Kittens or cats?

[Poledra]

We have previously had 2 cats, who we adopted when they were 10 years old. They have both now gone, and we're looking into getting another cat (or two!) and would prefer to rescue if possible. The two older cats we adopted were DH and my first foray into cat ownership, and it all went surprisingly well . It should be even easier this time as DH is now at home all the time, so the cats would not be left on their own very much at all.

Our DDs (15, 13 and 11) are keen to get kittens. Just how much harder are kittens than cats? Will they be house-trained (I prefer the cats to poop in the garden where i can then clean up, though they would have a litter tray at first)? Will the house get wrecked? Note: the soft furnishings are already cat-worn, I'm more thinking about whether things will get knocked down/broken due to kitty stupidity.

Finally, for reasons I prefer not to go into here, DH is not keen on having a home visit from a rescue centre. Will rescues insist on having a home visit? Or will the fact we have successfully cared for two cats to the grand old ages for 14 and 16 speak for us instead?

Thanks!

What's the problem with a home visit exactly? (I'm not asking you to tell us). It's really only to look at access to roads/the garden/where you would put a tray/how you would keep them in without losing them for the first few weeks. They don't care about how tidy/nice the house is. They don't go nosing around.

Most rescues do home visits. There are some that don't but as I said, what's the problem? (I know you don't want to say here - I'm being rhetorical).

Kittens are harder than cats certainly. They don't usually need litter training (it's sort of in built), but the constant zooming around is a bit wearing. Regardless you can't count on being able to do without a litter tray altogether (I'm guessing you have a cat flap?), whether you get kittens or adults. Many cats prefer to have access to an inside tray, if only for when it's cold/raining outside.

Ime it is nice to rescue a pet but getting kittens is amazing. ..
Mayen ring around some cat places and see if they have any kittens?
Covers both angles!!

Well yes of course - you should only get kittens from a rescue also - otherwise you're just encouraging irresponsible breeding. You should never buy kittens from anyone.

As someone whose last cat was a rescue cat, we then went without any cats for around 3 years and have recently got a kitten, go for a rescue cat, it's been years since we last had a kitten and I'd forgotten how crazy kittens are, sofa now scratched, he climbs up our curtains, chewed our kitchen blind and broke a gorgeous lantern I recently bought by knocking it off my windowsill. He is still absolutely gorgeous and so funny but I can't wait til he can be outside and get rid of the stinky litter tray.
Here's a wee photo anyway!

Get a rescue cat.
Home visits aren't that scary or bad, normally only a quick visit, you've had cats before and your kids are older etc it should be a breeze to be approved. Finding kittens right now might be tougher

We adopted from Battersea and as we weren’t super close they took a reference from our vet rather than doing a home visit. We adopted a pair of older kittens that were estimated at 6-9 months, sadly only 1 is still with us, but we didn’t have any typical kitten behaviour and they’ve always been very chill if a little nervous.

One of the main advantages when you get adult cats is that you'll already know what their personalities are like. A pair of friendly, sociable adult rescue cats will be friendly and sociable. If you get kittens, you just don't really know if they'll turn out to be really clingy or aloof and avoid you when they grow up... You could also consider older kittens - less crazy than the 10-12 week ones but still young (around 6-10 months olds for example).

As others have said, the home visit is not that bad - rescues want to home their cats, and by the time you have been pre-screened to have a home visit, they will be looking for reasons to home cats with you, rather than reasons not to! And the people who do them have seen every type of home and won't judge. Most of the time it's helpful in matching the right cats to your family. I believe most branches of Cats Protection don't do home visits these days due to lack of volunteers to do them however...

The home visit is to check your not animal hoarders with a lily farm in the back garden & a cat flap that opens onto a motorway.

If it’s “lived in” surely that says you don’t mind cats traipsing mud in all winter.

Cat! We reduced our wonderful male 5yo cat last year and he's been wonderful.
No need to house train or any thing. He's never made a mess.

Also there was no home visit. We visited on the one day, picked him, signed the paperwork and collected him the next morning.

Had lots of cats over the years but ones that stick in my mind we’re from rescue - mum n daughter
Such a lovely pairing and ticked all our n hopefully their boxes
Sadly Mum was killed in a road accident 6 years later her DD lived with us for another 15 years

Ive had both and I’d go for an adult or older kitten. Their personality will be established, they will already be neutered, and you will have more choice (if that doesn’t sound too unfeeling). It’s not like wanting a puppy because older dogs may be harder to train and may have bad habits etc. Cats are what they are.

Most rescues will do a visit. I got my first and oldest cat from a rescue that didn’t but that was 20 years ago.

OK, thought I'd come back to update. We decided that we'd look for older kittens/young adults. We visited a number of local rescues, and didn't find a suitable kitty, but did have conversations with the people there about what we were looking for and our previous experience.

Long story short, got a call from one of the local rescues asking if we would consider taking a pair of 16-week old kittens, brother and sister. Visited them one day, took them home the next! They were very shy to start with but are gradually coming out of their shells. Children are totally in love, DH is pretending not to be but cossetting them terribly. I get the least attention as I'm out of the house all day and am not the Giver of Food.

Kitty zoomies are hilarious, BTW

Rescue are keeping in touch, they can visit any time with 48 hours notice, and DH is OK with that, as he can see they need to be certain the kittens are well cared for.

Thanks for all the advice!