Where did you get your cats from?

[cloudjumper]

We are looking to get a new cat (or 2) - can I ask where you got yours from and how (un)complicated it was? I've started looking at a local shelter and RSPCA, what else is out there?
It's obviously all much less straightforward at the moment due to COVID, no visits to the shelters etc to meet potential matches, has anyone done this recently?

My mum saw a kitten in the rain one night. It ran under a parked van and my mum crawled under the van as much as she could and grabbed the kitten.
She told me about it and it was like this huge voice in my head yelled THIS IS YOUR KITTEN! So I said I'd take her. We did put her on FB in case she had an owner but I was secretly praying nobody would claim her.

Seven years later she's a control freak with huge food and abandonment issues and is very small because she was so badly malnourished as a kitten.

She rules us all and is the best cat I've ever known.

Got three cats who were slight seconds from a breeder.
Four cats from a farmer who is related to a friend.
Latest cat is from a local rescue. I'm a fosterer and this one is so lovely she is staying.

Cat 1: Cats Protection League

Cat 2: Friend went on holiday to Cyprus and found a litter of 5 kittens being abused by hotel staff. Hotel waiter told her they were waiting for someone to come and collect them for drowning as they didn't want too many cats around. She arranged for a local rescue to help get them somewhere safe and get them flown to the UK..I offered to Foster one and had a Foster fail within a few days. Still has trust issues because of the abuse but he's the got the most character of any cat I've ever been owned by.

@VettiyaIruken

My mum saw a kitten in the rain one night. It ran under a parked van and my mum crawled under the van as much as she could and grabbed the kitten. She told me about it and it was like this huge voice in my head yelled THIS IS YOUR KITTEN! So I said I'd take her. We did put her on FB in case she had an owner but I was secretly praying nobody would claim her.

Seven years later she's a control freak with huge food and abandonment issues and is very small because she was so badly malnourished as a kitten.

She rules us all and is the best cat I've ever known.

That’s lovely 🐱

@UsernameN0Tavailable

Cat 1: Cats Protection League

Cat 2: Friend went on holiday to Cyprus and found a litter of 5 kittens being abused by hotel staff. Hotel waiter told her they were waiting for someone to come and collect them for drowning as they didn't want too many cats around. She arranged for a local rescue to help get them somewhere safe and get them flown to the UK..I offered to Foster one and had a Foster fail within a few days. Still has trust issues because of the abuse but he's the got the most character of any cat I've ever been owned by.

‘Collect them for drowning’....nice. Lovely holiday memories for your friend eh? Went to Cyprus once , never again, plus the Rapey Ayia Napa Hope they never get any more tourists🤬

Well that’s Cyprus off the Christmas card list. Fuckers.

This is why I’ll never go abroad. There’s literally nowhere with good animal welfare in the med.

We have a local rescue and have used them many times.

@Fluffycloudland77

Well that’s Cyprus off the Christmas card list. Fuckers.

This is why I’ll never go abroad. There’s literally nowhere with good animal welfare in the med.

Indeed I donate to the Greek neutering program What’s worrying me is the feral communities rely on tourist season with restaurants giving them leftovers ans tourists feeding them, i hate to think what’s happening to them after this summer 😥

@Fluffycloudland77

Well that’s Cyprus off the Christmas card list. Fuckers.

This is why I’ll never go abroad. There’s literally nowhere with good animal welfare in the med.

Lots of stray dog packs in Cyprus too It’s a shithole

Brought our beautiful tortoiseshell home yesterday from Blue Cross. First time we met her properly was when she came out of the cat carrier. She is a poppet.

@16purplecolour16

Brought our beautiful tortoiseshell home yesterday from Blue Cross. First time we met her properly was when she came out of the cat carrier. She is a poppet.

That’s beautiful, I hope she’s settling in with her new loving family and getting spoiled with Christmas treats 🥰

We got our 3 from our towns cat rescue charity.
They’ve saved my mental health so many times over the years when we had to pick a charity at work to raise money for it had to be them.

Leroy came from a rescue via the CatChat website linked up thread.

He was in the "Overlooked" section 😢

Both cats I had from irresponsible people who should have had their cat spayed.

Noooooooo ‘overlooked’ 😓😓😓that’s horrible
I am always in the side of the underdog /cat
He obviously gets extra loving and hopefully had forgotten his previous overlooked status 🥰

The specific cat breed welfare and rescue society.

@VicMackey

Noooooooo ‘overlooked’ 😓😓😓that’s horrible I am always in the side of the underdog /cat He obviously gets extra loving and hopefully had forgotten his previous overlooked status 🥰

I hope so, but he'll never go in to a cattery just in case he hasn't.

Why yes, yes he is a spoilt furball. 😁

Cats Protection local branch

The actual adoption process was easy but it was January this year and seemed to be peak cat adoption time (well until Covid) so I had to check the website really often and call up to reserve asap.

Imagine it must be even more crazy now - there must be loads of cats and kittens needing homes but very few staff to see the process through, plus the need for distancing and lockdown closures. Feel for them.

My cats came from the cats protection as did our last cat. I will always go there now.

Cats protection
RSPCA

All 11 are either feral or stray. I live in the middle of nowhere, they all turned up randomly.

Barnsley RSPCA - oddly they seem to get way more kittens than other local places. We were turned down by our local cat shelter as we lived ‘too close to a main road’ (last cat lived to be 19, we’re nowhere near roaming distance to the road, current cats don’t even go outside)

1. from a private household that had a summer litter. Biggest regret is getting a lone kitten rather than a pair, but then again otherwise We wouldn’t have found cat 2) our Darling who was terrified of humans and the prettiest baby ever. Lifelong overeater I think a neglected farmcat, saved by a lady who rescues farmkittens from being drowned. Turned into the cuddliest lapcat but alas now departed.
2. 15 years later, we just got our stray from the local shelter after registering in November. Gave our details and they only had her for us, friendly and a bit crazy.

We've just picked up our first cat from a local rescue. We were told that due to two small DDs we were unlikely to find a cat. A week later, they had a cat for us that had come from a family divorcing with two kids the same age as ours. She's absolutely perfect! So friendly, patient and not at all fussed with 2 under 3.

Cat 1 from a local animal rescue. He was part of a litter of kittens who had been dumped in a car park.

Cats 2 and 3 from a local cat rescue. They are in fact aunt and niece, born 3 days apart. Their owner could not afford to keep them.