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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

how much to pay for a kitten

64 replies

spanky2 · 28/04/2010 19:09

My friend's cat has had kittens. I said I was interested in having the girl one but it turns out a family member is having that one, so I have a boy one. My friend had said she was thinking of selling them which is fine. But I thought they would cost around £10-£20, and she has told me she would like £40. I have to pay for the injections, the neutering and the microchipping. I feel cross and have a sneaking suspiscion that the family members probably won't have to pay. What do you think I should do?

OP posts:
OTTMummA · 28/04/2010 19:11

go to a cattery and get a cat that really needs a home.
tell your friend you don't want a boy cat so your looking else where.

MrsC2010 · 28/04/2010 19:14

Depends, £40 isn't a lot for a pet but provided this little one will have a good home with her anyway then I would definitely try a rescue centre.

BigWeeHag · 28/04/2010 19:20

Has the world gone mad? Kittens are free, surely?

pointydog · 28/04/2010 19:21

a plain old moggie kitten? I'd expect to get one for a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates or some such.

She's a tight fisted chancer.

GrendelsMum · 28/04/2010 19:21

I'd go to a cat charity and get a kitten from there - the Blue Cross charge £50 for one that's fully injected, neutered and microchipped.

pointydog · 28/04/2010 19:22

I did get a kitten for a bottle of wine and some such, by the way

ImNotBossyBoots · 28/04/2010 19:23

my SIL's dad's cat has had some kittens - 8 in total and he is giving them away free to loving caring homes.

AvadaKedavra · 28/04/2010 19:24

Please go to a rescue instead, there are shedloads of homeless kittens out there

Your friend is being very greedy.

boogeek · 28/04/2010 19:25

I have never paid for a kitten! It's not a pedigree is it?
Rescue centre for sure

3cats3dogs · 28/04/2010 19:26

Yep, kittens are usually free (if of the mog variety)
Go to a cat rescue place, where a kitten will be vaccinated, microchipped, vet checked, and will have a free voucher for it to be neutered, then you'll get a warm, fuzzy feeling that you're helping a poor abandoned little cat, and not lining the pockets of a greedy woman who really should have had her cat spayed in the first place

3cats3dogs · 28/04/2010 19:27

Sorry, the above wasn't supposed to come across as a rant, but it has. Woooops!

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 28/04/2010 19:27

No way should you pay £40.

Go to a rescue place. You are paying way over the odds and didn't even get the sex you wanted.

We were offered kitten and the lady asked for £4.50 each. We didn't have them in the end but would have happily paid it.

fernie3 · 28/04/2010 19:28

we paid £10 for ours, but he came with a bowl, collar and litter tray as well.

Disenchanted3 · 28/04/2010 19:29

Kittens are £50 - £80 on gumtree/preloved round here, just oplain moggies

IHeartKittensAndWine · 28/04/2010 19:30

I believe animal welfare charities advise people not to give kittens away for free but to sell them for not-negligable-not-extortionate amounts. Act of spending money apparently can deter people who would be neglectful or worse. FWIW donation you'd be expected to give to a cat rescue place would be in the region of £40 anyway.

geordieminx · 28/04/2010 19:31

I hate the way that people see having kittens as a bloody money-making scheme.

I'm presuming her cat got knocked up "by accident" (although she should have been speyed), so surely you are doing her a favour by giving a good home to one of them.

What is she planning to do if she cant sell them?

Tis kitten season just now - gumtree/local notice boards are awash with people looking for homes - although most do charge on the pretence of "making sure they go to a good home" which is bollocks - they are just after making some cash. If you want to make sure they go to a good home then there are other things that you would do - ensuring that they get neutered would be the first.

whywhywhydelilah · 28/04/2010 19:31

If she is you friend she shouldn't be charging you that much for a moggy, especially since it has had no injections ect. Get one form a rescue center who is more in need of a home.

pointydog · 28/04/2010 19:31

yep, some mugs will pay £50 and some people will make money from whatever means

Lubyloo · 28/04/2010 19:32

I am collecting a kitten at the weekend from the Cats' Protection League. She is costing £50 and has been vaccinated, wormed, deflead and checked by a vet. She will also have a voucher to be microchipped for free.

I would also get a cat from a rescue centre as there are so many needing homes due to irresponsible owners not getting their cats neutered and spayed.

3cats3dogs · 28/04/2010 19:35

Sorry, just had to add - I can't believe how many people I know who get a female kitten, then say "we'll let her have one litter, cos it would be lovely to have kittens around", then complain when it's harder work than they imagined, and whinge when they can't find homes for all the kittens.
Just have them spayed!!! There are enough unwanted cats around without bloody well adding to them!
Sorry about that.

whywhywhydelilah · 28/04/2010 19:36

Well said geordie my exs sister had a cat that she literally turned into a kitten making machine and it kept on getting pregnant by 'accident'. I actually lost count of the number of litters it had I felt so sorry for it

Original poster
spanky2 · 28/04/2010 19:37

Thankyou so much. I've been cooking dinner worrying and going over it again and again with my DH. I feel exactly the same way. I'm sooo relieved that I'm not the only one who has these opinions. I can now go forth and enjoy my evening!

OP posts:
IHeartKittensAndWine · 28/04/2010 19:38

geordiemix - assume you mean mama cat and not the kittens as even Cat's Protection League don't recommend neutering an eight week old kitten! I agree it's a load of waffle but wanted to put a tiny voice in favour of friend as if you are trying to do this "by the book" it would be something you'd ask for - I know we did last year and then donated money to the CPL.

NOT that we were so irresponsible as to keep unneutered queen - may I add - she adopted us while pregnant and local cat rescue centre asked us to keep her "until the kittens were weaned". We ended up keeping her AND two of the kittens

FabIsGoingToGetFit · 28/04/2010 19:40

My cat went in to season very young and so I had her done as I figured there are enough kittens in the world. I do wonder if she would have been happier if she had had a baby though.

geordieminx · 28/04/2010 19:46

kittensandwine - fab name. No, didnt mean get kitten speyed just yet, but friend should say keep £40, and put it towards getting it done when they are old enough.

The amount of "kittens" I see with litters of their own makes me sick, its such a health risk to the poor cat.

Having said that, I'm no fan of the RSPCA (or SSPCA as it is up here), they seem to have no proper policy for rehoming cats, no proper checks, and favour people that dont work (please note I am a SAHM, dont want to turn it into a WOHM v SAHM argument), for rehoming kittens, when in my opinion people that work can offer a kitten just as much love.

They also have strict rules about "not rehoming this cat with kids" which is absurd. All cats will and do scratch if they are provoked. If you get a cat, when you have kids you make that choice, a cat is never going to kill a child. A child has to learn about respecting a cat and its space, and if it doesnt then they must accept the consequences.

Rant over