birth control pills for female cats? i've never heard of such a thing. you'd just get it spayed. get a few quotes from local vet offices and go with the cheapest one.

and you don't have to buy it the most expensive food out there. my childhood cat lived a healthy disease free life of 16 years and we only bought purina or friskies or whatever the grocery stores carry.

it's really more of a mental commitment than a costly one. i would never in a million years waste my money on insurance for pets. the few times they have to go the vet for shots and checkups would be far less than paying a monthly premium each month of their life. the mental commitment comes in changing their litter daily (i mean raking it daily to scoop the poops, you only need to change it once a week or so depending on what kind of litter you use), giving them attention when they want it, cleaning up after them if they have a hairball puke, cleaning up their shedding fur off the furniture, etc. most cats are fine just hanging out at home all day. they're not like dogs, who tend to freak out if no one's home. get it some little toys and catnip and a scratching post to play with when you're not there.

cats are nice companions though, i wouldn't trade my big fluffy cat for the world. she's fun to be around.

I've never heard of that birth control crap either. Who the hell does that?

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So I'm watching as his wings spread as wide as could be
Come on now and wrap them around me

Well mines an indoor cat. I spend roughly 40€ a month on food and litter. I bought her abig 3 tier scratching post just to have something to play with while Im not at home or asleep. Rescued her from a shelter as a kitten and fell in love automatically. Cats generally look after themselves unlike dogs who need constabt love and affection. My kittys at a stage where she hates being pet but loves being played with rough. Maybe thats just because she was brought up more like a dog than a cat. Oh and if she's indoors while youre away prepare to have a bottle of disinfection nearby for your worktops.

adopting two cats is better, they can keep each other company.

cats do need lots of attention and affection. if you don't have the time, don't do it. wait until you can. they can not take care of themselves.

mine needs to be brushed, her ears cleaned, her butt cleaned, ect. - every day.
and i play with her every day, so she gets exersize.

vet bills, in my experiance, are usually high & medicines for cats are more expensive than meds for humans.

about insurance - they consider a cat elderly at age 9, and charge a lot more, going up each year. i'm talking about VPI insurance, which doesn't pay for pre-existing illnesses or office visits.

i buy the most expensive food, California Natural. and it only costs $5 a month.

Insurance is good in the sence that if something unforseen should happen, f.i. your cat gets sick or in an accident where you have to come up with a lot of money at once. But of course if you're good at having money saved up or somehow easily accessable perhaps there's no need for it. There are all kinds of veterinary costs and it doesn't hurt to be prepared for them, whether that's through having the cat insured or keeping money saved for the occasion.

Birth control pills for cats are unfortunately very commonly used here. I'm guessing it's partly cause we're a bit outdated on the whole neuter thing. That and the cost of neutering "when it's only a cat" and "not natural".