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

We live too close to a main road and a railway line for most cat rescues sadly, but all current cats have come to us via the Cat Distribution System anyway!

Eldest cat was a stray who walked into our kitchen one night and stayed. We put posters up, did social media etc but nobody claimed him. He was approx 6 months old at the time, he's around 13 now.

Girl cat was bought as a kitten by an idiot friend of DSS for his wife who'd just had a miscarriage. DSS brought her to us when wife rejected both the cat and her husband, she's been here ever since.

The youngest 2 are litter mates, a friend got a cat from a rescue but she was pregnant. Friend needed good homes, we agreed to take one but when we went to visit his brother was so adorable we took him too!

I prefer younger cats or kittens as they tend to be easier to introduce to the existing tribe (we have had up to 6 cats although only have 4 at the moment) but would never turn away a stray or rescue that needed a safe space.

Incidentally, of all the cats we've had since we lived here (26 years, 12 cats) we have only ever lost one to the road the rescues say we are too close to.

For us, we wanted a specific breed. Not for the look, but the temperament. I'm so glad we did. We have Ragdolls. They are soppy, affectionate, loving, always want to be by our side. All the things we wanted, especially as we wanted cats that wouldn't scratch our future children. Of course you sometimes find that with moggies, but much less of a guarantee. We've both had cats before, but these are very different for us. One of these was the last one left of his litter and the other one had been brought back to the breeder due to discovering their child was allergic. So he was like a rescue in a way. He was nearly 2 when we homed him.

I was specifically looking for two dogs because I wanted them to have dog company for the few hours a day they'd be without me. I wanted them to be young ish, not necessarily puppies but with a good life left in them and able to be trained. I needed one of a few select breeds because of allergies and size (didn't want two big dogs which could pull me about). I looked in the local rescues, but I barely found one dog at the time that met my criteria, never mind two. It didn't cross my mind to look for rescues further afield, likely because I knew the process to adopt would be likely quite involved, and I had no idea how to go about rehoming not from a rescue centre. This was several years ago when the number of rescue dogs were nothing like what they are post-pandemic. So I ended up buying from a breeder. Not what I had wanted ideally, but I was selfish and wanted dogs.

The cat was abandoned by her owners when they moved, OH was asked to go pick her up and drop her at a shelter (they left her in the empty house 😕) but it was closed by the time he got her. So she spent the night here and never left 😂 turned out to be pregnant and we kept all four kittens too.

Between spaying/neutering/vaccinating them all and mama cat needing both hips operated on she's the most expensive free cat ever!

The dogs came from a breeder, we waited two years because we wanted pups from a specific pair and the breeder held off breeding in the pandemic. Previous two dogs were rescues but between the kids and the cats pups made more sense this time

I made the mistake of going on 'pets for homes' just to see and fell in love with a derpy dope of a kitten.

Other was from a friend.

Got kittens during lockdown. I asked the local rescues first but they were either closed, not responding, or didn't have any kittens. Some said they would get back to me and never did.

It would have been more difficult to get them from a rescue anyway because they aren't particularly close to me, and I don't drive.

Tried hard when our children were young for a rescue kitten. Visited two centres in person and made many enquiries. Not a single one would consider us for a kitten because the children were all under five. We lived in a cul de sac with quiet surroundings and very minimal traffic, had a big garden and a pet friendly home where the kitten could have space away from children of needing timeout. None of the rescues ever did a home visit.
We bought from a pet shop (this is 25 years ago) and the kitten lived a happy, healthy and long life (died at 20) and was a cherished pet who the children adored and treated well.
I can never understand the attitude of rescues towards young children who can be taught to be kind and gentle.

We are not in the UK. When we got our first cat way back in the mid 2000s, we tried to adopt three times and:

a) The first cat was lovely, but after a few days the shelter contacted us and told us that the owner had decided to reclaim him after giving him up (!). Apparently we should have been sending photos and messages to the shelter for the shelter to forward to her to reassure her that her pet was now in a good home. We had to give him up.
b) Second try: we were sent to a private home, which was full of Russian Blue cats. One young cat was terrified of people and hid immediately. Very very scared cat. We were told that this was the one that was going for free. Clearly a breeder who had decided to offload one animal for free as nobody would be prepared to pay for it.
c) We were matched with an animal which on the first day home bit me so deeply I got a massive infected puncture wound and had to have it drained at the hospital. I grew up with cats and know how to handle them gently and did absolutely nothing to startle the animal - it was an aggressive, unprovoked attack. The cat showed weird behavioral tendencies which suggested it had been dumped for being unsuitable as a pet. We called the shelter and asked them to take the cat back.

My husband said we were giving up on rescues and insisted on getting a kitten.

After our cat passed on from old age last year, we looked into rescues again and this time, with the internet being so much more developed, we could get recommendations on good shelters. We were matched with two kittens who are now lovely cats.

I would always recommend rescue over buying a kitten now, but would also like to point out that dodgy shelters sometimes need to take some responsibility for adopting being less popular.

Some shelters have requirements that are truly ridiculous - we have all heard the stories about this.

Other shelters seem determined to "save" every last bloody animal due to sentimentality or obsessional behavior, and as a result they end up pushing or nagging people to take animals that are not what that family wants or are dangerous or full of behavioral/medical issues.

It would be better if shelters could be a bit more practical and hard-headed about this kind of stuff; have high-enough but SENSIBLE standards, and be aware that the world is full of decent, unwanted animal and euthanize those that are not likely to find willing owners for the above reasons (including huge numbers of unwanted pitbull types dogs etc.), and then focus their resources on showcasing and providing homes for a smaller number of animals that are likely to be excellent and wanted pets. If shelters could make sure that virtually every story of shelter adoption was a positive one, we could make some progress in getting people to "adopt not shop." Well-intentioned policies like keeping borderline animals alive and nagging people to take them anyway, result in bad stories which really put people off.

I ended up with a puppy because I wasn’t deemed suitable for a rescue dog. We have a 4ft fence adjoining our neighbours garden (terraced homes, gardens side by side with an access path). We were denied permission to replace or heighten the fence so the rescue wouldn’t even consider us.

While I agree that there are lot's of unwanted animals in shelters, and it would be nice if people considered them before buying, I think it's unfair to claim that people are buying puppies or kittens unnecessarily. Some people might want a specific bread, or simply the pleasure of owning an animal from it's early years. Particularly if they haven't had that experience before.

The blame for the animals in shelters should fall squarely on the fucking twats who bought them without understanding that a pet is lifetime commitment. It's not the fault or responsibility of anybody else who is merely seeking their own pet. They have the option to adopt from a shelter, but they are not obliged.

I've always adopted cats, but I bought my ragdoll. A colleague was about to sell him on Gumtree as his wife had become very allergic, and the were moving to Melbourne. It was quite funny as the brought his wardrobe too, including a ballerina outfit, a leather jacket and a number of rather fetching jumpers. Anyway, I rescued him in a way I guess as he had been confined to their garage for at least six months. I will always have a Ragdoll now, I just couldn't be without one in the house, they are just such a lovely breed. My other cat is a rescue moggy though. I'm not going to judge anyone for buying an animal, so long as they take care to buy from a reputable breeder.

Ragdolls are beautiful but I'd never have them. Allergy nightmare.

For each of our dogs, we wanted to have a specific breed of dog due to the character of that breed. Seen the breed, we placed great emphasis on the breeder and the breed itself is known to bond strongly with its primary family so not the best for rehoming. We were asked if we wanted to rehome a puppy of 4 months which for that breed was already a bit late to do. However due to the docile nature of her, we did and have not regret yes it. Strong family bond is very important due to their role as guarddogs next to them being family oers as we live in a remote area in the Caribbean. Our first two cats were both of specific breeds, main coone and bengal. Now we have a rescue which we adopted as a kitten from a local rescue but it has taken over 2 years to get her to a level of domestication comparable to the others cats, and in order to be able to pet her without being bitten. Never had that with our other cats so most likely we would search for a specific breed of cat next time.

I think there's also the issue that kittens and puppies tend to be easier to train. My cats never scratch furniture or get on the dining table because they were taught from kittens that these behaviours are not allowed. They were taught to always use the scratching post and cat tree instead.

I think that it could potentially be a lot harder (if not impossible) to train an older cat.

We needed a very small breed (small house), able to live with kids and there just weren't any. We also wanted to be able to leave puppy home alone sometimes, which most shelters didn't allow (we both worked at the time and although our shift patterns meant he'd never be alone more than 2 hours, the shelters aren't keen on that). Turns out our non-shelter dog is now never home alone because my job quickly became a work from home job so we would have been fine but we just couldn't lie on the form. So I guess in summary, the shelter adoptive process was too restrictive and our needs restricted the pool of dogs to choose from too.

When we bought our first house, 24 years ago, we adopted two kittens from a family friend. One was a tortie and white, the other a dilute tortie and white. They both lived to be around 17. We then had a ginger boy who just appeared on our windowsill and moved in, and a blue tabby whose family moved away and abandoned him.

When the blue tabby died, a tuxedo boy took over our hearts. He broke our hearts when he died 2.5 years ago, but we've since adopted three rescue cats, one from CP, and the other two from a local rescue.

I'm allergic to cats but I manage it! One of ours is a part Maine Coon, and another is a Maine Coon/Ragdoll. They are all adorable!!

My two cats are ex breeding queens. They are a breed and were 18 months old when I got them. I paid a lot less for them than you would for a kitten of that breed. In my eyes, I sort of see it as I rescued them from that life and gave them a loving pet home.

I specially wanted a kitten not a cat, and the rescue charities desex their kittens far too young. My vet recommends desrxing no earlier than 6 months as they are more susceptible to illnesses in later life if desexed before they are fully mature. I ended up adopting privately.

Or 2 cats are rescue. Our dog was bought as a puppy. It seemed much easier to get a rescue cat (less requirements and boxes to tick).

We were looking for a specific breed of dog, combined with having children (the youngest was 9) AND a dog that could live with cats, which made it impossible to find a dog that ticked all those boxes.

Many years ago I rescued a young dog from being put down at 9 months as the owners couldn't cope. I was working with a friend of theirs and she mentioned it in passing at work, I was horrified they would do this so I said i would take the young dog rather than have it pts!! I had no idea what kind of dog, didnt even think to ask ! Long story short he lived with me until he was 11 years old. He hated all other dogs and as much as I loved him to pieces I didn't want to have to go through the rigors of always being on high alert every walk again.

After he died, for many reasons, it took me a long time to get another dog but when I did I bought a puppy. A crossbreed and I have worked to make sure he is sociable with people and other dogs. He is the best money I've ever spent and as I live on my own he is the best company. He is so adorable that my whole family want me to visit them....not because they love me but because they love my dog....they keep asking if I'm going on holiday so they can look after him!

What I will say is that it has been a great learning curve as I was determined he was going to be sociable so I invested alot of time In trying to do that. In doing it this way i have realised alot of mistakes I made with my other dog. So to get a dog from scratch was a great thing for me and him.

Over many years our dogs and cats have been of differing ages, and pretty much exclusively private rehoming ( mainly from loving owners with changed circumstances) or stray.
We aren't at all interested in breed, but very interested in need.

The RSPCA wouldn't let us have a cat because we live on a busy road. We found our cat on gumtree. Thought to be 6y at the time. She has zero interest in going out the front of the house.

We got the impression that several shelter owners didn’t actually want to rehome their cats!

Our cats have all been freebies. I DO want either a Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest cat one day in the far off future, which will mean finding a breeder. My reasons for wanting one of those is that sooner or later, dogs will get beyond my physical ability to manage properly and once the kids launch, a massive cat to keep husband and I company while still having a fairly ‘dog like’ personality sounds like a great fit.

We’ve only had dogs from breeders for the last decade or so. The one attempt at a rescue dog went back in under 24 hours after it lunged at my baby who was sitting in my lap. Nooooope.

I carefully researched the temperament and needs of the breeds to ensure a good fit. I know what our family can and can’t manage. For example, as gorgeous as I think Huskies and Shepherds are, I know we couldn’t handle their working and exercise needs. For our family, a sentient potato is about the right speed. It was also important for us that it was a puppy, so we knew the history, could work with and train the dog from the start, especially when we preferred larger breeds. A 10 lb dog who hasn’t learned to walk on a leash or still jumps up at a year old is annoying, but 100 lb dog doing the same thing could really hurt someone.

Now that our kids are older, we may look into rescues in the future, but since so many in my area disqualify you if you have any other animals in the home, I’m not sure it will be a viable option. We lost our mastiff last summer, so it’s not something we’re willing to consider yet.

I would never get a dog from a rescue centre. Dogs can be extremely dangerous and I wanted to get one where I can see parents and siblings and train from the right age.
I didn’t want to risk the dog having issues from being treated poorly previously, which is very common.

i’m allergic to cats, so we have a hypoallergenic cat!