# Having 2 kittens finance question



## Cnamommy (Jun 4, 2011)

I have a 6 week old female kitten and I will also get another 6/7 week kitten on the 19th and I am just wondering about day to day cost. My kitten now eats about a cup of dry cat food every 3/4 days. I change her litter 2x a week well I will since I have only had her 3 days. And my vet does a payment plan for more of the expensive things. Shots and check ups are decent amounts not to crazy. So my question is do you see a difference in prices with 2 cats? What things will I need to by 2 of? 

** these kittens will be fixed when they get older but my town has a special program that helps.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

There are huge differences in owners and cats so there is no real hard core answer to your question.

I can give you some ideas but that is the best I can do. Look at your bag of dry cat food. On there are feeding guidelines for weight and age. You can use those as a best guess. I would suggest at least using the dry in combination with canned food. The reason is cats don't have a high thirst drive and their body is used to getting most (not all) of its water from food. There are however cats that do decent on dry alone. 

As to litter, that depends on the type of food you feed (better foods mean less waste) and also how good you are at cleaning the litter box. When I had one cat I would scoop out the "goodies" once or twice a day and add fresh litter as needed. Doing it this way cut down on smell and also makes the litter last longer. Now that I own 3 cats, my daughter is on "litterbox patrol" 3 times a day. Kittens can get sick very easily in dirty conditions (adult cats too but especially kittens) so we are super careful about keeping a clean litter box. Keeping as clean enviroment as possible also reduces the cost of the vet bills. Respiratory infections in kittens are common and keeping their environment super clean will help prevent them or prevent them from spreading. Having a super clean litter box can prevent many reasons kittens end up at the vet.

As to medical, beyond the typical shots and check ups this also varies! In a healthy cat with no issues ... all you should have is the yearly vet visit and if you ask your vet he most likely has a set price for yearly check ups. As your kitten ages to a more mature cat, it might need dental care (no I am not kidding here) from the vet. They might have to do a minor surgery and extraction on a tooth or two as it ages. A bad tooth can lead to heart disease and death so this is important to do. Some people prevent this from brushing the teeth of their dog or cat while others pay the vet bill when a tooth goes bad. 

Times all those by 20 years and you have a general idea of what the minimum cost of a cat is. This doesn't include toys to keep them active or bed or scratching post ... all of which are important.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Something else you can do to keep cost down is make your own cat toys. There are 100s of sites dedicated to making safe kitten toys with items that can be found around the home. My daughter got a huge kick out of doing this while waiting for her kittens! She even made a blanket and a sleeping sack and a pillow out of fleece material. She used a needle and thread and did them by hand in a space of an hour or two. They also came out really cute!!


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## Cnamommy (Jun 4, 2011)

Thank you for all those that answered  also I am sorry for horrible spelling I'm not used to my iPhone


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## Morquinn (May 2, 2011)

Or you could just accidentally drop a twist tie on the floor, or a pony tail scrunchie, those are hours of fun for my cats lol


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Lacey loves pipe cleaners you buy from the hobby store for like 50 for $1
Egypt loves foil balls...mylar is ok, but REAL foil is king
Azalia loves the little plastic stoppers from the milk carton


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Morquinn said:


> Or you could just accidentally drop a twist tie on the floor, or a pony tail scrunchie, those are hours of fun for my cats lol


Oh I can pipe up here ~ I was just reading my daughter's cat book and scrunchies and elastic ties are big NO NO's for cats. I didn't know this either as we were tossing scrunchies at the kittens and they were having fun with them.

It seems the elastic in them and basic hair elastic ties have choked several kittens. Just wanted to throw that one out there ~ I am still going to toss my scrunchies as its fun but my daughter and I did round our supplies up and put them in a plastic container with a lid and in a drawer out of reach of the kits. So mine will be closely supervised and if I see anything out of place it will end quickly.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Cnamommy said:


> I have a 6 week old female kitten and I will also get another 6/7 week kitten on the 19th and I am just wondering about day to day cost. My kitten now eats about a cup of dry cat food every 3/4 days. I change her litter 2x a week well I will since I have only had her 3 days. And my vet does a payment plan for more of the expensive things. Shots and check ups are decent amounts not to crazy. So my question is do you see a difference in prices with 2 cats? What things will I need to by 2 of?
> 
> ** these kittens will be fixed when they get older but my town has a special program that helps.


There's no real guidelines on how expensive a cat is going to be. Some cats truly require vet visits, operations, and expensive dental cleanings. Most cats, however, get a yearly vet visit and that's it, at least for the first several years of their life. To be honest, my 15 year old cat has only been to the vet to be neutered, he was a feral kitten, and healthy, and I honestly think the trip _to_ the vet would be more dangerous to him than anything the vet might've found. His level of freaking out is extreme, though. So, considering you take the kitties to the vet once a year, and a normal check-up is about 50 dollars as long as nothing's wrong, that's roughly 100 dollars a year. If there is something wrong though, things can get expensive very quickly, it is best to prepare for this in case you're faced with the option of a 1,000 dollar or more vet bill or having your kitty put to sleep.

For litter, my family buys cheap stuff. We don't really think it matters. Although I'm sure people swear by things like World's Best. We get ours at Costco; 50 pounds of litter for 10 dollars. My cat doesn't seem to have any ill effects using it. The general rule is to scoop at least twice a week, every day being best, and to change it at least once a month. There's also the general rule of having a litter box for each cat to prevent territorial disputes, but you may not need this considering they're both going to be kittens. I'd still say buy two litter boxes and have them in separate rooms just to be on the safe side.

For food, it's best to feed raw, and barring that, as many people don't want to do this/have no time for it, feeding wet is best. Higher quality wet food would run you 70 dollars a month, if not more, at least that's the case where I live. I'm also taking into consideration that you'd buy the bigger cans, as the smaller cans don't get you as far for the price. If you were to feed cheaper wet food, it would be more like 30 dollars a month, but the benefits of better food pays off. If you were to feed kibble, or free feed kibble on the side of the wet food (I do this) it would cost a bit less because kibble is cheaper and not as good.

Cat toys: Paper crumpled into a ball, a stick with a string on the end... they work wonders in place of the more expensive toys. But a pack of little mice toys doesn't cost too much, either. Scratching posts are important too unless you want your rugs/furniture destroyed... they can be pricey, but it's worth it. Or, you can make your own if you have the right skills and the right tools.


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## Viriam Karo (Jun 3, 2011)

Carmel said:


> For food, it's best to feed raw, and barring that, as many people don't want to do this/have no time for it, feeding wet is best. Higher quality wet food would run you 70 dollars a month, if not more, at least that's the case where I live. I'm also taking into consideration that you'd buy the bigger cans, as the smaller cans don't get you as far for the price. If you were to feed cheaper wet food, it would be more like 30 dollars a month, but the benefits of better food pays off. If you were to feed kibble, or free feed kibble on the side of the wet food (I do this) it would cost a bit less because kibble is cheaper and not as good.


I was actually wondering about this. As part of my rather obsessive research into cat food (and other things) for a possible new kitten, I went through petfooddirect and made a spreadsheet of foods and prices per oz, as per the different "packs" of food (12 x 13.2, 24 x 5.5, etc.). Turns out that the big cans of Innova win, which narrowly beats the cheapest dry food I had on the list (BG chicken, the biggest bag). So that's great! But like, the OP has 2 kittens, which I'm guessing would go through the bigger cans pretty fast, which would mean less waste. Would one kitten go through food fast enough to make the big cans worthwhile? 

If so, that would be so wonderful for my budget, lol, as long as kitty likes Innova XD


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

All great plans on factoring in cost of a pet! I did want to add a few things not on your list and you might not of thought of. Check your brand of choice's website. Many times they offer newsletters sent via email to you. These usually have monthly coupons and deals. My dog will go through a big bag of Wellness Core in about 2 weeks so I love coupons in my email!

Also, I shop around at different places and watch for sales. Exp would be Petco's pet food sale they had going (not sure if its still going on today) their website had a big sale on the brand of food I use and free shipping of that food. My local petco wasn't offering the same deal so I stocked up on the website deal. I have a small list of online pet stores I use regularly and one quick 5 minute check can save me a TON of money.

I don't pinch pennies when it comes to my pets but I do try and save where I can without sacrificing their health.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

I agree, food isn't the place to scrimp. I think the most expensive thing, other than larger vet bills, is litter. You said you're changing it completely a couple times a week? Or just scooping? If you meant changing it completely, you could probably reduce that down to once every two weeks or so. If you scoop religiously, I think litter is good for a couple weeks before it would be smart to change it completely.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

I agree with this. We only change our litter once a month. We take the litter box out and scrub it down really good. I am OCD about scooping the goodies out a few times a day. My cat's litter box is in our bathroom so whenever I am in there, I scoop. With the kittens, my daughter has been on litter patrol 3x a day. 

I like having the box in a high traffic area. Its easy to remember to scoop a few times a day when its staring you in the face lol

Of course there are several owners who train their cat to use the toilet lol
I have read and seen how to do this and its not an option for our family ~ all toilets are used regularly by humans in my house :wink if you have a spare bathroom that isn't used often this is a great option and a conversation piece for when company comes over lololol
People are fascinated by cats who do this


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Having two kittens is worth the extra money. :grin:


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## Viriam Karo (Jun 3, 2011)

Such great input, thanks! I am so very excited to prepare for my kitten now  I think we've decided that our best option right now is one kitten, for budget, basically, though personally I would love to bring two home.


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## Alpaca (Dec 21, 2009)

Also bear in mind that when you feed either raw or grain free high quality food:

1) You often end up feeding less with the high quality. they have to consume more of the low quality to get the same amount of nourishment they need
2) Altho you spend more upfront, you can lower future health risks which can rack up your vet bills. 

Generally, it always pays to buy in bulk whether it's food or litter. Just pay extra attention to the weekly specials, deals and coupons to save more cash.

A lot of the cat stuff can be homemade if you're really handy. There's some DIY projects for cat litterbox enclosures, scratching posts, cat trees, toys etc. 

And again, if you're going the raw route, you can feed home grade meat which can be bought in bulk and stored in the freezer, obtained for free from hunters etc.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Viriam Karo said:


> Such great input, thanks! I am so very excited to prepare for my kitten now  I think we've decided that our best option right now is one kitten, for budget, basically, though personally I would love to bring two home.


**Disclosure for what I am about to explain ~ I in no way am conning anyone into getting a pet they can't take care of or aren't happy about**

When working out the plan for my daughter to have A kitten, we had always factored in 1 kitten for her. We had everything set up and the kitten "reserved" for adoption. The more I read about bonded littermates the more I was open to it. My daughter's kitten 2 be had a sister and they were very close. The more I read, the more I liked the idea. I am going to list some of the budget reasons for you to think about. I am not trying to force another kitty on you BY NO MEANS... but since you stated you were doing so much research into your new kitten, I think you should consider it and look into the options.

1. 2 kittens do not mean 2 of everything. Most everything they share when it comes to bonded kittens. Its almost impossible to split them apart anyhow.

2. Two kittens are cheaper on toys and entertainment. Sparta's favorite toy is Mouse and Mouse's favorite toy is Sparta. This also helps my house!! They are so entertained with each other I don't have to worry about boredom destructive behaviors. Two cats are cheaper then 1 bored destructive cat!!

3. They are constantly grooming each other. This keeps cat hair down believe it or not!

4. Many weight issues and behavior problems stem from being lonely and bored. Having a litter mate helps with much of these problems. 

5. You save on electricity and cable bills!! Seriously ~ since having our kittens the TV has only been turned on once (with 3 kids during summer break at that!) 2 kittens playing are a riot to watch! Vast amounts of entertainment value for the humans in the house!

Just a few cost to consider when making your budget out. I know there are many more budget reasons but those are the ones most important to me. 

Like I said, don't do it if your not comfortable with it but the 2 kittens aren't any more work and it actually makes less work for you.


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## Viriam Karo (Jun 3, 2011)

Haha I'm actually the one that's for two kittens, my roommate is the one that's more wary about money. I don't think it would be too bad, really, because like you said, bulk is good and with two kittens bulk would not go to waste! 

And actually my main concern with one kitty is that it would get bored and sad/lonely, or that we wouldn't be able to play with it as much as it might want. It would be good if two kittens would be more entertaining to each other than the curtains would be to one XD Maybe two kitten-best-friends together will pull on my roommate's heartstrings when we go to adopt.


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## praline (Jun 3, 2011)

Sounds good. Just keep those things in mind. From what I read the easiest is to adopt 2 litter-mates. So point your flatmate in the direction of the adorable siblings lol We have had our sisters for a few days now and they are so adorable curled up in a ball together. We haven't had any issue with separation anxiety or one kitten scared and crying all night. 

Something else to think on, with 2 kittens they teach each other what is "too rough". I like this! I know many owners are careful about teaching their pet not to get too rough. At the same time they have a playmate that can get extremely rough with them at their level. Cats need to hunt, stalk and rough house. It is so much nicer when they have a sister/brother they can do this. 

Lastly, I didn't really think the 2 kittens would be more fun but they really are. My entire family is getting such a huge kick out of them entertaining us. They are either doing the adorable snuggle thing or running 100mph and smacking into each other :love2


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## lyttleravyn (May 5, 2010)

dweamgoil said:


> Lacey loves pipe cleaners you buy from the hobby store for like 50 for $1
> Egypt loves foil balls...mylar is ok, but REAL foil is king
> Azalia loves the little plastic stoppers from the milk carton


Haha its always the simplest things that keep them entertained for hours, while the special cat fancy shmancy toys I buy them go ignored! My cat Parker loves playing with pens and cotton balls. I keep any eye on him when he gets them, but he just goes bonkers when I put one on the floor by him!


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