Reputable British Shorthair Breeder needed urgently

[OrdinaryGirl]

Okay this is a very difficult situation - I'm hoping you clever lot will have some good leads.

My dear friend has had a terrible year and is now a lone parent. She agreed in the autumn with her daughter's godparents for them to buy her a British Shorthair kitten, which they did, with all due diligence, from what they believed was a reputable breeder.

Unfortunately it was not a reputable breeder. The kitten was very poorly and has died only a couple of days after arrival. My friend has reported the breeder to the RSPCA and is awaiting a reply.

Her little girl believes the kitten is in hospital getting better. For a whole variety of very sad reasons, with all she has suffered this year, my friend feels it's just not an option to tell her the kitten has died. It would be too much loss for her to bear.

So the 'exam question' is:
🚨 Do any of you know of a reputable British Shorthair breeder in the UK who may have kittens ready for homing now or within the next few weeks?🚨

Please don't post with suggestions of getting a rescue kitten - I know how strongly people feel about it, but it's my friend in the situation and it needs to be a BSH.

Thank you very much in advance. 💐

The reality is that reputable breeders have waiting lists, it's very unlikely you would find a kitten available right away. They would just risk repeating the first experience sadly as anyone with purebred kittens to home immediately is likely to be dodgy.

Thank you for the reply viccat. I know, this is exactly the problem, and I warned my friend about this before I posted here. A decent breeder is going to want to thoroughly vet a potential buyer and is going to be rightly sceptical / reluctant about letting a precious kitty go to someone who wants one immediately.

I am hoping that she will find one where the sale has fallen through, or something similar. Miracles do happen...

She needs to be honest with the child.
Is there a breed club that holds details of breeders?
There will likely be a rescue for the breed.
Or just a cat from a reputable rescue.
They’re not like goldfish. You can’t go out and buy a replacement and say it’s the same cat. You really can’t.

Do we also know why the kitten was poorly? Many things are contagious and could be lurking in the home so it wouldn’t be safe to add another kitten. I think there is sadly no way of hiding this from the little girl but it’s an opportunity to teach about responsible breeding and why pet ownership shouldn’t be rushed into etc.

@Wolfiefan and @CatchingBabies I've just seen your replies - thank you. I have reiterated to my friend that my feeling is the best option is to be honest and take the time pressure off, then seek to get a new kitten in slower time.

Fully agree with all that you've said. ✔️✔️

It seems the people who were giving the cat to my friend and her daughter were duped by the breeder, who substituted a different kitten to the one they had reserved. This kitten had mites, fleas etc and was ill when they got it. I don't know anything more (I haven't met the couple who were buying the cat). It all sounds absolutely awful. 😱

BSHs are so utterly adorable, sweet-natured and hardy (and comparatively scarce) that there are hardly any rescue cats / kittens. We sort of rescued our adult male British Blue - he was being re-homed because the family who owned him found that his fur was giving their toddler eczema - but we still paid £300 for him and that was a good 8 years ago. 😳

Thank you again for your replies.

In that case the house needs treating for mites and fleas or any new kitten will suffer the same fate.