They party all night and sleep all day. No, this is not a generalization of college students, but the life of a domestic cat—or, at least mine.

According to the 2021-2022 National Pet Owner Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association, 45.3 million American households own a cat. And because of COVID-19, adoption rates in some metropolitan areas have increased because people seek company while staying at home most of the time.

However, just like human children, the cost of taking home and caring for your fur baby can really add up. You need to consider vaccinations, food, garbage, and many other recurring and one-time costs. For example, according to APPA, you can spend $326 a year on food and snacks alone. And suppose your cat is not picky or needs special diets. To give you an idea of ​​how much it costs to own a cat, we interviewed veterinarians and carefully studied industry research-and gathered some insights from our own real-world experience of living with cats. Take a look.

Unless you happen to stumble upon a box of kittens or notice a friendly stray cat nearby, your first expense for owning a cat may be the adoption fee. How much depends on where you adopt it from. According to Claudine Sievert, a doctor of veterinary medicine in Manhattan, Kansas, and a veterinary consultant for cat lovers website CatPet.club, if you are adopted from a local shelter, you should set aside $200. This price usually includes pre-adoption medical examinations, vaccines and sterilization operations.

However, you can avoid this cost. Adoption centers and shelters are usually exempt from adoption fees at certain times of the year. For example, the Animal Foundation in Las Vegas waived the adoption fee for its "Sanctuary Clearance" campaign in August last year. If you are a veteran, senior or participating in a BOGO event, you can get two cats for a single adoption fee (usually a bonded pair), then you may also be eligible for an adoption fee discount.

If you decide to get your cat from a breeder, the adoption price of certain breeds may reach thousands of dollars, which may not include the cost of vaccines or the cost of neutering/neutering the animals.

For those who stumble upon the box of kittens or let a stray cat into your home, you are responsible for neutering/neutering and vaccinating your animals. Sievert said the cost of the surgery could be as high as $300.

According to Lindsay Hamrick, Director of Public Policy for Companion Animals of the Humane Society of the United States, some cities provide low-income families with surgical vouchers to cover the full cost of sterilization/sterilization, while other regions offer low-cost sterilization/sterilization to provide clinics for their community members , Thereby reducing the cost to $100 or less. For example, Emancipet is a group of non-profit pet clinics located in Austin, Texas. It provides sterilization/sterilization procedures for US$69. It also regularly provides free days so that community members can get these services for free. The Human Rescue Alliance in Washington, DC provides sterilization services for a female cat for $100 and sterilization services for a male cat for $65.

You can find low-cost clinics by asking your local veterinarian or animal shelter, or you can check the PetSmart charity database, which lists PetSmart sterilization/sterilization clinics across the country.

You need to vaccinate your cat against rabies, cat plague, and an upper respiratory disease called feline viral rhinotracheitis. According to PetCareRx.com, you will spend up to $80 for the core vaccination of kittens in the first year. After that, the cost of vaccination for healthy cats was reduced to about US$50 per year.

As with sterilization/neutering costs, you should quickly search the Internet for low-cost animal health clinics that offer vaccinations. If you are adopting, your adoption center may remind you to pay attention to clinics like mine.

It is relatively cheap to take your cat to the vet for an annual check-up. According to CareCredit.com, the cost of a routine veterinary check is $55, and you can keep this cost stable by ensuring that you don’t feed your furry friends too much. Cats can easily become obese. Although the Internet likes fat cats, it is not good for their health and your wallet.

If your cat needs urgent care, then all bets on the cost of care will be lost, especially when it swallows something it shouldn’t eat, such as plastic or ribbons that may require surgery.

Just like you visit the dentist regularly for cleaning, you will most likely need to clean your teeth at least once in your cat's life. According to CareCredit.com, depending on where you live, the age of your cat, and the condition of your teeth and gums, you may spend between US$70 and US$400 on cleaning your teeth. This price does not include other oral care, such as tooth extractions.

Food and litter will be the majority of your cat's annual expenditure. How much you spend depends on the type and brand of food you want to feed your cat (wet, dry or mixed) and the type of garbage you/they like. Normally, if you decide to feed your cat mainly raw food, you will pay the price.

My food and garbage costs averaged $60 per month, or $720 per year. Every month, I order an 8.5-pound can of Tidy Cats Lightweight Glade Scented Clumping cat litter and three boxes of 24 cans of 3-ounce Fancy Feast from the pet supplier Chewy.com. By participating in the website’s automatic shipping plan, I can save nearly 5% of the cost, which will send my orders at the scheduled time every month. I can edit my order to include additional toys or snacks, or cancel one month if needed.

To prevent your furniture from being scratched-and keep your kittens involved-you will want to play with them a lot. This means buying toys, but don't go too far-cats have a fairly cheap taste for toys. On average, I spend about $25 a year on cat toys, including trusted feather toys. If you want to spend $0 a year on cat toys, please wait until the next delivery of anything. Your cat will have fun in empty boxes, wrapping paper or empty bags. For more free fun, you can also chase your cat around your residence.

In order to protect your furniture, you need to buy double-sided tape called "sticky claws". Generally speaking, cats cannot tolerate their paws sticking to the surface, so slimy paws will eventually prevent your cat from destroying your beautiful sofas and chairs. You can buy a 32.8-foot roll of paper on the pet supplies website Chewy.com for as low as $9. In addition to sticky claws, you also need to invest in cardboard scraping posts. This will cost you about US$120 per year (or US$10 per board) because they need to be replaced frequently.

Just as humans have health problems, so does Garfield. Also, if you are worried that an accident will deplete your pockets, you may want to consider purchasing pet insurance while your cat is relatively young and healthy. 

According to the latest survey by the business research company AdvisorSmith, the average monthly cost of pet insurance for a cat is just over $28. However, the cost varies depending on the insurance company, the cat's breed, and the place of residence. For example, the monthly insurance cost of a Russian blue cat is approximately US$34, while the monthly insurance cost of a domestic shorthair cat is approximately US$26. If you go by location, the cost of insurance in New York City, New York is about $46 a month, while the cost of insurance in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is just over $24. Before choosing an insurance policy, please consider its deductible, the maximum annual benefit and the reimbursement rate of the underwriting service. This policy usually covers preventive services, such as regular veterinary exhibitions. 

Unlike dogs that often require physical baths, ordinary indoor domestic cats are very clean animals. They are primitive self-beauticians, and they spend most of the day bathing and sleeping. However, if you do need to help the kitten, it will cost an average of US$50 per visit to the beautician. This may include bathing, trimming nails, and getting a haircut. (Some groomers may refuse to bathe cats that have never been bathed at home. But they will give your cat a haircut.)

If you want to travel with your cat, you need to be prepared, especially during a pandemic. For those traveling by car, if you plan to help your cat stretch his legs, you need to invest in a good travel carrier, including a litter box, food and water bowls, and a seat belt. You can buy an oversized portable cat cage on Amazon.com for about $50, which includes a litter box and a cat harness for about $20.

Or you and your cat can travel by plane. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines allow you to bring small dogs and cats on domestic flights for $125 each way. (Due to COVID-19, American Airlines no longer allows pets to be checked in.) For example, I plan to take my cat Nikon home to my parents for winter vacation. I will spend $250 on Nikon's own round-trip ticket from Washington, DC to Michigan and back.

If the tenant decides to adopt a cat, they have to pay attention to another expense: the apartment fee. You may need to pay a pet deposit and/or a monthly pet surcharge added to the rent. Similar to paying a deposit when you move into a new building for the first time, the pet deposit covers any damage that your beloved kitten might cause. (It may be refundable.) According to a survey by PetFinder, a pet deposit can be 40% to 85% of a month's rent. You can also pay the so-called pet rent, which is usually about $50 per month.

Before bringing your new pet home, please make sure to understand your apartment’s policies. Some landlords may not charge anything at all. For example, the community where I live has a pet deposit and pet rent, but my current residence does not have both.

If these initial numbers make you think that adopting a cat is out of reach, then it is not. Keep in mind that you can save many of these costs by simply adopting from shelters that contain a lot of the aforementioned start-up costs. Use your local animal shelter and the Internet to point you in the right direction for low-cost care, and use food, water, and exercise to make your cat as healthy as possible. You will also need to save extra money when available to help pay for any unexpected emergency visits.

As for me, my annual budget on Nikon is about US$800 to US$1,000, because sometimes I give him extra toys and snacks. Remember, your rewards—cat kisses and hugs—are priceless.

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