How can I save on kitten vaccines and neutering without cutting corners and having my kitten remain healthy?

Question

I am getting a new male kitten from my friend. He needs a home and will be eight weeks when I take him to get fixed and vaccinated. However I am really worried about the vet bills!!! I am giving this kitten a home since no one else will take him, but I don't think I can spend over two hundred dollars getting him neutered then another three hundred getting him all his shots!!! Does anyone know of any good clinics or plans that will not cut corners but give my kitten the best health and attention?

Answer 1

If you can't get to an SPCA event (they sometimes have cheap events that travel to different towns) and there isn't an SPCA van that will come to your house and vaccinate your pets, there are a couple things you can do:

1)  Ask to purchase the vaccinations from a vet or society and give them yourself.  Administration fees are what cost you.  Kittens have lots of extra skin so it doesn't hurt them, just pull the skin up and stick the needle in the wad of skin.

2)  There are clinics in most towns called "Low Cost Spay & Neuter" which can neuter males for about thirty bucks.

3)  Sometimes Feral Cat Societies will have vouchers for $30-50 off spay and neuter.  Check local Google listings for theses societies.  Universities usually have one.

You can call clinics around and ask for their rates.  Your local SPCA probably has the lowest rates.

Answer 2

I will be happy to provide the procedures for $399, not the $500 you are worried about.  Seriously, vaccines and initial check ups, even at a higher end vet, should run well under $100, and that might include deworming and ear mites treatment.  If you can contact a rescue group in your area, they may be able to steer you to lower cost vets.  A neuter operation for a cat is almost simply a snip-snip and it is done.  You should be able to get it done for perhaps $50.  Sometimes SPCA shelters have low cost neuter clinics.

But good for you for providing a home, and asking the right questions, and wanting to start out on the right path.

Oh, and toys?  Wads of paper provide just as much fun as an expensive toy.  A window for your kitten to look out is like providing wide screen yard television.

Answer 3

Go through your local humane society, they always have programs going to help you have your pets spayed and neutered as well as get their shots.  At my local humane society its $6.00 to have them fixed and i think $5.00 per shot.  Good luck!

Answer 4

You need to check with your local humane society (ours has a "special" on neutering this month and I think it's only $35).  You can also check 1-800-SPAYUSA to locate a low-cost clinic near you.

It's always good to have a vet exam with a kitten - the vet will worm him and give the first in his series of three kitten shots for FVRCP.  After that our humane society has monthly shot clinics for $5.00 a shot and there are mobile vets that come to local pet stores where you can get subsequent shots in the series for $15.

If you keep your kitten indoors you will save beaucoup $$ on vet care.  You won't need further vet care unless the kitten gets sick, he won't have emergency treatments from outdoor hazards.  So put your money into a good quality cat food and keep him healthy all his life.

Answer 5

My vet did the neutering and all the shots for $105 for everything...call around and try the SPCA sometimes they will do all for 1/2 that price...and thanks for being a responsible pet owner and keep the poor cat inside and he will remain healthy dont allow him outside to roam too many bad things can go wrong when you allow your cat outside

Answer 6

You can try calling humane societies around your area, they sometimes do cheap neutering or sometimes free, so cats dont mutiple and become homeless, Where I live they also do a "vacination day" where they invite a vet to give you cats shots for maybe $10 a shot, so call around. I got three of my cats done for about 100 and they had quite a few, so im sure it would cheap for one.

Or just try calling around to find the cheapest places.

Answer 7

good lord, find another vet.

my cat just had a bad infection on her paw. two days in the hospital, surgery, pain meds, antibiotics, and since her shots were due, she got those while she was there.

all for 400.00.

call vets, ask around. some can put you on a payment plan, some know of low cost clinics, and if you discus the reason for each shot, you will find out the vet is only advising you of what is available. very few shots are required. by law or by a vet.

Answer 8

You can go to stores like an IFA (it's a farm supply store), or go online to search for a pet supply catalog that is more in-depth than Petco, such as www.jefferspet.com.  You can do most shots at home EXCEPT for Rabies, which does need to be done by the vet so that there is an official record of it.  Most shots are very easy to give, and a brief talk with your local vet tech will be able to  have you do your shots at home, and save QUITE a bit of money.

Answer 9

Your local Humane Society of Animal Control should have a low-cost spay/neuter program as well as low-cost vaccinations.  Be sure you have him neutered AND vaccinated.  Thousands of healthy, adoptable kittens are killed every day because there aren't enough homes for all of them.  By the time your kitten is 6 months old, he will be able to impregnate a female cat (whose irresponsible owner failed to have her spayed) and more kittens will be born.

It is unwise to try to vaccinate the kitten yourself because there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.  Leave this to the professionals.

Answer 10

Oh my goodness! Are you sure it will cost that much for vaccines and neutering? My cat's one shot and two other vet visits combined were only about $100, and neutering is another $40. Maybe try calling around.