Where to find a kitten?

rita-rabbit

nic_santorini wrote: »

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.

A local pet charity refused me kittens because I live alone, no gardenn in a flat & work full time. I had fitted a catflap to my front door & so my cats have the run of the low level block. I had a "kitten" from a friend who said it was too demanding & she was going to give it away. This "kitten" was a female in heat & having never had a kitten that long - I didn't realise what her calling was & thought her homesick - cat escaped quite quickly - never to return. All the toys, food, litterbox etc but no cat. When I contacted vets, etc they laughed & informed me the kitten was a hot young madam & as I lived upstairs decided to find a tom to mate her. Anyways I got 2 kittens from Loot online. 1 was about 9 months old unnetured Tom, he was v happy & I only had him done on vets comments that most dead cats found are intact males, the female I got later as i think he was lonely/bored - she was 6 weeks old. Both were healthy enough actually - albeit the 1 I had from a younger age was healthier. I paid to have them done, vaccinated, chipped etc & we had many happy years together. :T

gunsandbanjos

Cat protection is usually a good bet, I've had 3 rescue cats from the one near me, they had a choice of indoor or outdoor cats depending on your circumstances.
Cat 1 lived to a ripe old age, cat 2 I sadly lost to an aggressive tumour last year and cat 3 is currently doing laps of my living room.

tesuhoha

I got my Bengal cat from a breeder. The breeder was extremely good, cat was 13 weeks old, fully vaccinated and I was given a kitten pack and lots of advice. However, after two days the cat came down with a nasty virus and she almost died. She had to go onto a drip in the animal hospital. they told me it was a cat virus I can't remember the name but they said she should make a complete recovery although she might have a recurrence of the virus from time to time. She had a period recently where she seemed under the weather but nothing like the first time when she couldn't keep anything down. My other cat didn't catch the virus.

I am not sure whether I should blame the breeder or not. My husband thinks that he knew she was ill when he sold her to me but he had arranged pet insurance so it didn't cost me much. I have no idea how the cat caught the virus although he did breed short hair cats as well. So my point is even though you can go to what appears to be a reputable breeder things can still go wrong. My cat is very small for a Bengal and has quite a mild disposition although she has the craziness. I think she was the runt of the litter. She is very healthy now.

SensibleSarah

Always a rescue. There are so many unwanted kittens every year & the problem is getting worse as people are too ignorant or uncaring to neuter their pets.

My most recent addition is a gorgeous blue girl from a local independent rescue. My adoption fee (was £50 nearly 2 years ago) included flea & worming, neutering at 10 weeks old and microchip. Only thing not included was vaccinations. My older cats were all neutered at 6 months ish & the speed that my latest bounced back with was amazing in comparison. I'm a big advocate of early neutering. Getting a kitten from free ads sites you have no guarantee that it's flea & worm free, has even been seen by a vet etc. Much more risky.

Homecheck is not a big deal. They basically check that you are telling the truth about where you live & if you're planning to let cat out when old enough they want you not to live on a main road. Size of house not an issue that I've ever heard anyone fail a homecheck on. I'm in a small 2-up 2-down with 4 cats and a big dog and it's not been a problem for any homecheck I've had.

UKTigerlily

Always a rescue! My current cat was born in rescue and is now 18yrs old (and black too, apparently they are the least wanted colour!)

I also have an older dog who is a rescue and they had no problem with me having her, despite living in a flat with a communal garden, and it hasn't ever been a problem for either of us, partly as they matched me to the right dog for me and i'd decided against pups & working breeds etc and larger dogs

Good luck x

jhgkp

Thank you all for your kind advice.

A friend at work has a friend whose cats will be having kittens in the next few weeks - by past experience she has had females and black - what we are looking for.

So we are going to wait till then - if all goes well.

We will get weekly pictures after its born and collect it when its 8-10 weeks (so Sept/Oct). A wee bit longer to wait but will be worth it. She will also be a local cat - born less than 3 miles away from us.

gettingready

So that cat had multiple litters by no doubt multiple random cats already increasing her risk of every possible illness that she could pass on to kittens including FIV and still has not been neutered by the owners - clearly there is a demand for those kittens so mum will be at risk all her life. Just brilliant.

meritaten

I don't get this 'Always a rescue' thing going on here! why not apply common sense? visit the kittens home and use your brain! is the mummy cat happy? are the kittens looking well fed and happy? are they friendly and curious? if other cats are in the home - how do they look? happy and content?
tbh its difficult to 'judge' a kitten in a 'rescue centre', at least in someones' home with a litter of kittens they wish to rehome to 'good' homes, you have the chance to talk to the owners and play with the kittens and you wont be judged on a 'tick box' system as to whether you are 'suitable' or not!
and if people only EVER got kittens from rescue centres - now what do you think would happen to the kittens the 'centre' was too full to take???

the thing that pees me off with this board is how sanctimonious some posters are!
its perfectly ok to adopt your new puppy or kitten from a person who isn't a breeder (in fact some breeders should be avoided) or a 'rescue centre' (who can turn down perfectly good homes because it doesn't tick all the boxes).
its been done that way for millennia and it worked well!

gettingready

Meritaten - I could not adopt from a rescue as I did not tick the boxes but lots of people do tick the boxes and could. Taking (buying) cats from unplanned matings encourage owners of female cats to breed more and more and more and THAT is why rescues are full.


I know you mean well xx

jhgkp

I am sorry if I caused hostility in this board. It was not my intention to do so. I lost my cat very suddenly and didn't know where to go to find the "next generation". I am not replacing my cat but I miss a wee fur ball around the place. Sorry I caused an upset.