Haha, good thing I don't have a cat I guess!

The price was a little shocking when I first looked, but then one of those small blocks of paint lasts for ages. I have a Winsor and Newton set that has sort of passed down the family, I'm the second generation to use it anyway and I don't think any of the colors have been replaced (though some are almost gone by now), which says something about the quality and life of those paints. W&N are pretty much as expensive as artist supplies get, and if I had bought my paints new I would never have looked at them, but I'm really glad I could inherit a set. When I eventually need to replace some color I'll try a cheaper brand, though there's a risk I've become so used to these posh paints that I won't be able to use anything else!

Brushes stay good for a long time too if looked after well, cleaning them all the time and storing them with bristles up basically, and then there's just the palette left, which is dirt cheap if you buy plastic and can be cleaned and reused for all eternity.

So all in all, there's a start-up cost, and it's rather high if you want top-end stuff, but in the long run it's not an expensive side of the hobby.

@Jaxilon
Thank you!