What does a cat cost?
Answer four questions and see what your cat costs per month and per year — with an honest range and a breakdown per item.
roughly
€65 / month
realistically between €42 and €88
€780 per year
Where does that money go?
- Food€20–33 / month
The biggest monthly item, and the one where your quality choice matters most.
- Litter€10–30 / month
Clumping litter costs more per bag but lasts longer than cheap sand.
- Vet (preventive)€8–15 / month
Annual check-up, vaccination and worming, spread across the months.
- Toys, scratching post, replacements€4–10 / month
A scratching post lasts years; toys and beds get replaced more often.
One-off, at the start
€180–600
Adoption fee, litter tray, scratching post, carrier, bed and a first vet visit. Microchipping and neutering are included if the shelter has not done them yet.
Honest sums for a cat
Most overviews quote a single figure, and that is exactly the problem: what a cat costs depends on what you feed, whether it goes outdoors, how old it is and whether you take out insurance. This calculator works with ranges rather than one number, because false precision does not help with the question you actually have: can I carry this, every month, for years?
The amounts reflect the Dutch market, where Kattenkamer is based. Prices elsewhere will differ, but the proportions between the items travel well.
Frequently asked questions about cat costs
What does a cat cost per month?
Budget for roughly €40 to €80 per month for an adult cat: food is the largest item, followed by litter and preventive vet care. Adding cat insurance puts another €10 to €25 per month on top. The Dutch national budget institute Nibud works with a more conservative figure of about €23 per month, which mainly covers food and litter.
What does a cat cost per year?
Across a year, one cat lands roughly between €750 and €1300. The first year costs more because of the vaccination series, microchipping and neutering, and costs rise again from around eleven years, when a senior cat is checked twice a year.
Is a second cat twice as expensive?
No. Food and vet costs scale almost directly, but you share the equipment and larger packs are cheaper per kilo, so the calculator applies an economy of scale to each additional cat. You do need one more litter tray than you have cats — the rule of thumb from our litter box advice.
Where can you sensibly save?
On litter and on impulse buys like toys — not on food and not on the annual check-up. Cheap food often comes back as vet bills, and catching kidney or dental problems early saves an expensive treatment later. To see how much your cat actually needs, use the feeding planner.
How these amounts are put together
The amounts were compiled by the Kattenkamer editorial team from Dutch market figures as of August 2026: the Nibud guideline for pet costs, cost overviews from veterinary chains and knowledge bases, and the premiums cat insurers publish. We deliberately show ranges rather than exact amounts. Prices vary by region, by vet and by brand, and they change — so treat this as a well-founded estimate rather than a quote. Does something not match your experience? Email info@kattenkamer.nl. You can read more about who we are on the about page.
Please note: this is a budget indication and does not replace veterinary advice. Unexpected medical bills are the biggest financial surprise of cat ownership, and this calculator is no guarantee against them.
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