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

Original poster

Buying kitten privately

18 replies

BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 11:44

YO.

My mum is in her sixties, we recently lost my dad. She lives alone, and has decided to get a kitten. She grew up with Siamese and we always had them as children. For nearly six months we have checked rescues but - no surprise - siamese very rarely come in. (My Siamese boy is from a rescue, but he is old, with one eye Grin )

I've talked to her about different breeds but she is set on a siamese. Happy to have half siamese, the pedigree is not important. She has found a kitten for sale which is four months old. The owner has health problems and is selling, with, I believe the blessing of the breeder (the queen also being sold)

I'm pretty skeptical. He is being sold for 250 pounds. I've seen a lot of cats in rescues because of health reasons. He is uneutered. What advice can I give her before she buys? This is money my dad left her do is his Christmas gift to her. I don't want to see her ripped off. What papers do we need to see? Breeder papers, vaccinations, health records? We've only ever adopted from shelters before.

CHEERS.

OP posts:
isseywithcats · 07/12/2014 12:04

i would get your mom to ask the name and contact number of the otriginal breeder of this kitten and check that A this person is allowed to sell the kitten because a good breeder would take back a 4 month old, and B what health checks this kitten has had, if you go onto catchat.org there should be contact info for siamese rescues in this country, or google siamese cat
rescue

Micah · 07/12/2014 12:10

Have you looked at the breed specific rescues?

www.siameserescue.org.uk

www.adoptacat.org.uk

Www.ocwt.org

www.catchat.org/adoption/pedigree.html

And that's just the first page of Google.

cozietoesie · 07/12/2014 12:44

I'd be seeing if I could contact the breeder to confirm the situation. A proper Siamese breeder won't let a kit go until it's 13/14 weeks old so that kitten has done one heck of a fast turnaround. (Not impossible I know but still.......)

If you contact any of the rescues, try and have a word/email correspondence with one of the welfare officers - there are frequently cats who are not on the websites for various reasons.

(If your Mum is set on a Siamese, I quite understand - I've had them all of my life and I wouldn't have any other cat as my 'personal' boy.)

KareninsGirl · 07/12/2014 13:03

Is there no option of rescuing? There are plenty of cats and kittens needing a forever home out there...including siamese Smile .

Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 14:37

Hi we've contacted the area specific person of the Siamese rescue by email and phone but they have yet to respond. We can only really rehome close by so two counties really. Any further will be stressful for mum to drive and cat Sad

We're looking around Devon & Cornwall. Loathe to use Gumtree. I will try to contact breeder. Thank you!

OP posts:
Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 14:59

Just spoken to mum. Seller IS the breeder. Kitten was bought and returned to her for health reasons of buyer. Papers etc are there. Happier to use rescue but xan't find any cats locally :(

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Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 17:14

Me again. Kitten has gone. We are still looking. If we look further afield can rescues arrange travel if we cover costs do you think?

OP posts:
BelleateSebastian · 07/12/2014 17:24

I bought a Siamese kitten recently, most go for £300-£400, mine was £200 as the they weren't registered/hadn't got papers, the breeder had initially been asking £300 for them but there seemed to be a lot around at the time so she reduced him.

Whether it is coincidence or not but he has had some health problems which have cost us over £200 so far - so maybe false economy! I wouldn't swap him though!

Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 17:29

Belle I bet he's GORGEOUS tho. I was warned of this when I got my boy. He is a pedigree and they can have lots of health probs. Apparently Siamese are prone to tender tummies! I love him so much despite the fact he looks like a little hairy pirate.

We will keep looking. Problem is the ones I've seen are so far away from where she is based, and I don't like the idea of buying one from an advert. I have joined a FB group for cat rescue so will put a wanted ad up.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 07/12/2014 17:41

It's a bad time of year for buying kittens - most reputable breeders won't have kittens ready round about Xmas time. (I recall, quite coincidentally, trying to get one around that time and the Third Degree I had to go through was exceptional even by Siamese breeder standards.)

It also might not be the best time of year to have a new kitten what with Xmas festivities etc.

Is there any chance that you can put your Mum in mind of getting one in a few months rather than right now?

Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 17:52

Thing is, she doesn't particularly .want a kitten - just a youngish cat (under 5, say) so again, ideal rescue age. It just so happened that this kitten came up and he was an applehead old-style like our old boy was. We have called a few local rescues and have interest registered as home offered. Now I suppose we just wait. She works a couple of days a week but is off for FESTIVE SEASON so thought would be good to be at home with puss. Dreading what rescues will look like after Christmas poor babies Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 17:52

OMG my lack of punctuation in that last paragraph tho.

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BelleateSebastian · 07/12/2014 18:52

There are a few Siamese rescues around, good luck :)

cozietoesie · 07/12/2014 19:00

I think I'd be inclined, after Xmas, to drop the main Siamese rescue an email/give one of the welfare officers a call and discuss the situation. Micah gave you the link but here it is again.

Most of their cats seem to be located in the South of England so I don't know what the score is on travelling. I recall that when I picked up Oneago, the first leg of his journey home was about 7 hours and he didn't seem at all concerned as long as his best profile was turned to any lurking cameras (little poser that he was) but I'm not such a good traveller at the moment so I'd maybe be querying whether they'd be OK with using a pet transport service - at least as an option.

If the cat for her hasn't turned up yet, I'm of the belief that he's still out there somewhere so I can only wish her good luck. (A poster here recently found a Siamese rescue boy after the longest search and I bet you'd find that she wouldn't swap him now for anything: he's her lad.)

Original poster
BustyDeLaGhetto · 07/12/2014 19:05

Thanks cozie I've said the same to her. The right one will come along. We've both called and left messages for the area person of that site but had no response. Perhaps will try someone from another area and see if I can get an email address. Ironically most of the rescues on that page are in my area but if I got another Siamese my boy would hit the roof Grin

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 07/12/2014 19:09

Oh they'll get back to you - maybe not within 10 minutes but stay cool.

Good luck.

cozietoesie · 07/12/2014 19:12

PS - the email for the main rescue is on the link I gave you - under the 'Contact' stuff. That's the email for the Welfare Officers and you could always mark it FAO etc if you wanted to get a particular one.

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