Help - ready for a new kitten but overthinking

[Pepperama]

Previous moggy cat walked into our lives one day, and stayed for her whole long life. No choice involved, but a perfect fit. Cuddly and loving but undemanding, quite happy to be left for the working day and with pet sitters, very funny and playful when young, confident and streetwise and not easily fazed. Our cat sadly died recently and we’re hoping to add a new little fluffball to the family. We would like a kitten (or two) but can’t seem to choose where to get one and if to go for a moggy or a breed.

We work hybrid so aren’t at home every day (could manage to face someone home for a few months whilst the kitten is small but not long term), and we are away for a couple of weeks twice a year. So we would like to stay away from breeds that are known to suffer when you have to leave them for the day/with pet sitters. But still not aloof - we love giving our cats cuddles, attention and playtime etc. My DP would like to avoid really vocal breeds - we had one before that was lovely but slightly did our head in. DS (teen, cat lover) would just like a lovely, cuddly, fun cat. And me, I don’t want to support dodgy backstreet breeding practices. Looking at breed behaviour/trait/preferences profiles is just confusing - different websites contradict one another and I’m none the wiser.

As I say in the title, we’re totally overthinking it. Wish a cat youngster just turned up at our door again.
O wise ones of Mumsnet - where do you recommend we go to find our new housemate when the house is calm and quiet again after the Christmas?

I would go for a bonded rescue pair. That way you know what temperament you’re getting and they’ll be company for each other.

It might be good to ask the vet if there is a litter expected nearby. When I was a teen my DM let our new cat have one litter of kittens and they were extremely well looked after.

They were definitely not backstreet breeding practice or anything. The cat just went out and sang her sweet song in the garden and handsome gentleman cat came along and did the business.

He was a large orange chap and all the kittens were orange or champagne. After that we noticed that a lot of local cats looked a lot like ours so he must have been quite prolific.

If you are lucky there might be a really good litter locally who will be looking for homes and you could go and visit.

Don’t do that. Decent owners get their cats neutered. They didn’t let her have kittens. Ridiculous.

A pair of rescue kittens is ideal, kitten season in colder climates is March-November so if you want them sooner I'd look at a pair of slightly older kittens.

Yes to this, but will your whole family be able to accept that the kittens won’t be the same as your last cat?

I had a foster kitten who was adopted in place of a beloved cat who had died. After a month they sent her back because she was just too unlike him.

We got our two rescue kittens back in Sept.
The charities will always try and home them in pairs and now we’ve had a pair I can totally see why! They play alot,have company and someone to cuddle.
We got them at 9 weeks so we handled them plenty although they were purring on day 1 so settled in very quickly.
definitely get in touch with your local centres,there are loads that need homes.

It’s a fair question that we’ve been asking ourselves. Hard to be 100% sure but I very much hope so. A bit like with children where you can’t ever imagine loving the second one as much as the first and then you do. I’m hoping this will be similar, with the new one/ones being so different that we love them in their own right rather than trying to replace.

I like the idea of a bonded pair - just hope they’d continue to get on beyond the kitten stage. Friends had a brother and sister pair who really didn’t like each other as adults and ended up as upstairs cat and downstairs cat.

We got a bonded pair of 11 week sisters from a rescue and they have been perfect. They look after each other and even at nearly 6 months are still inseparable. I arranged to be more at home for the first month and after that they were fine being left for increasing periods and entertained each other.

They are just ordinary moggies and are quite happy if we are at work and not at all clingy, but if I’m around they will want to be in the room I’m in and will sit near me and ask for a fuss.

A good rescue will give you an idea of the cat’s personality. If you adopt an older cat you’ll have a better idea of their personality as it will be more settled and they can match you with the cat that’s right for you.

If you go for purebred then we have two Maine Coons who are siblings. They fall along the typical gender lines: male huge and affectionate - a real cuddlier, likes to chirp to announce his presence but not too noisy (he needs to be kept downstairs overnight though otherwise up at 5am). Female more aloof and virtually silent but will still curl up on the sofa next to you.
I've always had mogies before and whether kittens or adults it's hard to tell what they'll be like. Thus is the first time I was told what this breed were like and it's exactly as they said! Pic for cat tax.

@mondaytosunday they're gorgeous! The vet said my rescue boy seems to have some MC - he's unusually tall, long, 7kg and has little ear tufts. He chirps but doesn't miaow and is basically a soft lump

I remember the first time we got a kitten.
Dad and I conspired behind Mum’s back, because she had a very firm NO PETS policy.
At first, Mum was angry, but when we couldn’t think of a name, she suggested “Lonesome,” because he cried every time he was alone.
Then Lonesome took a shine to Mum. He’d scale her pants and sit on her shoulder and watch her cook or do dishes or sew.
Lonesome became Mum’s kitty, as much as 8-yr-old me wanted him to be mine.
Mum didn’t gloat about this, but she didn’t complain.
Cats don’t care who you want them to like. They’re very opinionated.

Thank you all. Sounds like two from a rescue might be the way to go - hope they have some who need a home despite it not being kitten season here where I am

I’d go for older kittens or young cats - usually still cute & playful but a bit more grown up & sensible.

You could get an adult - that way you can have a much better idea of what kind of personality the cat has and it won't require you taking much time from your normal working patterns.

It's less hard work and less of a gamble.

We got an adult rescue and he's exactly what we wanted and has slotted right into the household.

Where are you OP? If you are anywhere near Warrington then Warrington Animal Welfare have lots of kittens available at the moment.

Sadly not near Warrington - hope they find good homes for them all!

We were considering an older kitten or adult cat but because we missed out the kitten stage last time and our previous cat luckily lived to over 20, I would quite like to experience the kitten mayhem again. We had a kitten when I was younger - cat from neighbouring farm had young ones and they kindly let us have one - lots of work but so much fun.