The cost of maintaining and looking after pets is something many people tend
to forget when they look at the "cute" animals in pet-shop windows.
The initial cost of just getting the animal home can often be high, and if a
young animal is bought, it is essential for it to be taken to the vet and given
inoculations.
Such a programme is essential for kittens to protect them against cat flu,
feline enteritis and feline leukaemia.
The injections are administered at nine and 12 weeks at a cost of roughly
£45 in total. Cats are also required to get their jags boosted each year.
Owners should take the wise decision of neutering their pets, which is
another costly procedure.
Male cats can be castrated for £30 and a female spayed for £40.
Another preventative medicine measure which vets advise is to regularly worm
your pets. Cats may need to be wormed and the cost is roughly £1.70 per dose.
Another factor of pet ownership which people tend to forget is that pets
require care and attention 365 days a year and so alternative
arrangements have to be made when owners go on holiday.
Kennels and catteries often become booked up very quickly and can also prove
to be quite costly. On average, you could expect to pay about £4.50 for
a cat.
Most kennels will require that your cat is inoculated before they will allow
it in.
All these costs, not forgetting the price of food, collars and bedding make
it quite easy to see why people fail to realise that owning a pet is such an
expensive business.
Taken from an article that appeared in the Press & Journal on 19th
October 1998.
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