Why did you not adopt your pet?

[ChallengingFigureANDUnrulyFlaps]

Hello all,

Our family has always had rescue cats as pets.

I can understand why families with young children would rather get a puppy than adopt a dog from a rescue which may have an unknown history/behaviour issues.

But when it comes to cats, why would anyone get a kitten from a private person rather than adopt a rescue cat?

I'm wondering if the reasons are:

• rescue deemed you not suitable for adoption, perhaps for an odd reason
• your friend's cats had kittens
• you wanted a kitten rather than an older cat (why?)
• something else?

Also interested in hearing though from people who ruled out rescue dogs and got a puppy instead.

Thanks

I was given my first girl by a family friend, who always let her cats breed and only really liked the ginger ones. My girl was torbi. I was young and knew nothing of the ethics of allowing cats to breed. My girl was independent and didn’t hang out with the her siblings, and was a bit bullied.

When she was 5 we decided she needed a friend. We knew more about adoption by then, but as she was in indoor cat, almost all the rescues we approached said we were not suitable to adopt to as cats should be free to roam. We kept trying until we found a rescue that would rehome to us.

When our beautiful boy died of a heart defect and burst bladder 4.5 years later, we went to another small local rescue and adopted 2 boy kittens, and then a short time later we took on another similar aged girl from them. Then we started volunteering at that rescue and really understood the frustrations from the other side of the fence.

My first cat was lovely and I still miss her, but I would only ever adopt from a rescue going forward. Even if they don’t have the right cat for you right now, they may later, or another rescue may have the perfect one, it just takes work to connect all the dots sometimes.

I only have my 2 boys left who are now 13, and am tempted every time I go in to adopt another pair, but my boys are so happy since my girls passed, I don’t think it will be fair on them. I’d adopt a houseful if my boys would let me!

No you can't just buy them. You have to be screened and matched, so it is a true adoption process.

You're a parent by adoption, aren't you? I understand why some adoptive parents object to some uses of "adoption", but isn't that more "adopt a zoo animal" (meaning "sponsor by direct debit") scenarios?

I don’t have pets but would have a cat in an instant if DH wasn’t allergic (questionable if he even is, he was fine with friend’s cat the other day).

Anyway. I have approached rescues in the past and it’s a resounding no as we have kids (youngest is 2, oldest is 9).

Friend’s cats has had 2 litters of kittens. I’m sure that’s probably deathly irresponsible but they have to live somewhere don’t they. So I’d get one or 2 if I could!

Also it’s nice to know their background for sure.

Also baby animals are adorbs.

First 3 cats were rescues. When we were looking for a kitten 3 years ago (after losing cat #3), none of the rescues within a 30 mile radius of us had any kittens as it was towards the end of the summer kitten season. We tend to switch between rescuing an older cat then rescuing a kitten to satisfy our love of cute baby cats and doing our bit by taking on the needy older ones.

We decided to get a pedigree from a local (registered) breeder instead as my house felt too empty without a feline companion and I wasn't prepared to wait until the following years kitten season.

Having had 3 cats and 1 dog from a local rescue I felt I was allowed to buy from a breeder that one time as I had always wanted that particular breed but had generally went for the scabbiest moggy in the rescue centre previously. I'll be back to scabby 3 legged moggies next time though!

We have a cat and a dog who are both rescues. To be honest I can understand why people buy pets because some of the rescues are an absolute ball ache to deal with. They claim to have animals coming out the wazoo but don’t answer online enquiries or even acknowledge applications for animals, they have strict geographical restrictions like requirements to live in the same county or within 20 miles, they have restrictions like never letting the dog off the lead for the rest of its life. I’ve been in the middle of a text conversation about a dog and the woman just stopped responding to me… despite me wanting to meet a particular dog and claiming he was available. They’re charging £700 - £800 for a mutt. We were registered everywhere and found it was rescues unfortunately miles from us and rescues bringing in animals from abroad who were most responsive.

We have a Battersea dog and our extended family have had Battersea dogs before . Our son bought kittens as he wanted Siamese and he wouldn’t have got a rescue cat anyway because he lives very near a busy A road .

I don't understand why it was so hard to get a rescue dog. We had a good track record with pet ownership. Our dogs get daily walks in the country in a variety of settings, which they love. They get good food, we have a good amount of land they can't escape from, they sleep on our beds, we have pet insurance so they never miss any medical care as we don't have to worry about the cost, they get played with, loved, professional grooming, the best of everything. Yet we had to resort to buying puppies from a breeder because the rescues just weren't following through.

Same as most people - rescue centers didn’t like how busy our road was and DC were small. Our cats have the life of Riley. They were £30 each.

We have always adopted from rescues, but I understand why people don’t. We have recently adopted 2 kittens from a rescue, but found it a really difficult process. Several rescues never responded and some rejected us because we do not have a cat flap. Having visited the rescue we got the kittens from and seen all the miserable cats in small cages, I would have thought it would be better for them to live in a big house with a big garden even if no cat flap🤷🏻‍♀️

We're getting a kitten soon. A friend of a family member, who already had some cats, took more on from another friend. These turned out to be unneutered and they ended up with 2 litters of kittens and he is giving them away to new homes. If this hadn't happened, we probably wouldn't get a cat at all.

Fell in love with a certain breed in the early 80s, bought her and haven’t had anything else apart from this breed.

Our last one died a few years ago and a month or so later a rescue cat of the same breed popped up and we were chosen to adopt her via the RSPCA - process was very easy because they wanted a no children, no other cats, home most of the time household and someone who had experience of the breed - luckily that was us!

I don't have young children. The only reason I can think we didn't hear back from rescues about dogs is that we had a cat in the house as well. We didn't even get rejections, just applying into a void. Our dogs have a wonderful life. I think it's sad a dog who came from a rescue situation could have had that from us. I know our puppies would have gone to a good home regardless. Our dogs are now middle aged but if it comes to it again in future, I will front up to rescues in person and ask to meet the dogs instead of doing online applications and phone calls. If that doesn't work, I suppose I'll find a reputable breeder. I'm not wasting so much time over it next time either.

As long as you are giving an animal a home, I don't see why it matters if you adopt or 'shop.' I never get this 'adopt don't shop' thing. I find some people very smug when they've adopted a rescue, (rather than bought their pet,) as if they're somehow superior. 🙄

Also, as has been said, some shelters make it incredibly hard to adopt - especially when it's a dog someone wants - and will place every obstacle possible in someone's way.

.

I feel like there are enough animals in the world in need of love already without encouraging the breeding of more. That's why I prefer adoption and tried that first. It's also why I never breed my own animals. I do think it's important to be careful about the circumstances of breeders and how they operate if buying.

The Wood Green Animal Shelter literally has a page on its website that uses the words:

Adopt a rescue pet

But you know better, do you? Okaaayyy.........

But who says the animal you're buying is not an older pet? We 'bought' our second cat from the pet shop when she was a year and a quarter old. She had been given up by her family when they moved abroad, and the pet shop owner (who they knew) said she would try and rehome her. The ad was in the window for a 15 month old cat for £50. No different to adopting from a shelter. Just way easier as shelters make it so awkward for people.

My cats came through friends of friends whose cat had a litter and were looking for homes. They were free.

I had a bad experience with a rescue dog and would never risk getting one again. I bought a puppy from a local lady who let her dog have one litter, he's been perfect for us.

That's still a young pet but it was still a cat that needed a home and had been abandoned by owners. I know there are sometimes valid reasons people do have to give up pets, of course.

If it were up to me I'd love to adopt senior pets and make sure they have amazing later years. I just couldn't do that to my children who would get attached and regularly then lose them. So I got a puppy. I was prepared to get an 'older' dog, but still on the younger side.

The first kitten I had as an adult was a surprise birthday present - I would never recommend doing this but think this was the best present I have ever had! After she died at 13, a young feral cat turned up on our street. We were cautiously friendly and then suddenly she adopted us and was the most wonderful affectionate and happy cat until sadly she was killed by a car (she couldn’t be kept inside, wouldn’t tolerate being shut in). The cat living with us now was a stray, again turned up. She’d been with us almost a year before we traced the owners, and they had another cat. So 14 years later she’s asleep on the couch.

So odd of the cat shelter woman. Surely the only people who don’t have a road outside their home are living in stately homes

I wanted a kitten rather than a cat because I felt I would bond better with a kitten - if I had to clean up their poos when they were small and cute then I wouldn't mind so much when they were old and grumpy. Also, I want to have one pet for as long as g as possible. And because rescues don't make it particularly easy, partly because they don't advertise well. So much easier to pay £75 to someone who has a cat who was already pregnant when they took it in (from the man at the corner shop who asked if they wanted to take it home, no less) than go through a vetting process.

“As long as you are giving an animal a home, I don't see why it matters if you adopt or 'shop.' I never get this 'adopt don't shop' thing. I find some people very smug when they've adopted a rescue, (rather than bought their pet,) as if they're somehow superior”

Well they’re completely different. There was an article in the Sunday Times at the beginning of the year about the huge numbers of dogs bought in lockdown and then subsequently given up. I don’t recall the exact figures but it’s in the millions. Millions of dogs given to shelters requiring rehoming. Some people would rather try and rescue one of those animals than trigger the unnecessary birth of another dog into the world.

Because we felt we'd done our time having our floors and kitchen work surfaces weed on for years by one of our previous rescue cats. Also the wee problem got in the way of where we could leave her overnight etc so it was harder for the kids to bond with her.

I feel it's highly likely that the previous owner had known about DCat's bladder issues, and chose to conceal it to get her rehomed. Didn't want to run that risk again and felt we had done our bit.

I've had two dogs.

First one was a mongrel puppy, free to good home, in the local classified ads.

Second one was a retired ex racing greyhound that I adopted. Love of my life that hound was.

I had 3 cats who weren't specifically "adopted" from a shelter. They just sort of found me, one I was asked to take after it was found by friends on a building site, one a friend's cat had kittens, one a friend who was a policeman had one that got caught up in a drug raid.
My last two I got from a shelter but we got kittens because they were the ones most suited to my six year old's