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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

can i ask the best place to buy a kitten

36 replies

embeddedclaws · 25/05/2014 22:52

I'd like some advice on where to get a kitten please. Our last was a lucky find, mum was a stray, but I've never actually bought a cat. Gumtree looks a bit dubious to say the least, I don't want to perpetuate senseless breeding, but where is best? I'm ne london

OP posts:
LEMmingaround · 25/05/2014 22:53

Battersea cats and dogs home. So many cats needing good homes.

Original poster
embeddedclaws · 25/05/2014 22:58

I thought of that, but miles away! Surely a cat would hate a big car journey. Our local one does a lot of home visiting, I'm quite private and it's not for me. Nothing to hide though!

OP posts:
LEMmingaround · 25/05/2014 23:01

Cat wont mind. Its only an hour or so.

isseywithcats · 25/05/2014 23:03

celia hammond is in london and always full to the brim especially at this time of year and all rescues will do a short home visit as the best interests of the kitten is their priority

cozietoesie · 25/05/2014 23:05

Maybe check \link{http://www.catchat.org/adoption/index.html\here} to see if you know all your local shelters? There may be more than you think.

CelticPromise · 25/05/2014 23:05

There are lots of rehoming places in London. I should think most will do home visits but it's really not intrusive. We got a cat from Cats Protection, they did a home visit but it only took ten minutes. I don't think there is really anywhere you can ethically buy random moggy kittens because any responsible owner will have their cat spayed.

CelticPromise · 25/05/2014 23:06

Wood Green Animal Shelter.

NatashaBee · 25/05/2014 23:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EBearhug · 25/05/2014 23:16

Find your local Cats Protection League - they always have ones needing rehoming.

Wolfiefan · 25/05/2014 23:17

Please look at rescues. We got our two from Katz Castle in Cobham. Many happy years! (We still have one of the two at 18 years old!)

YeGodsAndLittleFishes · 25/05/2014 23:21

Your local animal shelter.

Pannacotta · 25/05/2014 23:22

Animal shelter or local vet.
Please don't buy a kitten when there are so many cats/kittens which need a home.
I am private but the home visit we had from Cats Protection was non-intrusive and fine and it just goes to show their take their cats wellbeing seriously.

thecatneuterer · 26/05/2014 00:13

If you're in North East London you should be in the catchment area for Celia Hammonds: www.celiahammond.org

We are desperate for homes and have literally hundreds of kittens. We also need people who are prepared to look after a mother cat and newborn kittens until the kittens are old enough to be homed. The fosterer could then keep either two kittens or the mother and one.

We don't home small kittens singly though, as it's too distressing for the kittens. If you want just one then we have plenty that are about five or six months old that could be homed on their own. They are still kittens at that all, just not really tiny and they would be fine on their own.

Lanabelle · 26/05/2014 00:25

Call the local branch of your cat protection. they usually have loads and if not can put you in touch with the right people.

sashh · 26/05/2014 05:50

Why would you want to buy a kitten from someone who doesn't care what happens to it?

thecatneuterer · 26/05/2014 09:38

CHAT do home visits though. But is really is nothing to worry about and they don't go snooping through your cupboards or anything! It's more of a look at outside access/ proximity to dangerous roads and a chat about cat care in general.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 26/05/2014 09:49

We adopted from Cats Protection last year, I was worried about the home visit, but it was fine, only about 15 mins and no snooping, the visitor just looked at the proximity to the roads, asked about other neighbouring cats, ages of our children etc, didn't look round the house at all.

Original poster
embeddedclaws · 26/05/2014 10:23

Just tried a local shelter, sadly the road we are on is too busy for shelters to home to she said.

It's tricky, we have had cats before here. Although it is technically a main road imo it is safer than your average road round here cars can race down as it is slow moving because of traffic lights. In ten yrs here I've never heard of a neighbours cat being hit, if we lived in a house 20yards off the road we could have a cat which would surely roam.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 26/05/2014 10:34

Have you considered taking a mature indoor cat? Many shelters have cats who don't go outside - eg older cats, tripods, blind or deaf cats etc etc. Some of these are quite desperate for a loving home (they're often overlooked because they haven't got 'kitten cuteness') and can be very easy and great fun to live with.

Original poster
embeddedclaws · 26/05/2014 10:39

I would as long as they were ok with children, I'm not sure it's fair for being indoors plus young kids. My thinking with kittens was getting them used to children straight away.

It's a blanket no main roads anyway so irrelevant.

I don't care about looks/ age. Just need a cat that can be happy with children. Ideally two, or mother plus kitten, for company as I think it's fairer.

OP posts:
CelticPromise · 26/05/2014 10:46

RSPCA wouldn't allow us to have a cat on our old road. CP did although they said strictly they ought to home her as an indoor cat. They knew we weren't planning to keep her in and they had so many cats to home... Might be worth a phone call in case there is flexibility.

thecatneuterer · 26/05/2014 10:47

Just because that shelter said no it doesn't mean they all would. We have any number of indoor-only cats. And many cats that are fine with children. If the children are quite young then you're much better to get a mature cat than kittens as children can be a danger to kittens.

A shelter will be able to find a cat that is very laid back and good with children and which also isn't bothered about going out. Such a cat is likely to be middle-aged. The advantage of getting an adult cat is that you know what the personality is like and can get one that will fit in with your family. Kittens on the other hand are an unknown quantity.

While most shelters do have 'indoor-only' cats in your case you would need one that doesn't actually want to go outside, as I imagine with children it would be difficult to make sure that no doors are ever left open etc etc.

I don't suppose you're in London are you?

Original poster
embeddedclaws · 26/05/2014 10:52

I'm ne london.

I've tried a few, the combination of kids and road is a no no!

OP posts:
Original poster
embeddedclaws · 26/05/2014 10:53

To clarify I've rung four

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 26/05/2014 10:53

Sorry I knew that already! I'm sleep-deprived. Duh...

So yes, try CHAT.