Girlfriend and I are planning on adopting a cat. I want to set aside an ample amount of money before we do. Can anyone give some insight as to how much we should look to save?

When I adopted my cat last year, the adoption fee was $175. An initial checkup (without vaccinations) as a new patient for our vet is $95, so if the cat has already been vaccinated by the shelter, you may pay around $100 for a checkup depending on your location. If the cat needs vaccinations, which tends to be uncommon if coming from a rescue or shelter, ours cost something like $40 for rabies and FVRCP (for one year - some vets do the 3 year shots).

Food, toys, bowls, scratching material will all vary. You can get some stainless steel bowls for like $10. I would recommend stainless steel or ceramic over plastic, which is porous and known to harbour bacteria that tends to cause feline acne. I use little ceramic serving platters for wet food. If you feed a wet food diet, regardless of sex, cats are far less likely to have urinary tract issues. If you want to get a few toys to start, some catnip toys or chase toys you could probably get $10-$20 worth. Those tracks with balls in them are popular around here, and depending on the size of the track, it could be $15-$30.

I was able to get a decent cat tower with platforms, posts, and a little hammock for $130 and it's about 6 feet tall. Food can vary a lot. If you need to budget but want to feed a wet diet, the cheaper foods can be $0.48 per 5.5oz can. If your cat fits the general feeding guidelines, you could go through a can a day. If your cat likes a certain kind of food that you feel comfortable enough to buy in bulk, try stores like CostCo - you can get 48 cans of Friskies for $25. Petsmart has a decent low-grain/grain-free canned food called Grreat Choice. Both Friskies and Grreat Choice tend to be around $1 per 13oz can. Not top quality, but low carb and affordable. If you want to go premium, a food like Wellness costs me $5 per 13oz can. Dry food is much cheaper, which is why more people tend to feed it, plus it doesn't spoil as quickly. I buy a brand called Petcurean Go! at $30 per 4lb bag, or Petsmart's Simply Nourish Source for $33 per 12lb bag.

An emergency is really hard to gauge. You can put $1,000 into savings or to have on hand to pay off a credit card bill in case of emergency vet care, but if something goes catastrophically wrong, an emergency may easily exceed that... some humane societies will offer insurance if the cat needs any care for the first X number of weeks, so take those weeks as a security net to bulk up the savings as much as possible and then continue to gradually add to it.

/r/Pets Thread