Rescue kitten

I phoned a vet and asked the price of neutering a tom cat, worming and vaccinations.

That gave me a reasonable base line.

As it turned out, the kittens I ended up choosing were from a private home, too young to have been neutered and were not vaccinated, so the people whose cat had had them refused any payment. I gave them a large box of chocolates as a token thank you.

I'm so sorry, kircubbin2000, but you don't need to feel bad. Someone will give him a home.
Interestingly our kitten came with an awful behavioural report and had caused the vet at the shelter to end up at the hospital. Apparently he was vicious and couldnt be with children due to his aggression.
He has been with us a month or so now, plays nicely with our dog and grandchildren and is Mister Charming himself. Last week we went away and the cat sitters living here said his behaviour was impeccable.
The RSPCA sent us a lovely email thanking us or taking a chance on him. I guess you just never know either way, so don't beat yourself up.

Catteries and rescue places are ideally supposed to match the .animal with the right owner. In my case with Tilly, the rescue centre should have said that she would be better as a solo cat, whereas they knew I wanted her as a companion for my other cat who was sad because her brother had died. In your case they should have matched your kitten with perhaps a farm setting.

Are you going to look for a kitten elsewhere? You did your best, try not to feel bad about him.

I feel bad because he was lovely in the cattery and would probably be better in a farm setting.

I'm so sorry kircubbin. He has probably been through an awful time before coming to you and will need some very gentle handling away from children.

I had a rescue cat (Tilly)who was 10 months old and had been through a lot including having a litter of kittens at only 6 months old. Her owner died and no one knew she'd got a cat so poor Tilly was in the house with her kittens for several days before the owner's son discovered her and took her to the cats' rescue.

I brought her home and she was lovely with me, became my little shadow and had clearly never been played with or even cuddled. I wanted to be the one who gave her a kind and loving life.... I really fell in love with her. But ... unfortunately she was incredibly jealous of my other cat, and one night she suddenly attacked my other cat and grabbed her round the throat and wouldn't let go. It was horrifying. I struggled to get Tilly off, and my poor cat was terrified.

In the end I had to rehome Tilly which badly upset me but I couldn't turn my back for a moment because Tilly would stalk my lovely cat and I knew it would happen again. I needed eyes in the back of my head. I spoke to my vet about Tilly and he said "You've shown her what love is and now she wants you all to herself. She's fighting off the opposition which is what she would do in the wild. She will be better off as a solo pet."

Fortunately a friend adopted Tilly so I knew she'd be loved and looked after but it was heartbreaking to part with her. My lovely cat took over 2 years to get over being jumpy in the house after that. If there was the slightest creak, she would run to the bottom of the stairs and look up, probably thinking "That * cat has come back!"

Tilly has been fine with my friend as there's no other pet to be jealous of.

Blimey! That’s not good. I hope that you’re okay. You must go down the proper shelter route now

I'm sorry I didn't listen to your advice. I've had to return my lovely rescue cat as he viciously turned on me, narrowly missing my eye. Then followed me and leapt at my leg taking lumps out of both the front and back. Lucky the grandkids weren't here.
I feel bad now as he has blotted his profile and may not get another chance of rehoming. I know he was probably scared etc but so was I!

nann8 your cats are living the life of Riley, what a great pic of them napping in the sun.
Aussie cats are lucky that way, cats here have to get used to loads of rain.

My cat, 4years old is costing me about £10 a week to feed.
She doesn’t have special expensive food , just Felix pouches with Whiskas biscuits left out overnight and the occasional Dreamie.
I do not have her insured but just a few weeks ago she got a scratch in her eye.That was £110 at the vets.
Last Friday her vaccinations cost £66.
It is not cheap to have a cat and this must be considered when getting one.
However the love and companionship is priceless.

Cat rescue charities are really struggling - too many cats and kittens needing rescue. These charities do wonderful jobs in rescuing these “unwanted” animals. Neutering costs, defleaing, inoculations aren’t cheap. If you can’t afford at least £80 donation then you can’t afford a cat! Sounds harsh but it is fact. The charity do not “make” money but save lives.

I love your beautiful cats, Nanna. Love the froggy cushion, too!

We’ve just lost the second of two brothers, rescue Russian Blues. They were from Cats Protection (previous owners were posted abroad and couldn’t take them). They were £50 each but as we took both of them, we just paid £75.

Our previous cat was also a rescue, a kitten. She turned out to have a heart problem but we still adopted her as she may have been pts if they couldn’t rehome her because of her medical issues, which included an estimated life span of one to two years. In fact we had her for five and half years of madness, fun and laughter. As my son said, she was a star that burned briefly but brightly.

We are trying to get used to living in a cat-less house, something we’ve rarely had in our lives.

Kitten care costs money!

We have always had ‘rescue’ cats. They are lovely but do choose carefully because they have long lives. Our old cat lived well into his 20 s. I now have twin calicos, I adore them.

Love them! What gorgeous cats Poppyflower
I can’t have a kitten cos our dog hates cats and tries to go for them any chance he gets.
We had cats in the past who were strays that we took in but had them checked out at the vet first.

Shelflife I totally agree with you, 100 % 👍

Kircubbin, l hate to appear harsh but strongly advice you to chose your kitten/ cat from the RSPCA or established and registered rescue centre. You could be taking on a cat with a multitude of health issues.
Look at this way - a recue cat is a rescue cat regardless of where you find him / her. Good luck and enjoy your new friend.

Gorgeous rescues Poppyflower.
What is it about traveling that stops you having a cat Catterygirl? I'm sure the cat would be fine in your absence in a cattery as you have knowledge how well they are looked after. Our new kitten is home alone this week while we are abroad, but family are dropping in to see him twice a day or we would employ a visiting cat sitter. He probably won't even notice our absence.

Goodness, I never realised getting a kitten or cat could be so complicated these days. At 71 I wish to travel without the responsibility of a cat but when travel becomes difficult, me and OH would love a moggie or Bengal to spend our last days with. Our son helped run our cattery and would love to inherit our cat but he’s still renting and his partner is allergic to cats so maybe we will give it all a miss and just pet sit.

Sorry but I had a feeling there might be a problem with the kitten which is why I advised to get it checked by a vet first. As many others have said do contact Carts Protection. Our daughter adopted two beautiful Ginger kittens from them a few years ago. Very healthy, neutered and micro chipped. They are now two lovely adult cats. The cats and kittens at Cats Protection are kept in lovely clean surroundings and given the best care and come to you with a clean bill of health.

They`re gorgeous Poppy! I paid Cats Protection £90 for Billy last year, but he was neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202211/medium-597916-20221127-114529.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202211/medium-749353-20220922-083128.jpg

I agree with £80. These are my two rescue moggies, Molly and Henry the ginger Tom!

Here is The Moggery's latest newsletter showing some lovely kittie pix.
www.themoggery.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/196-November-website.pdf

kircubbin2000 If you are anywhere near Bristol, there's a terrific cat rescue place called The Moggery who always have kittens, and cats of all ages.

Hi Kircubbin
If you go the Cats Protection, (or similar) you will have a large number of cats to choose from, so you will get the cat that is most suitable for you and vice versa.
You will be able to meet and play with then to see how you bond.
The people there will have done research with the cat, and they know all about them - indoor/ outdoor; cuddly / aloof; get on with kids, dogs, other cats etc.

The kitten idea is not working out as they now have flu. She has offered me a large ,older black cat.