Cost of owning a cat
Add up what a cat costs in its first year, each year after and over its life, from ranges you can edit.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent to this site. Results are planning figures, not veterinary advice. For a medical decision, ask your vet.
What it is
A calculator for the cost of keeping a cat. It starts from low, typical and high planning figures for food, litter, vet care, prevention, insurance, gear, boarding and an emergency fund, plus the one-time costs of the first year. Change any figure to match your own prices.
How to use it
- Choose a starting level, low, typical or high, then edit any line to match what you pay or expect to pay.
- Set how many years you want to plan for. Cats often live fifteen years or more.
- Read the totals: year one, each year after, per month and over the whole period.
How it works
The figures are rough planning ranges in US dollars, built to show which lines are large. Food, vet care and an emergency fund are usually the biggest, and the low and high columns differ most for insurance, boarding and unexpected illness. The calculator multiplies the yearly lines by the years you choose and adds the one-time costs once.
What it cannot do
Prices differ a great deal by place and by cat. A cat that needs a prescription diet or long treatment costs much more than the typical column, and a purebred kitten from a breeder can cost more than the high column of the purchase line. The totals use today's prices and leave out inflation.
An emergency can cost thousands, so many owners keep a savings cushion or buy pet insurance. Read a policy's exclusions, waiting periods and limits before you decide.
Last reviewed November 7, 2026