How much does a kitten cost?

Below I have calculated the total costs for breeding a litter, to give you an insight in how the price of a breed kitten came to be. This calculation is made based upon a litter of 4 kittens.

3 Months of kittens around the house means taking care of them 24 hours a day, but of course it's a lot of fun too.

In the table above I did not take into account the folling costs:

• buying a kitten cage,
• electric blanket,
• scales,
• kitten toys,
• photographs,
• extra heating,
• extra laundry,
• extra dishes,
• extra cleaning products,
• scratches on furniture,
• destroyed plant pots and other knick-knacks,
• time, sleepless nights,
• coffee/soda for visitors etcetera.

Further I assume all goes well with the kittens, no caesarian section - adds around another € 350,-- to your vet bills.

In case you have the bad luck of needing a caesarian in the evening, at night or in the weekend, prices go up considerably.

It's all worth it, because we truly enjoy seeing happy kittens, queens and buyers.

For a kitten sold as pet only (no breeding with it), we ask € 900,--

For kittens sold abroad there are different prices.

For breeders there are different prices.

Having a one-time litter is considered breeding!!

A frequently asked question:

Why is it important that a pure-bred kitten has a pedigree?

If you buy a kitten with a pedigree from Felikat, it means the breeder has to abide by the rules and regulations of Felikat, which is in the interest of your kitten!

Why?

The Felikat regulations prescribe that a queen can only have a litter once in a certain period. When a breeder takes advantage of the queen and has litters too often, there will be a warning and when it happens again, the breeder will be banned. 

So if you buy a kitten without the paperwork, because it is cheaper, the queen might have had a few litters already in the previous year. This is detrimental for the queen's condition and she won't be able to give her kittens for instance the necessary antibodies to start life with a healthy immune system. Result: you get a sickly kitten.

The money you thought to save out, you might need for vet-bills.

The Felikat regulations prescribe that a kitten has to be at least 14 weeks old on delivery to the new owner. With a kitten without a pedigree you cannot check the age.

A kitten leaving the mother and siblings too soon, may have health or behavioral issues

With the Felikat pedigree showing 5 generations, you can see the lineage of the kitten.

Good breeders often travel far to find the right partner and prevent inbreeding.

A kitten without the paperwork might be the result of easy and cheap brother-sister, father-daughter or mother-son relations.

Result: weak kittens.

The Felikat regulations prescribe that the parent animals, Queen and Stud, must be tested for Feline Aids (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FelV) and that white cats will be getting a hearing test, the so called BAERtest.

Our Maine Coons will also be (voluntary) tested for HCM (heart), PKD (kidneys) by Ultra sound exam, their knees will be checked for PL, their hips will be x-rayed for HD and an extensive DNA screening will be done before our cats enter our breeding program.

If you buy a kitten without papers, these test are seldom done and you might buy a cat with a whole lot of health problems that could have been avoided by testing.

The Felikat regulations also require that the kitten will be immunized and free of parasites.
This you can check in the animal passport that you will receive with your kitten. In the passport you can read about the checks the veterinarian did pertaining to the coat, ears, eyes, teeth, lymph nodes, respiration, heart and vascular system and the digestive track.

The cost of getting a pedigree are € 11,50.
So cost should never be a reason not to supply a pedigree!
If a breeder sells a kitten without a pedigree, it often means he or she has been "disbarred" from the organisation or they are not selling pure bred kittens. 

Also watch out for Dutch breeders selling kittens with a foreign pedigree.
There are plenty of Dutch breeding organizations, so why go abroad?
The reason could be because Dutch organizations report offenders to other organizations and the breeder in question has been refused by a Dutch organization and now goes across the border to get the pedigree papers.

Maybe you hope to save €150,-- or €200,-- by buying a cat without a pedigree, but please keep in mind what you have just read.
Buying cheap can turn out to be very expensive.

A certified breeder has a reputation to uphold and will have your back with advice and support if there are problems.

Buy a kitten without papers and you are on your own, there is no way to hold the breeder responsible should problems occur.

That said : every living creature, even a pure bred cat with a pedigree, can become ill without a cause that you can blame on someone
If you can't accept that then maybe a pet is not for you.