Page 4 | Where did you get your cat/s from?

Nicebloomers · 26/02/2024 10:58

The ‘I found it in a bin/ in a bush/ in a field’ cats stories both heartbreaking and a bit hilarious.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 26/02/2024 12:29

Rescue. They did a runner and shut up shop after I signed the papers. I think they saw me coming.

twingiraffes · 26/02/2024 12:39

People who get cats from breeders are usually going for a specific breed, which are much more difficult to come by any other way. Rescues don't get them in very often.

Our bog-standard moggies have come variously from someone local advertising in the vet's, inheritance, rescue shelters (several times) and the current ones are lodgers.

Qqbank01 · 26/02/2024 14:02

Local rescue

StarbucksSmarterSister · 26/02/2024 14:19

Mine is a pedigree. I adopted her when she was 9 as she had been returned to her original breeder.

My previous cat, who I had from a kitten, was a cross with this breed and I liked their temperament so I actively searched to find one through the breed rescue. I had no intention of getting another kitten though so if I hadn't had her I would have just gone to the local cat rescue.

Blueberrycreampie · 26/02/2024 14:24

In our woodshed with a kitten. Then more kittens 6 months later!

BorisJohnsonsBarber · 26/02/2024 14:36

Throughout child and early adulthood all mine were random friends cat had kittens and a couple of RSPCA adoptions including the sweetest boy that was a cruelty case rehoming.
My current cat is a pedigree from a breeder as we wanted this particular breed because they produce less allergen protein for my allergic DC. We researched, found a great breeder with a long reputable history, had video calls etc… and drove 6 hours to get him. He’s brought my cat loving but allergic DC untold joy and they can snuggle and love him with no side effects. Not to mention he is my 3rd DC without having an actual 3rd DC!
Even if allergies weren’t an issue I don’t think I’d ever have a different breed now.

QueenBitch666 · 26/02/2024 14:50

Always from rescues. Hell would freeze over before I give money to a greeder

CheshireCat1 · 26/02/2024 15:03

Rescue centre, same with the dog. Would never buy a pet from a breeder.

Friendshipover5 · 26/02/2024 15:07

I’ve had 7 cats in my lifetime, two rescued, one surprise kitten from a family member, two friend who didn’t want them after pregnancy, and two who just decided to live with us one day.

WetBandits · 26/02/2024 15:09

Cats 1&2: local farm cat had kittens, we took two

Cat 3: surprise kitten from cat 2 who was booked in for a spay so hadn’t been out yet, but a neighbour’s tom cat took the locked cat flap off its hinges and got to her first!

Cat 4: Battersea

Cat 5: cat distribution system, no idea where she came from

Cat 6: inherited from DP’s grandad when he died

Cat 7: urgent ‘foster’ for a local rescue who never left 😂

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 26/02/2024 15:21

We have a Gumtree cat. We'd been trying to get a cat from the local rescue place and kept missing out, and I randomly opened Gumtree in a browser on a Saturday night and searched "cat (city name)" and there she was - it's the only time I have ever, ever looked at Gumtree before or since. I knew immediately she was our cat, and contacted the people the next day. They had had her since she was a kitten - she was three then - but were reluctantly rehoming because their boisterous toddler was making her stressed and they had another baby on the way. We went to meet her a couple of days later, and her previous family brought her round the following day. They gave us her bed, litter tray, toys etc so she would feel at home, and while she was a bit shy, hiding under the sofa to begin with, by bedtime she was cuddled up in my lap.

She's ten now and has a great life with a big garden to play in and no noisy children in the house. I still keep in touch with her former "mum".

slavetothekittens · 01/03/2024 16:11

Over the years...
Farm kitten who lived to 16.
Kitten from friend of a friend who couldn't look after her anymore. She's presently asleep on my knee.
Stray, lived to at least 22.
5 older cats inherited from friend, lived to be between 18 and 21.
7 kittens, days old, dumped in a family members shed in a cardboard box. Hand reared, and presently either asleep or trying to persuade me it's time for supper...
Older cat from an acquaintance who could no longer keep him. He's having a nap upstairs.

catwithnocream · 01/03/2024 16:16

@AnnaMagnani yes same! We had young children and no rescues would give us one so found one through a rescue called Desert Paws, he's technically from Abu Dhabi. 7.5kg of furry cuddles!

naffall · 01/03/2024 16:21

Local rescue. The lady who runs it is quite well known locally for being picky with potential adopers but I have a feeling that's only the dogs because it was really straightforward and very quick.

Deadringer · 01/03/2024 16:26

From Facebook. We were watching the rescues (there seemed to be a bit of a shortage of cats/kittens at the time) and saw a comment from a woman begging the rescue to take her cat because her dc had developed an allergy and they weren't answering her messages/calls. I contacted her and we now have our gorgeous girl.

ItWasnaMeGuv · 01/03/2024 16:29

OutOfTheHouse · 25/02/2024 08:39

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?

I don't think so. My first kitten was given to me from a litter, the second one the same. The third and fourth cats (nine month old litter brothers) I got from an advert in Pets At Home. I didn't pay for them either although there was a price on the advert. I said to owner that since they'd never seen a vet for jags or neutering, I'd get all that done and give them a fabulous home, safe garden, long and happy life etc. That was 17 years ago. If I got a pedigree cat I would probably not let it out .

Alainlechat · 01/03/2024 16:39

One was a kitten from a farm cat and the other one was online and the last of the litter being a black one. I was in two minds as the place was awful but as soon as I saw him I couldn't leave him there. Now he is a beautiful big boy.

Rescues won't let us adopt as we live on a road and the garden isn't cat proofed.

MyBiscuitspread · 01/03/2024 16:46

BorisJohnsonsBarber · 26/02/2024 14:36

Throughout child and early adulthood all mine were random friends cat had kittens and a couple of RSPCA adoptions including the sweetest boy that was a cruelty case rehoming.
My current cat is a pedigree from a breeder as we wanted this particular breed because they produce less allergen protein for my allergic DC. We researched, found a great breeder with a long reputable history, had video calls etc… and drove 6 hours to get him. He’s brought my cat loving but allergic DC untold joy and they can snuggle and love him with no side effects. Not to mention he is my 3rd DC without having an actual 3rd DC!
Even if allergies weren’t an issue I don’t think I’d ever have a different breed now.

Edited

Is it a Siberian by any chance? Very interesting to me as I would love to find somewhere to meet this breed and see if any of us start sneezing...

Iamblossom · 01/03/2024 16:49

I got two cats from Mumsnet!

A lady on here said she had just moved to London from Spain with her two ginger cats, one girl one boy, and she needed to rehome them as she was splitting from her husband.

So we took them. Got in my car and picked them up from near Wandsworth.

Gorgeous gorgeous cats, Mimita and Nico. Loved them so much.

BorisJohnsonsBarber · 01/03/2024 16:51

MyBiscuitspread · 01/03/2024 16:46

Is it a Siberian by any chance? Very interesting to me as I would love to find somewhere to meet this breed and see if any of us start sneezing...

Show quote history

Yes he is Siberian 😻
They’re such a gentle natured breed and he’s a complete sweetheart, though not quite 12 months old yet so still has a bit of that kitten cheekiness.
My DC would get swollen eyes along with cough/sneeze symptoms, and would get very wheezy as well, so this was a very researched, tested and planned!

user1471548941 · 01/03/2024 17:02

Two separate RSPCA affiliated rescues with wildly varying standards!!!

My first boy is FIV and the default is to rehome them as single cats. We knew he would benefit from a friend (to teach him how to be a cat as he thought he was a baby I think!) but no rescue ever seems to considers multi FIV cat households.

When we saw our second boy advertised as FIV “but we think likely to get on with another FIV cat” we found our needle in a haystack. He’d been waiting 6 months for an application, the rehoming co-ordinator said she cried when she read our email as she loved him and couldn’t understand why no one wanted him!

We had to rush some building works on our house to make a spare room safe for him, drove 250 miles 2 weeks later to go and get him. I spent 4 weeks refusing to tell my husband how I felt about the new cat as we knew for him to stay that the two boys would have to get on! When our big boy finally accepted the new boy after many many tense introductions I sobbed into his fur!

There won’t be any more for a while as I couldn’t cope with the stress of introducing adult males again!!!

Singleandproud · 01/03/2024 17:08

Cat 1: Pets at Home website before I knew better. I did see both mum and dad and the rest of the litter and he did appear to be from a family home. He has always been in good health and is a big fat fluff ball who loves to try and steal your food and cosy up on your lap.

Cat 2: From a local rescue centre, she'd been found in a box next to the main road with her kittens. She is tiny but rules the roost, thinks nothing of striding up to boy cat who is asleep minding his own business and swiping him across the face, she has food allergies and flea allergy dermatitis so spends a good amount of time overgrooming like she's an Olympic champion and running away from me when Im trying to treat and medicate her and generally costs me a fortune. But a cuddle from her and you know you've earned it, she's very skittish.

Both are black and try their best to kill you at night running about your legs

InTheRainOnATrain · 01/03/2024 17:10

Battersea because it’s our local rescue!

TheFluffiestCat · 01/03/2024 17:16

Over the years, 4 have come from Cats' Protection, one kitten from my then partner's parents, whose cat had escaped for a night on the tiles just before her appointment to be spayed, and one from a neighbour who loved her but couldn't keep her for genuine reasons. I wouldn't buy one from a breeder.