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Original poster

Where did you get your cats from?

101 replies

cloudjumper · 25/12/2020 11:41

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
puzzledquiz · 25/12/2020 23:43

Found a 9 week old feral kitten in a ditch

sweetkitty · 25/12/2020 23:44

Local rescue first time got a pair and went back a year later and got a single boy which was fine as other two were still essentially kittens themselves.

Want2beme · 25/12/2020 23:50

@Tootsey11

All 11 are either feral or stray. I live in the middle of nowhere, they all turned up randomly.
Do you mind me asking where they all sleep? Where I live, it seems as if someone's come along and dumped about 10 cats. People are feeding them and taking care of them, but I really worry about where they shelter & sleep. I live in a village where there are out houses and barns, but I wouldn't keep an animal in them, as they look awful.
Tootsey11 · 26/12/2020 00:30

@Want2beme up to six sleep in the kitchen, the rest sleep in beds and blankets in out buildings. I have neutered and spayed them all, and now they're all tame.

Heartofglass12345 · 26/12/2020 00:48

The street lol, all 3 of them Grin
I have had one from RSPCA and a few from cats protection. They have quite strict homing policies though

QueenPawPaws · 26/12/2020 01:44

Oh and this one is not mine Hmm
He just turned up one day and let himself in through the window. Two years on and he's still here nearly every day

Where did you get your cats from?
MrsApplepants · 26/12/2020 02:05

Advert in local paper for some accidental kittens. DCat cost £20. 15 years of love and fun so far, best money I’ve ever spent, along with DDog who came from a breeder but cost a lot more.

Want2beme · 26/12/2020 14:42

That's lovely, Tootsey11.

QueenPawPaws, what a libertyGrin

SciFiScream · 26/12/2020 14:51

From a rescue quite far away from us. Local rescues wouldn't rehome to us for a variety of reasons (I complained about the reasons on here). The reasons were

  1. DD too young at 8 (at the time obvs)
  2. DH had never had pets
  3. I worked (at the time out of the home) for 24 hours per week
  4. We were going on holiday in 4 months time.

So we went to a rescue about an hour away who didn't really question us (a close friend knew the rescue and us and had been telling the rescue all about us).

We adopted two beauties who we've had since they were 7 months old (we brought them home Nov 2018) and they have just been the best ever. We all love them so much and they enrich our lives in so many ways.

Our darling black cat was hit by a car on 30th October (thank goodness for pet insurance) he is healing well and enduring his own feline lockdown. He's allowed out, unsupervised, for the first time on 1st Jan.

Where did you get your cats from?
INeedADayOff · 26/12/2020 21:33

Cat 1 a friend gave me for my birthday many many years ago

Cat 2 I found in a box by the side of the road with his dead siblings took him home and kept him

Cat 3 retired stud cat which I got directly from the breeder

Cat 4 retired breeding queen as above.

Cat 5 & 6 (both now have died) cat 5 was the brother of cat 1, he was given to another friend who couldn’t cope with him as he had tummy troubles so I had him. Cat 6 was from another friend Sadly she died earlier this year Sad

If your local to the Forest of Dean the new start cat rescue are amazing I know lots of people who’ve had cats/kittens from them.

QueenPawPaws · 26/12/2020 23:38

@Want2beme he says he never takes liberties. Also why don't humans have fur? Strange Grin
I was in the bath when he let himself in...

Where did you get your cats from?
FangsForTheMemory · 27/12/2020 02:48

Current one, private adoption from a friend of a friend. Previous two from Battersea. All were adults when i got them.

Original poster
cloudjumper · 27/12/2020 12:05

Ugh, I joined a cat rescue Facebook group, now I'm being inundated with posts suggesting I adopt a cat from abroad. As if there aren't enough cats in this country in need of a new home!

OP posts:
tomnjerrylover · 27/12/2020 12:17

My first cat was from a litter my Aunt's cat had. He had kittens with the cat next door and we shared the two they kept. They were run over at about 7/8
The next two came from our holiday farm, mum called them a couple of months before we went and asked them to keep a couple with us in mind. Most of their cats were semi feral but their house cat had a litter just at the right time. One lived to 19 when he went senile and had to be PTS.
My first cat of my own was advertised in the vets as a failed regime, he then brought a stray to live with us. They lived to 12 and 18.
At this point we'd been blacklisted by the major rehousing centres as we'd had to regime PIL's older cats when PIL went into homes. We couldn't take them because we still had senior cat but dh had used our details not PIL so no one would give us a cat.

We wanted kittens as the kids had only ever known senior cats.

Celia Hammond were wonderful. We explained about the black listing, they did a home visit and we adopted two 3 month old boys. When we lost one to a heart condition in Feb they were very happy to let us have another young cat. They were even confident to give us a difficult rehomer because of our experience with cats.

Once you start to look around the smaller family run rescues are often a better bet that the big ones that have arbitrary rules they won't bend.

ItsCovidOutThereThisChristmas · 27/12/2020 12:18

Blue Cross - can highly recommend

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/12/2020 12:38

@QueenPawPaws
Love the last photo of #notyourcat Grin

Preparedtobetoldimwrong · 27/12/2020 12:54

1 - was an accident. Local dog breeder had two pet cats who accidentally got pregnant. They one of the 11 kittens was a ginger tom, which was what we wanted so we bought him (£10!) but were going on holiday so said we’d pick him up in a fortnight. When we went back there was just out tom and his tabby sister who had not been sold. So we had both. She is nearly 14 now and rules the house. Her brother died a couple of years ago.
2 - was sort of planned as we wanted to have a couple of kittens and a friend of a friend had let her cat get pregnant but couldn’t cope with the kittens so we had two to help out. The boy was sadly killed by a car last Christmas which led to ....
3 & 4 - adopted from Cats Rescue the week before first lockdown. Both are very needy as their previous owner struggled to look after them before being taken into a home this time last year. They are lovely boys, despite their issues.
5 - totally bonkers kitten who arrived from a friend of a friend as he’d been thrown out when new boyfriend proved to be allergic. Slightly illegal cross tier mission to rescue him but he is a loveable rogue and we wouldn’t be without him.
Slightly worried that we are now known as the local cat rescue home and we really can’t have anymore! (Till the next one turns up of course)

ItsCovidOutThereThisChristmas · 27/12/2020 14:13

@ItsCovidOutThereThisChristmas

Blue Cross - can highly recommend
This is my very cosy rescue car
Where did you get your cats from?
purrswhileheeats · 28/12/2020 12:46

Dcats 1&2 - rescues
Dcat3 - rehomed from a friend who had to leave the country.
Dcat4 - from a charity shop (see pics) Best bargain I ever got 😻

RaraRachael · 28/12/2020 12:52

We got our boy from Cats Protection. WE originally wanted a kitten but the waiting list was so long we decided to get an older cat, He was 3 when we got him and have had him for 10 years now. I would never get a kitten again.

brogueish · 28/12/2020 13:07

Cat 1 - direct rehoming from Cats Protection
Cat 2 - rehome from local cat rescue
Cat 3 - rehome from a friend

All adults - kittens are a bit too bonkers for me!

Osirus · 12/01/2021 01:32

@QueenPawPaws

Cats protection Do not recommend, was not advertised as weirdo vampire clingy cat and refused to refund Wink He was the first one I looked at, never had a cat before. Took him home and he was "right, this will do" and climbed on my lap Me (reading the handbook) "you're meant to hide! For days!"
He is amazing! I love him!
Osirus · 12/01/2021 01:36

@YesItsMeIDontCare

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

He was in the "Overlooked" section 😢

That’s so sad. He’s a lucky boy now though.
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 13/01/2021 21:24

Young adults bro/sis from CPL

I looked at a local smaller rescue who had a 3yo bonded pair (shy female) and the CPL pair (our cats) where the male was very shy .

As my DC are adults, we're on a quiet road, garden, French Doors that we had a cat flap put into , and I was quite willing for them to totally ignore me ( Female cat loves DH and owns DS room. Male cat loves DD) .
We thought we were right for them and worried they'd be waiting a long time to be adopted or even worse , adopted and returned by someone .
They've proved me right by tolerating us Grin

user1471538283 · 16/01/2021 11:13

Our first cat was from a friend and was originally from the RSPCA.

Our second and third was from the RSPCA and our fourth was from Cats Protection. However, I would try the local smaller ones

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