Where did you get your cat/s from?

[OutOfTheHouse]

I grew up with loads of cats (22 across my childhood to be exact) and they all came from rescues or someone whose cat had surprise kittens.

I’m seeing lots of people on here saying they have got cats from breeders. Am I unusual in always adopting?

The cat distribution system. She found us and made us her family.

Snap!

From a woman whose cat being pregnant when very young took her by surprise. She’d had her booked in for spaying.

they are the most enormous cats, the size of small dogs, I wonder sometimes about the dad.

they were free,she couldn’t wait to get rid.

1 from Cats Protection
1 from a local rescue
1 we found dumped in a bag by a bin

Cats 1 and 2: parents neighbour's cat had kittens.

Cats 3 and 3: local rescue centre

Cat 5: it was lockdown, no answer from rescue, not prepared to get cat from backroom breeder, looked on line for cat that needed rehoming, fell in love, turned out cat was in Dubai.

So yes, cat was a rescue but he came from Dubai!

I wouldn't adopt because of the ludicrous rules/costs from the rescue centres. We've always got our kittens from local people who've had litters and had no issues at all.

1 free to good home
2 free from my cousin's cat. I think she thought brother and sister cats wouldn't have sex.
Current cat from Cat's Protection.

I seem to attract the cats.....new neighbour moved in and her cats decided my house was better. They have been here 4 years now. Also have a one eyed stray who has also made himself at home

Two from Celia Hammond, they can be a bit red tapey but my partner can be very assertive because of her job so it's not a problem for me.
And one cat turned up talked it over with the other two and they agreed to him moving in.
We weren't consulted.

@AnnaMagnani Wow, how does that work, getting a rescue cat from Dubai?

Never adopted. Mostly strays and people that thought it was ok to dump older cats and kittens on our farm. Not unusual to easily have over 20. I've lost count of the amount I've taken to the vet to be neutered, flead or had operations because they had been hurt when dumped. Anyway it's my passion adore my furry friends however old or young and once I know they haven't been reported lost, stolen they get the full works health checks etc and then get to live there life wandering the farm and there own personal barn with toys food beds etc

All adopted from rescues

Of our current cats 2 are adopted and the two pedigrees came from a breeder, first time we've had pedigree cats

I have had cats all my life and would never, ever get one from someone who allows their cat to become pregnant in order to sell the babies. Animals are living creatures not goods to be sold to make money. It's disgusting. There are too many abandoned animals in this sad and sorry world that are desperate for homes so I always adopt and always go for the ones that are most overlooked.

@Ladyj84
❤️

Our last 2 cat protection league. Seems to be very easy now.my neighbours who have never had a cat she tried pinching several and was most annoyed when the owners had a go at her. She wanted a cat on her terms, but no the vet bills
They used the nearest cat protection,no home check, just looked on a Google map, apparently. Got one in 3 days,last Easter. Before these 2, friends, colleagues with litter.

From a farm

I would never use a breeder.

I got my first cat from Battersea Dogs and Cats home then when she passed away I got another cat just before Christmas this year from a local rescue centre in Kent where I now live.

Somehow the neighbour's cat has also decided that he wants to spend most of his time in my garden/house too...

Never got mine from a breeder.

Cat 1 I got from an add in the paper. I was 18, first time living alone and I had to spend weeks nursing him back to health as he was in such a terrible condition. He was 25 quid. Lesson learnt there! Died when he was only 9 in the end

Cat 2, was a cat I rescued off the street with her kittens. Cat rescue spayed her and I kept her. Vet thought she was about 15 when I had to have her pts

Cat 3, I rehomed from the pub I was working. He was about 13 weeks old and just left to his own devices all day. He's still going, and is 16

Cat 4, was rehomed from someone who didn't want him anymore as they were pregnant.

Cat 5, she was from an old school friend whose cat got out and got pregnant. She is my world. She's currently 4

Cat 6, rehomed from a close friend who was going through cancer a few years ago. She was 10 when we got her, and she's a very odd character. Very meowy. But a pleasant little thing.

Surprised my border collie doesn't think he's a cat to be honest

We have a couple local rescues. Cats Protection etc are useless as it's always "must be rural/only pet/no children. The local rescues are far more practical.

Local rescue, which seems more pragmatic than most. We had primary aged DC, and live just behind (parallel to) a main B road with a plan to let the cats roam freely. Our home visit was very perfunctory - once the woman saw we had a cat flap and photos of our old cat in the wall she was sold, and said they only worry about the road thin if you front right onto a busy A road. They did force very strongly encourage us to get a pair though as soon as we mentioned we even thought we might have room for two. Totally saw us coming!

Ours was from Gumtree which is really frowned upon . The kittens were from a family pet who had am accidental litter.

First cat was the cat distribution system. We went on holiday when I was kid to an estate in Scotland. Cat befriended me by leaving birds and mice beside my bed.

Then we went out for a walk, she followed us and we bumped into the estate gamekeeper. He mentioned she was going to shoot her because aha was bothering the peacocks.

My mum said I sent up a wail that would wake the dead so my parents realised they had no choice but to take her home with us.

Second cat was her daughter (she was already pregnant).

Third cat walked in through my front door one day. To be fair I had seen him on the grassy hill at the end of the street a few hours earlier and given him a slow blink. So cat distribution system again.

This was at the beginning of Covid. We found out through community grapevine that his people had split up and moved away.

We later managed to trace them through his chip when the local vets would do that again after lockdowns etc. They said we could keep him. So we did.

@Willowcat77 by mistake!

There are a few mad cat ladies rehoming from UAE where there is a big stray cat population, both native breed which ours is, and abandoned pedigree cats.

People go to UAE for a few years, get a cat, don't think through the needs of owning a cat especially a pedigree one, or what they are going to do when they leave, and just dump them. Plus the habitat of the native cats is basically gone.

Honestly if it hadn't been lockdown, I'd never have done it. But now we both love our Arabian Mau and will likely stick to the breed in future.

First cat as a child came from a farm. Mum had found a mice's nest in the sofa.

She had kittens on my bed.

The next two were the cat distribution system.

Then my neighbours split up and moved out, the husband took 'his' cat and left the other behind, he'd been a stray that had moved himself in.

Then I fostered for 10 years.

Then the cat distribution system kicked in again, she's been with me about 14 years and still cons people into thinking she is a poor starving kitten.