Part of what makes cats such appealing pets is the fact that they are low-maintenance, rarely requiring much of you the way so many other pets can. After all, if you have a litter box, you do not have to let your cat in and out for the bathroom all the time, and you certainly do not have to take them on walks! But as is the case with any pet, you will sometimes have funny things happen with your cat – funny things, that is, that cost you lots of money! A lot of times, the reason they cost money is because their owners did not wisely spend money on the right things for the cat! This is a list of three different things that will cost you a bit of money now, but that will save you money down the road.

At the top of this list is declawing; of course, an indoor/outdoor cat should be allowed to keep its claws. But if you have a kitten that you plan to keep indoors, and the kitten will not leave the furniture alone, you can save money by having your cat declawed! After all, you would be better off paying for your cat to be declawed now than have to pay for a few new couches later on!

People also tend to try and save money on the food they buy for their cat, thinking that those big, inexpensive bags look so appealing! But these bags that seem to save you money actually end up making your cat more susceptible to disease and sickness, as these budget bags are not as fortified as the more expensive options. And in the end, a couple extra visits to the vet cost a lot more than a couple extra dollars on cat food!

If you are lucky, you do not have this final problem, but many people have a problem when they do not buy good cat litter. There are many cats who will decide to use the carpet instead of the litter box if they do not like the litter, which will leave you having to replace your carpets!

Cats can be fun, entertaining, easy, and – quite frankly – relatively inexpensive; but make sure you are spending money on the important things, or your cat may end up being a lot more expensive than you were expecting!