How on earth do you get a kitten these days?

[DuchessMinnie]

Grateful for any tips. I have been searching for a kitten for months and just cannot get one. I have tried the local FB pages and Pets4homes and kittens go within minutes of being advertised. All the cat shelters around me (west Sussex) are closed to new enquiries and will only take people already on their approved lists.

I have always owned cats and always found it easy to obtain them. My two existing cats are rescue cats from pre-covid and it was very quick. I think a young cat would fit in with my rescue girls better than an older one, but it seems impossible to get any sort of kitten. And I'm not being picky about colour or sex, I love all cats and have room for all types.

If you have managed to get a kitten recently please tell me how? Apart from the lucky lady who found a litter in her shed, I was jealous of that.

Preloved
Gumtree
Free ads
That's where I'd look.

I don't think I can add much helpful advice. Most of our local rescue places put their stuff on Facebook, so might be worth following a few if not already.

This handsome little chap was up the other day, though think he wasn't quite ready for homing. I don't think my 3 would appreciate another little friend though!

I don’t know. I’ve heard loads of people can’t find kittens. I doubt that there’s a shortage sadly.

We got ours through Pets4home. Was an awful experience though.. realized within hours of having her home that something wasn't right and trip to vet diagnosed an infection.. it was touch and go but she made it with lots of antibiotics and I literally had to hand feed her special food as she wouldn't eat.. the whole experience was awful and I reported the breeder to the RSPCA and Pets4Homes website. Thankfully she is back to full health and very bonded with us as I literally think we saved her.. she feels more like a recue cat than our 5 year old we adopted through RSPCA tbh.

Adopt from abroad. If you look for FB groups like UK cat adoption they will link you up with rescues who bring kittens and cats to the UK

Thank you so much everyone who has replied! @Bananarama101 my heart just melted

It may be because you're wanting just one. Rescues tend to prioritise people who want to adopt a pair (kittens are generally best adopted with a sibling).

It's a bit past kitten season now until early spring.

Contact rescues from out of your immediate area.
Consider a young adult or bonded pair.
Don’t hand money to people who don’t bother to get their cats neutered then flog kittens online.

Ask your local vets

I posted a very similar thread a week or so ago, and got loads of helpful advice.
I contacted Cats Protection and we met our two kittens last weekend, going to bring them home in December.

@viccat I wonder if DP would allow me 4 cats in total... I wouldn't mind at all.

@BillStickersIsInnocent congratulations, so pleased for you

And yes, I hate the fact that people are advertising litters at £350+ a kitten, it's horrible.

We have two kittens at the moment. Pedigrees as we wanted a particular breed but were still v hard to track down as breeders did not send queens to stud during lockdown for obvious reasons so there is a waiting list backlog.

Pets4homes etc will be irresponsible owners most of the time if not worse.

Local cat shelters here have no kittens and long waiting lists but I hear it might be quite area dependent so you could see if any shelters further away from you have kittens?

Would you consider young adults? Impossible to find for the breed we have but if I was getting a regular cat I would do that because kittens are bloody annoying! Cute of course but I prefer cuddly adults to hyperactive kits! Our local shelters have no young adults either but maybe more luck where you are

Definitely search for local rescues on fb. We got ours from our local one about 6 weeks ago now. Good luck!

Your key problem is the time of year; it isn't breeding season.