Anyone with young kids had trouble adopting a cat/kitten from a rescue centre ??

[nutcracker]

After looking several times on their website, we went today to a cat rescue centre to look and see what they had available. We were looking to adopt one or 2 cats/kittens.

After driving 15 miles to get there we were turned away after being told that they don't rehome to any home with children under 5 as it is too noisy and scary for them.

I pointed out to them that this info was not on their website and they said that it was the policy of most rescues, including the cats protection league. However i know someone who has just adopted a cat with from the cats protection league and she has an 8mth old.

I have now emailed them to suggest that they change there website to include that info, but now haven't a clue where to go to get a cat.

We don't really want a very young kitten and were looking more at the 8-18mth age range.

[TwinSetAndPearls]

They were also pleased that we live on a quiet road, with a good sized garden and that I am aty home most days.

I do agree with the comments about dogs vs cats, i do think our dd at three is to young to be with a dog, Our dog is a Springer and luckily has a calm fun loving temperament as dd torments him and being so big he can't get away. However that cat just scarpers.

Our cat also rules the dog as well even though he must be about seven times her size. She waltzes in front of him at meal times and helps herself to his food .. just to let him know she can!

[TwinSetAndPearls]

We fostered a cat, who was one a few months ago dd was three.

They would not let us have a kitten and they said they normally stick to the 5 years policy they have quoted, especialy if they get the feeling that the cat will become a play thing.

We already had a dog and I ahd had cats in the past and we both come across as animal lovers. we also took dd to meet the couple running the sanctuary so they knew she was quite good with animals.

THe cat actually can't stand my dd and scarpers when dd comes into a room but other than then she has settled really well. But some cats if they have already had a hard life can be hard work with young children and very quickly strat hissing, scratching and biting.

[MissChief]

ditto - cats & young kids seem to have hearty, wary respect for each other IMO. We've had no problems other than minor ones such as cats mewing for food/attention at same time as kids but soon learn place in pecking order.

[iota]

I had 2 kittens when ds1 was 6 months old - got them from a friend - and never had a problem. Had ds2 a couple of years later and both boys get on fine with our cat (sadly down to one cat now).

I really don't understand this attitude of not mixing small children and kittens.

[fee77]

Thats great news for both of you!! ANd the cats you will eventually have - may you all have a wonderful life together

[kizzie]

Hi - we've been passed too but on waiting list. Ds asks everyday after school if our cat is coming to live with us today ....
Hope you get one sson!
Kizziex

[nutcracker]

We had a homecheck with the cats protection league and they passed us and said we can have a cat over 1 year old, give or take a few weeks.

Only prob, is that at th mo they don't have anything suitable. I have gone on the waiting list and am the only one on it waiting for an adult cat so if one comes in they will let me know.

If nothing appears in the next month or so then they said i can check some shelters further afield.

[fee77]

Sorry but in defence of CP, the people are all volunteers. Most local branches depend on people havinf a pen in their garden - my branch has 3 pens to cover the whole of Havering, and if any cats we have in have problems, obviously the pens can be tied up for a long time.
As far as i know there is no policy about not homing cats in homes with children, but obviously they prefer to give you a cat that they know is ok around kids - for the child and the cats sake.
Branches differ incredibly, so if one can't help, contact another one, provided they are not too far away.
hth

[kizzie]

nutcracker - have you had any luck finding a cat yet?
Kizziex

[SueW]

We got our kittens from the RSPCA when DD was just 5yo but we'd already been approved a couple of years before and hadn't gone through with it as we'd been offered a country move before any kittens came up.

Kittens and DD were great. Now we've got two cats who are almost 3yo and an 8yo DD the cats have grown up with. Out of preference they'll hang out on her bed or go to her for fuss whereas I'm only good for food and the occasional bit of fuss and DH is only tolerated for his ability to open doors to let them in and out

[nightowl]

it makes you wonder really doesnt it why some of these "cat foster parents" have no spaces. i think some of these animal charities are far too strict about where the animals are rehomed. i understand they have to be careful and they are looking out for the animals but sometimes it seems they are actually denying the cats a loving home with their "rules & regulations".

[Tommy]

They wouldn't give us a kitten as we live on a "busy road". We eventually got ours from an advert in local paper - just someone selling them. 4 years on and the cat has never gone out side the front door and onto the road as she prefers the back garden. I got the impression that the CPL were a bit "precious".....
I would ask a friendly vet or just ask around - people are often trying to house kittens.

[stupidgirl]

Haven't read all the thread, but when I tried to get cats we went along to the CPL who didn't have anything suitable. We went to another rescue centre (again, travelling quite a long way to get there). We looked round and then this middle aged man (staggering and stibking of alcohol, it has to be said) came out and basically accused me of being selfish, a bad mum and cruel to consider having cats in the house with ds who was then 18 months old. I ended up leaving in tears.

We went back to the CPL which is where we got our cats who were 18months and 3 when we got them. I wasn't looking for kittens, so I don't know their policy, but personally I wouldn't have any qualms about having kittens with young children, I'd just make sure there were boundaries and that the kits had somewhere safe to be away from the kids.

[milliways]

We were refused a kitten because we've got a dog! They couldn't see how we could stop him hurting a kitten. They also said (on phone with absolutely NO knowledge of circumstances) that we couldn't possibly afford to keep two cats!! Anyway, went through freeads & got 2 sibling kittens from house with 3 GSD's (ours is GSD) & 4 years later they are still healthy / happy.

[Cristina7]

Our cat is from Battersea Home. We got her when DS was 4 years 4 months. Most of the cats there had a mention on their tags that they'd only go to houses with children aged 9-10 (or none at all). Ours was the only one with no mention of an age. Maybe because she was quite young herself, they thought between 6 months and 1 year. She was taken to a separate room and set free to see how she and DS interact. DS adores her.

[nightowl]

that looks like im contradicting myself but this was an old cat, kittens usually are fine with kids and many other cats too. just unfortunate that this one wasnt! ive had around 30 cats and this was the only one ever hostile to my kids.

[nightowl]

they said what?!!! ffs! its strange actually as i had a few cats from the cpl and they were always lovely. but turn it around and they werent so nice at all. my friend found a cat in a bad state and brought it to me. (knowing id do something if i could). i bathed it and fed it and tried to take it in but it ripped my own cats to pieces and went for my (then) toddler. it was so affectionate to adults and really was lovely but i just couldnt keep it. cpl had no places so for a while i had to keep it at a friends house that she rented out. (no-one was living there at the time) i kept it there for months, feeding and looking after it every day until cpl finally had a space. what did i get? an arsy phonecall from them a week later accusing me of neglect saying it had a medical problem..did i know if it had its injections etc. i told them time and time again that i didnt know, i found it and was just trying to help and they were absolutely horrible, trying to make out that i couldnt be arsed to take it to the vets and had just thrown it out. they shouldnt be so quick to assume, im an absolute sucker for unwanted animals and theres no way i would ever hurt one. my own cats are pains in the arse but id never chuck them out on the street! fwiw there was no way i could have known it had a medical problem, they didnt know either until it went for a routine check at the vets. made me bloody angry at the time!

[Chandra]

Well... I was refused by the RSPCA in the grounds that they don't rehome animals with foreigners! . But that was the nice person, the nasty one was so rude to me that 5 yrs from then I can't bring myself to speak well of my city's RSPCA!

[Sheila]

Funnily enough I've just got 2 mature cats from the Blue Cross. There was no problem about ds (aged 4) but they did check that we took cats who were friendly towards kids, which is fair enough.

If there's a Blue Cross near you I'd recommend them.

[nightowl]

i think its a daft rule really. ds was brought up with cats and kittens, dd has 6 cats around her, she tries to cuddle them but if they get fed up with it they just run away for 5 mins. the cats certainly never get hurt anyway, just peed off! we also had a kitten from a cpl foster-home when ds was one, they knew about this and it was never a problem. in my experience, cats get used to children...when i brought baby home for the first time cat sniffed her, looked at me as if to say "erm what's this?" and walked off!

[Cod]

Message withdrawn

[Slinky]

I can totally understand when these places are reluctant to place dogs with young children, but cats are quite happy to run off for peace and quiet - and if they find it all too much they can hide under the bed

Have you tried the Vets? Our one has lists of cats/kittens waiting to be placed.

[nutcracker]

Exactly Slinky. I know some kids and pets don't mix, but i think they could of at least given us a home visit to see what we were like.

My kids are kids at the end of the day but they do know how to treat animals with respect and know when to clear off and give them some peace and quiet.

[nutcracker]

Am more annoyed that they didn't put the info on their website tbh, and we wasted the morning finding the place for nothing.
Dd2 was really upset too.