Bloody hard trying to get a cat!

[maggiethecat]

First time trying to get a cat and don't know if its bcos of lockdown demand but cannot seem to get one. Have contacted a number of Gumtree sellers (within our price limit) but they don't respond either to availability enquiry or request for viewing information. Even if I respond to ad within hours of first posting. One person did get back to say she had had too many enquiries and that she would update me on availability but has not got back.
I will try a rescue centre although I do prefer a kitten rather than an adult cat which a rescue is likely to be.
How did you get your cat and was it quite a faff?

Adopt don't shop! Most rescues are overwhelmed with unwanted kittens this time of year so you could do your bit by adopting one or two! We got our cat last year as a 9 week old kitten. I remember the rescue saying last summer they took in and rehomed over 60 kittens, and no doubt any animal charity in your area would tell a similar story.

I'm in the same boat. I've had cats all my life and the last family cat sadly died earlier this year. I've put myself on waiting lists for rescue sites and will avoid gumtree etc.

I really want a kitten mainly for my DD. She loves cats and at her age I had my own kitten who I bonded with from the age of 9 until her death when I was around 27.

My dd is an only child and gets lonely and I know just how much my cat comforted me through my childhood and young life. There's something lovely about growing up together :)

I know kittens are hard work but it's worth it in the end.

I'll keep searching!

We got ours from pets4homes. They aren't all bad. The rescue centres never got back to us.. incidentally, 4 months on and they still haven't responded to us at all...

@bottlenose301 I hope you find your cat. My DD is not an only child but with her brothers both being independent working adults (DD is 9) it is more or less the same.

We actually went to our RSPCA centre to view a lovely, but quite grumpy, 3 year old cat. While DH & I were talking to the staff, we noticed DD (then 5) had gone to an enclosure with two kittens in. The one was pushing her paw through the bars to pat DD & DD had quite clearly fallen in love with her.

To cut a long story short, we went back a week later to collect the two kittens. And DD & kitten 1 (now an almost 4 year old cat) have been inseparable ever since.

I think DD must be a natural with cats though, kitten 2 is a lot more shy & nervous - she loves affection but 100% on her own terms. She will come & sit with you but you cannot pick her up. She is long haired & will let no one groom her except for DD.

Please contact a local cat rescue charity. We have recently done this, with great success.
They are bursting at the seems with cats and kittens that need homes following lockdown.

I hated it but ended up having to go on line for one. sorry but nobody has to go online for a cat. Kittens are all very well but reality is that they don’t stay kittens for long and will be that one year old adult cat you’re looking not to take on in a few months time.

When I was growing up we had a cat who my sister got as a kitten from a friend (cats having kittens in one’s friendship circle seemed to be much more common then) and she was pure evil. you couldn’t stroke her without being bitten, she would purr as she did so, truth is that cats usually have far more of a temperament of their own than dogs where it is often nurture and not nature.

I adopted my first two as kittens from the RSPCA 22 years ago, and then when both of them had died I adopted a three year old cat from battersea. She did say at the time that they had kittens in foster but there was a wait time for them and my DS had chosen our cat by then.

Sadly she was hit by.a car and killed some time later, and partly because of that and partly because I have health problems which mean I could end up in hospital at short notice I have decided it wouldn’t be fair to get another one. But if I did it would never occur to me to buy from some random person online thus encouraging them not to have their cats spayed so they could produce more kittens for the next bunch who want a kitten.

And quite apart from anything else there’s the cost. My cat had her first set of vaccinations so I paid for the second lot, but she was already spayed (something which my local vet said would cost around £85, so double that if you have kittens, and she only cost me £85 in total from Battersea.

We got our kittens from a rescue, we were shown several sets of kittens to choose from and looking on their website they are still overrun with kittens now. This is not the only Cat rescue in the area either. I'd suggest you look more carefully at reputable rescues and stop trying to buy one on Gumtree.

@AlternativePerspective not if you have small children, rescues aren’t interested.

Yes to rescue! It took me a while and had to sit on lists etc but we got our brother and sister pair last year. Both as kittens and they came neutered, vaccinated and chipped. Think £80 each. Much more reasonable than online and you know that you're helping reduce the online industry

Our Bro/Sis pair came from CPL as 1yo

Yes they charge £80/cat but look at the prices your local vet will charge to neuter/microchi/vaccinate .

I am always that breeders sell off their retired queens . I would respect them more if they asked for a nominal fee donated to a Rescue and in effect gave the cat for "free" but the donation will weed out the unscrupulous ( always the adverts are this lovely girl deserves a 5* retirement home ...yes after you've bred the be-jeesus out of her and made your money )
Steps off soap box.

My cats shred the carpet outside DD room at night because they want in. Every other door is open, they want DD room.

And the bottom of the stairs carpet because they can !

I was given the job of searching cats . There was a 3yo pair (not related) and this young pair (we have adult DC) . We thought the young pair would be happy in our household and no changes or stresses .
And they grudginly agree

@AlternativePerspective

Sadly I am scared of cats unless I have had them from a kitten. Weird I know but there you go.

I was on waiting lists for months. All my other cats have been rescues.

I did feel i had to buy off line on this occasion.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget

There is a wide range of breeders, MIL is a hobby breeder and she's only ever rehomed when they won't live happily with the rest of throng, most have gone with a kitten.

She is lucky if she breaks even tbh as she shows a couple of cats - it's more a hobby that pays for itself because of the kittens.

Obviously DD got her cat from someone MIL knows and trusts.

MIL is always gutted when she has to rehome any of her adult cats she adores them. The alternative would be keeping the odd one in the outdoor pen and lovely as the pens are that's no loving life.

My ragdoll girl when she was a kitten pulled the sealant from every window in our new build! My Norwegian forest kitten is very well behaved in comparison. He is a chilled out chirping little beastie

MN to the rescue at usual! I have listened to your advice and have checked out a number of rescue sites via cachat.org. Have appointment next week for one centre which charges homing fee of £70 and cat will be vet checked, neutered and microchipped.
Hope we find a cat that suits us!

"catchat.org"

Hope we find a cat that suits us!

Your cat will find you! Make no mistake, they are very choosy about their new servants!

Ahh yes! so we will learn

I've seen lots of rescue advertise cats and kittens. The New Moon Rescue is one in a London area (Sutton).

@70isaLimitNotaTarget
You are incorrect in the assumption many pedigree queens have multiple litters
The majority of decent breeders only have two litters from a queen.

I agree @stophuggingme most breeders do it for want of improving the breed for the future. It's not an easy thing to get into cat breeding as a registered breeder, it is also very expensive. These people adore their animals and the majority only have a few litters from each queen.

The majority of decent breeders only have two litters from a queen

Fair enough - buy how many un decent breeders are out there ? And they do exist let's not pretend they don't
Selling off their queens when they've retired .

I'm aware it wouldn't b practical for a breeder to keep all their cats . But selling them on for profit to me is wrong . Like I said in my post earlier , if they advertised and said "I;m not giving the cat away but give a donation to a Cat Charity to prove you are serious" would be ideal .

But I have seen too many adverts (not just cats , I kept guinea-pigs for years) and the onus was very much on 5 star luxury retirement home needed but I'm damned if I am providing it . Breeding animal next generation has stepped in

That is what is so sad . Done their job now redundant .

I see your point but these are pedigree cats and what they charge for a retired queen is actually a fraction of the price of a kitten. I have a Norwegian forest kitten from champion lines he cost me £650 a retired queen would be £150-200 usually. Retired queens are still relatively young and and yes their breeding days are over so the breeder needs to rehome but they try to do so responsibly. Back yard breeders constantly breed their cats, cats sold to them on the non active register who they breed from, or a cat from parents who were never even registered non active. All they have in common with a breed is the look they are a moggy and at risk of so many health conditions. The cat breeding world is very complicated and actually difficult to get into. It's not like with dogs, to be able to purchase an active cat you need to jump through hoops usually be well known on the show circuit and have a mentor. You also need to know every detail about your breed. Only the best kitten from a litter can become registered active. They need to represent the best of the breed so retired cats are usually a perfect example of their breed so the breeder wants to be sure they go to a caring home. I would have considered a retired queen but I have an adult female ragdoll who I knew would not welcome a female.

I know so many people have issues with people paying for cats but a rescue would never home a cat with us as we live rurally near a road and personally I would never pay for a moggy kitten from anywhere. There is no excuse for them not to be neutered before they are let out. All vets around here offer the procedure for free.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget irresponsible "pedigree" breeders are the equivalent of puppy farmers. Breeders are very restricted to how many registered litters they can have on a year, both parents have to be registered.

It's the same as buying a puppy you should see Mum and kittens, all paper work for parents and kittens should be available to view etc. Anyone shady do not touch with a barge pole!

Most will ask for a small deposit after kittens born and most will have a waiting list and you may have to register with a few breeders and wait quite some time for your "turn" to come up.

My MIL won't have her own site anymore because you need to mate it a lot to keep it happy 😳 she waited for years to get one etc then it had a mild deformity so could never breed from him after all and went to be neutered and become a pet (with issue declared).

Mine turned up at the front door and never left

You are incorrect in the assumption many pedigree queens have multiple litters

I said "breeders" and "queens" in my original post , never mentioned Pedigree .

I'm sure there are lots of reputable breeders with waiting lists for their cats who they look after and scrupulously screen their chosen sires to improve the line of their particular cat .

But I have also seen over and over the same advertisers with their Bengal Crosses (see to be very popular round my way) . What is happening to those cats .
There is a huge market for cats , not all breeders are breeding for a select market and improving the line .