Need advice this morning please re buying 2 kittens - help!!

[minimuffin]

Hi - I've never owner a cat before but we are looking for 2 kittens to add to our family. We have 3 young boys so have decided to get kittens (DS1 is v nervous around animals so we thought a rescue cat would be a risk and a 3 child household prob not the best for a cat that might have issues).

Anyway.... we want a pair. Can anyone tell me whether, at 8-12 weeks old, it would be better to get a sibling pair or would two kittens from different parents but the same age integrate just as well? I have found some promising kittens. One is a sibling pair but no tabby, which I had my heart set on. Or I could take one from that litter and a tabby the same age from a different litter I have found. Both litters are British Shorthair cross. Finding siblings is proving tricky, so I'm wondering if I'm being too particular, but I'm keen to do what's best for the cats and have no experience of kittens whatsoever. Any advice? Thanks in advance!!

You can find kittens in rescue...they won't have issues and there will most certainly be a sibling pair.

What want said, ask the rescues.

the breed you have gone for BSH can be a bit stand offish. lovely cats but my boy would sit next to you and not on your lap, and rescue kittens come in all temprements they are not all feral borns, there will be outgoing kittens as well, speak to the rescues as they will know what kittens they have and who would be suitable for a household with young children some rescues will only allow pairs of kittens to homes with young children, and the advantage of a rescue is they generally come, neutered, microchipped, deflead, wormed and vaccinated which is around £150 worth of treatment before you get them which if you go to a private breeder or family littler is around £300 that you will have to find on top of the price of the kittens to start with

YY issey CP round here is a £55 adoption fee. Covers microchipping, neutering, vaccinations, health check etc. Plus back up if help is needed.

exactly sparkling YCR is the same package adoption fee is £80 with total back up advice on the phone if needed etc

Plus depending on circumstances if things don't work out the CP will have the cat back-a real safety net. It's rare though.

What everyone else said - get kittens from a rescue. They are full of them. You should never pay anyone money to bring more cats into the world when there are already too many. There are too many cats and not enough homes. Every kitten that is born uses up a home that a cat or kitten in a rescue could have had, and so they either end up getting put down, or the rescue becomes so full that they are no longer able to take in desperate cases.

By buying a cat you are encouraging people to let their cat breed and so make this situation worse. Be part of the solution and not the problem - get your cat or kitten from a rescue.

Thanks everyone. I will try ringing the local (big) rescue place. I have been watching their website over the last couple of months and never seen any kittens on there so I assumed they didn't have any. PS issey I have read that about BSH - these are crosses. They are mogs rather than from breeders. Not fussed about a pedigree breed at all.

Sometimes the kittens don't even make it onto the website, but you can ring and tell them what you would like and they can see what they have. cats and kittens are coming and going all the time faster than the website!

Good luck. MN rule that you post pictures if you get kittens.

That's right, kittens often don't make it onto the website. However we are only a small rescue and we are getting an average of 25 kittens a week being brought into us, so I'm sure the bigger ones will have even more.

You can also look on www.catchat.org for details of all the rescues in your area as well as some of their featured animals for homing.

Our website just has a banner saying 'kittens now available' when they are.

I would also say though that with a young family you might be better to get an adult cat. Rescues assess the temperament of all the cats in their care and would be able to point you in the direction of very laid back, friendly, 'bomb-proof' cats that would fit in well with your situation. With a kitten you don't really know what you're getting personality wise - it's just a kitten until it grows up so it's really luck of the draw.

What PPs have said - and I would always phone local rescues to discuss. The websites only ever have some of the cats who are looking for new homes so it's worth having a good chat with them.

Good luck.

Yy, just to echo my local rescue never puts kittens on their rescue. They will put people down on a phone list and as soon as another batch of kittens comes through (every week, it seems) they will ring you to come and view. So definitely worth ringing and having a chat. As everyone else says, it works out cheaper than buying a cat and having to pay a vet separately for health checks, microchipping, etc.

On their WEBSITE* I mean!

Aha - just called cat rescue and they said they never put kittens on website as they go so fast. Said to call tomorrow as they may have some for rehoming then. Whole new world.... Thanks everyone!

Yay!! And as said previously it is Mumsnet law to provide photos when you bring your babies home!

Yay! cat rescues are good at matching the right cats/kittens with the right people. They will come out and do a home visit and you can ask lots of questions.

Sibling pair without a doubt best. Mixing of kittens from different litters increases risk of FIP. Best chance of the kittens staying socially bonded. Good rescue best e.g CP or RSPCA. Lots of advice on www.icatcare.org.

Local one is huge Cats Protection centre, and I feel much happier about this a) because they're rescue cats and b) because they said we can go and visit and spend time with them before deciding, which is good because DS1 is so nervous around animals and I'd like him to feel excited and part of it and c) it saves me having to go round to people's houses, which I was feeling a bit weird about and which was about to take up an awful lot of my limited spare time in order to find the right ones...! It sounds as if we can all just keep popping up to CP every Saturday morning until the right pair comes along rather than feeling panicked into buying kittens I'm not sure about because they seem to go like hotcakes. Phew. Thanks everyone!

PS wantacatplease I will try to post photos if and when we are successful

Exciting!

we got a kitten form a family with small children. (moggy litter looking for free homes) Our cat is very relaxed around kids and lets them pick him up, because he was so used to being handled by a toddler. Definitely worth getting kittens who are used to having people around and being handled.

My mum's 2 cats came from 2 different litters and we did that years ago with our first 2 cats. I don't think her current 2 are as close as our original 2 were, but as kittens they very quickly made friends and slept together in the basket.

top tip for your nervous ds is to get a piece of string with a screwed up ball of newspaper tied into the end. it is a brilliant toy for a kid and a cat and no chance of getting scratched because of the length of the string. (just make sure kitten doesn't get tangled in it)

Great! Can't wait to hear all about it.

Keep your mind open when you go to CPL. There's every chance that you'll go there to look at kittens and your DS1 will go past a cage with a mature cat and fall in love with it - and vice versa.