Tips on Saving on Cat Care

Cat Crazy Newsletter
By Petplace.com

Like our children, we give our cats our hearts, our time, and … our money. Lots of money (this year U.S. pet owners will spend $40 billion dollars on their pets).

However in today’s economic environment people are looking for ways to lower their expenses including in their cat related expenses. To help in this process we decided to out together a few simple suggestions on how to save money on cat care costs.

Here are 3 simple suggestions:

1. Your cat truly does not care about the brand or cuteness of his toys. Be creative. Cats love to play with rolled up pieces of paper, plastic rings off milk cartons, pens, etc. Before paying big bucks, evaluate why you are buying extras, such as fancy beds. Does your cat really care if the bed is cashmere?

2. The Red Cross offers pet first aid courses. Sign up for these classes, learn how to administer first aid to help your cat through times of minor injury, and save on vet bills. Take a grooming class, or read a how-to book about grooming to save costs on maintaining your long haired cats (and prevent hairballs).

3. Shop for cat supplies through wholesale catalogues, such as PetEdge. This will save you the middle-man mark up of pet stores. Your veterinarian and other pet businesses may have specials during pet awareness periods. February is National Pet Dental Month, the second week of May is National Pet Week, and October is National Pet Wellness Month.

There are also some areas where you should not go “cheap” (because it will cost you more in the long run).

Do NOT go “cheap” on health care. Proper, quality health care is essential to the well-being of your cat. Find a reputable veterinarian, take his or her advice, and practice preventative care, and you will safely save money in the long term on cat health care. For example, it is much less expensive to prevent fleas than to treat a flea infestation.

Consider pet insurance. For a small, worthwhile, monthly fee, health insurance for your cat can cover the cost of preventative medicine and the treatment of illness and injury. Pet insurance can be a great way to protect yourself against large unexpected medical expenses.

To learn how pet insurance can save you money and give you financial peace of mind go to veterinarypetinsurance.com.

Food is another category where it does not pay to go “cheap”. Generic or low-quality foods often do not provide the nutrients your pet needs, which may lead to future expensive health problems. Your cat can eat a smaller amount of a high quality food than a lower quality food, again reducing cost.

Finally, if you are looking to get a new cat, first consider adopting one from the shelter. Rescued cats are significantly less expensive than a cat from a breeder. Shelter animals are typically spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and licensed before adoption, reducing some initial pet costs.

I hope these ideas are helpful. If you have uncovered others ways to save money on cat related expenses please send them to me so I can share them with all the Petplace subscribers. You can e-mail me at editors@petplace.com.

Until next time…

Dr. Jon

P.S. – If you do not have pet insurance, you should be saving money for your cat on a regular basis so you can be prepared for a major pet expense, such as a life-threatening emergency. When it comes to a situation like this, you will be thankful that you set money aside so that you could afford to have your cat around for many years.

If you are not good at saving every month (most of us are not), then consider pet insurance. They have a number of different plans to fit different budgets.

To get a quote and see if there is plan that is right for you Go to: petinsurance.com.