Where to adopt/buy kittens?

[Onelasttime]

We have finally made a family decision to become cat owners. Our two kids are old enough and the wife and I both had cats when we were kids so we'd like our two to experience the same.

We’ve researched the pros and cons, we understand holidays might be tricky but we know people who could look after them and there are good catteries local to us. We are prepared for vet bills and pet insurance, and the cost of food.

Now the question is, where do we go to find two kittens? I assumed that the local cat rescue centres would be full to bursting with thousands of abandoned kittens, but it seems not. In the seven local rescue centres, there was one kitten. The RSPCA had a grand total of none near to us, and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home had none that matched with the I can live with any age children criteria. So where do we go?

I didn’t really want to buy from a pet shop because I wrongly assumed there would be a greater need at an animal charity, and I really don’t want to go down the Gumtree route.

Can anyone point me in the right direction. Can be anywhere around the M25 area.

[doebag]

There's a place in Nottingham (I know, not M25, but i'll get to that) called Kitty Cafe where a pal of mine adopted a couple of cats from. I think the premise is that you can go there for an afternoon and interact with them to get a better measure of them than just a quick look through a grille in a rehoming shelter.

From what I understand these kinds of places are becoming quite popular and a lot more are popping up. Might be worth looking for something similar closer to you? Also would be a great treat for the kids.

https://kittycafe.co.uk/

[shadowman]

Last Chance rescue centre near Edenbridge is not far from the M25

[dizz]

There's a Battersea dog/cat home in Windsor, they have a fair turn over so worth a phone call every week.

Also try your local vets.

[reggie747]

Remember John, cats like houses better than people !

[unclealec]

There are a few on here:

https://www.bluecross.org.uk/rehome/cat

that are under 12 months old. Most have been reserved, but a few are showing as available.
It may be worth while having a chat with this organisation to see if there is some sort of waiting list.
I have had to barricade myself into my office to view these; my present wife would have adopted the lot!

[Onelasttime]

Remember John, cats like houses better than people !

I know Greg – fickle barstewards

[FLYING MONKEY]

[IMG][/IMG]

Good to have two

[Artistmike]

Have you tried ringing Cats Protection and asking if they could inform you when some kittens become available? It would be worth waiting to get the right cats and they usually have quite a high turnover and are always looking for homes.... I've had two cats from them now and would always turn to them first....

[OldHooky]

[IMG][/IMG]

Good to have two

Blimey, they look just like mine!

[jamesianbriggs]

Cats Protection have lots of branches and a massive centre down in Horsham (or thereabouts).


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[j0hnbarker]

Try Cats Protection. I bung them £10 each month as a charity donation. In return they send me regular updates about cats needing new homes and how they're doing with my sponsorship etc.

They seem to have plenty of cats/kittens and must have a couple of branches within the M25?

[jimp]

Try car engines! thats were i found this little bugger!

[series5]

I can appreciate the wish for kittens and your concerns about getting them via adverts on the internet. Sometimes though, if you can find a cat or a pair of cats whom somebody wants to give away to a good home it can be a great way to help on several fronts:

1) By responding to an advert where somebody is not asking for money often shows a more caring attitude than somebody who whats some money. What price can you put on something that you love but that you cannot keep for whatever reason?

2) By taking a cat, or cats, you are actually helping somebody in a fix as well as helping yourself. In addition, you get to see the cats in their environment and you can gauge better what difficulties you may have.

3) Kittens are cute and cuddly and look great on Christmas cards and next to balls of string but they also claw furniture, curtains, wallpaper and your arms! Sometimes, a little older the cat is, the mature it is (unlike humans!).

We got ours through a website - for the life of me I cannot remember where - it was a couple who were splitting up and couldn't keep them. Tommy was 3 and Ruby was 1.5. Admittedly, it took a couple of weeks to gain their trust once they came to live with us but the rewards are worth so much - and we helped some people out who were in dire straits.

A few links - some ads. some charities:


https://www.lastchanceanimalrescue.c...attery/cat.php

http://www.preloved.co.uk/classified...e+to+good+home

http://www.celiahammond.org/hastings...astings-sussex

[Andyg]

A cat-ologue

[luckywatch]

I use Preloved, got five cats from them. Buy all my hens there as well.

http://www.preloved.co.uk/classifieds/pets/cats

[Gurmot]

We got both of ours via the vet where we used to take our lab. They both came as kittens, with full health check on the condition we took them back for neutering when they were old enough.

I'm no expert but I would advise you get one as Yong as possible. They seem to bond better that way.

[DavidL]

There will be lots of small rescue charities, a quick google should find them. I imagine if you look in the local pets smart or similar there will be a flier for one or two.
We've had them from the rspca (5), local charities (2) and a pet shop window whilst waiting for a take away!

[djjuk]

Please rehome from a charity and do not purchase......some of the breeding practices are horrendous and should not be encouraged.

Plenty of animals need a home through the many available charities so keep looking.

[mk1974]

We got ours from preloved,and when we go away we just get someone to feed them ,easy


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[PhilipK]

When we wanted two cats a couple of years ago (our previous ones had died and the house didn't seem the same without them), I was surprised at how many scams there are out there relating to cat purchase - it makes buying a second-hand Rolex on eBay look like a risk-free transaction!

We found ours (both "pet grade" - i.e. they had been spayed and so couldn't be bred from - pedigrees) through small ads on Pets4Homes (https://www.pets4homes.co.uk/), but the "TZ-UK" of the cat world seems to be "Purrs In Our Hearts" (http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/) and it might be worth looking on there.

Good luck - and don't get too fixated on getting young kittens. Older cats can also make excellent pets, and those cute kittens will turn into fully grown cats pretty quickly.

[vagabond]

We got ours from Battersea (dog and cat home, not power station) as a 3-4 month kitten a couple of years back.

[Mr_Mac]

Ours came from the local branch of the National Animal Welfare Trust. He was hardly a kitten at 9yrs old but in the 3yrs we've had him so far he's been an absolute little star. No damage to the house, so loving and he's a proper little character.

We actually went to view another cat we'd seen online who very kindly decided to bite me twice within 5 mins so quickly blew her chances of a new home with us.

[Onelasttime]

Thanks for all the advice

I'm under no illusion about kittens becoming cats so we're prepared. I really wanted kittens for the reason someone mentioned above, to bond. Daft as it sounds, I feel that if the cat has grown up with us it would be beneficial for all parties.

I was surprised at the amount of charities with a lack of available cats. What do they actually do if not rescue cats and rehouse them? But I think the next step is to contact these charities and explain the situation and see what happens. Websites for these places are probably out of date and unreliable so speaking to a real person might be a good idea. I'm so used to doing everything online it's like a parallel universe

[unclealec]

One thing that surprised me with this thread is that despite having a cat or cats for our entire married life, we have never "got" one.
They "got" us.
I am convinced that a feline sixth sense exists in that when due to impending demise a vacancy arises in our street for a cat, one magically appears in the back garden, with a suitably forlorn pleading expression on its little feline face.
One of ours, Ginger, was in a scrap car that a friend dumped on my drive in an emergency non-sale as he was in the act of emigrating. He swears blind that there was no ginger tom in the car when he dumped it.
A very strange incident is connected with Ginger - for another time methinks.

[SteveR]

My wife wanted one, I did not.

"Please I'll feed him and everything" I had a look on our local RSPCA site for cats and wow. Saw Alan, he looked amazing and I knew he was my cat. We got him about 3 years ago when he was aged around 2. Amazing cat and couldn't imagine him not being part of the family.

No she doesn't feed him. He's got long hair so it's also my job to brush him daily. And worm him. And flea him. Her cat, though.

[Scepticalist]

We were particularly after a Burmese as my mother used to breed them when I was a child -we adopted an 18month old cat from a breeder found via www.loveburmese.co.uk/

If you go this kind of route, ensure that the breeder has a decent reputation and is a member of the breed club/organisation.

[JonRA]

Blimey, they look just like mine!

If you live near Flying Monkey, maybe they are 😀 (Aren't there something like 4M cats in the UK and 6M cat owners?)

[reecie]

Simply put there are less kittens as these are the cute animals people want. Much better, tbh, to re-home a slightly older cat. In my experience they soon become part of the family if you put a bit of initial effort in and know a good thing when they see it. 10 years ago it felt the Cats Protection was doing us a favour letting us have a cat. The RSPCA on the other hand were much more welcoming. We've had ours 9 years now and she's a dear little thing.

[Sweepinghand]

They'll have some just keep calling
Pop down and see them
They'll do a house visit too prior so can get that out the way

[SteveR]

RSPCA also offered a reduced price on insurance and vaccinations. We did't take the offer of insurance up as Sainsburys offered a load of Nectar points I think. It was good the offer was there though. the amount of cats they had too was shocking, it really felt we were doing something good.

[Kirk280]

It's nice to see a TZ member wanting to rehome kittens / cats.

As opposed to the infamous TZ Iberian kitten strangler!

[Tifa]

Most Chinese restaurants have a supply.

[chrig]

My advice is stay away from any that come from anywhere near farmland, they are born (and will end up) feral!

[SimonH]

My advice is stay away from any that come from anywhere near farmland, they are born (and will end up) feral!

I don't know about that but you can be sure they will know how to hunt so you will get lots of "presents"!

Our cat was abandoned and had to fend for herself for a while before the CPL got her, and she could certainly hunt! She's starting to age a bit now so the she's less prolific but we still get the odd one...

[chrig]

I've 'been through' 9 cats over the years (no that's not a euphemism!), 3 from farms. It's been my experience that they need constant human handling over their first two months or they're generally not interested in people.

The most recent one was from farmland and we took it against my better judgement (didn't realise it was farmland until collecting and had driven too far by that point!) - little bugger was mental (harassing our other cat) and had to regretfully re-home it a number of weeks later. The worst cats were definitely the farm-bred ones!