Cats & Money
Catnip Crinkle Cash via Erica Danger
Recently a dear friend of mine inherited a cat, and she asked me: How much should I budget for cat care?
This got me thinking: Despite the tidal wave of awesome financial education (Jean Chatzky, Paula Pant, Kara Perez etc.) and the many wonderful people talking about cat care, we don’t often discuss topics like how much is monthly cat care, whether or not to get pet insurance, etc. So, I’ve polled a number of cat parents across North America, and we’re spilling the beans.
Please note that this is not intended to be financial advice. Personal finance is personal – nay, purrsonal! This is intended to give new cat parents some info on how different real-life cat parents manage cat care finances. If your monthly budget looks different, or if you’ve got a hot tip re budgeting for cat care, please share in the comments below!
How much is your monthly cat care cost, and what does that include?
Cat Parent (US) - “My kitty's monthly expenses include wet food, dried food, probiotics, and litter. I’ve had my cat for about 2 years now, and to my surprise it doesn’t cost as much to take care of him as I thought it would…I buy the biggest bag of cat food (18 lbs.) for him every other month or so, which is around $22 with tax. I buy a 20 pound container of cat litter about once a month, about $12 with tax. I don’t really give him wet food, maybe only treat him to a can of tuna about once or twice a month, and those are only like a dollar. I live in an apartment building and the pet fee is $20 a month. So every month, it’s about $35-ish (sometimes I’ll buy him a cheap toy if I find one I’d think he really likes. The cheaper it is, the more he likes it, it seems). Every other month it’s about $55-$60-ish. Once a year he goes to get his shots, which are about $20 (and a free basic checkup is included). I take him every three or four months (or whenever I notice his nails get caught on anything easily) to get his nails trimmed, which is about $12. Every year owning him costs around $600-$650.”
Cat Parent (Canada) - “I tracked my expenses last year and the average per month was $33. It includes some high cost months and many no cost months. I buy canned food, kibble, litter, probiotics, and supplies for homemade food. I shop in bulk during sales for wet/dry food and litter, and last year I was also part of a free review program with a pet store so they supplied me with a couple toys, treats, litter, as well as a huge bag of kibble so I didn't have to pay for those when I normally would.
Cat Parent (US) - “Litter and food for all three of my cats is $160, and I get flea preventative Rev+ which is $20-25 a month per cat (sometimes it’s on sale). So $75 per cat per month.”
Do you have any other non-monthly costs or financial goals related to your cat? (For me: occasional pet sitting, which is $30/one hour cat-sit, and cat toys, which is roughly $150/year. And one day, I'd like to save up for a catio.)
Cat Parent (US) - “I have an emergency fund that's kind of just "all around need", so if something in the house or car needs repairing, it's the same account as if the cat has an unexpected expense. I don't have a set amount to deposit each month, just a set amount to keep in the account as a bare minimum.”
Cat Parent (US) - “About $5 a month for toys and $10 every 6 mo for new horizontal scratchers. Also, $15 each for my three cats every 2 months to the groomers for professional brushing, nails, and sanitary trims.”
How much are regular vet visits? (Junipurr's annual cat visits, plus stool sample analysis, at a cat-only hospital is $171)
Cat Parent (Canada) - “Around $140 for physical, boosters, and fecal.”
To your knowledge, how much can emergency or special condition vet bills cost? (We recently had a mobile vet come to our home to do an ultrasound and blood sample analysis for Junipurr, and that was $963!)
Cat Parent (US) - “I'm mentally prepared to drop $5,000 if my cat were to ingest a foreign object, which is a realistic scenario because she loves to eat plastic. Luckily my past experience with emergency vets has never exceeded $400.”
Cat Parent (US) - “Emergency: oh so expensive. I spent $400 on my female cat when she had a UTI in 2020. Also spent $4/5000 on my male cat the same year for stomach problems. And then $3000 last year due to URI. This was due to multiple visits and tests. I go in expecting the worst and trying to guess how much it will cost me, always aim higher. I have $3K per cat each year budgeted for emergency. Happy if I don't spend it. I would and have gone outside that budget when needed.”
Do you have pet insurance - why or why not? (I do not, but I continually research pet insurance and fret about my decision!)
Cat Parent (US) - “I keep extra money in a high interest savings account because I would rather accrue interest on my own money than continually pay into a monthly fee and at the end of a pet's life, lose all of that money if they lived a medically unremarkable life. I know it's not for everyone and I do have a friend in Michigan who has bought pet insurance for his cats, one who wound up having lymphoma and it REALLY helped and the other who has steroid-controlled IBD as a preexisting condition so all it really covers is dentals as necessary.”
Cat Parent (Canada) - “Nope, and I don't regret it. My cat may have cost me a lot in two years but for the first nine their vet costs didn't really cost me anything. And my other 2 are still young and healthy as well.”
This “PSA to get pet insurance”on r/CatAdvice has some eye-openers:
After an unexpected $8K emergency vet bill, the Original Poster wrote: “Previously, I had been saving the amount I would have been paying for pet insurance in a savings account. That might be a good approach if you already have ~$10-20k in savings dedicated to your pet for their lifetime, but if you don’t, you run the risk of wiping out both the savings you’ve set aside for your pet and making a substantial dent in or even liquidating your own emergency fund. Or worse, incurring debt, or being forced to euthanize.”
Read the fine print on what is considered a pre-existing condition (e.g. PICA, FIV, “behavioral tendency to swallow foregin objects” etc.) and what is not covered (e.g. dental care). Call the insurance provider’s customer service to talk through your cat’s specific situation if you have any questions.
Many pet insurance companies require you to front the bill and will reimburse you afterwards.
Do you have any trust/contingency plan for your furbaby?
Cat Parent (US) - “When I was living alone, I created a page in a pet care binder for each pet that said if there was an emergency, X is where her food is, Y is where her vet is, Z is the rescue she was adopted from. I kept a laminated card in my wallet saying pets were alone at *address* and to check the binder in a specific place. Now that I'm married, I'll need to revisit this plan in case something happens to both of us.”
How does cat care budgeting change when you have more than one cat?
Cat Parent (US) - “The budget didn't really change when I went from 1 to 2 or when we went from 2 to 3. Spend a little bit more a month on food but not enough to feel it. Getting good carriers so I can carry all 3 easily at once. It did feel like the daily poop/pee doubled when we went from 2 to 3 cats even though it was only one more cat.”
Cat Parent (Canada) - “My cat is a little hater so I may always just have one cat. I would prepare to assume cost doubles even though I know a lot of things would be shared. I would rather have more latitude within a budget than to underestimate and stretch it too tight.”
What other money and cat questions do you wish people talked about more? Chime in below!
p.s. You may also like 7 Free Ways To Entertain Your Cat and How To Buy A Cat Tree
