What are the most expensive cat breeds in the UK?

Pedigree cats, particularly those that are of a very good quality, have show-winning ancestry, or that are sold as future breeding stock rather than as pets can be very expensive to buy.

When you factor in the fact that domestic moggies are often very beautiful themselves and can be bought or adopted for well under £100 in most cases, the idea of spending several hundreds of pounds – or even more, in some cases – is enough to sway many cat lovers away from choosing a pedigree at all.

Even within individual pedigree cat breeds, there can of course be a lot of variance in the prices of individual kittens, but across breed norms as a whole, some breeds are simply reliably much more costly to purchase than others. The reasons for this can be complex and numerous, and can range from market factors like a much higher level of demand than supply, through to the higher costs of breeding and caring for a specific breed.

However, if you’re thinking of choosing a cat of a particular pedigree breed or are researching different breeds to try to pick the one that will be best for you, pricing information isn’t always easy to come by. This means that for some people who unwittingly set their hearts on a breed that is prohibitively costly to buy, they might find that they simply can’t afford their initial purchase after they’ve done all of their research, which is of course hugely disappointing.

As Pets4Homes is the largest pet classifieds website in the UK and we host more adverts for pets for sale than any other platform, we’re able to use anonymous advert data from the last year to determine which can breeds are the most expensive to buy in the UK – and what the average asking price is for each of them too.

If you want to find out if the breed you’re hoping to buy is on the list or are just interested to find out the UK’s most valuable cat breeds, read on to find out more.

How we worked out the UK’s most expensive cat breeds

We collated anonymous data from adverts placed by sellers for cats of all breeds over the course of 2018, to produce a broad list of average asking prices per cat of each breed as it stands now in 2019.

Before compiling the list, we first discounted cat breeds for which such a small number of total adverts were placed over the course of the year that it would be impossible to use this number to determine a meaningful average per cat.

Also, we’ve based the order of the list on the average advertised asking prices for pedigree cats of each breed; but we’ve also included pricing data for the average advertised asking prices for non-pedigree cats of these breeds too.

Finally, when we refer to pedigree cats within this guide, where the breed in question is one that is eligible for registration with the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy) this is the registry we’re referring to. For breeds that are not eligible for registration with the GCCF in the UK, reference to pedigree status usually refers to the TICA registry (The International Cat Association).

The UK’s 5th most expensive cat breed: The Toyger

The Toyger is a relatively new breed in cat terms, but one that has been around long enough to be recognised and accepted for pedigree registration by the GCCF, and this is the registry we’re referring to in this instance for pedigree cats of the breed.

The Toyger was developed in the USA in the 1980s as a result of a breeder attempting to improve the markings patterns of Bengal cats, and the Toyger’s name is a portmanteau of the words “toy” and “tiger” in respect of this.

The Toyger is the 29th most popular cat breed in the UK at the time of writing.

So, how much do Toyger Cats in the UK cost to buy?

• Registered pedigree Toyger average asking price: £938
• Unregistered or non-pedigree Toyger average asking price: £839

The UK’s 4th most expensive cat breed: The Munchkin

The Munchkin is a cat with an unusual and controversial physical trait; dwarfism. This results in a normal head and body with abnormally short legs. The GCCF considers this trait to be deleterious to the health and welfare of the cats that possess it, and does not recognise the Munchkin as a pedigree breed. They also discourage the breeding and ownership of cats of this type.

When we refer to pedigree status in terms of Munchkin cat prices in the UK, we’re referring to alternative breed registries like TICA.

The Munchkin is the 27th most popular cat breed in the UK.

How much do Munchkin cats in the UK cost to buy?

• Registered (non-GCCF) pedigree Munchkin cat average asking price: £1,013
• Unregistered Munchkin cat average asking price: £738

The UK’s 3rd most expensive cat breed: The Keetso

The Keetso is a recently developed breed that once more, is not formally recognised by the GCCF in the UK, although this is due to the lack of a large enough breed population and presence of a uniform breed standard so far for the GCCF to consider it.

At the time of writing, the GCCF has not published any formal concerns about the development of this breed, which means theoretically that it may become eligible for GCCF registration in the future.

The Keetso is a cat type that is deliberately bred to be big, and notably, they have six toes, or are classed as polydactyl. This in fact might end up being a bone of contention with the GCCF in the future, as this trait is a genetic mutation, so check back in a few years to see if we are right!

The Keetso is the 26th most popular cat breed in the UK.

How much do Keetso cats in the UK cost to buy?

• Registered (non-GCCF) pedigree Keetso cat average asking price: £1,117
• Unregistered Keetso cat average asking price: £928

The UK’s 2nd most expensive cat breed: The Pixie Bob

The Pixie Bob is another polydactyl breed that is quite costly to buy, perhaps factoring in a premium for those extra toes! Once more unrecognised by the GCCF, the Pixie Bob is bred to look like a miniature bobcat, and has a tufted face, high hips, and short tail.

The Pixie Bob is the 35th most popular cat breed in the UK.

How much do Pixie Bob cats cost in the UK?

• Registered (non-GCCF) pedigree Pixie Bob cat average asking price: £1,205
• Unregistered Pixie Bob average asking price: £439

(You may notice that there is a huge drop in price between the (non-GCCF) pedigree price and the unregistered price. However, given the small number of Pixie Bobs offered for sale in the UK last year in total, the unregistered average given is likely to be much lower than the true norm.)

The UK’s most expensive cat breed overall: The Savannah cat

What is the most expensive cat breed in the UK? It’s the Savannah cat. This is yet another relatively young breed that is once more, not yet recognised by the GCCF so far – and means that only one of the five most expensive cat breeds in the UK are accepted by the GCCF!

The Savannah cat is a wild cat hybrid like the Bengal, but a more recent development. Like the Bengal, the GCCF may ultimately afford this breed UK pedigree status.

The Savannah cat is the 8th most popular cat breed in the UK.

How much do Savannah cats in the UK cost to buy?

• Registered (non-GCCF) pedigree Savannah cat average asking price: £1,380
• Unregistered Savannah cat average asking price: £982