Adopting a two year old indoor cat in September and I want a realistic monthly figure before I commit, not the number on the shelter leaflet. I own nothing yet, so I know month one is expensive. What I want is the steady state twelve months in, including the boring stuff like litter and the vet fund, from people who have actually tracked it rather than guessed.
Going to be the dissenting voice on the low estimates in here, because a single cat with any dietary issue changes the picture completely. Mine went on a prescription urinary diet at four and food alone went from about 30 a month to just under 80, permanently. You cannot plan for that, but you should know it happens often enough that budgeting to the pound at the low end is optimistic.
Worth saying loudly. My spreadsheet number is the median year for a healthy cat, not the number to plan a stretched budget around.
Litter is where people either overspend forever or discover a cheaper option and stop thinking about it. I switched from a branded clumping clay to a supermarket own brand that performs identically for roughly half, and the only difference is that the bag is heavier per litre and I have to carry it. Over a year that one swap paid for the cat tree.
Working in a clinic I would add one line most budgets miss, which is a savings pot rather than a monthly spend. The routine year is cheap and predictable and the outlier year is not, and the outliers cluster in the first year and after about age ten. Put aside whatever you can from day one, even a small amount, because the decision you never want to make is a clinical one made on affordability at 9pm.
Month one is where the money actually goes. Carrier, litter tray or two, scratching post, bowls, bed she will ignore, a microchip check if the shelter has not done it. Mine came to a bit over 200 in setup and then dropped to something like your steady state. Budget the setup separately or it distorts your first three months.
One indoor cat, tracked over two years, works out at roughly the cost of a phone contract plus a takeaway a month. The variance is vet, not supplies. Everything else is noise.
@csv_apologist · last mo. · 3 replies
I tracked mine for a year in a spreadsheet because my partner did not believe me. Food came to about 34 a month on a mid-range wet and dry mix, litter about 18 for clumping clay, flea and worm treatment about 9 a month spread out, insurance 14, and the annual booster and check came to about 6 a month once divided out. That is around 81 a month steady state before toys, scratchers or the vet bill that insurance did not fully cover.
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@corwin_ashby · last mo.
Not that year, no. It was worth it in year four when a dental cost more than four years of premiums. The honest framing is that it is a bet you hope to lose.
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@dee_okonkwo · last mo.
That is genuinely useful, thank you. Was the insurance worth it in the year you tracked?
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