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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be annoyed that I can't get hold of a kitten anywhere?

95 replies

WimpleOfTheBallet · 08/02/2011 20:46

We want a family cat...we're in the right position finally to commit to one and no bloody shelters are returning my calls and emails.

I understad that it might not be season yet...I thought though that they'd get back to me to perhaps do a ouse check now?

I sent emails and phoned up around 5 different places over the last 2 weeks nd not one reply!

I look in the paper and it's all Maine Coones and things for 300 pounds!

We just want a nice kitten! More than happy to pay for it and get our home looked at...WHY! Why won't they call us?

OP posts:

cantspel · 09/02/2011 09:49

All my cats bar one have been rescue cat between the ages of one and two and the ones that are hard to home. For some reason people dont seem to want black cats or rehome cats who come in pairs. I would hate to split a pair of cats that have always been together so even though people wanted the cute tabby they didn't want his black companion so i took them both. I also then took on a black kitten who was left in a small pet shop window in the small bit of summer sun we get.
The kitten was a nightmare and i spent months removing him off my curtains where the older two were a dream and never so much as scratched the carpet.

JawasUK · 09/02/2011 09:54

If it is any help, my sister in law currently has some kittens and is looking for homes for them. She is in St. Neots.
Mail me if interested

Capreece · 09/02/2011 09:55

heh - the cats' protection fosterer my boys came from had 27 kittens to look after last time I rang her - she was up every two hours hand feeding. This was on top of all the adult cats she was caring for as well!

It always took her a while to call me back

FWIW - I can;t recommend the Cats' Protection enough. Our fosterer is absolutely wonderful and, two years later, she is still interested in how the boys are getting on and even lent us some essential equipment when one of them was poorly last summer. Amazing woman :-)

Good luck finding your new family member!

Original poster

WimpleOfTheBallet · 09/02/2011 10:21

Thanks for all the links and advice people...I just found a one year old male cat in the next village and the owners are looking for a new home as their older cat keeps picking on him.

The ad only went up this morning!

He's lovely..black with white paws and white nose....he's apparently very frendly and is used to smaller kids as the family have three girls. He's also chipped, snipped and vaccinated....the lady told me to come and meet him in the morning!

Aaah.....he's very cute!

OP posts:

Original poster

WimpleOfTheBallet · 09/02/2011 10:21

Now. Can anyone reccomend an affordanle pet insurance please?

OP posts:

Capreece · 09/02/2011 10:41

We use Sainsbury's, just look around for who is offering a good deal when you sign up, but the most important thing is that you MAKE SURE YOU GET THE LIFELONG/ENHANCED INSURANCE!

I cannot stress this enough. It means that if your cat develops a lifelong condition (like diabetes, for example) then he will be covered for the duration (up to a financial threshold - £7k for us).

8 months after getting our boys one of them got very sick with a lifelong condition and cost the insurance company £5k. If it hadn;t been for the higher level insurance we would have had to had him put down, aged 1. It would have broken my heart, he is the sweetest cat. £11 a month is nothing in comparison - it has already paid for itself!

Ivegotmrbitey · 09/02/2011 10:58

Sounds lovely wimple! In my experience (and I am sure there are many who will disagree) neutered male cats are more cuddly and calm. My little tom is eleven months old now and very much still a kitten! Tesco were the cheapest compreshensive pet insurance for us.

Capreece · 09/02/2011 11:08

Oh, I'll agree. As a general rule neutered males have the most lovely temperaments (however there are exceptions both ways, as with everything!)

Gah - cat mad woman here. Good thing I'm married or I'd be getting a reputation ;-)

Jux · 09/02/2011 15:08

Ah lovely. So glad. When are you bringing him home? Put up a pic on your profile.

GMajor7 · 09/02/2011 15:15

Piccies please! Now where's my beautiful boy as I want to give him a big cuddle!

QuietTiger · 09/02/2011 16:36

Hope it works out Wimple, the one year old cat sounds perfect!

I've found both Direct Line & Pet Plan very good. They pay out without problem (Direct Line got taken for the best part of £3500 after I had insured my cat for less than 3 weeks and had only paid the first months premium of £11 when he broke his leg) and Pet Plan have forked out a similar sum for my elderly dogover the last 18 months.

I've also heard good things about M&S insurance.

Original poster

WimpleOfTheBallet · 09/02/2011 17:45

Ooh I will Jux!

As lomg as the owner deems me fit for her cat!

[afraid she won't choose me!]

OP posts:

Upsy1981 · 09/02/2011 17:57

It's not really kitten 'season' yet, but there will be a few around. We decided we wanted our first kitten in January and started ringing around. After getting told by several places that it wasn't season, we called a vets and they had one that had been abandoned and found in a bin at only a week old. One of the vets' nurses had hand reared him and she allowed us to take him at only 5 weeks as I'd had cats all my life and knew how to look after them. Ordinarily he wouldn't have be able to come with us until about 9 weeks.

So I suggest trying vets and maybe just going along to a couple of shelters in person.

But YANBU to expect people to call you back, I can't stand places that don't call you back! I know they are busy at these shelters/not always manned, but we called a few before Christmas asking them to take in a homeless cat who had decided it wants to live with us (we can't let it, we have 3 of our own and it was causing ours a lot of stress coming in all the time) and they all said how full they were-you think they'd be pleased to get one rehomed!

Good luck!

Upsy1981 · 09/02/2011 18:26

Oops just seen you may have got sorted, that'll teach me for trying to reply and cook dinner at the same time!

Hope it all works out!

LifeInTheSlowLane · 09/02/2011 18:45

I got tesco pet insurance - they were doing a 50% off offer online till end of feb I think, plus a discount if you have a club card.

Jux · 09/02/2011 21:26

She must. Give us her address and we'll write to her telling her what a wonderful, loving, kindly, responsible owner you are. We have all known you for years and cannot praise you highly enough.

Original poster

WimpleOfTheBallet · 09/02/2011 23:19

Thank you very much Jux! I will refer her here if she requires any references!

OP posts:

issey6cats · 10/02/2011 01:22

hello i have joined in with MN just to reply to this thread, explanation i work as a volunteer at haworth cat rescue, right kittens when we have any available there is usually a que right up the lane for them as everyone wants a kitten, some people have to come more than once as demand outstrips supply,
upsy the reason you got told the centers were full is probably because for every cat we do find a home for (and we do rehome a fair few) there are ten cats on the waiting list to come into the center and every center only has so many pens,
locally to us a center in leeds has closed down so anyone who was going to phone them now phones us, the rspca have tightened up thier policy on which cats they will take in and strays are not on thier list so all the people who phone them then phone us,
we have nearly 500 cats on our waiting list and fourteen pens, all the workers are part time volunteers and our policy if someone rings up wanting a kitten is to let them know when approximately kittens will be available on saturday morning and ask them to ring us thursday or friday afternoon as we know who is in and how many kittens are available

pugly · 10/02/2011 10:05

Hi Issey!! I have you guys on FB and foster for a Blackpool rescue :) Keep up the good work!! :)

woollyideas · 10/02/2011 10:40

If anyone is considering getting a kitten from Battersea Dogs Home be VERY careful. Two years ago my sister got a kitten from them and it was completely feral. As soon as she got it home it hid in an inaccessible cupboard and no amount of coaxing would get it out while they were in the room. The poor thing was clearly terrified, totally unused to being handled and definitely not suited to being rehomed in a family. It spent two weeks in the cupboard while they tried everything to get it out (leaving its food just outside the cupboard, etc., sitting in the room very quietly, trying not to startle it). If they managed to get a hand anywhere near it, it panicked and would start biting and scratching. Her calls to Battersea Dogs Home for advice were completely ignored (answerphone/no returned calls) and my sister and BIL felt awful - guilty that they were somehow doing something wrong (although both have had cats all their lives) and frustration because they had an unusable cupboard that was literally full of shit - not to mention an extremely smelly house.

They finally managed to capture the kitten and at their wits end returned it to Battersea, who took the kitten back without any problem. They were completely indifferent to my sister's distress and who knows if they tried to re-home it again.

TBH I was completely shocked. How could a place with Battersea's reputation do this? Talk about inflicting misery, both on the kitten and the family. Incidentally my sister had paid about £65 for the kitten, only to go through this experience.

(Happy Ending: They got two 6 month old brothers from the CPL a few months later and everyone's happy - cats and humans!)

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