I have to say, the cost of vet bills was what surprised me the most when we got my kittens. Our three previous pets had been a dog from a breeder, a recently abandoned at a kennel cat, and a hamster from a family friend. All were perfectly healthy when we got them and most of our vet bills to start with were just vaccines and fixing. We were not expecting the abundance of illnesses that come with shelter kittens. We ended up paying just as much as we would have on a breeder's cat in vet bills instead of pedigree, and that doesn't even include the trip and labor to care for them. For a couple months it was a weekly trip to the vet to get everything sorted out, and checkups alone aren't cheap, let alone the medicine.

I'm certainly not against adopting from shelters, but no one ever mentions the uncertainty, health issues, and awkward scheduling you get along with doing so. That makes the blind advocacy for shelters and hate for breeders a bit scary.