How much do you spend monthy on your cat for litter and food?

[datranch37]

I live in Lebanon, and owning pets over here is basically considered a luxury. Everything is so overpriced, it’s insane.
I use Tidy Cats as litter (6 Kg lasts about 1.5 months), which costs about 13$.
I use Royal Canin dry kitten food (lasts 28 days) and that’s a whopping 50$ over here.
I also administer Revolution (anti fleas, ear mites, etc...) on a monthly basis, that’s about 16.5$ per month (a pack of 3 is 50$).
I give him a deworming pill every 3 months which costs about 5$.
I don’t remember how much his vaccines cost (1 every 6 months and 1 yearly).
There are also other costs (poop bags, tear stain remover, catnip, vitamin paste, ear care liquid, etc...) which last a long time so the cost is negligible.
I’d say all in all, it costs me about 100$ monthly for 1 kitten. If I were giving him wet food instead, it would easily be triple (or more!).
The average salary for an engineer with 3-5 years of experience is 2,000$ monthly, so you can see how that is a problem for most families.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Im just trying to figure it all myself since I'm a first time car owner. I know I spent a lot the first 2 months so far as I'm figuring things out with Delilah. I think I spent too much on litter because I thought the whole thing had to be dumped once a week.

With food I have a bunch of cans she's not eating that I overspent on, 3 half bags that she can't eat due to possible allergies, and a 7 pound bag of prescription kibble that will take one kitty forever to eat.

 

[sweetblackpaws]

When you say dumping weekly, you mean you were dumping clumping litter weekly? Yeah, that would add up for sure. I think monthly is sufficient for clumping (others may not agree), but non-clumping requires no less than weekly dumping.

There is no doubt care is costly. There is no way around that. But you will learn what works best and consequently you won't be spending as much once you are no longer experimenting.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

$100 for cat food only but that's for a feral cat colony of 9 cats and the few raccoons, possums and red foxes that also stop by.

 

[tuffsmom]

About $30 for food (one and a half cans of Fancy Feast per day) and 2 -3 boxes (14 lb each) of Fresh Step litter at $10 per box. So approximate total $55.

 

[ladytimedramon]

When you say dumping weekly, you mean you were dumping clumping litter weekly? Yeah, that would add up for sure. I think monthly is sufficient for clumping (others may not agree), but non-clumping requires no less than weekly dumping.

There is no doubt care is costly. There is no way around that. But you will learn what works best ppland consequently you won't be spending as much once you are no longer experimenting.

Well as a new cat owner litter was a different animal. Previously I occasionally walked my sister's dog and that was it.

Right now I'm switching from fresh step to dr elsey. With Delilah's itching I was concerned something in the fresh step was contributing to it

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Pine pellets, $6 for a 40lb bag. That lasts my three cats 2-3 months. I have a sifting litterbox for them on ~2 inch PVS pipe sections to catch the sawdust.

The ctas gets fed 3 times a day. I give them Friskies wet, Fancy Feast, the chicken and turkey Purine ProPlan, and will occasionally rotate in some Tiny Tiger (I like the bigger cans because I have three cats to feed). They get a meal of hard food in the afternoon. I'm going to try the American Journey Chicken and Turkey next go around.

I think my every 4 week Chewy autoship is $77.

 

[lemcat]

I found the product in the video: Tractor Supply Pine Pellet Stall Bedding, 40 lb. at Tractor Supply Co.
But I saw that the youtuber is now using the more expensive Feline Pine Litter for some reason: Does anyone know why they changed to more expensive option?

 

[basscat]

It's not so much the money. It's the preparation....ugh (He eats and I drink)

 

[allypuk]

I just use a regular litterbox. Toyed with the idea of a sifting type (was going to make one with a cheap litter pan) but a friend who has used the pellets for years told me she just covers the bottom with the pellets and dumps often, replacing with fresh pellets. I am trying that method first.

I got around it slightly, as I use pine litter as well, bought 3 normal litter boxes and then just the one sifting box. I don't use the sifting litter box as a litter box tho, I only use it to sift the litter from the other boxes. I do this every evening before bed and can fit all the sawdust from the 3 boxes into the one box which then goes into our garden waste bin outside. I found that the sifting boxes have to be designed for woodnpellets or else the holes are too big and they are expensive so buying just the one was cheaper.

 

[BlackCatOp]

I joke that my 3 cats eat better than I do but it’s probably true....

Wet food: $145 (1/4 of 5.5oz can 3x per day)
Litter: $45 (3 large storage bin boxes that hold 60lbs of litter each. Daily scooping, yearly dumping. I use boxiecat litter)

 

[sweetpea24]

Pine pellets, $6 for a 40lb bag. That lasts my three cats 2-3 months. I have a sifting litterbox for them on ~2 inch PVS pipe sections to catch the sawdust.

The ctas gets fed 3 times a day. I give them Friskies wet, Fancy Feast, the chicken and turkey Purine ProPlan, and will occasionally rotate in some Tiny Tiger (I like the bigger cans because I have three cats to feed). They get a meal of hard food in the afternoon. I'm going to try the American Journey Chicken and Turkey next go around.

I think my every 4 week Chewy autoship is $77.

Do you have a photo of your litter box?

 

[sweetpea24]

$18 CDN for litter - I use Odour Buster. I feed Royal Canin Satiety canned - A case costs $26 CDN, but it lasts two months. I mix the Satiety dry with Hill's t/d- $44 for both. I get a discount so that helps. My cat isn't overweight but he would eat everything if I allowed him.

 

[lemcat]

Pine pellets, $6 for a 40lb bag. That lasts my three cats 2-3 months. I have a sifting litterbox for them on ~2 inch PVS pipe sections to catch the sawdust.

The ctas gets fed 3 times a day. I give them Friskies wet, Fancy Feast, the chicken and turkey Purine ProPlan, and will occasionally rotate in some Tiny Tiger (I like the bigger cans because I have three cats to feed). They get a meal of hard food in the afternoon. I'm going to try the American Journey Chicken and Turkey next go around.

I think my every 4 week Chewy autoship is $77.

Could you link to the sifting litterbox and take a picture of the pipe sections?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

L lemcat
sweetpea24

This is the litterbox I used. I also attached pictures of how I glued the PVC pipe pieces to the bottom to create room for the sawdust to accumulate.

 

[rrrager]

I more or less have to buy the lightweight Tidy Cats tubs or containers, since carrying a regular weight container up just one flight of stairs to my apartment will strain the pain in my arms until the next day. I usually top off each litter box at the end of the week, with four boxes total. About 2 or 3 tubs/buckets would last me for a month with conservative scooping.

As for food, woof. Chansey eats a 10lb bag Blue Buffalo a month with the occasional Purina Pro wet food in the 5.5oz sizes, split up into 4 so she gets special meals once a day.

Korra and Mara go through 11.5 of the 3oz cans of Purina Kitten food a week, with a topping of Purina Pro dry kitten food. Their first bag lasted them about a month and a half.

~3 tubs of Tidy Cats lightweight, 17lb tubs: $60
10lb bag of Blue Buffalo: $25
8 cans of 5.5oz Purina Pro food: $12
~46 cans of Purina Pro wet kitten food: $55
7lb bag of Purina Pro kitten kibble: $25

Approx. $177 a month. I work retail how am i affording all of this..........

 

[lemcat]

L lemcat
sweetpea24

This is the litterbox I used. I also attached pictures of how I glued the PVC pipe pieces to the bottom to create room for the sawdust to accumulate.

Is that so the sawdust is not messy all over, and is easy to throw away?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Is that so the sawdust is not messy all over, and is easy to throw away?

So what I do is line the bottom of the dark gray box with puppy pads and replace those every few days. It also helps with the urine that misses any pellets.

 

[lemcat]

Could you make a guide on how to make those pieces and attach them?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Could you make a guide on how to make those pieces and attach them?

The puppy pads come pre-cut. You can find them online or in pet stores. I put them on the bottom of the dark gray tray and put the white sifter part with the glued PVC pipes on top. When the cats pee, the pine pellets turn into sawdust and collect on the pads.