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AIBU?

to be horrified at the price tags which are placed on animals...

73 replies

wannaBe · 15/08/2015 22:03

I am currently considering getting a kitten/s after we lost our seventeen year old cat in May.

I am obviously looking at rescues, however I had a quick look at pets4homes earlier just out of curiosity to see if there were any kittens available in my area. I was to discover that there are indeed pages and pages of kittens for sale, most of which for upwards of £100. and these are just moggies not pedigree cats....

When I was growing up, if you wanted a kitten you could invariably find someone in the area whose cat had had kittens and they were generally free to good homes

Given the amount of unwanted cats in rescues, I can't imagine that anyone in their right mind pays between £100/£200 for a kitten from the internet. And yet people are placing these price tags on them. Since when were kittens such commodities? esp given the thousands in rescues etc?

Fwiw there's no way I would pay £100/£150 to someone for a kitten, as that would surely only encourage them not to neuter their cat in future so they could continue to make money.

OP posts:

Report

WixingMords · 15/08/2015 22:07

Get one from a rescue centre? You'll still have to pay a bit but it's usually just enough to cover the vetting/care the kitten or cat has had.

WixingMords · 15/08/2015 22:08

Oh and YANBU

VivaLeBeaver · 15/08/2015 22:08

People are daft if they pay that. Our local rescue centre has over 200 cats inc kittens. £60. They're spayed, inoculated and chipped for that.

icelollycraving · 15/08/2015 22:09

Sorry about your cat
Maybe put a post on FB asking your friends if they know of any kittens that need a loving home?

lastqueenofscotland · 15/08/2015 22:10

Op said she was looking at a rescue.

IMO reputable breeders do not advertise on fb/p4h etc so maybe a bad cross section.

CharlesRyder · 15/08/2015 22:11

I think it's really good that prices are high enough to put off impulse purchases.

Motortrader · 15/08/2015 22:13

YANBU - you could buy a decent sow for £100.

ThatJustAintCricket · 15/08/2015 22:14

Yanbu. I do think the majority of pet dogs being bred is purely for monetary value. A relatives bitch had 3 sets of puppies (5/6 per litter) over 3 years due to 'accidents' with each puppy going for around the £300 mark, not pedigrees either. She finally got her spayed this year after the last litter really took its toll on her young body :(

ghostyslovesheep · 15/08/2015 22:15

but the flip side CharlesRyder is the high prices encourage idiots not to spay/neuter their cats and to breed them repeatedly

Please go to a rescue or your vets - our 2 youngest where rescued from a box in a car park and taken to our vets where they where raised by one of the nurses - the vet knew I was looking so put us in touch

gamerchick · 15/08/2015 22:15

I think it's good that they go for a high price in a way. Free often means disposable when tired of.

Kafri · 15/08/2015 22:17

It baffles me with dogs how people can charge so much for a non pedigree dog.
Or they state that it is pedigree cos it's DL registered.

newname12 · 15/08/2015 22:21

When I was looking for a cat local rescues were charging around £130.

wannaBe · 15/08/2015 22:23

"I think it's really good that prices are high enough to put off impulse purchases." and just high enough that those cats are being turned into commodities. Imagine a litter of four kittens at £150 a piece and you have yourself a nice little earner there. No insentive to spay the female if you can find enough gullible people to hand over that kind of money, except that at some point the buyers will run out and then you end up with yet more unwanted cats and kittens in rescue because their worth has suddenly disappeared. And imagine if you pay £150 each for two kittens, add £75 for vaccinations, £95 for neutering (I checked the prices with my vet this morning as at least two of my local rescues don't cover the cost of neutering kittens) and your two kittens have cost you £640 in the first six months. so if someone pays that price for a cat I wonder which part of the bill will be put off for a while? oh yes that's right, neutering probably, and then you end up with more unwanted kittens......

Fwiw I am looking at rescue and have no issue with paying for kittens from there.

OP posts:

wannaBe · 15/08/2015 22:27

oh yes mongrels crossbreeds which have been given a fancy name are another one. Someone I know is currently looking to buy a cockerpoo iirc, and has said that a bitch will cost around £900. crossbreed dogs have definitely become big business, when previously they were just called muts or mongrels and were loved for their cuteness rather than their monetary value....

OP posts:

MitzyLeFrouf · 15/08/2015 22:34

I read recently that large numbers of black cats were ending up in shelters as they didn't photograph as well as other cats and therefore didn't translate as well to photos on social media!

wannaBe · 15/08/2015 22:40

the sibling of my recently departed cat was black (she died in 2014) and she was gorgious. I have only recently heard of black and black and white cats being more difficult to rehome. my black cat was a witch's cat I'm sure of it.

OP posts:

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 15/08/2015 22:48

I understand one of the reasons is because people have been known to get them and use them as dog-fighting bait

StatisticallyChallenged · 15/08/2015 22:53

I don't have a problem with proper, professional breeders - normally breeding pedigrees - fully registered etc. I currently have pedigree cats (have had rescues too) from a couple of breeders who I checked in to carefully, good reputations, appropriate paperwork, kittens didn't come to us until 13 weeks, fully vaccinated etc etc. They were (considerably) more than the prices you mention BUT they are properly cared for by someone who treats it as a proper job and tends to do it because they love the breed too.

I doubt that a huge profit is made by that type of breeder - having seen the set up they have, the care they take of both kittens and adults, knowing what decent food, good vet care etc costs. The good ones also put a lot of research in to the blood lines and temperaments to make sure they breed really good healthy animals. I don't mind if they make some sort of income from it, because they definitely work at it!

what I do have a huge problem with is your backyard breeder types who don't have a blooming clue what they are doing, let their cat out in heat and then flog the kittens as soon as they're 6 weeks. Or advertise on facebook/gumtree for a stud dog so their bitch can have some puppies. Half the time it's "shih-tzu or similar breed wanted"- they just don't care.

disclaimer - I know there are some dodgy as hell pedigree breeders too. They're not the type I'm talking about. Came across a few of them and detected them at 20 paces!

Gabilan · 15/08/2015 22:57

There is a black cat from Cats Protection asleep on my lap right now. I didn't even know what colour she was until she turned up, I just wanted farm cats to keep the rodent population down.

She does keep the rodent population down, but I'm not sure that being a lap cat is usually on a farm cat's CV.

Anyway, not sure what the answer is but personally I would only ever get an animal from a rescue centre.

Starbrite00 · 15/08/2015 22:57

I rescued a cat and paid £75, this was 10 years ago so I assume the price has increased.
You surely dont think you can not contribute towards the cost of vaccinations and neuturing the rescue have to do.

wannaBe · 15/08/2015 23:12

oh no I have no issue with reputable pedigree breeders. I would actually love a siamese and if I were going to get one I would seek out a reputable breeder for one of those... similarly I would look for a reputable breeder if I were ever going to get a pet dog.

Starbright I have no issue with contributing to cost of neutering/vaccinations from a rescue, although tbh I have learned that rescues have differing protocols on this, and where most rescues do charge a fee, with some this fee includes vaccinations and neutering, and others does not, which in turn possibly does affect whether people adopt from them esp given the fee is often similar. so e.g. one of my local rescues charges £75 per kitten which includes vaccinations and neutering even if the cat is under the correct age for neutering (you can take it back to their clinic to be done), whereas another one charges £95 per kitten but does not include the cost of neutering (an additional £95).

OP posts:

Welshmaenad · 15/08/2015 23:28

Oh, you're not in wales by any chance OP? I've been asked to help find a home for a black kitten!

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TheCatsMother99 · 15/08/2015 23:31

Black cats are the best (but I might have a black cat and therefore be bias )

Wolfiefan · 15/08/2015 23:33

I'm shocked at how many people don't get their animals neutered. I always felt it was an animal welfare issue. (I can see a reputable pedigree breeder is different.)

We lost our last car at 19. They are such a long term commitment.

Waiting until after our holiday then we shall be scouring rescues. I really wanted a Siamese but so many rescues and not enough homes

Wolfiefan · 15/08/2015 23:33

Cat. Not car.

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