipped there too, but since she stays close to home I didn't see the need. 

But now that we only have Holly (Jasper was put down last August and we lost Sneaky 2 weeks before Christmas) the family's been going back and forth about getting her a friend.  The last couple of months it just hasn't been the right "time".  Holly had a hard time adjusting to losing 2 friends in the span of 6 months AND my oldest went off to college.  Then I got a temp job for a couple of months.  We are looking into doing something maybe now. 

The city shelter is $35, and that includes shots and spaying/neutering.  The cat rescue groups are more than that ($75-100). But I like the fact that they're getting the money, and all rescue groups probably run on a shoestring budget anyways- so they can use the money. 

The other option dh was considering was a "shipyard cat".  The shipyard he works at has a feral colony.  They do the whole TNR thing, which has reduced their population (they were in the company newsletter so he brought some information home).  Sometimes though an unspayed girl gets in and has kittens.  They to adopt out the kittens.  Dh thought it would be neat if we adopted one (if they have any). 

Then we'd name it Jerry.  Why?  Because he's involved in the building of the newest Navy Carrier- CVN 78, the Gerald R Ford.  Hence the name Gerry/Jerry

Cheryl

There is a group here in Columbus that does TNR.   They often will take stray cats and kittens out of the colony and put them on Petfinder.  I think they just have a network of foster homes rather than a shelter and their fee is in the same range as the other rescues.

All of my cats have adopted me. I never planned for any of them. I know that sounds really bad, but I love them and they are well taken care of. So the adoption was free but I paid more in vet bills than I would have if I adopted them from a shelter.

We got Wessie for $15.00 from the shelter. It included shots, neutering, and a bag of Science Diet. I believe it may have been some kind of discount week. I think you usually pay $45.00.

dejolane said:

When getting a kitten from a friend you don't get the shots,spaying cause they have to get rid of them anyway. But from a vet you get all of those problems taken care of.

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That depends on who you're getting them from. When I had Goldy's kittens up for adoption I asked $50. They'd had their first series of shots and were spayed/neutered, all of which cost me considerably more than $50 even with the vet giving me a discount.

Also, I never considered that I had to "get rid" of them. I screened potential adopters very carefully and turned down several who did not meet my standards. I ended up keeping one more of the kittens than I planned on because I couldn't find the right person to adopt her.

Our last two cats cost  £30 each from the shelter but that was back in 97-98 don't know what it costs now, and we had to get them spayed and microchipped ourselves  and one had fleas

Denice said:

There is a group here in Columbus that does TNR.   They often will take stray cats and kittens out of the colony and put them on Petfinder.  I think they just have a network of foster homes rather than a shelter and their fee is in the same range as the other rescues.

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Columbus,Ohio ? I'm about 30 miles east of u near Hebron

We adopted Hannah 8 years ago from the city pound. Her adoption fee was $50 and she came with a chip and a $20 voucher for spaying.

Tumbles was rescued by a fellow TCSer and came free of charge.

Daisy was adopted a little over a year ago from a local rescue.  Her $90 adoption fee included her spay, shots, and chip.  I know they spent more than $90 on her care as she was recovering from an URI when we adopted her.

The shelter here charges $45. That includes vaccines, fiv/felv test, microchip and spay/ neuter. Seniors here are able to adopt a cat over 3 with all of the above vet work done for $10. The shelter where I used to live had an adoption fee of $75 for all of the above vet work. They did however drop the adoption fee to $5 when the animal was put on the list, to try to get it a home fast. The shelter Penelope and Delilah came from with their mom has a $35 fee, all it includes is the required rabies vaccine. The moms with kittens had a single fee.