cats.. how many and how much do you spend

[alainax]

Omg i must have the cheapest cats in the world!

2 cats, a korat and Havana.

I buy a bag of quality cat food, costs around £15 or so... last about 2 weeks

1 big bag of catsan from costco, is like £9 last 3 weeks.

I spoil them... with like £1 worth of lick-e-lix per week


so....like £7 per week per cat

They don't like wet food, tuna etc. Even chicken breasts etc.. they turn their noses up at
The little Havana had to go on a diet last year as was overweight on her mammoth £3.5 per week portions

Ps - indoor cats, so diet not supplemented with mice

 

[Nightmare before Christmas]

Three and on science plan. Its good quality so have to feed less. All yard cats. So probs around 10 quid a week? Maybe less

 

[Littlelegs]

Semi feral farm cat eats a tin of kitekat a day, & a box of aldi complete dry food (plus lots of stuff she hunts) so about £4.50 a week.
House cat eats go cat complete, goes through a big box every few weeks, so about 75p a week. And two of the tiny luxury tiny tins a day, the ones that are 70p or so each in the supermarket but 30p in cheapo shops I frequent. So £4.20 a week. Goes outdoors too, but does come in to poo in the litter tray, & uses it overnight, bag of aldi cat litter at £2 lasts 3 wks.
So about £10 a week. Which amusingly is over double what my daughters pony costs to feed in a week!

 

[cloverleaf1985]

My view is that as mine are indoor, they can't supplement with mice etc, so I buy the best food I can. Nature's menu is literally just chicken and turkey or beef and minerals. None of that "meat and animal derivitives". They look so much healthier on it. When they were on Felix, kitecat etc their coat was dull and greasy.

I try to give them the odd bit of raw meat like chicken or liver.

I think if you're going to make sure you're horses diet is spot on, so should your cat's.

 

[GinaB]

One cat, he's quite big, costs around £10 per month on food! He loves Lidl's cat food pouches, gets that with some dry food. Usually GoCat. If I run out of meat, he's happy just with dried. However, he is a real hunter so supplements his own diet. He's lovely looking, bright shiny coat and a nice weight. I rarely buy cat litter, it is expensive when I do though.

 

[pines of rome]

I have five and they cost me about £20 a week on food and cat litter, but some are on medications and then their flea treatments so it is probably more like £30+ a week! Expensive creatures!!!!

 

[Lanky Loll]

Wow am I glad my two don't have litter trays!
Foodwise I tend to order from Zooplus as they deliver and I can bulk buy without having to lug it home.
They get through 7.5kg of Burns over about 2months - costs £23.90/bag (get a handful at each feed) and I also get them Animonda Carny which is £12.69 for 12 tins (but is pretty much just meat no filler) and they LOVE it, between them they get through a tin per day split into two feeds. So cost wise - about £1.50/day £45/month I suppose? But that's feeding decent grub with a high meat content.
Can't feed one of mine cheap biscuit - whiskas and the like just make him vom under my bed at 4am And don't see the point of paying a similar price for wet food that only contains 4% meat either.

 

[Blackwijet]

My view is that as mine are indoor, they can't supplement with mice etc, so I buy the best food I can. Nature's menu is literally just chicken and turkey or beef and minerals. None of that "meat and animal derivitives". They look so much healthier on it. When they were on Felix, kitecat etc their coat was dull and greasy.

I try to give them the odd bit of raw meat like chicken or liver.

I think if you're going to make sure you're horses diet is spot on, so should your cat's.

Hi

i have a Tonkinese (4yrs) and Siamese (13 yrs) - they are indoor cats with access to the catproofed garden when I'm home.
I feed mine a pouch of Felix Senior each a day (half in the morning and half at night), plus about 40g of Science Plan indoor cat biscuits - seems to suit the Siamese as she has a really sensitive tummy, although she seems to prefer biscuits unless tuna is mixed in with the meat! I've looked at the Natures menu but they recommend 3-4 pouches a day - do you not find this incredibly expensive or do you feed it differently?

 

[cloverleaf1985]

I buy in bulk from pet supermarket. Because they are a bit chubby, they only have half a pouch each per day and the rest is dry so a box of natures menu lasts 12 days.
And they have 60g of dry each split into 2 meals, so I think it work out ok. They love natures menu, it's like meaty loaf, so no gravy or jelly, literally just meat

 

[Blackwijet]

I buy in bulk from pet supermarket. Because they are a bit chubby, they only have half a pouch each per day and the rest is dry so a box of natures menu lasts 12 days.
And they have 60g of dry each split into 2 meals, so I think it work out ok. They love natures menu, it's like meaty loaf, so no gravy or jelly, literally just meat

Ah - that sounds more reasonable then! i had wanted to try it but when I looked at the recomended diet I nearly fainted when I worked out the cost! I love my cats to bits but I have to eat as well

 

[Meowy Catkin]

My cat would have me hand feeding him prawns from a silver platter if he had his way.

However he actually gets good quality biscuits (James Welbeloved, Iams, Royal Canin, Science Diet etc... I get which ever ones are on special offer), the bowl is kept topped up so ad-lib. With soft food, he likes the ones in gravy but he only gets a 1/3rd of a pouch at a time. Any left over soft food gets put outside for the birds, but they hardly ever get to eat it as it magically becomes tasty again once it's not in his bowl.

If he's being super fussy, he gets told to catch his own tea. Infact it's very cheap to feed the cats during baby rabbit season, but I do clear up a lot of blood (why can't they eat their prey outside?).

 

[thewonderhorse]

i dread to think!

 

[gracey]

Wow am I glad my two don't have litter trays!
Foodwise I tend to order from Zooplus as they deliver and I can bulk buy without having to lug it home.
They get through 7.5kg of Burns over about 2months - costs £23.90/bag (get a handful at each feed) and I also get them Animonda Carny which is £12.69 for 12 tins (but is pretty much just meat no filler) and they LOVE it, between them they get through a tin per day split into two feeds. So cost wise - about £1.50/day £45/month I suppose? But that's feeding decent grub with a high meat content.
Can't feed one of mine cheap biscuit - whiskas and the like just make him vom under my bed at 4am And don't see the point of paying a similar price for wet food that only contains 4% meat either.

ooo zooplus sounds interesting i will go and google that and i like the sound of the cans you feed .. when i first got my bengal he was sooo fussy i went with whatever i could get him to eat ..without it being king prawn!! seems like lots of people dry feed their cats, but i always thought that was bad for cats? am i out of date? lol!! my f.i.l cat looks really poor on a dry diet ..we alternate the dry biscuits between go cat complete and the science plan biscuits ..the go cat goes down the best ?

thanks for everyone replying .. am mighty jealous of some of you! lol

 

[Rose Folly]

When our son left home his cat didn't! She's still with us, 18+ and costs me more than my horse!

She's on thyroid pills (2 per day at £1.50 each) plus either an endless range of sachet cat food (she won't eat dry food now) or fresh meat cooked to taste.

In deference to her declining years she now has a cat litter, with scented sand which I have discovered from the box comes from Mumbai (probably hand-picked by nuns at dawn!!) two visits AT LEAST to the vet each year apart from her booster one, to check her weight and general condition. when she finally pops her clogs I shall be a rich woman!

Son does give me occasional generous handouts - unfortunately he always brings a box of cat food - which is always the brand she has just decided the day before she doesn't like any more.

I'm sure you recognise the above description!!

 

[Lanky Loll]

ooo zooplus sounds interesting i will go and google that and i like the sound of the cans you feed .. when i first got my bengal he was sooo fussy i went with whatever i could get him to eat ..without it being king prawn!! seems like lots of people dry feed their cats, but i always thought that was bad for cats? am i out of date? lol!! my f.i.l cat looks really poor on a dry diet ..we alternate the dry biscuits between go cat complete and the science plan biscuits ..the go cat goes down the best ?

thanks for everyone replying .. am mighty jealous of some of you! lol

zooplus.co.uk they sell loads of brands I'd never heard of - mostly Scandic or German but they seem to be better quality / higher meat content than a lot of the UK ones although some are rather pricey!
I'm not a fan of dry food as I know in the past it's been responsible for causing renal problems if the cats don't drink enough, but it does help to clean teeth according to my vet Like I said one of mine doesn't tolerate a lot of dry brands at all - and even a couple of bits of whiskas kibble is enough to make him ill

 

[Enfys]

9 barn cats, and at least 4 ferals that treat the barn as a soup kitchen too.

I don't pay a cent, I have a lovely Boarder who works in a pet store and she gives me the out of date (but not) expensive stuff, no way could I afford to spend $80 on 50lb sacks of feed.

 

[clydesdale]

I have two cats and would say they cost me £10 a month for feed and litte i buy in bulk tho

 

[Fransurrey]

Holy cow, OP, you need to find a new supplier of felix or change diet! It costs much less to feed BARF, than what you're paying! I only have one, now, but he gets one sachet a day of Felix AGAIL, then topped up with James Wellbeloved if he asks in the evening (he does get his own 'takeaway', sometimes). He costs about £10-15 a month.

He rarely uses a litter, but when my old cat developed renal problems, I was having to change the litter every day, so I started to buy compost, instead! Not only was it nicer smelling, it was well draining, like a good deep litter stable. Helluvva lot cheaper, too! At Wickes it was 4 for £10 when I bought the last lot in August - still got almost three bags!

 

[gracey]

Holy cow, OP, you need to find a new supplier of felix or change diet! It costs much less to feed BARF, than what you're paying! I only have one, now, but he gets one sachet a day of Felix AGAIL, then topped up with James Wellbeloved if he asks in the evening (he does get his own 'takeaway', sometimes). He costs about £10-15 a month.

He rarely uses a litter, but when my old cat developed renal problems, I was having to change the litter every day, so I started to buy compost, instead! Not only was it nicer smelling, it was well draining, like a good deep litter stable. Helluvva lot cheaper, too! At Wickes it was 4 for £10 when I bought the last lot in August - still got almost three bags!

lmao!! i'm a wuss when it comes to the barf diet .. but i am thinking about going to the butchers and asking for pet mince? lol .. have no idea how much that is going to cost but it should be a lot cheaper (i hope) my cats would leave home if i only gave them one pouch a day? i always used to feed my bengal on demand, mainly cos he holds us to ransom! (no food?? he would climb on high shelves and knock things closer and closer to the edge while glaring at me and meowing loudly.. little sod!) he normally eats 3-4 pouches a day ... my f.i.l cat just seems to be a pig every time i look at him (thankfully he hasn't sussed out the blackmail technique!) but he would eat 6 /7 pouches a day if i gave into him!! now they are both refusing to eat everything i put in front of them and loads of ornaments are getting smashed when stroppy bengal has had enough of his downgraded food!

I'm looking at zoo plus and pet mince! (pet mince means my dog is going to start demanding some as well!!) I reckon i will sell all of them and get me a horse ..i am sure its gona be cheaper!!!!

 

[Evie91]

2 cats = v expensive. Both have Felix 'as good as it looks' pouches and Iams or whiska's biscuits, wilko cat nip drops and whatever meat is on the reduced shelf in the co-op!
All my pets have (what I like to think) good quality food. IMO I decided to take them on therefore I should look after them as best I can - which to me includes a good diet. Although I'm aware (with recent meat scandal) the pouches probably contain the sweepings off the floor - dread to think what the cheaper stuff contains! :/
To be honest animals probably eat better than I do - by the time I've been to work and ridden the horse I usually microwave something for my tea!
We buy catsan cat litter but they only use this is the weather is really bad and more often for a wee!
They usually supplement their own diets with wild bunnies - so in the summer are alot cheaper to feed as they prefer to catch their own breakfast.

 

[gracey]

2 cats = v expensive. Both have Felix 'as good as it looks' pouches and Iams or whiska's biscuits, wilko cat nip drops and whatever meat is on the reduced shelf in the co-op!
All my pets have (what I like to think) good quality food. IMO I decided to take them on therefore I should look after them as best I can - which to me includes a good diet. Although I'm aware (with recent meat scandal) the pouches probably contain the sweepings off the floor - dread to think what the cheaper stuff contains! :/
To be honest animals probably eat better than I do - by the time I've been to work and ridden the horse I usually microwave something for my tea!
We buy catsan cat litter but they only use this is the weather is really bad and more often for a wee!
They usually supplement their own diets with wild bunnies - so in the summer are alot cheaper to feed as they prefer to catch their own breakfast.

yes the summer is a lot cheaper for me too .. but i have only had f.i.l cat a couple of months! i agree, i do want them to eat good food but its ridiculous the cost .. i only really wanted one cat .. the second cat was a sympathy cat ..but we love him now, but if they cost me this much .. i just can't afford them! the 30 quid is only food and litter .. the flea and wormers omg! something has to give i'm afraid!

 

[misterjinglejay]

Used to have 11 maine coons, but gradually over the years, they've dwindled down to 4. I reckon I spend about 16 pounds every 10 days or so for James Wellbeloved. My dogs are on barf, and I did try the cats on it, but because they snack, rather than scoff in one go, it got a bit grim, and anyway, they weren't that keen - phew!

 

[gracey]

Used to have 11 maine coons, but gradually over the years, they've dwindled down to 4. I reckon I spend about 16 pounds every 10 days or so for James Wellbeloved. My dogs are on barf, and I did try the cats on it, but because they snack, rather than scoff in one go, it got a bit grim, and anyway, they weren't that keen - phew!

lol .. thats what i am scared of!! lol

 

[Evie91]

Gracey - you could try looking for offers. Pets at home and countrywide often have the 48 pouch ( I think) packs on offer. We tend to buy in bulk then which helps to save.
Also if you shop late at night meat is often reduced - before I've bought two cooked chickens 99pence each, one for husband and one for dog and cats to share!
Probably useless advise - I spend a fortune on my animals and have spoilt them, so their expectations are high! Could probably afford another holiday each year if I could be more sensible!!

 

[gracey]

Gracey - you could try looking for offers. Pets at home and countrywide often have the 48 pouch ( I think) packs on offer. We tend to buy in bulk then which helps to save.
Also if you shop late at night meat is often reduced - before I've bought two cooked chickens 99pence each, one for husband and one for dog and cats to share!
Probably useless advise - I spend a fortune on my animals and have spoilt them, so their expectations are high! Could probably afford another holiday each year if I could be more sensible!!

holiday??? whats the holiday that you speak of mean???

believe me i do LOOK for offers!!! lol .. but more often than not its 13 quid for a 24 box ... so wet food is 26 ..a week .. if they where fat i would put them on a diet ..lol ..as it is my bengal robs everyone's food (and their bed!!!! ) and my black cat is starting to look like i starve him argh!

 

[Evie91]

Ha ha - holiday is something I had to agree to go on, even if I have loads of animals! Husband was worried I would turn in to crazy animal lady and refuse to leave them, so before I got our first pet had to agree we would still go on hols!!
Not a bad agreement now I come to think of it

Sorry - not sure what else to suggest cat wise!

 

[gracey]

Ha ha - holiday is something I had to agree to go on, even if I have loads of animals! Husband was worried I would turn in to crazy animal lady and refuse to leave them, so before I got our first pet had to agree we would still go on hols!!
Not a bad agreement now I come to think of it

Sorry - not sure what else to suggest cat wise!

LOL your husband is very wise!!! ... my dog is going to bootcamp while i am on holiday this year .. i get a holiday ..she gets manners .. i have to find a cat whisperer for my bengal!!!! lol .. the black cat can go and get spoiled at my parents (hand fed king prawns!!) lol xx

 

[Dogrose]

I have two spayed girls - a 3 year old oriental tabby and a 7 year old British Shorthair, the Ori girl has chronic pancreatitis and needs a prescription diet, if I give her anything else, even fresh chicken, she has a massive attack and gets very ill and costs me loads at the vet so that is literally all she can eat. Because it would be impractical to feed them different food they both get it. It costs me£45 every 6 weeks for a sack from the vet. Looking at what other people spend I shouldn't complain! Sometimes I get them the prescription pouches for a treat if it has been cold as the Ori girl burns all her flesh off to keep warm in the winter and can get underweight on just the dry food. The British girl maintains a healthy weight on the dry prescription food with no excess body fat.
I feed them free choice with a bowl of water next to it, they eat a scoop a day between them - I use an old cup from a large thermos as a scoop so it isn't a huge amount.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

My two tortie girls are 15 years this year with good appetites! I think I've spoilt them though as they like the more expensive pouches.

One eats most things the other is a lot more fussy. One is slim and one a bit chubby. They have half a pouch each morning and evening of Whiskas or Felix normally the more expensive ones, ad-lib munchies normally either Science Plan or IAMS. Also have Dreamies as a treat. They don't like Senior pouches or things like Science Plan pouches. They would not eat a whole tin of anything so I would have to chuck it away.

When on a tighter budget I used to use Easibed as cat litter as one will not go out the catflap. I now use catsan and find it quite economical. No idea how much it all costs though except probably too much.

 

[UnaB]

I have 4 and probably spend about £20 a week on food. I've never looked at it too closely but I find my two boys eat twice as much as the girls, especially the kitten, he is like a hoover when the food is out. I give mine a lot of raw food, but they also like a Felix pouches. They have Royal Canin dry food down during the day.