Would you get a cat from Pets4homes?

[Janus]

We lost our 2 cats over the last year and would like to get another. We were looking for a rehome but because we have dogs (even though they’ve lived with cats all their life) this is proving very difficult.
So my daughter found an ad on pets4homes for a pedigree short hair that needs rehoming, she’s 2. They want £600. I’m not adverse to paying if I know this is genuine so I’ve asked the circumstances of why they need to rehome her.
However, I have a niggle that I’ve read not to buy from this website but cannot find anything.
Does anyone have experience of this?

We rehomed ours from there. They were free and the lady video called us to have a chat before agreeing to hand them over. They had all their GCCF forms, vaccination stamps etc.
I'd be wary of the price and want to see paperwork. Also be worried if you're not vetted in any way.

The rescue I used do re-home to families with dogs and children. My daughter is 8. They have Cats in different U.K. foster placements. If you have Instagram have a look at Helgas Hounds and Wreckit’s Rescue.

Do you mind if I ask a general question about breeders to people who know about these things. You suspect this cat has had mutiple litters but is still only 2. I’ve seen another case of an apparent breeder selling off her 2 year old cat. Why would they not continue breeding with the same cat since 2 seems quite young still. Is there an issue with health issues once they’ve had a certain number of litters ?

Sorry - hope this hasn’t diverted the conversation too much.

Be very careful about getting a cat that's possibly been used as a backyard breeding queen. I have two rescue Persians who were queens from a kitten farm. We've had humongous vets Bills. And one died aged only 8.

I did during lockdown but I checked the breeder out with the GCCF first. So many scams on there but many genuine breeders also post ads so you just need to do your homework.

Isn't there some legislation around this now? Sympathise that it's hard to get a cat who is good with dogs but there are lots of local rescues so worth getting in touch with them all. £600 is a lot of money if you don't know if she is good with dogs (unless I've misunderstood?). Good luck!

Seems like a lot of money for a cat of dubious provenance.

Thank you so much. Messaged the owner again asking for vet records and he said the vet has them so he can’t give them to me but will give the vet’s details to new owners! Told him that’s not correct and he should obtain them as others will ask but told him I’m walking away.
I have looked through cats protection again but none near us suitable, again mostly feral or very nervous which wouldn’t be fair to bring them to a busy house with dogs.
However, I am now aware of the GCCF and this is looking promising. I think a kitten who would then grow up with our dogs is probably going to be the most successful way to go.

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.

Do you want a pedigree? If so, I'd try a breed-specific rescue, where you can be confident that the info you are being given is in good faith.
I'd be wary of buying privately, personally - but I used to work as a vet receptionist so probably saw more of the downsides than most (people buying pets on gumtree etc who turned out to have expensive chronic conditions etc...).
Our lovely moggie kitten was £95 from the RSPCA, he was neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

Our original kittens came from Battersea. But we don’t live anywhere near there any more. It seems much harder to either find kittens or be accepted than it did over 15 years ago. Maybe that’s a good thing!

Whilst I think it's a good idea to charge enough for an animal to deter people from treating getting a pet as a trivial manner, in my experience you should pay less than a kitten of the same breed.
Definitely look at club breeders and be prepared to travel for a specific breed.
A friend of mine has 2 gorgeous BSH from a breeder in Lincolnshire. She travelled from Yorkshire to get them.

Kitten seasons over now though.

The rspca have a filter to include loving with dogs, I did it for my city and there were 43 cats up for adoption who could live with dogs.

Worth a look

Living with dogs not loving!

@Janus

Have a look at World Animal Friends or World Animal Friends cats for Adoption on Facebook. They rescue cats and kittens from overseas. I've got 4 and they've all been so loving from day 1. I've also got 2 dogs and because they're quite often abandoned street cats they're used to dogs.

Think they're only £150 ish.

@Janus

www.facebook.com/WorldAnimalFriendsAdoptMe/

I did yes, but it was an adult cat and I placed the advert. So they enquired with me, rather than me looking at adverts