Get out your money trees because if you’re not spaying and neutering the community cats in your neighborhood, you’re going to need an extra money tree or two!
We did the math to show you just how cost effective it is to spend $70 to spay and neuter a male and female cat rather than buying dry cat food to feed them. And, oh man, if only our algebra teachers could see us now!
According to Purina’s website, kittens at these ages need to be fed this amount per day. And, according to icatcare.org, the average litter a mama cat has is four kittens, and she generally has two litters per year.
| Age of Kitten | How Much Per Day | x8 kittens | How Many Cups Is That? |
| 6 weeks | 1/4-1/3 cup | x8 kittens | 2-2.64 cups |
| 7 weeks to 5 months | 1/3-1 cup | x8 kittens | 2.64-8 cups |
| 6-12 months | 2/3-1.25 cups | x8 kittens | 5.36-10 cups |
If we grocery shop at HEB and get the cheapest, most cost-effective bag of cat food, we can get 30 pounds of HEB Texas Pets 4 Flavor Morsels Dry Cat Food for $18.73, which is $0.04 per ounce.
There are about 2 cups per pound, so this bag has 60 cups of food.
If we stick with feeding our eight kittens the recommended amount that we figured above, the 30-pound bag of food will be gone how quickly?
| Age of Kitten | How Much Per Day | x8 kittens | How Many Cups Is That? | Bag Gone In… |
| 6 weeks | 1/4-1/3 cup | x8 kittens | 2-2.64 cups | 23-30 days |
| 7 weeks to 5 months | 1/3-1 cup | x8 kittens | 2.64-8 cups | 7.5-23 days |
| 6-12 months | 2/3-1.25 cups | x8 kittens | 5.36-10 cups | 6-11 days |
While the kittens are doing their kitten thing and being all cute and aging, how many bags over the time period would we need and what would that cost?
| Age of Kitten | How Much Per Day | x8 kittens | How Many Cups Is That? | Bag Gone In… | How Many Bags Needed? | Cost |
| 6 weeks | 1/4-1/3 cup | x8 kittens | 2-2.64 cups | 23-30 days | 2 bags | $37.46 |
| 7 weeks to 5 months | 1/3-1 cup | x8 kittens | 2.64-8 cups | 7.5-23 days | 5 bags | $93.65 |
| 6-12 months | 2/3-1.25 cups | x8 kittens | 5.36-10 cups | 6-11 days | 16 bags | $299.68 |
For the entire twelve-month period, it would cost $430.79 to feed eight kittens!
For that much money, we could spay/neuter 12 cats and help decrease overpopulation!
So either plant a third money tree in your yard or just save $360.79 on cat food and pay the $70 to get the community cats in your area spay/neutered.