Shocked at the price of kittens!

shjo558

aeb wrote: »

ps - £30 does not cover the cost of damage a litter of kittens can do to a house in the few weeks they are there - wallpaper destroyed, curtains shredded, not to mention little accidents on the carpet!

I have a deal with DH - I do "what goes in" he does "what comes out out" :rotfl:.

Can't be any worse than our current mog who can't go a day without being sick somewhere. Always been like that and I suspect that's why he ended up in a rescue home in the first place! Even walked up to my 'Turkish' Jimmy Choo bag one night, deposited a whiskas pouch inside it and walked away again:mad:.

Oh and last weekend, he was on his own all Saturday as we were away for the weekend so he 'skooted' his starfish all over my white bath mat, never ever done that before in 10 years so I guess he was getting back at me for leaving him.

rising_from_the_ashes

shjo558 wrote: »

I would love a kitten but can't have one just now due to having an older mog, rabbit and 2 massive aqauriums. The rabbit loves our cat and I fear any new feline may take advantage of bunny naievity!

Ohhh myyyy, :eek:

gettingready wrote: »

I have bought/paid for ALL my cats as no rescue wanted to consider me.
And the dog.

As long as rescues look at people through "check boxes" - there will always be problems with rescues being full but people unable to adopt from there will still go and get their much wanted pets wherever they can.

Totally agree with this. I tried a rescue when I was looking for my girl but they wouldn't let me have one as I have a dog! No regard for the fact that my dog was brought up with cats and adores them.

Several years ago when I was looking for a cat for company for my old boy, I found my current boy cat for free - through a friend of a friend who wanted good homes for them & as we were "known" she was happy with that. Unfortunately, momma cat decided she wanted nothing to do with the babies when they were just over 4 weeks old so my pal and I (experienced owners) ended up with our boys way ahead of schedule and hand reared them (leaving the owner to rear the other 2).

After I lost my old cat and started looking for a kitten I too was totally shocked at the prices people were charging - around £80 (just over 3 years ago). Yes, I think charging something is fine but IMHO I'd want the "extra" to be spent on the kitten!

It does encourage people not to bother neutering their cats as they think they can make a quick buck.

I eventually found my wee girl cat (word of mouth) - the owner had 4 kittens and was looking for £25 each to pay for the mother to be neutered. I was quite happy with this (although think she should have thought about how she was going to pay for the neutering before she got the cat - it was her 3rd litter and the others had been given away for free).

Although not so happy that the vet spayed mamma when the babies were only 3.5 weeks old :eek: resulting in a mom who (not surprisingly) wanted nothing to do with them when she got home - hence, Mia arrived weighing 320g and was hand reared.

GlynD

I think cat ownership should cost. If they're free or cheap some people will treat the poor wee things as throwaways. Give them a value and they become more precious to those who aren't devout cat lovers like us trained staff are.

bluebeary

are you in scotland, whereabouts ?

we got our cat as a nine week old kitten from the cpl at kirkintilloch, fifty pounds all in, they take care of first set of vaccinations and neuturing when theyre old enough, the cats are usually chipped as well

cpl do home checks before they consider continuing the adoption process

hes two and half now and bullies me

barbaraemmerson

Got our old boy through the cats protection league 15 years ago - free of charge but they do a home check. Will do the same again when the dreaded time comes

balletshoes

shjo558 wrote: »

Can't be any worse than our current mog who can't go a day without being sick somewhere. Always been like that and I suspect that's why he ended up in a rescue home in the first place! Even walked up to my 'Turkish' Jimmy Choo bag one night, deposited a whiskas pouch inside it and walked away again:mad:.

Oh and last weekend, he was on his own all Saturday as we were away for the weekend so he 'skooted' his starfish all over my white bath mat, never ever done that before in 10 years so I guess he was getting back at me for leaving him.

:rotfl::rotfl:he sounds like a right little, erm .... character!!!!

GlynD

We were in a pet shop one day and saw our new little man in a cage. We asked how much for him as he was adorable. The pet shop owner said he was free to a good home. We took him home in a cardboard box but spent a few quid in the shop as a thank you.

inspirespirit

I have noticed kittens on our local freecycle board lately. There was a dog also advertised. I'm amazed people are allowed to advertise livestock on freecyle.

Fire_Fox

Please do not be tempted to get an animal from Gumtree, Freecycle or the like. Far too many stories of people being sold animals with health or behavioural problems, even 'spayed' cats that turn out to be pregnant. If you adopt a kitten from a rescue they will usually be vaccinated, treated for parasites and if old enough neutered. Vaccinations cost £30 in my cheap city, Stronghold for parasites costs £8 a month then there is food, litter, cleaning products, anything they destroy .... The donation is a contribution towards that and proof that you are serious about taking on all the costs associated with animal ownership. Bear in mind there are some which try to adopt rescue cats as bait for their illegal fighting dogs, or who get rid of a kitten as soon as it grows up only to adopt another and another, never keeping the adult cats. Also bear in mind that the PDSA have had to change their rules, partly because people are deliberately breeding and using the PDSA to maximise their 'tax-free' profit. Anyone who cares about whether kittens get the right forever home is either involved in rescue, breeding pedigrees responsibly, taking in pregnant strays or neutered all their cats as soon as they were old enough. Sadly that does not seem to be the majority.

snowdrop1967

I agree with Fire Fox, we paid £200 for our silver tabby but she is worth every penny. Cats are expensive, with neutering costs, flea treatments etc. (never mind the scratched furniture) and so people should think seriously before getting one. We spent a long time sourcing breeders and thinking about how she would fit into our lives as they do (hopefully) live a long time.