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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.

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Original poster

Kittens where to get moral dilemma

17 replies

SuperFlyHigh · 20/10/2014 20:00

I read a thread on here this afternoon and it was talking about always getting kittens from rescue centres. But when I looked they were few and far between (the kittens) and I didn't think to ask MN.

I got my cat through freeads.com his mum wasn't spayed so maybe the owner plans to breed again but the kittens had homes.

Also around where the owner lives there are feral kittens due to someone just letting kittens breed. They're really cute, underweight and Celia Hammond Trust came to get mum or one of the cats recently but left another cat and kittens - they seem to be feral but do get fed by the owner who had my kitten.

Anyway I'm sort of wondering I know it's perfect and in an ideal world you would get kittens from rescue BUT if you do see them in pet shop etc surely it's best to get them then spay rather than leave homeless?

or am I missing the point? I'm not meaning to start anything here just genuinely curious as to others views.

My darling boy is getting the snip this week.

OP posts:

Yama · 20/10/2014 20:06

We recently adopted two kittens from one of our local Cats Protection groups.

We would have been happy to re-home an older cat but they asked us if we'd consider a kitten.

I think there are more kittens being re-homed than you realise.

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 20/10/2014 21:05

Yama - I intend if I get a kitten friend for my young one to go to a Cats Protection but like some other posters here was put off a bit as they had hardly any there! I had no idea that kittens went quickly and if you ring them they have them often!

I do feel terribly sorry for these feral kittens locally they just skulk around and are proper street cats.

OP posts:

NameChange30 · 20/10/2014 21:23

Don't get them from a pet shop, you are helping the pet shop to make money which will mean they'll carry on selling kittens. Get kittens or a cat from a rehoming charity, that way your donation will help to support even more cats not just the one(s) you're adopting. Usually they will vaccinate, microchip and neuter the cat(s) which is a huge cost saving.

When I spoke to Cats Protection they said they have lots of kittens and they go so quickly they don't even have to put photos on the website. So just phone and you might be surprised.

Methe · 20/10/2014 21:26

I just asked on Facebook if anyone of my friends cats had any kittens.

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 20/10/2014 21:32

Another - I wouldn't generally get them from a pet shop but I know my brother when he had kittens (their cat) 17 years ago they gave one to a pet shop owner (I think as a pet as they said they always wanted a white cat).

Yep Cats Protection is the way to go for me or Celia Hammond as there's a few of her centres locally.

Facebook is also a possibilty but I'm not really on it.

thanks all!

OP posts:

isseywithcats · 21/10/2014 00:51

it depends where you are here in yorkshire paw prints in bradford, yorkshire cat rescue in kieghley, kieghley cat rescue, allerton cat rescue and leeds cat rescue have got kittens galore and more emails asking for fosters every day,

i have three fosters for YCR at the moment feral born tabbies when they are not hissing at me they behave exactly like unferal borns, they play, they sleep they kitten round the place, and i have just agreed to take on a four month old black friendly foster girl from a friend of mine who works in rescue but not for a particular orginisation till she finds her a home catchat.org is a good site for finding local rescues

cozietoesie · 21/10/2014 08:20

Is the hissing lessening any, issey ?

thecatneuterer · 21/10/2014 10:20

Hi OP. I'm with Celia Hammonds. Firstly on the question of leaving a mother and kitten behind - this has certainly not been done intentionally. Either we are planning to come back as we couldn't do it all at once for some reason or, more likely, we don't know about the others. Please ring our Lewisham or Canning Town centre, whichever is closer, and give us the details. Thank you.

And I'm not sure what you meant about there not being many kittens. We are having to home around 30 a week from each centre at the moment, and more in some weeks. There is a constant flood of them coming in.

Believe me, there is no shortage of rescue kittens. And if you're in London, there are thousands of them.

cozietoesie · 21/10/2014 10:27

Out of interest, TCN, do you all try to get any pledges from adopters on neutering/do any follow up to check whether adopted kittens are subsequently being neutered? Difficult situation for CHAT, I acknowledge.

thecatneuterer · 21/10/2014 10:36

Cozie - because we neuter the cats in our care (ie CHAT cats - not those belonging to our clients) so very, very young (much younger than four months - and females can be done even younger than the males), it's rare for us to send out any kittens that are unneutered. And we certainly wouldn't give them to anyone we had the slightest doubts about.

Also adopters need to sign a form agreeing to a number of things - that being the main one.

cozietoesie · 21/10/2014 11:04

Well done CHAT.

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 21/10/2014 11:49

thanks thecatneuterer also its not really my business but what would you do about the feral cat/kittens I mentioned.

Apparently the lady who started this let the cats breed - I think she's a country type who has cats for more working purposes, not pets, hence the overbreeding. Celia Hammond has taken in one cat, maybe the mother but left the others maybe they're too hard to get? I feel for them especially coming up to this autumn/winter. They're about a 5 minute drive down the road from me.

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 21/10/2014 11:53

Hi OP. We never leave cats because they're too hard to get. Please call one of the clinics and report it to them. We can only sort out problems if we know about them. Cats being left to breed is everyone's business (well, those who care about animal welfare anywhere).

cozietoesie · 21/10/2014 11:55

As TCN said, best to ring CHAT and explain the situation to them, SuperFly. I find it hard to imagine that CHAT simply left the others because it was too hard to get them - they're made of pretty stern stuff.

cozietoesie · 21/10/2014 11:55

Sorry - x post.

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 21/10/2014 13:15

Cozie that's what my kitten's previous owner said, Cellia Hammond (or it could have been RSCPA) came and only took one, but they roam round a big estate (houses, with gardens). also they're varying sizes but eg a 7 month old kitten looks 5 months etc

I'll ring them myself.

If I was bothered (and was tempted) I'd rehome one myself but Felix bless him not sure he'd be overly keen. They were black too, do you think maybe this is why they weren't taken?

OP posts:

isseywithcats · 21/10/2014 17:23

cozie just seen your post yes they dont hiss when they are out loose and one of them is approachable the other two only hiss when i pick them up so they are not too bad and once they are seperated by adoption i think they will come round as ferals hisde behind each other and bond with their siblings instead of the human in the house

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