Cat Health Insurance - Taking A Nip Out Of The Cost Of Keeping A Cat

When you adopt or purchase a pet cat, the last thing you think about is the impending financial burden this little darling adds to your family expenses. You may not have heard of cat health insurance, but it does exist and it helps you keep your kitty in the best of health without placing you in deep debt with vet bills. Whether its for emergency care, unexpected illnesses or routine care, you need to put a plan in place for cat health care.

By the time you finish this article, you will be able to put some real dollar numbers to the cost of keeping a cat. Being a responsible caretaker of a cat - or any creature - carries with it certain commitments to physical care. If your current circumstances don't allow for pet care it is better that you don't take in a cat.

The cost of keeping a cat doesn't end at the cat food bowl. But it usually starts there. Here's a list of the costs associated with typical care. These costs do not include care for emergency situations and illnesses. That's where cat health insurance really can pay off.

Typical Cost of Keeping A Cat For One Year

1. Food: This number is based on commercial dry and wet cat food products. $400

If you use raw meat instead of dry or wet commercial products, your cat will benefit, but you will have more work to do to prepare and store her meals;

2. Kitty litter $60;

3. Bedding, scratch post, travel carrier $220;

4. Spay or Neutering $50 (when adopted at a local shelter) or $125 outside of a shelter service veterinarian;

5. Basic Core Vaccinations $75 - $125;

6. An annual veterinary examination with re-vaccination $75 - $125.

In short, you can expect a first year cost of keeping a cat to be about just shy of $1,000 for the first year. Thereafter $475 - $525 per year and this doesn't included any goodies like toys, treats, and flea care.

You can see the cost of keeping a cat isn't small change. So what happens if Ms Kitty swallows a yard of string or rubber bands or Christmas tree tinsel? Now her intestines are all bound up and you have an emergency veterinary bill to face.

Now you have a big choice to make. You can take on the big expense of this surgery to save her life or end her suffering and humanely euthanize her.

When you have cat health insurance you don't have to think twice about treating your cat's illnesses or accidental injuries. You can choose to treat your cat without taking on huge debt to pay the vet. Standard cat health care plans reimburse from 70% to even 100% of vet bills after you pay the deductible, typically $100.

When emergencies and unexpected illnesses hit your pet cat, you can bank on cat health insurance to help you pay the vet bills. A typical kitten insurance plan is around $12 / month. Even senior cats can enroll in cat health insurance programs for about $26 / month.

The choice is yours. Our life choices are often made in times when love and charity tugs at our hearts. When it comes to our pets this is a choice for a lifetime.

Your next move? Take a few minutes to compare the best cat health insurance deals available for your cat. Its one of the cheapest cat care choices you can make.