Where to find a kitten?

jhgkp

Hello,

As some of you know I lost my cat quite sudden a couple of months back and we are now feeling ready to move on to the next generation. Thank you all for your kindness back then.

We are waiting to after our holiday, but where is the best place to go to for a kitten.

We have said to friends and family if they know of anyone to let us know but is Gumtree ok or I found a facebook page with adverts too. I was speaking to someone who said they are all kitten farmers in Gumtree and they are not real, surely not.

We are a bit fussy as we want a female and black.

Yes, I know we could get an older cat but we are starting again. We thought of the Cat Charities but they want to inspect the house and feel they would turn us down as we don't have a very big house.

Thank you,

GwylimT

Rescue centres or breeders.

If a breeder the following must be done or it is a back yard breeder, parents health tested (they will have physical proof) mum and kittens brought up in the home, vaccinated, wormed, flea treated and 12-13 weeks old.

Black cats find it hardest to find homes, that should work in your favour really.

NewShadow

I live in a bungalow, no garden to speak of, and yet I've adopted three cats and am contacted to foster kittens when needed.

Most rescues are quite pragmatic - if you can offer a stable home, have experience with cats, and don't have an obviously unsuitable home/life, you should be fine.

You should at least try a rescue first - the worst they say is no, and you're in exactly the same position.

teddysmum

Have a look on the internet, to see if there are any small rescues nearby.


A lady near us specialises in old or sick cats that no one wants (she keeps them) but occasionally has kittens, whose adoption donation helps the unfortunate ones.

missbiggles1

Rescue centres, first, last and always.

They may want to inspect your house but they aren't going to be concerned about its size, mainly about whether you're on a busy road.

Please don't buy a kitten from someone who's encouraging their cats to breed for money

nic_santorini

I lost my kitty too after 18 fabulous years and we found a kitten on gumtree. I know about rescue centres but saw a picture and fell in love. I went to do a home visit and could only visually check her eyes, mouth etc for colds, runny eyes or fleas etc. I saw her with her mum too and was already litter trained by her mum. The lady was really nice and her kitty had got out before she was spade and became 'accidentally' pregnant with her kittens.

I got a tortie and she had a check up one week after settling in and she was fine. She is a naughty tortie, but very loving too. Plus the seller wanted an update after 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months and I sent her pictures. Seller was really upset to see her leave too. Always a good sign.

There were kittens at our rescue centre, but they were black and I wanted a tortie. check the centres first, as they will also already have their innoculations too. RSPCA kittens are £80 too

missbiggles1

nic_santorini wrote: »

I lost my kitty too after 18 fabulous years and we found a kitten on gumtree. I know about rescue centres but saw a picture and fell in love. I went to do a home visit and could only visually check her eyes, mouth etc for colds, runny eyes or fleas etc. I saw her with her mum too and was already litter trained by her mum. The lady was really nice and her kitty had got out before she was spade and became 'accidentally' pregnant with her kittens.

I got a tortie and she had a check up one week after settling in and she was fine. She is a naughty tortie, but very loving too. Plus the seller wanted an update after 2 weeks, 1 month and 2 months and I sent her pictures. Seller was really upset to see her leave too. Always a good sign.

There were kittens at our rescue centre, but they were black and I wanted a tortie. check the centres first, as they will also already have their innoculations too. RSPCA kittens are £80 too

There is absolutely no way of telling whether she either got out accidently or had been spayed afterwards. You might well find she "accidently" gets out twice a year.:(

GwylimT

missbiggles1 wrote: »

There is absolutely no way of telling whether she either got out accidently or had been spayed afterwards. You might well find she "accidently" gets out twice a year.:(

She most likely has FIV as well as her kittens too. Unless mummy kitten was 14 weeks herself when she became pregnant, it most definitely wasn't an accident.

fairy_lights

We got our from a farm (not a kitten farm, an actual sheep/horse/tractor farm). They have about half a dozen resident mousers who occasionally breed, and the kittens are either sold off to good homes or kept on to work the farm.
Perhaps surprisingly for a kitten who had spend much of his early life outdoors he was perfectly litter trained - the only downside was that having been born in to an outdoors life he was absolutely desperate for freedom and we would never have been able to keep him as an indoor cat, even if we'd wanted to. So that's maybe something to bear in mind.

nic_santorini

GwylimT wrote: »

She most likely has FIV as well as her kittens too. Unless mummy kitten was 14 weeks herself when she became pregnant, it most definitely wasn't an accident.

well of course it is NOT an accident on the part of the cat!! I had a cat and they can't be spayed until 5-6 months according to the vet. I did let mine cat out before then (she was vaccinated) and then took her to the vet and found out at the vet she was in the very early stages of pregnancy - so for me it was an accident (although they went ahead with the spaying as it was 'too early' to tell until it was too late. It wasn't too early for this owner and the vet phoned her up and said your cat is pregnant before the spaying and she then decided to let the kitty keep her kittens. hence I got one of those kittens.

I have no reason not to believe this woman and in any case I have a perfectly healthy kitten who is adorable.

nic_santorini

p.s thanks for being so positive that my kitten has FIV - she has not and is perfectly healthy. What makes you think all cats that go outside are not vaccinated against such diseases.