I'm looking to get a kitten this year. Any advice on where to look and whether I would have a decent chance or not, as I'm sure they must be quite exacting with their criteria?
Any good/bad experiences with this?
I have a garden, am at home quite a lot and my dad is a vet so can give me good petcare advice. And I like animals a lot.
if you're in london,
Mayhew Animal Home in...somewhere in North London I think. My dog came (indirectly...) from there, they're cool dudes.
Yeah
we got our dog from a rescue centre....she was abused badly as a pup and she ended up having 15 great years with our family....well worth it I reckon.
My dog was a rescue dog.
She's lovely, but some rescued pets can be hard work. It'll be really rewarding though and it sounds like you'll give him/her a great home.
There are so many pets that desperatly need loving homes that it sort of makes me angry that some people pay stupid amounts of money and wait for a long time for a young pedigree pet.
we got a Donkey from one.
he was really cute, we called him Charles Stewart Parnell, and my dad refused to let anyone call him Charlie, it had to be his full name only.
he was a lovely donkey. i dunno what happened to him actually :(
There never was a donkey,
was there?
there was!!!!!
"i dunno what happened to him actually2
Really? That's a little worrying.
No, but I went to the RSPCA headquarters once........
I wasn't very impressed, there was barely enough room to swing a cat.
i.e. GIRLS, GIRLS!
so RUDE
so ACCURATE
are you broody?
no
Of course the real reason I want a cat is so I can go around telling girls that I have a cat.
we've got the cutest cat
it's starting to like me :""""""). I put its food out for it, the first time, the other day and then it didn't run away from me the next day :)
oh, yeah, maybe you should put something over your face at the same time as you're telling them about the cat. so they don't see what you look like.
I'M JOKING.
thunder and lightning!
here is a picture of that wildebeest cat lady:
http://wesclark.com/am/jocelyn.jpg
hmmmm, scrumptious
Why aren't there DOG ladies? Or women that want to look like otters? They're so cute.
I really think you should put something over your face, and wonder around going:
"Hello, girl, I have a cat. Would you like to look at it?"
It could be like a control, in order to determine whether girls really are just hott for cats.
A little present, Gaz: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/536314523_6d4ca40111_o.jpg
Awwwwwww.
* wander
sidling by in your car
you slow alongside her, roll down the window
"I have a cat"
"It is at home"
"It would enjoy you"
"as would I"
nice
I don't have a car though. Will one of those awkwardly angled and not very wide bus windows do?
yes
you would have to stand on tip-toes and crane your neck at ninety degrees out of it.
Alternatively, why not pop down to your local car dealership or junkyard and try to obtain a working car windowframe maechanism? hold the frame at your side, and affect a slow duck-like walk alongside your target.
god, i think i love you
:D
I like the way you write.
the jonny_rat appreciation society right there
it's totally attracting the guys.
james will be there all the time, as will jonny_rat.
i may stop by sometimes i guess, particularly as GAZ HAS TO LET ME HELP CHOOSE (well, at least come along for the choosing).
We got a cat from a cat home.
She was lovely but died after two or three years in a road accident.
Out current cat was found on the street and no one claimed him so we took the bastard.
Bags playing with the kitten, forever
I know a couple of people who did this, and it was absolutely fine. They did have to get written permission from their landlords, though, i think. I think they have an awful lot more older cats than they do kittens?
we have a cat and dog
They're both lovely, although it is quite difficult to for them to adapt to the new surroundings, especally the dog who is a lurcher from a pack so he keeps chasing everything
this is my concern
because I do want a kitten. A behaviourally troubled cat should really go to a home where it can be given more attention than I probably will be able to, whereas a kitten should be fine.
Getting a kitten will be much more difficult.
And they will be an awful lot of work as well, particularly when they are still young and need housetrained.
But you should definetly go for it, it'll be worth it.
yeah I meant in the longer term
in that a lot of very well-meaning people get cats that have been maltreated and then find themselves out of their depth and unable to cope when it is full of behavioural problems. I want to take the safe(easy) option of getting a kitten so I can try to make sure it grows up happy.
That's not really true
Kittens more or less take care of themselves.
Cats from rescue homes can often be very difficult. We had mixed success with ours, but it is a lot of work, and requires major patience.
my gran got a dog from a rescue home
she's lovely but very highly strung and timid around strangers. As others have said, adopting pets from rescue homes is noble and very rewarding if it works out, but it can be challenging.
I should point out
the dog is timid and highly strung, not my gran.
I really want a kitten now
Thanks.
i nearly had kittens
or is that a Scottishism?
Nah, it's UK wide.........
unless you covered the unfortunate kittens in sausage meat before deep frying them in a crispy batter.
yeah i did
:(
Friends
got a cat from there and it drinks from the loo and licks tooth brushes.
You'll almost certainly have to go on a waiting list
if you want kittens, seeing as there's so much demand. If it's RSPCA they need to do a house check before you're considered anyhow. But yeah, probably best to register your interest somewhere.
Check out
the cat's protection league. Girl I work with has something to do with them. They should be able to sort you out.
Good name too.
great stuff
My first cat was a rescue cat came after having had surgery and being 'done' after bad road accident the only disadvantage here was he was a lot older than i had realised.
Second cat was rescued kitten after being chucked out of someones house.
Third kitten was waif and stray from a violent and abusive home down the road, came to stay with us, RSPCA would have liked to have been able to have done the mothers owner (After our kittens brother got mangled by his car and he just left it to hobble round outside, till i caught it and got the rspca in to try to fix him)
Definately go for it, all the cats I've had have been great I dont think you will have to jump through hoops to get one.
My cat came from the RSPCA
They just came over and did an inspection, and within a week he was here. We paid £40 to cover his injections and his neutering, which I think is standard.
He's so bloody handsome:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28157924@N08/sets/72157605866385535/
it tends to be pretty hard to get kittens cos
everyone wants one.
generally getting rescue cats is fine. we've had a few and they've all been lovely, really affectionate and nice, but my sister got one and it has clearly had some horrible experiences; its just very very nervous, and refuses to be touched by pretty much anyone except my sister. i guess its a chance that you take.
A guy I work with has a cat
with cat-AIDS from a rescue home.
He also has a squirrel that he rescued himself.
He seems very happy with both.
I'm getting our family cat for 6 weeks
in a fortnight or so. We got her from a rescue centre. She's so lovely, but she used to be a vicious hunter. Our other cat was from a centre too, but he died quite young :(
I'd advise going to a place where it's a donation as opposed to a set fee. Also, this cat was known to be a scratcher, which we found was total bollocks. She's seriously the nicest cat I've ever met.