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Location: In an English country cowpat
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,810
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You may well find the day-to-day "running costs" of a cat are more than a dog - I could feed a 25kg more cheaply than a 3kg cat. Quality cat food is very expensive compared to dog food - even less than quality cat food (Whiskas etc) is expensive. I could feed Merlin for under £3 a week but Cuba cost at least £5 a week.
I did manage to get my cat partially on raw food but it is notoriously difficult to get any form of bone into them. Then - cats being cats - she decided that she wouldn't eat raw any longer, so we were back to commercial food.
You will also need to spend more on flea control if your cat is free-roaming as they have a habit of bringing them in frequently, much more so than dogs, and of course passing them on. This means your worming for both cat & dogs must also be more regular and all done at the same time.
I have had indoor-only cats in the past (for about 20 years) but with my last cat I decided I wanted her to be free-roaming. There is no denying that she had a full and interesting life, and would often come on walks with me & Merlin. I trained her to be indoors every night, as statistically that's when most car accidents happen. She was also pure white (not deaf!) which I felt would help visibility for motorists.
But it was during the afternoon, on a quiet side street just 10 days ago that I lost her at 3 years old. She had spent most of her life in a busy city, but it was in a small town that she was hit by a car and knocked unconscious.
Because she wore a collar (at all times) with my mobile number on, someone at the scene called me and I was able to meet them at the vets, where they told me she was unlikely to ever regain consciousness so I decided to let her spirit run free, while stroking her.
I still keep expecting her to come in for her afternoon tea, or to be there every morning, or see her out on walks. But I will not have another cat unless I live somewhere I can build a run. I always lived with the knowledge that she might be run over at any time, I took that risk, but it's a terrible shock if it ever does happen.