When I started living alone again, I kept track of all my expenses in every area out of curiosity to see how much everything cost. I remember always having cats growing up and so I brought in a cat for a small period of time because my mother was going to go on vacation. After her vacation was over, the cat remained here for six months before returning the cat to her.

The truth of the matter is that taking care of pets has become expensive, contrary to what the MSPCA, where adopting a cat is harder than adopting a baby. MSPCA is "Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals." This organization is all about animal rights and to my experience with all my pets are a very intrusive organization and misleading organization.

They argued that one should adopt a cat and that it would only cost a household roughly $200 a year.

Below are the real costs associated for actually having a cat:

Avg. Monthly Consumption of Dry Cat Food (18lbs) - $24
Avg. Monthly Consumption of Wet Cat Food (60 cans) - $30
Avg. Monthly Cost of Cat Litter - $11

Deodorizer and Disinfectant cleaning agents (per three months) - $16

Areas of cost I did not factor, but exist:

The Cost of water fed daily to a cat
Animal Health insurance (some states one has to have it to claim ownership)
Catnip and Cat Structures
Protection for Furniture
Damages to Property and Furniture
Labor (Picking up after the cat)
Patching one-self up (In case the cat does bite or scratch you)

Changing my own schedule in order to make it home every 12 hours in order to actually feed the cat.

After six months I said "I love cats, but I don't want them anymore....because taking care of them actually costs more money than it does taking care of another adult human being... and I also hate the propaganda caused by the Animal Shelter and the MSPCA along with the discrimination.....

If an individual receives food stamps, the shelter will ration and give out cat food and supplies to the family for free. However, if the individual does not get any governmental benefit, they have to actually pay full price for the food which is more expensive than buying the food at the store, but they have everything there...

One thing I tried, which lowered my costs was that I ordered a lot of things online and paid a bulk-rate shipping and I also joined different wholesale clubs that are kinder towards the prices of Pet Food.

However, the lowest I ever spent on taking care of a cat per month after all the math was taken care of was $42.51 per month, not counting everything else I had to penny-pinch for. Interesting enough is that I noticed that for myself as one person I spend $20 -$30 a week on food. I was spending at least $10 a week on Cat Food at the marketplace simply because the food pets eat are specific. If it was another person, I could just make a bigger portion of food to be divided among two people and it becomes simpler and less expensive.

However, there are a lot of foods that are for 2+ people like those blasted PIZZA boxes that one can get for $4 - $8, which I remember I stopped buying those because I was just a single person....

The very best way I lowered my own food costs to $20 - 25 a week is simply that I know how to cook and do prep work and I actually prepare a lot of things to be used for the week on Sunday. From Sauces, to Broths, to bread-dough, to Sofrito, and even slicing up vegetables that I put in vinegar and oil to use for recipes. I knew where to shop and found that last month I spent $70 on food for myself and was pretty happy about it due to improving efficiency. (The average household wastes a third of their money spent on food. A lot of food is thrown away and not used)

I do like animals, but the Nazi-Like MSPCA is very demanding and the food costs associated with pets are always on the rise. Once I returned the cat to my mother, life became far easier and believe it or not, I don't miss the cat that much anymore because it means that I actually don't have to chase after it.....

I wonder...
How much does it cost for anyone reading this to take care of your pets? Is it as expensive as what I am paying? I know a person who spends nearly $100 a month on their dog. I don't know if that is cheap or expensive, but then again it does vary on breed.