The Cost Of Cats

Originally posted on my private blog- posted to http://indikon-tonkinese.blogspot.com/ on 06/01/11

'Yeah, yeah. You know we're worth it.'

There's no money in cat breeding. If you are reading this, thinking of becoming a breeder and expecting to rake in the cash, think again. There's a reason why the taxman counts dog breeding as a business and cat breeding as a hobby! Yes, it's true a pedigree kitten will set you back £350 or more, but rarely will the breeder be making a profit.

Now most breeders households will consist of a mix of breeding queens and retired or neutered cats, so although I only have one breeding Tonk in a community of four felines, I reckon my household is normal enough. So, just to give you a taster of my cat bills this month...

First there's the ever present food and litter bill. I've just recieved an order from Zooplus, price £150. My cats eat a very good quality food, Royal Canin, which is of course expensive. Plus another £20 at Pets At Home for wet food. And a £50 order at Vetmeds for Feliway, plus a few other things I needed.

Vet bills. I could argue they've been higher than normal this month, about £300, but even in a good month there's regular checkups, vaccinations and so on- I spend quite a bit on veterinary care. I have pet insurance of course (another £50 a month) but I have to pay an excess on any claim, which I haven't quite exceeded yet.

Indigo has been to stud- that was another £200, and the four hour round trip, twice, to take her and collect her was also expensive...

So that's £800ish spent on the cats this month alone- and that's not unusual. I haven't even counted the £75 prefix application and the £50 ten year membership of The Tonkinese Cat Club as they are one off costs... I've only counted the normal monthly outgoings of a houseful of cats. The next few months, if Indigo is pregnant,  I will probably spend even more, what with buying in kittening supplies, extra food, vet bills, buying a pen, heating the house (kittens need a constant 22 degrees C) washing bills, plus every kitten will need costly vaccinations and pedigree papers...

All this for one litter of kittens per year. The average litter size is 3-4 kittens. Well, you can do the maths for yourself. Even if all my cats were breeding age females I wouldn't cover my costs.

So no, there is absolutely no money to be found in cat breeding. We do it for other reasons, but never for money.