Am I doing something wrong with pets4homes?

[TheGirlWhoLived]

Could somebody help me because I really must be doing something wrong… I keep looking on pets4homes because my dd’s (15 and 11) are desperate for kittens. We looked throughout December to see if any litters would be ready to go from January onwards, I’ve even purchased the ‘premium’ version in order to get access to ads sooner.

I just cannot seem to get anyone to reply! I’m trying to see which kittens are female if they haven’t stated with a picture, or I’m asking if I could reserve one but are we meant to click ‘reserve’ before messaging!? I’m not looking for anything special, just a mixed breed under £150…

If someone could help I’d be really grateful… I’m in Worcester and so anything an hour out would be acceptable. I’ve been stalking this forum like a mad woman for tips, got all the litter trays, comfy beds and the house is all prepped and safe but I just cannot find the kittens! (Obviously will pay cat tax as soon as I am able to acquire 😁)

Thanks @ShrimpBoil but we’re way up in the midlands . really appreciate all the advice

Well we've had cats all our lives, and never been able to get a rescue. I only want a kitten, no I don't want two, no I don't want one with medical issues. I don't want an older cat with issues, or an older cat set in its ways, I want a cat I can train myself. Yes you can train cats. Yes, they will go out and roam, no I'm it locking them in overnight.

They had issues with children even though we had always had cats, they had issues with quiet roads as the cats wouldn't get used to traffic, and busy roads. They had issues with there being a field, having a railway line within a mile......

I gave up and just ask around friends and neighbours.

i also was looking to adopt a kitten that would be an indoor cat. Most rescues make it nearly impossible unless you rehome two at the same time, which I can’t afford. I’m constantly told rescues are bursting at the seems, but then they don’t want to rehome a single kitten to an indoor home. I work from home and even the ‘smaller’ rescues make it hard.

I think these cat rescues that are so ‘desperate’ to find loving homes, can’t actually be that desperate! Or they wouldn’t put obscenely hard rules in place to get a kitten!

I was rejected from the rspca and cats protection. RSPCA because I worked (surely loads of people with cats do) and cats protection because of a busy road about 200 yards away (I lived in a cul de sac off a residential road that was off a busy road). RSPCA weren’t bothered about the road and cats protection weren’t bothered about the job. Anyway I found a small rescue and had 18 lovely years with my dcat. Current cat was a from a friend of a friend who had an accidental breeding. My friend who lives in a flat was “allowed” to adopt a cat who they were looking for an indoor only home. Some cats don’t take to being house cats.

We rescued our kitten last year and there were loads of kittens from Birmingham/midlands - so many that they were rehoming them here in the South West. There must be rescue options local to you- keep looking OP

We are near worcs and got a cat through blue cross centre near Bromsgrove.

You could also look at Stray Cat Rescue Team West Midlands, they have lots of cats and kittens.

This isn't always true. I tried to adopt a cat pre DS, I lived in a ground floor flat. It had no door directly to outside but I was open to an older house cat or to put a cat flap in one of the windows (large and to floor level). I was refused because I worked full time. Albeit over 4 days , 2 of which DH didn't work and one I WFH so only one day a week where someone would be out 9:30am (me) to 4pm when DH got home. We tried cats protection, Battersea and several smaller local charities. None would allow us to have a cat.

We ended up through a colleague/friend getting one where the colleague's neighbour had an older cat and a young one, she went on holiday and her parents were cat sitting with strict instructions not to let the young one out because it wasn't old enough to be spayed yet. Her dad thought this was cruel and let the young cat out, and unsurprisingly it ended up pregnant. She didn't want money for the kittens but wanted to know they were with good homes so they ended up with friends/family/friends if friends. That cat lived a long, happy and very spoiled life.

I’ve used pets4homes for my two kittens, it went really well and smoothly for me. I don’t think it is the site itself but the individual breeders, personally I contacted potential breeders through message first asking them for more info, most of them wanted to talk through WhatsApp to communicate better, it also gave me a better feel of what the breeder themselves are like

You could try Stray Cat Rescue Team WMids, I'm not sure whether they currently have kittens ready to be rehomed but they rehome all over the country. I think they're near Cosford so not a million miles from you. Otherwise look for smaller rescues, rather than the bigger charities.

I know of someone in the West Midlands who has 2 kittens looking for a home but not sure how I could put you in touch with her unfortunately.

https://catchat.org/adopt-a-cat

Look under West Midlands as well as Worcestershire.

Have you tried asking your local vet about other rescues or going for a slightly older kitten
We got previous grey Dcat at 6 months old as a rehome because they were struggling with a demanding toddler and house renovations
Most recent Dcat also grey came from a local farm
Agree with others it’s not a great time of year more kittens born April/May

I got our cats through that site, and had an appointment to view others. I just contacted the people via whatever method you do (email? Through the website? Can’t remember). Both got back to me and told me which ones were still available and asked me a few questions and we made appointments to view. After viewing and further discussion we picked out the one we wanted (actually went back for the ‘runner up’ a week later). That was that. Here’s a pic! They are four years old now.

We tried the usual rescue places but they said no kittens were available (and had waiting lists) plus we have dogs and older cats might not have settled. Before we had dogs I’d mainly adopted grown cats (one as old as 11).

I was turned down flat by CP despite having had cats my entire life. Had home visits and been accepted by two other reputable rescue shelters though.

Maybe it was just my local one being over-zealous.

December isn’t a great time for a kitten, many more available from March onwards. I learned this many years ago when I was looking for kittens. The rescue rules are mad. My grandmother had cats all her married life and lived in her house since 1955, all cats lived long lives. Then in 2000 she tried to rescue one but lived on a main road (with massive garden backing onto tennis courts and woodland). She was turned down. She did get one private and he was lovely. Lived to 21 years old (last 2 years with us as she had to go into a care home).

All our cats came from local farms. We were turned down by all the rescues for a whole bunch of random reasons!

You need to approach other rescues, but you’re also better contacting the GCCF to find registered breeders selling registered cats. If a kitten is registered it means parents are, certain health tests are carried out and the mother isn’t overbred. Buying a £150 kitten from a random is the same as paying for people to run puppy mills.

I would ask around locally especially for farm kittens. Although they probably won’t be sexed.
On pets for homes you can be inundated with messages and people are picky who they sell to.

I couldn’t get a cat from any rescue organisation because I had a 4 year old at the time and a house in which there was nowhere to fit a cat flap (ridiculous). So I got one from Pets4Homes. She came from a travellers’ campsite and she is the light of my life. She goes in and out if she wants to (which mostly she doesn’t) by asking me to open and close the back door. DD is her favourite person and she sleeps on her bed.

Just keep looking!

NB I wanted a male cat and was told I was getting one. When I took the kitten to the vet he pointed out that she was female (though he did say it could be hard to sex kittens). I don’t care, I love her anyway.

Most rescues are staffed by animal hoarders who don’t want the cats rehomed, they want them for themselves.

I was turned down by Celia Hammond because I have a disability, despite the fact I am an experienced cat owner, fully independent etc, the home checker then told me she had 19 cats and was planning to get more.

someone who hoards animals to that should be the type having animals removed, not considered competent to judge others.

OMG .... So true. One house checker came and refused us as I said I wouldn't have the cats in my bedroom. On the bed yes, my cat spends all day on my bed. No, she thought it was entirely normal to have your cats eating, sleeping and using litter trays in the bedroom. I kid you not.

We were refused as we don’t have a spare room for the cat - one rescue told me we must have a room we don’t use. Another reason was that my garden isn’t interesting enough - the picture I sent was taken in winter so yes, it was a bit bare 🙄. A couple of rescues wouldn’t consider us because our garden is cat proofed and cats should be allowed to roam. Battersea did suggest one cat to us but he had health issues and they didn’t know what was causing them and no, they wouldn’t pay the vet bills if we adopted him!

I have no idea how Harry managed for 15 years in a boring garden and without his own bedroom!

If you're in the Midlands, try Furbabies cat rescue.