Finding some new kittens

[PussyGaPaw]

Hi all,
I've name changed as I've spoken to people about this in real life.
We recently lost our old beloved cat and, once the dust has settled, will certainly be looking to find some kittens to fill up our house again (it feels so empty without her, even though there are 4 of us!). I was hoping some of you might be able to help me decide on the best way to find our next feline friends...

I've had two sets of kittens in my life, both until they died at ripe old ages (the first set my parents got when I was a child but they moved in with me when I left home). Both sets were moggies and were free, 'advertised in newsagent windows' types. I might be wrong but it feels like the world is different now - moggies seem to be selling for £70 - £100 each on pet selling websites and Gumtree. I don't mind paying, I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

I had thought about asking at rescue centres etc but I'm not sure we'd pass the vetting - we have youngish children and live close to a road that isn't crazy busy (it's a main road in a quiet village that doesn't lead anywhere) but I suspect they would take issue with it nevertheless. I'm very confident that the cats we eventually get will have a wonderful life with us, I just get the impression from people I've spoken to that rescue centres can be (understandably) picky.

So, rescue centres aside, are pet selling websites the way to go?

(Also, having never paid for a kitten before (and, therefore, never even considered having a breed of any type), now I've opened that door, a bizarre part of my brain is trying to convince me to get some Maine Coons! This is mental isn't it? They're about £1000 each. Can you just remind me that moggies are the best? Ta.)

Thanks!

Gosh, that was long. Sorry. Also, we definitely want baby kittens (as in, ones that are old enough to leave their mum) - I really enjoy having kittens and watching them grow (and then loving them for the rest of their lives!).

Don’t get Maine Coons unless you’re prepared to build a catio and control their movements. A cat that resells for £1k even as an adult can’t be allowed to wander the street freely as someone will eventually nick it. Also, Maine Coons get heart disease etc. Moggies are much healthier and no one will nick them 👌

I’d try rescue centres first and see but agree they may be too fussy. Maybe offer to foster a pregnant cat in a spare room? That way you get to raise the kittens from birth.

Sites like Gumtree and Pets4homes sell many kittens. A lot are from people just trying to make money who don’t treat the cats well (and such kittens won’t grow up trusting and loving) but some are perfectly nice people. Things to look for to try to identify good sellers :

• ideally kitten should be for sale at 10-12 weeks old, 8 is too young they still need the mum
• Price should be low like £100 as a gesture to help with kitten’s expenses not like £500 as a money grabbing scheme
• kittens should be playing in photos and look happy - so many photos have scared looking kittens in a cage 😭
• it’s a good sign if you can see cat toys, cat tree, cat happily destroying sofa etc in photo
• Seller should offer that you can view the kittens with their mother
• Kittens should have been wormed and ideally also vet checked.

Have fun! Am jealous

Don’t assume that shelters will be that picky - the independent one near us is full to the brim and doesn’t routinely do home visits unless there is a concern. They had multiple litters recently (met them while
collecting our adored rescue adult cat).

We got our cats as kittens from a rescue (non-RSPCA). They were so full of literally hundreds of cats and kittens the vetting process was fairly minimal. They only had staft to run a once monthly "open day" where the idea was basically to shift as many cats as possible into acceptable homes. The alternative for these animals is crowded accommodation with the shelter staff/volunteer fosterers who end up with about 10 pity adoptees each or euthanasia...

We also visited an RSPCA in the same area that was very stringent and refused us literally any cat (including presumably almost impossible to shift flu ridden oldies they'd had for months) on the grounds that we both worked FT... But they also only had 7 cats. Literally. Vs hundreds. May have just been that centre but I think some RSPCA centres are wildly inefficient / unrealistic and give rescues a bad name. I would look around for some non-RSPCA shelters and do a good deed.

The cat rescues around mine have ridiculous requirements I'm not surprised that they are always asking for money and always complaining they are full (but then seem to be able to ship in a load from Romania?!)
The latest is that most expect you to sign a contract to say the kitten/cat will always be kept indoors irrelevant of where you live

That being said my friend just paid £225 EACH for 2 basic moggies for ones off gumtree or the like 😩

Please don't buy from GumTree/Pets4Homes whatever you do - because all your doing is financially rewarding idiots who didn't do the responsible thing and get their nondescript moggie neutered.

I don't know where you live but friends of mine have just had kittens and are looking for homes for them. We're South West.

Thanks, @ChocFrog - that's just the Maine Coon related talking to I needed. I agree... Moggies all the way!

And thanks for the advice, everyone. I had a feeling Pets4Homes etc was a dodgy prospect. But, equally, I might have to go down this route if the rescue centres locally do what I expect them to do and say no to us! Rest assured I would not pay more than £100ish for any kittens I might get from there. And I'd be sure to be careful... I'd never buy kittens from cages etc (oddly, I saw a listing for some earlier and the photos of them were all in cages and it was the first time I'd seen this... Wtf?!). It's interesting that all of the kittens for sale near to me are in the dodgier towns in my area... Hmmmm.

Just to confirm (because I suspect my DP will question this when it comes to it) - it's quite rare to come across kittens for rehoming from normal people (not breeders) in newsagent windows etc nowadays? You either have to get lucky and know someone (much harder atm now that people are thankfully much better at getting their cats neutered), get lucky and convince a rescue centre that you're going to give their cats a good home (harder than it sounds in most places) or buy one from a dodgy site like Pets4Homes??

@newfence -thanks so much but I'm nowhere near there. Thanks for thinking of me though 😊.

you could ask at your local vet whether they know of kittens who need homes?

I honestly wouldn’t bother with rescues. IMO most of them don’t actually want to rehome kittens, the volunteers just want to have lots of cats. The one I had a home check with earlier this week told me I couldn’t rehome due to the fact I have a dog and then went on to tell me she has 3 dogs, and 17 cats 😱. There’s actually a thread here from a poster who is finding it impossible to get a rescue cat with plenty of others’ experiences on there.

I’m not up for buying animals from pet selling sites, and as such I have decided not to have a cat. But if you’re prepared to go down that route then I would.

And no to paying £1k for a cat which will need to be a house cat and might have all manner of health issues not generally present in a moggy.

Thanks @WannabeKittens ,hadn't thought of asking vets actually. Yeah, I'm prob not going to bother with the rescue centres around me. Everything I've heard suggests we won't be one of the chosen ones 😂.
And, yeah, I'm listening to the advice about the Maine Coons. I don't know what's come over me - I'm not a pedigree cat kinda girl, and I don't have 2 grand spare to buy kittens with, let alone all the other problems associated with buying a breed like that.
Thanks x

Save the £2,000 for unexpected vet’s fees for your lovely moggies when they arrive.

I found Blue Cross to have a much more balanced approach.