How to go about buying a cat

[dundermifflinpapersalesman1]

So my DH has finally sat a can get a cat! Been asking for us to get one in our little family for ages! My DD who's nearly 2 loves cats. They lady who looks after her when we are working has about 4 of them so she loves them. My question is how do I go about buying one? Are there cat breeders etc and where do I look for one 🙈🙈

You can look on catchat.org for rescue adults or if you want a particular breed there’s a breed society for each one with a list of breeders and health conditions they need to be dna tested for.

With a 2yo it’s not advised to get kittens, it’s not unknown for young children to kill or injure kittens which is why rescues specify no children under 4yo. They don’t mean to but kids don’t know their own strength & kittens are fragile.

Please consider adopting! I can't recommend Blue Cross enough. I got my two boys at 9 weeks old and they have been the sweetest, most amazing cats I have ever had!
You don't need to miss out on the cute stage!

Honestly, I would call your local animal shelter and see what cats are available for rehoming. Cats aren't like dogs, where you need to pay close attention to the breed's traits and exercise needs etc. Moggies are every bit as fun, loving, beautiful and playful as specific breeds. Also, if your rescue a cat, you're freeing up a spot in the rescue and giving another cat the chance of a loving home. All my cats have come from shelters and they've all been ace. Good luck!

Oops - I forgot the obligatory photos. Here are my two. Both shelter moggies, both darlings.

We adopted ours from cats protection. Was great value - about £40 for both cats, first jabs, microchipping and spaying.

I would always look at charity / rescue groups first, unless I wanted a specific breed.

Unless you are desperate for a specific breed then look at rescue. We’ve had four over the years. First a young adult pair. Then a couple of kittens. So many many cats in rescues. And a good rescue will pair you with the best for for your family. Good luck finding your kitty overlord!

Can't attach photos - trying again

Please go to a shelter. Ours was a stray and the most loving cat I’ve ever had. She was pregnant when found and her kittens had to find homes before she could be rehomed. You’ll be able to decide whether a kitten or older cat suits you. Ours was about 13 months old because I didn’t want a kitten as we both went out to work - not an issue now!

I would also suggest a rescue centre. We have had two lovely adult cats from our local rescue centre. One is currently snoozing on my lap. They will be able to match you with a cat who will fit in with your family.

Don't buy one. There are loads (including kittens) that need rehoming. Contact your local rescue centre.
(But if you do decide to buy one, choose a registered breeder as it's now illegal for non-registered breeders to sell cats and dogs).

Don’t buy one, rehome one from a rescue centre instead. Honestly I did that and my cat is the most loving, beautiful boy, despite a hard start in life. Give your local rescue centre a call, you won’t regret it!

Our rescue cat is amazing, so good and patient with our child.

We got him as a kitten but plenty of older cars will have suitable temperaments.

He was wormed, deflead, microchipped and vaccinated with a month's insurance when we got him and paid 70 pounds.

rescue a cat if possible. We went to cats protection but they wouldn't let us have one when DD was little. ,we found a local rescue centre..Our cat was so lovely from them

I have two rescue brothers who were just turned two when I got them. Please don't buy a cat.

We’ve always rescued and always had lovely cats. If you adopt an adult cat they can tell you more about his or her personality, whether they’re clingy, aloof, cuddly, independent, nervous, confident etc. They’ll also only let you adopt a cat suitable to a family environment with a young child, so a tolerant, gentle cat.

Thanks for all the Fred back guys. I was thinking about going to our rescue centres I just didn't know how they would feel about us having a young child. I know they don't let dogs go to homes with young children so didn't know if it was the same.

Rescue centres probably wouldn’t want you to have tiny kittens with a two year old - that’s not a good combination.

But a confident adolescent or young adult cat (say 9 months plus) would probably be fine as long as you supervise them together until DD has learned the rules. Definitely try rescues first instead of assuming they won’t want you.

We adopted a beautiful black cat from Cats Protection when my younger child was 2.
We weren’t allowed to have a kitten and out of about 50 cats in the shelter we were only shown 4 suitable ones. But they were all lovely and we ended up with a 1 year old female who had just had a litter of kittens.

She was nervous at first (and gave our 2 year old a wide berth!), but has become much more confident over the 5 years we’ve had her. She has always loved our elder daughter, who was only 5 when the cat arrived. Perfect family pet!

If you haven’t got a rescue centre near you try asking a local vets. Our old vet had a vet nurse who always knew of people needing to rehome cats, some people didn’t ask, they dumped them in boxes on the doorsteps but she always took them in!

God I don’t know how upfront I’d be and that’s a terrible thing to say. I just know so many people that have newborns and cats and vice versa. What about a youngish rescue cat like six months? I loved mine at that age and your daughter can learn about playing with it, I understand the rules about not rescuing to flats or near roads then I do to children tbh

Definitely try local rescues first, we didn’t get lucky unfortunately as there seems to be high demand and all the ones that came up in our area said no kids.
In the end we are getting a kitten from a friend of a friend whose cat had kittens so perhaps ask around amongst people you know? If you think your dd will be ok with a kitten. My youngest is 6 and fairly calm and sensible so I think will be ok.

I know some on here don’t like people getting cats from anywhere other than registered breeders or shelters but I think a friend, or friend of a friend, is far better than random person charging £££ on Facebook or Pets4homes

We have always had rescue cats from being a child. There’s no telling what their temperament will be like, we’ve had everything from a total alley cat with bits missing from his ears from fighting, to very gently old boys who just wanted a quiet life!

Current cat is about 10 months now and is training us very well!

And always call the rescues and talk to them, don't just rely on their website / social media. As they are run by mainly volunteers, the info on here may not get a chance to be updated too regularly. Certainly for all of our local ones, most of the cats / kittens are rehomed long before you get a chance to hear about them.
They will probably give you a questionnaire to complete about your home / family so they can make sure you're offered a suitable pet, and then call you as soon as a potential match is found.