The kitten market is... wow. Has it always been like this?

[Moggyfan]

I've been a cat lover for years - had them all through my own childhood, then had a lovely kitty of my own as an adult who sadly passed away eight years ago. Since then I've been waiting for my children to get old enough for me to be confident they'd be good, responsible cat slaves owners.

After lots of thought, I decided to look to adopt two kittens at the same time (brothers, or sisters). I started looking last week, but our local shelter doesn't have any bonded pairs, and our local rescue doesn't like the road I live on. (It's a quieter road than the one I used to live on, but hey ho... it's their rescue, they make the rules.)

Yesterday I decided to have a look at kittens available privately as I'm realising I may end up waiting until next summer for peak season. And WOW, I've really been knocked for six. Kittens are SO expensive - perfectly ordinary mixed breed kittens are being advertised at £150-350 each.

I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, I think it's probably a good thing that kittens aren't actually free/super cheap as they should be valued. On the other hand, how can people charge hundreds of pounds when there are already unwanted kittens, which is why I was looking in shelters and rescues in the first place? Two sibling kittens is looking like a bit of a luxury now.

Is this just normal now, and have I had an unreasonable expectation about how over-supplied kittens are? Do I need to think about only getting 1 kitten, or is it a seasonal thing and I should wait til next year when the shelter will be more likely to have a litter?

There are always tons of kittens in my local shelters
Can you look further afield

People sadly are using the mum cats as money making machines by having them constantly produce kittens.
The CP centre I'm at has had kittens from 4 litters over the last few weeks so they are still around. Some slightly older-I saw a pair of 5 month olds the other day. Maybe try rescues a little further away but please don't buy from these dodgy breeders.

If it's just my local area that's like this, I would definitely look further afield! I'm just not sure if I'm being realistic - I've hold off looking for another cat for quite a while, so I'm not really on top of what it's like out there now.

Try different rescues. I am in the north and there are still lots of kittens.

Does it have to be kittens? If you want a bonded pair siamese rescues nearly always have pairs in. Not kittens, but young cats. I’m on a bengal rescue site too that often has pairs, but they often state they mist be indoor. And tbh i wouldnmt recommend a bengal unless you are very familiar with their demands.

I’ve just rescued from a very small rescue. An 18m old part pedigree that was used for breeding and dumped when they no longer had use for her. It’s actually been incredibly rewarding watching a cat who has never lived in a house, skinny and scared, turn into a fat purry thing who follows you around for games and belly rubs. The sight of a cat discovering a radiator is hilarious.

If your rescue centre doesn’t like you Road, listen to them. I know a rescue centre that refused to give cats to some friends of ours due to their road, they went and bought kittens (pedigree ones at that) privately - and two have been killed by cars right outside their house.

So it could be that the rescue centre are aware of cat deaths on your road.

I got my kitten privately and paid £40. I am surprised moggy kittens are achieving those sorts of prices.

I hate to see kittens advertised as free, and worry they will be seen as disposable. However, I am surprised demand and supply allow prices that high

Yes, it's the supply & demand aspect that was surprising me, too. I know there are people out there who would over-breed their pets for profit, but I didn't realise just how insane the prices are. How can that be justified if there are kittens in shelters? But I assume someone is paying those prices, or they would be lower.

Must just be your area

Moggies are £10-£60 here

Only pure breeds are 3 figures

Many will be chancers... then once the kittens get to about 5 months and are no longer in the "cute" kitten stage, they will contact shelters desperate for rescue space for the kittens they didn't manage to sell.

What are are you in? I work for a rescue and we still have pelregnant mums and kittens who will be ready in the next couple of months.

Sorry not the question you asked but could you build a catio structure/run in the garden so that the potential kittens/cats are safe? I joined a page on facebook and it's brilliant for inspiration

People asking silly money for moggies is because we are now out of peak season. By the time kitten season gets into full swing they can't give them away.

There are always a few kittens born out of season, but not many. Our rescue now 'running short' of homeable kittens (although we still have tons of semi-ferals that may or may not come round). We rely on these few months of the year (November to March) to home the many thousands of adults that need homes but are overlooked when everywhere is awash with kittens.

There's a notice in our local shop, someone selling kittens for £20, so I think it might be your area.

A friend of mine volunteers at a rescue and they still have kittens, the weather stayed warm late this year. There are also pleanty of adult pairs about, often a better bet with young children.

Sadly I don't think it's unusual.

We got our kittens in May and they were £150 each. Their granddad was a Bengal but intrinsicly they are moggies (Edie definitely has ideas above her station though)!

It was more than I'd intended to spend but timing was important to us as I work full-time, term time only and wanted to be at home with them for a bit, and we particularly wanted a pair of sisters.

The breeder had a mum and daughter cat who had both had litters with a few days of each other.

Last month I saw an ad which I am 99% certain was from the same breeder offering another litter. It would mean that one of the cats was pregnant again by the time our kittens were 9 weeks old . Their mum was tiny cat too.

I called the RSPCA and they've flagged the location but said they can't investigate unless there's proof that they are breeding from the same cat.

@TroubleComesInSmallPackages And that is one of the many reasons why you should never buy kittens. It encourages people to keep on breeding their cats, which is bad for the cats themselves, and very bad for the general cat population. There are far too many cats born for the number of homes available and every kitten born makes the situation worse.

Rescues will be overrun with them again in Spring if anyone really must have kittens. Of course kittens are only kittens for a very short while and there are thousands, if not millions of adults needing homes. And with adults you know what you're getting - with kittens their personalities aren't yet apparent.

Hi there..im in west london..ive been looking for months on various sites..mainly gumtree..prices are outrageous for even the average tomcat..got 2 black 8weeks old kittens today for 25pounds each as the lady wanted them to go asap..that was from an acquaintance..i got really lucky..they are both very different characters and i had to buy everything..spent about 100 today on food/petcarrier litter tray ..scratch post and toys etc ..wait it out for word of mouth is my advice..x

And is your aquaintance now getting her neutered?

Yes..she has 4 adult cats and didnt get the mother neutered on the day she was supposed to due to problems with her young son..of course the cat then went out for the evening.and the rest shall we say is history all the other adults cats were done on the same day apparently..

Thanks, all. I will keep looking in rescues and shelters, but I'll look a bit further afield - I'm in South Bucks, so can look into Berks, Oxon, Beds, parts of London and so on.