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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

Any advice on looking for kittens please?

58 replies

Ocho · 29/04/2015 09:18

We'd like to get two kittens or very young cats.

I can see that the local cat rehoming charities don't have any but there's plenty on gumtree. What should I be looking for and wary of?

OP posts:
Jumty · 29/04/2015 14:32

Let the kittens choose you. Experienced cat guardians will know what I mean. Smile

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 29/04/2015 14:41

We swapped our glass panelled door for a plain UPVC one to facilitate cheap and easy cat flap fitment.

We have a Cats Protection place near us and I have been meaning to ask about fostering kittens as they want people to do that.

Lancelottie · 29/04/2015 14:51

Thanks -- I'm sure there are solutions, but it'll now have to go on the Long List of House Stuff that needs doing, whereas my train of thought was more 'we're one cat down, we could offer a home to another one.'

RubbishMantra · 29/04/2015 15:13

In my last house I had a flap fitted through the wall. Cost 80 quid all in. I lock my cat flap at night, to keep them indoors.

Lancelottie · 29/04/2015 17:30

Oh Rubbish, you've reminded me of my cat-mad elderly friend. She had cupboards all round the walls and some reason you couldn't put a flap in the door, so there was one catflap into the kitchen cupboard and a second flap out through the wall at the back.

Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 13:44

ok, so it turns out it's really hard to adopt kittens!

All the charities around here either have none or they won't rehome to a family with children under 5; we have a 3yr DD (and DSs of 7 & 9)

Is it really so bad to have kittens with a 3yr old in the house?

I'm back to looking at classifieds... Sad

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 30/04/2015 13:49

Out of interest, Ocho, why is it so important that they be kittens? You might well find that a mature cat who got on with children would be a far better choice? (And the character of mature cats is much more likely to be assessable than that of kittens where you sometimes have no idea how they'll turn out.)

thecatneuterer · 30/04/2015 13:51

To be fair, it is a bad idea to adopt kittens with a 3 year old child. You'd be surprised at the number of kittens that are killed by toddlers/young children. I had to go to a case myself - it was very upsetting.

Adult cats can defend themselves better. You can certainly adopt adult cats that have been tested as being fairly bombproof - that is non aggressive and tolerant and so good with young children.

With an adult cat you also know the personality you're getting. With kittens it's pot luck.

Rescues want to home their cats and kittens. They don't make up rules for the hell of it. They just want them to be safe and happy in their new homes.

Would you consider a young adult cat or two?

Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 13:54

young cats (6 months?) would be fine too, but there's a couple of reasons really. Firstly so that we can rear them trained the way we want, not having to get rid of bad habits, they might have. I'm thinking things like not being allowed on kitchen counters and stuff. (does that sound daft??)

But also, we wanted the playfulness of kittens which I think the children would really enjoy. I remember when we got two kittens when I was a teen and it was such fun watching them chase each other around the house etc.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 13:57

sorry, x-post there TCN, god that's awful! Sad I had no idea that was a common thing.

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 30/04/2015 13:59

Yes, young cats of six months to a year - they're still small and playful at that age. I've got a couple of nine month olds that are certainly not fully grown and are very kittenish indeed.

Good luck with the training thing though! It's very difficult, whatever the age. and cats don't generally have 'bad habits' as such and you would find it as impossible easy to train a adult cat as you would a small kitten. I know some posters on here have had success with the worktop thing - while they're actually in the room - but there are certainly no guarantees.

Is it such a big deal though? My many, many cats practically live on my worktops and I'm still alive :)

Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 14:04

sorry, but ewwwwww! Grin

But I take your points on board. Gah! I was looking forward to kittens in the house.

OP posts:
Lancelottie · 30/04/2015 14:11

Ours would hop semi-guiltily off the worktops when we came into the room (and do that tail-flick thing to show what they thought of our rules) but I'm sure they strolled merrily all over them when we weren't there.

DH is distinctly unkeen to swap the new-ish, non-cat-flapped doors for cat-friendly ones and reminded me that the reason we didn't bother this time is that the damned animal would just sit by the original catflap, prodding it ineffectually and mewing till someone came to open the door.

Actually the kids used to hold the flap open for her, now I come to think of it.

Lancelottie · 30/04/2015 14:12

Oh, and my childhood cat used to try to open the flap towards herself, start to squeeze through, and jam herself in the closing gap.

Maybe I just attract very stupid cats.

thecatneuterer · 30/04/2015 14:13

Just for you OP Grin

Any advice on looking for kittens please?
cozietoesie · 30/04/2015 14:16

....And I still find myself instinctively going 'Excuse Meeeeee?' when I see any pictures of your kitchen TCN ! Grin

I'm a 'No Kitchen worktops' person, Ocho - it's one of our few house rules - and I've had great success in training cats away from them. And as to age and trainability? Well - Seniorboy came to me at 14 years old and we had to have a serious talk when he arrived because my Mum had imposed no discipline at all on him so he though life was a complete free for all. He came round in a few days although I'll grant you that Siamese are generally easier to train than other cats. I don't think age is as relevant to training as people imagine - a cat would be coming to a new place and you just make it clear to them that there are also new rules. Cats are among Nature's greatest adapters in my experience.

As to the playfulness? Young cats - 6 to 9 months old, say - are still intensely playful (they're really kittens at heart) but, interestingly, when I look back over these many years filled with many cats, it's not really the kittenhoods that I remember as much as the mature personalities of the grown animals. And kittenhood and cuteness lasts for but the blink of an eye as well: when you've had a good number, they mostly become just a blur of 'kittenness' in your memory - but the grown animals always stand out clear.

Smile
cozietoesie · 30/04/2015 14:17

Oh My - she posted that picture. Grin

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 30/04/2015 14:25

We've never had to actively seek out cats apart from the first two.

We just have a steady stream of squatters that take it upon themselves to move in Grin. We try very hard to return them to their rightful owner if they have one, but they rarely do so we mostly just let them stay, providing they play nice with the other cats.

We only have 2 at the moment, the highest number was six. It feels very quiet, especially as one of the two is an outdoor cat (his choice) and only comes in for food and during v cold weather.

I'm sure our worktops have occasionally looked like TCNs - you just learn to wipe down before you start cooking.

Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 14:31
Grin
OP posts:
shaska · 30/04/2015 14:58

I wouldn't get a kitten with an under 5 personally. My DM did though! Two kittens, I was 5 and my sister 2. They were great. But I've had a fair few friends have to rehome kittens/cats that kids couldn't grasp the 'be gentle' rule with. You're risking death, as c.neuterer says, but also trauma to the cat - they can grow up quite skittish as a result of having early experiences with unpredictable little humans. And it's not, in my experience, anything to do with how nice the kid is - just some kid/kitten combos are ok and some aren't.

Counters, I've said this before - mine are perfect about not getting on the countertops. When I can see them.

If you consider that their paws are going to be on everything in your house anyway, and you touch things in your house, it's not really a germ issue. Mine is just about not having them up in my business when I'm doing things. A truce, basically.

Original poster
Ocho · 30/04/2015 15:54

true about the cats being everywhere anyway, but I wouldn't want to actually rub my sandwich on a cat or anything Grin so food surfaces are a no.

anyway, I've located some kittens at a rescue centre a bit further away...

OP posts:
isseywithcats · 30/04/2015 17:01

as people have said contact your local cat charities and get your name on their list i work for Yorkshire cat rescue and the kittens and moms are coming in now, some are reserved before they come back to the centre also look on facebook at your local cat charities pages as sometimes they put pics of cats and kittens up for adoption on there , also catchat.org will have a list of all the local to you cat rescues, a shame you dont live nearer to bradford as there are several cat rescues who all have kittens for adoption at the moment

UptownFlunk · 02/05/2015 22:47

I've never had a problem with cats on work surfaces OP, mine have all been easily trained not to go on them. Cats can be kittenish for a long time and will definitely still be very playful at six months old.

Original poster
Ocho · 03/05/2015 14:32

We've just paid a deposit on a 10 month old boy at a cat rescue place Smile

He's big, mainly black, with a white, very handsome and seems friendly. Decided to be sensible and not go for the kittens. I can go and get him on Wednesday

Also there was a beautiful grey nursing mum who needs rehoming, but she won't be ready for a few weeks. Any thoughts on whether it's a good idea to get her as well? I just love grey cats...

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 03/05/2015 14:47

It depends on how your new boy is, he might not want a sister or he might love it.

B&W are usually soppy lap cats so you've chosen well.

Greys are very desirable at the moment so if you decide not to get her she won't be there too long whereas he'd have been overlooked for ages.

How exciting for you.

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