Cost of Keeping a Cat

When Anton and I adopted Lexy, we had to fill out a questionnaire asking how much money were we willing to spend per year on a cat. We wrote $1000 expecting the figure to be way above the norm. It turns out that it IS the norm. Most people typically spend between $600 and $1000 per year on their cat. That is a lot of money. However, cats are great companions and provide health benefits such as reduction in blood pressure, etc. Here are some tips to help
cat owners cope with the high costs:

1) Adopt from a shelter. Initially, I wanted to buy a purebreed Russian Siberian cat. The breeder I contacted told me that they start at $800. My cat Lexy, from the anticruelty society, was $55 including all shots and neuter.

2) Do not feed your cat cheap cat food--it will cause more problems in the long run

3) Take your cat to a vet school--they are often cheaper and a vet will always help/supervise the student

4) Buy qualities in bulk from sam's club or costcos

5) Your cat do not need any expensive accessories such as pet costumes. You can easily make cat toys by attached a feather on a stick.

6) Shop for deals--I once got 100 cans of free cat food from someone that posted on craigslist

7) Save for a rainy day

8) Offer to catsit for money. We are getting $50 per month on top of food and litter that helps in the cost of taking care of our cat. It is not that much more work to take care of one more cat.