Kittens or cats

[WelshMoth]

After 5 long heavy years of missing our old cat, DH has finally relented and has agreed to surprise the DD's
With 2 cats. They have yearned for a cat for so long.

I am torn between rescuing and adult pair or trying to get kittens. A part of me wants a beautiful grey fluffy bundle but my ethical Me is yelling 'rescue!'

Please can you all advise me
About what the pros and cons are of young v mature, rescue v breeder.

Rescue every time. That's a no brainer. Giving a home to an old cat (or even a bonded pair) would be lovely but obviously that comes with extra costs.
A lonely kitten and a slightly older cat?
Google Grandpa Mason and his kittens for inspiration. They are in Canada but you may see what I mean.

Kittens you dont really know the personality when they will be grown. Older cats what you see is what you get. For me it would depend on the age of DC. If they are old enough to know when to leave the cat alone then older. But if they can be excitable then kittens would learn to live with it so to say.

Thanks both. Great advice here. DD's are 13 and 10 and have loads of love to give. I'm
hoping to get the microchip that also activated the cat flap as well. Would rescue cats be able to have these inserted?

Kittens are great fun and a big part of the pleasure is seeing how they grow up and develop their own personalities. Most (all?) rescues will microchip as part of the adoption process.

A part of me wants a beautiful grey fluffy bundle but my ethical Me is yelling 'rescue!'

The two are not mutually exclusive - I've always had moggies - attached is a pic of my beautiful grey fluffy bundle.

And my last four cats (including her) have all been Battersea rescue kittens.

Kittens are lovely - but then you have the scratchy, bitey, ambush your ankles from under the bed adolescent stage. After which you may find your little darlings have morphed into adept hunters / the embodiment of aloofness / think they are mini tigers who want to spend 23 hours of the day outside.
The great thing about adopting adults is that you can look for cats with personalities that suit you - so if you want two cuddly lapcats, you are more likely to get that.

All microchips should work with microchipped catflaps, it isn't a special type of chip.

Definitely rescue a bonded pair of young cats!!!

All have ours have been rescues, both cats & kittens alike, so as above it doesn't need to be mutually exclusive.

If you feel you don't do enough rescuing kittens, take at least one black one, maybe a mum & a kitten from her litter. Black cats are always left behind too long, so that could help your conscience should feel better

Our last kitten was a rescue, her & her brother were dumped in a sealed box on a very hot day outside of a rescuer near to a main road. They were petrified & dehydrated. She's turned out to be part Bengal & is an amazing creature. She's 15 months old now & our old tom cat loves her to bits

Those pictures!

Oh my heart!!!

We're off in the summer and I thought I'd wrap 2 collars and present them to our DD's on the way home then start searching at the end of Aug. Getting excited now.

How old are your DDs?

I got a kitten when my DD was 10 because I wanted to give her the joy of seeing it grow up. She was brilliant with the kitten, really looked after him and he still is a one person cat several years later, every morning as soon as she gets up he meows and follows her to the bathroom and every night he paces the floor waiting for her to go to bed. He pretty much completely ignores anyone else.

I think having a kitten at that age was good, she was still quite boisterous and loved handling him and playing with him. An older cat might be a lot less reluctant to put up with kids.

Here is my rescue grey cat. Had from a kitten, the mum was found pregnant living in a hedge and probably less than a year herself. Our puss is now 6 years old.

Rescue, every time. Kittens can be hard work - there's almost nowhere you can keep them out of in your home, and they have a tendency to run up and down curtains and other soft furnishings, which can cause minor damage. Older cats are usually easier, unless they have had traumatic experiences or poor socialisation - a Rescue will tell you if that's the case.

Whether kittens or cats, by rescuing you are taking two unwanted cats from the many in the world. I would start looking round and meet some cats to see who you fall in love with (and which cats fall in love with you). I have always known instinctively when I meet the right cat.