[mbillie1]

Dean,

i) very little. Dry cat food is cheap (a huge bag is probably like $10-15 and will easily last a month or more) and water is free. Cat litter is about the same and lasts about the same, so maybe like $25-30/month. When you first get it you have to take it to the vet to get shots/etc, that costs a bit more but that's really a one-time thing (and then maybe once a year, or once every other year for regular vet visits).

ii) just train it when it's young. Make sure you get a kitten. Keep a spray bottle filled with water and when the cat jumps on the counter, scratches at the couch, etc just spritz it in the face with water. For the first couple weeks you might need to show it where the litterbox is, but cats become housetrained very easily.

iii) super easy. Once the cat's housetrained (figure after 2-3 months) all you need to do is have someone come and give it food / change the water once or twice a day, it takes maybe 5-10 minutes. Cats are very low maintenance.

I recommend getting 2 kittens, just because then they have someone to play with and if you're busy they do get bored, and that tends to lead to them destroying more stuff (until you train them not to, anyway).

Also, just play with your kitten(s) a lot when you first get it. A lot of people claim that cats are mean/whatever, but as long as you pet it a lot, have it chase a cat-toy or something, they actually become very mellow and nice. I've had 4 cats in my life and all of them have been extremely nice, they don't bite people, they don't crap the house or tear apart the curtains, etc. Obviously kittens are a little problematic at first but really after a few months (2-3) they're very well behaved and great pets.