Cats in Portugal: How It Costs!
Hello, this is Ismail Siddiky of Europe Diary. Today I’m talking about “Cats in Portugal: How It Costs!” Let’s start.
The Decision to Get a Cat
So you want to get a cat, but the question is: Can you afford one? In this blog, I’m going to share all the expenses associated with having a cat in Portugal. So if you want to get a cat or you’re moving to Portugal with your cat, then keep on reading.
Meet Mishra
Hello and welcome, this is Mishra. Mishra is a six-year-old mix breed. I got him back in Canada and then he moved with us to Portugal. I found him on Kijiji and paid around 50 bucks for the cat and for the Uber back home. If you want to get a cat, make sure to check with your local shelters because they might have some cats available that you like. As for me, I couldn’t find one. I went to multiple shelters. I was looking for the cat, like I don’t know how to explain, like when you want to get a pet, you want to feel that connection. For me, I didn’t feel it with any cats, but then it happened. So Mishra and Kijiji, and I was like, “You’re coming home with me.”
Meet Giza
And here’s cat number two: this is Giza. He’s a one-year-old Devon Rex. Actually, he’s gonna turn one on August second. So if you’re watching this video on August second or after, make sure to say “Happy Birthday” in the comments. Giza was an expensive cat. We paid 800 euros for him and that included all the vaccines, neutering, and paperwork. Because Giza is not one of those, you know, street cats—this boy has some pedigree.
DNA Test for Mishra
I don’t think that I’ve mentioned that before. But the first purchase that I made when I got Mishra was the DNA test. I got a lot of questions like, “Who is he? Where do I get a similar cat? His paws are huge. Is he a Maine Coon or maybe he’s a Ragdoll?” I was like, “You know what? Let’s find out.” I bought a DNA kit, and I found out about his paws. This is not sponsored. I literally purchased a DNA kit for my cat back in, I don’t know, 2020. And if you are one of those people wondering, “Who is Mishra?” So here’s the report. You can see that Mishra is pretty much like a mix of Siberian, Russian Blue, and many other breeds of cat. I paid 85 Canadian dollars back then, but I’m pretty sure it was a Black Friday sale, some kind of a deal. Now the kits are 159 USD, but if you actually want to get one, just wait until they have promotions on the next holiday. I’m pretty sure they’ll have some.
European Passports
One of the extra costs for both of the cats were European passports. That feeling when your cats have European passports and you don’t! Anyway, I think we paid around 30 to 40 euros for each passport, and they were done within an hour. Why would you need a passport? Well, if you’re planning to travel with the cat, if you’re planning to, you know, drive around Europe or whatever, you’ll need to have all the vaccines, all these certifications, everything. So a cat passport will have all that information in one place.
Insurance Costs
The next thing that’s associated with having cats is insurance. So we do have insurance for Mishra, but we don’t have insurance for Giza because we realized that insurance doesn’t cover basic things. So if I take them for vaccines—not covered. If I go get a passport with all the deworming and boosters, stuff like that—not covered. Consultations? Well, guess what—not covered. For Mishra, insurance would pay 90 euros per year. So yeah, it doesn’t cover basic things, but I’m pretty sure if something major happens, it’s gonna cover all the costs.
Vet Bills
As for the vet bills, we don’t go to the vet that often, but we went with Mishra last year and we paid some money: euro for consultation, around 20 euros per day for hospitalization because my poor baby, I think, sniffed a toxic mold chemical and he was feeling honestly terrible. So we had to keep him at the hospital, get him some IVs, run many blood tests, and blood tests, I think, cost around 4 to 6 euros each. As for the basic vaccines, I think they are all around 30 to 40 euros max. I haven’t paid more than that. As for Giza, he came in an all-included pack, so we didn’t take him anywhere.
Grooming Expenses
The next thing is not mandatory for all cats, but for us it kinda is, and that is the groomer. Since Mishra is the furry one in this family, we take him to the groomer around 3 to 4 times a year, and honestly, it’s not really recommended to take your cat to the groomer, but we went to the vet and he was like, “You know what? If you’re not gonna shave him, he’s gonna get all his fur, and that could cause problems.” Things can happen because, you know, when a cat vomits with hairballs, that’s a sign. We try not to take him to the groomer very often, but when it’s shedding season, a.k.a. spring, we try to get him a haircut. And I think he looks pretty cute. For one visit to the groomer, we pay 25 euros and we take him there around 3 to 4 times a year. So if we do the math, it’s gonna be around 8 euros per month if we divide that amount by 12.
Food Costs
The biggest, I guess, chunk of what we spend on cats is food, obviously. I order everything from Zooplus. They’re really fast, super reliable—like if I order now, I’ll get my stuff in like two days. I think in our case they ship from Spain, so everything is super fast. But they also have different pros. They have a points system—amazing if you’re looking for a store to get your animal food or whatever. Zooplus.
So, I’ll calculate it in the morning and in the evening: Two packs of food two times a day equals four packs each day. If we’re talking about wet food, one pack or can costs around one euro. In our case, it’s 125 euros, and there are 30 days in a month. So if we multiply, that will come up to 150 euros per month on wet food only. As for the dry food, it’s kind of hard to calculate because you have those five-kilo packs or like two-kilo packs, and then the cat eats whenever. We’re super lucky—our cats don’t overeat, like they don’t have any eating disorders or anything. If they’re hungry, they eat. If they’re not hungry, they don’t eat. Simple. I had to check with Zooplus, and the cats finished the previous bag we had in two months, and I think it was a two-kilo bag. So let’s say they eat one kilo of dry food per month. The price for a two-kilo bag is 26.99, so one kilo will be 13 and a half euros per month.
Litter Box Expenses
As for the litter boxes, we have two different types. One is open for Giza because he likes to dig (he’s tiny and also it’s his breed—he’s super messy). The second one is the closed one because Mishra is a gentleman and he doesn’t like, you know, to leave things out. Giza’s litter box was around 18 euros, and Mishra’s litter box was a gift from Grandma. Thank you, Grandma, because I could not find good litter boxes with a net on top in Europe. You can order some from China or Amazon, but they come in tiny sizes. I have a big cat, he’s five kilos, like he’s huge. Those litter boxes are for kittens, I’m sorry. As for the litter itself, we use crystals for Mishra because it’s the best. Honestly, for Giza, we use Happy Mau—it’s a tofu litter. Honestly, you can even eat it. My friend Marco tried it, and he said it tastes like tofu. So, a bag of crystals costs around 8 euros. As for the Happy Mau tofu litter, it costs 11.99 euros. I also get that deodorizer for cats for the litter boxes, so it smells really nice because, you know, having cats might be smelly—not our case, but just in case. I get that thing and it costs 6.50 euros.
Toys
Moving to the next category: toys. We are super lucky because our cats like to play with everything, so we don’t buy them toys. But honestly, if I had to buy toys, I would use Zooplus’s points and promos. They always give you different stuff, so I just don’t buy toys. We bought some, I think, a few years ago when we just got Mishra, but that’s it. I refuse to buy new toys because those cats, they play with chopsticks, dried chicken, and different kinds of paper. I’m not spending money on more toys.
One-Time Purchases
Those were monthly purchases, and now moving on to the one-time purchases. First of all, litter boxes, as I’ve mentioned before. Second of all, we’ve just upgraded our cat’s water fountain and got them the Sami water fountain. We paid 80 euros for it, and it’s amazing—it filters the water, it circulates it. The cats kind of like it. Sometimes they drink from it, sometimes they drink from dirty plates, but those are cats, you know? Also, we got them different bowls. I think we paid around 34 euros for two, so 17 each, and I also got them ceramic bowls for their wet food because those, you know, stainless steel bowls are not so great for wet food. Ceramic bowls are amazing for wet food. Each one costs around 7 euros, I think. We’ve also upgraded the cat tree recently. We paid 150 euros for it, but it was on sale, and I think it had a 50% discount or something because I wouldn’t pay 300 for a cat tree. Like, 300 for a cat tree? Come on. It’s cheaper to get one for yourself. Like, if you like climbing, just get yourself a tree, okay?
Conclusion
So, what’s the conclusion? We pay around 200 euros per month for two cats, which means if you’re planning to get just one cat, it’ll cost you around 100 euros per month. If you add all those one-time purchases together, that’s 240 euros in total, plus the price of the cat itself. That’s it, basically. I think I’ve covered everything. But if I’ve missed something, let me know in the comments. See you guys next week!
Bye!
