Cat/Kitten experts please help

[Namechangeemergency]

Hello.
I want to get a cat after the Christmas period is safely over.
I would really like a kitten rather than an older cat.

The reason for this is that I have three small dogs and three kids still at home.
This means we are a busy, fairly noisy household albeit one that is experienced with animals.

I of course want a rescue kitten.

The first rescue I approached were very nice but are clearly not dog people and referred to my dogs as 'a pack' and expressed concern that an inexperienced kitten wouldn't cope.

My dogs are not a pack at all. They do not work in a group and are not best mates.
I am listening to the rescue. I don't want to put a kitten in danger but I have always had kittens and dogs and have never encountered an issue before.

They suggested an older cat (an adolescent) who had lived with dogs.

My biggest concern is that an older cat, once sizing up the household might just vote with their paws and bugger off before they have settled in.
A kitten is much easier to contain and introduce very slowly to different parts of the house and different residents. I would also be keeping a kitten in for a longer period. Something an older cat might find distressing.

I think my dogs would be more threatened by a large cat than they would be by a kitten. They are very small dogs, about the size of a med-large cat.

What do you lot think?

I have never had a dog injure a cat before. I find cats are much more able to size situations up and get out the way but the rescue was clearly concerned and I don't want to dismiss that

SVJAA that happened to us too.
We have a lot of 'feeders' around here.

Its a bloody nuisance. If a cat is having a bit of stress due to a new arrival (human or animal) its not that hard to tempt them away with tuna and fish.

Once they are established its very hard to get them back.

Namechangeemergency I'm happy he's happy, I still see him around and the lady who has him has no family locally so I quite like that they have each other you know?
It wasn't until my other boy was run over and killed earlier this year that I found out all my neighbours used to feed him tuna! I wondered why he wasn't eating so much they were all heartbroken when he died 💔

SVJAA I'm sorry to hear your cat was run over - he sounds a real character! Your story reminded me of the children's book Six Dinner Sid - have you ever read it? (it has really sweet illustrations!)

Sorry about your cat.

Mine went to live with elderly sisters. One came knocking on my door really upset. She had taken 'her' cat to the vets about a year after they had nicked him. He was chipped and the vet told her where he was supposed to live.
She swore she thought he was a stray (a big glossy stray with a collar on) and then let slip he looked exactly like her old cat and they had called him Barney after him.

What could I do? He had been there a year. They adored him. He wouldn't want to come back to ours. I signed over his chip details to them.

Its still bloody annoying when it happens though.

TrustySnail thank you, he was! I miss him very much. No I've not seen it, I'll google it. Haha, he certainly was!! 3 or 4 neighbours all told me after he'd died that he'd wait patiently at the back door for a munch and then tootle home 😂 He was one in a million.

Ooft namechange that would annoy me too! How rude. Clearly he wasn't a stray! It was only after I saw how happy my neighbour was with my boy and also how happy he was that I decided not to let on he was really mine. I do still feed him sometimes though

TrustySnail I've just ordered it, he looks like my boy! Thank you

Oh, how lovely! It's a great book and always brings a smile to my face!

It's DS1s birthday in 3 weeks and our Mac was very much "his" cat so I hope it makes him smile.

Back to the question, we recently adopted 2 three month old kittens, it had been a long while since I'd had a kitten (30years) and I'd never had 2 at the same time, they are destructive and naughty and I wouldn't be trusting them with a dog as they would frankly annoy the poor thing by trying to play.

I have always found rescue centres very picky when it came to allowing adoptions, sometime it seems that only homes with no current pets,1 partner working and the other at home but with no kids under 12 is all they are looking for. We are a family with student DC one of whom spends over half the year at the other end of the country, one rescue wanted to meet all the family before they would consider us. In the end DD and I just made out that we were the only 2 living at home. Deciding that DH who didn't have a free weekend to visit the rescue centre and UniDC didn't count.

I too found rescue centres very picky (mind you I would be picky if it were the other way round) But I had to buy my kittens from someone who hadn't bothered to have their cat spayed.

It was the only way I way I could get kittens at a time of year I would be around enough during the day and the DC wouldn't be leaving the doors open resulting in lost kittens. I also needed kittens otherwise I felt I might not bond with an onset cat, however silly that sounds to others.

They came from a home with shock tussle and haven't been at all phased by dogs when we've been to the vets.

You know your dogs though, and whether they would tolerate cats.

My 19yo cat was killed by the neighbours dog getting in to our garden.

I am pretty sure they would be fine with cats. One has lived with them. The other two are youngsters and yappy but friendly.
Even if I was sure they were ok I wouldn't let them near a kitten for a while. They would learn it was in the house and get used to it being around bit by bit.

I just think a 2 year old cat would think 'feck this, I am off' rather than sticking around to find out.

My dogs are rescues and I had terrible trouble getting them. UK rescues wouldn't look at me. There were no dogs they would home with kids under 12. It was ridiculous.
I looked for ages before approaching an overseas place.

The dogs are happy and unscathed by living with children.

I totally get why rescues want the best for their animals but they rule out far too many people with blanket criteria.

Twats who don't care if their kids torment their pets or if their dog will harm their kitten will just go and buy from a dealer anyway.

Sparkles I really wouldn't put my DS2 though being assessed by someone from an animal rescue.
He has ASD and LDs and I wouldn't be comfortable with someone who didn't know anything about SN judging if he was suitable to live with an animal.

We were lucky with our local rspca place. They are constantly over run with cats and subsequently seemed to be quite relaxed about who they rehomed too. I thought having 3 children (the youngest of whom was 3) and childminding many more plus living close to quite a busy road would rule us out. They did a home visit and approved us. I have no idea if they'd have had different rules for a kitten though. If rules are different for kittens in your local rescue then I guess it may well come down to whether you really want a rescue (something you are clearly very keen on) or whether you really want a kitten.

You could try your local vets as ours are always having kittens abandoned with them. Our lovely wee girl was. We have a bouncy lab but wee girl soon put her in her place-was 0.3kgs kitten Vs 31kgs lab! Lab even gets out of her own bed for wee girl to go in place of her!

We did have a small crate & put the kitten in there whenever we went out or at night, so they were never unsupervised. Also kept kitten contained to a small area of house at first so we could find her as she was so tiny. I also agree with maybe only getting one as two tend to run riot!

I think I do want a kitten.
I always think very long and hard about the sort of animal I want.
Not for reasons of cuteness etc. I was very particular about the type of dog I would rehome because I wanted the placement to work long term.
I got a bit of because I had a list of requirements but they were honestly all down to getting the right fit.

I really think a kitten would work out better but I am willing to think about slightly older cats. Interestingly I was offered a slightly older one but the rescue but I thought it was far too close to Christmas to take a new pet on. I don't think its a good idea to rehome in December at all. Far too much going on and routines are out. This makes accidents more likely (over excitment, strange smells, potentially toxic things in the house, candles and people in and out)

I was pretty surprised that they thought I wouldn't be able to manage a kitten but were happy for me to take on a 'teenager' at this time of year.

They seemed very nice though. Clearly dedicated to their charges.

I totally get why rescues want the best for their animals but they rule out far too many people with blanket criteria

I agree with you - the sad thing is that this ultimately adds to the number of unwanted animals, because as you say, some people will then go to the likes of Gumtree which reinforces the idea that there's a 'market' for kittens/pups that are thoughtlessly bred at home. Rescue centres do a great job, but some of them do need to consider individual circumstances more.

I think the re-homing over Christmas could work for some people though- there shouldn't be a blanket ban on it. DH and I are off work for two weeks so are around to settle the kittens in.

There are surprisingly few young kittens at this time of year though!

Rescue centres have told me before that they wouldn't rehome animals with us because we have young kids. We have a Staffy and also two cats, both taken in because their owners couldn't care for them any longer. Yet when we had a malicious SSPCA report and they came to check them out they were satisfied that they're happy and well cared for!

I have never had a problem mixing animals. Cats/kittens, dogs/puppies and parrots. The cats were always kittens when we got them as it was important that they were taught that the parrot was head of the household and not to be messed with.
You sound sensible OP. Take it slowly...as you have said you will.
A busy household is not neccessarily a chaotic one. I think a kitten or two would enhance life immensely...for all of you.

The person I got my puppy (now adult) from have six dogs which are definitely a pack, and they adopted a kitten, albeit not on purpose. They didn't do anything special to introduce them and the kitten would roughplay with the dogs and as a very confident adult cat still does, and is most definitely the boss of the household. It can be done!

Oh and they aren't just any six dogs, they are all larger breeds including in which you'd mistake for a wolf, a rough collie and a German shepherd. It's hilarious seeing them gently play with the cat (who is not gentle with the dogs at all).

They refer to their dogs as a pack btw I'm not just assuming.

I personally find that kittens are more likely to adapt to things like this as you get them in that important socialising period. I have successfully introduced adult cats to dogs, but not to as many as three dogs. I'm sure you have an idea how to do it anyway but for anyone wondering, I generally try to set it up so the dog(s) have an enclosed area which the cat can easily get in and out of, and do this at night while everyone is sleeping as I find cats more likely to explore then.

I also give the dog something which smells of the cat each night like a blanket, and allow the dogs into areas of the house which the cat has explored so they can get used to the smell, making it less exciting.

Finally I feed them all twice a day during introduction period, and feed them on each side of a baby gate, or dog in a crate. I feed the kitten further away at first and gradually move the kitten closer till the kitten is basically eating next to the dog but safe behind a gate. I always feed the dogs second out of personal habit and my dogs have always been mega respectful of this and will patiently wait till the cat is done before going for their own food. Anyway the cat or kitten gets used to the dogs smell and presence while doing something enjoyable and begins to associate the dogs presence with good stuff. The dogs get a chance to watch the kitten close up, calmly. It has always worked for me anyway, as long as it's all done gradually and in the cats pace.

Good luck finding a kitten OP! I'm very jealous, I love cats (and all animals) and having adopted most of mines as adults the last while, I would love to adopt a kitten and bring it up myself (not that there's anything wrong with adopting adults!).

That is really helpful time
Thank you

Lynette you are right. The time off is an advantage and would help some people settle an animal in.
When I as a veterinary nurse for a welfare charity we did have a December ban purely because we got so many people wanting kittens and puppies as presents.

In our case it wouldn't work because I would need to have time to concentrate. I suppose it surprised me because the rescue were obviously concerned about the dogs and throwing a rather manic festive period into the mix would only make that possible danger worse?

I suppose I was looking at it .....what is more risky? Introducing a kitten during a quite period when the kids are at school and the house is functioning normally or introducing an older cat when everyone is home, there is tons of food in the house and no one is going to be thinking about shutting doors behind them?

rembrant I am thinking along the same sort of lines. A kitten wouldn't be a threat and would grow up knowing who is who and what is what.

But I do get that they are small and very fragile.