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Another kitten thread because why not?
Figgy
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
Fighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered User regular
I'll keep it short: have 2 year old cat that is extremely friendly and a ton of fun to play with. Likely giving it back when its owner returns this summer (have been cat-sitting for over a year.. yes.. I know the owner is fucked for leaving it this long.. that young.. and expecting it back).
I wanna get a kitten now so that it sort of "trains" it to be similar in personality, and to give it a companion when we're not home--which is increasing from 4-6 hours to 10 hours or more.
Should I:
Get a kitten from a shelter that does all the shots, deworming, etc. for $200 OR get one for $50 or so from a private owner who probably only does the first de-worming (will be indoor ONLY)
Also:
Am I being overly optimistic that these cats will get along? I've had cats growing up, and I don't remember it being a problem introducing cats.. it just takes time.
Edit: Pics? How bout a video of the current cat playing fetch with a paper ball?
Ok fine and a pic of her
I wanna get a kitten now so that it sort of "trains" it to be similar in personality, and to give it a companion when we're not home--which is increasing from 4-6 hours to 10 hours or more.
Should I:
Get a kitten from a shelter that does all the shots, deworming, etc. for $200 OR get one for $50 or so from a private owner who probably only does the first de-worming (will be indoor ONLY)
Also:
Am I being overly optimistic that these cats will get along? I've had cats growing up, and I don't remember it being a problem introducing cats.. it just takes time.
Edit: Pics? How bout a video of the current cat playing fetch with a paper ball?
Ok fine and a pic of her
Figgy on
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Spending the extra 150 dollars will ensure if your cat ever does get outside it wont further destroy the environment by populating the world with it's children, male or female it is still the responsible thing to do.
Spending the extra 150 dollars will stop a poor little cat being killed because no one wanted to buy it.
Satans..... hints.....
I plan on fixing the cat regardless from where I get it.
Also, it will never be an outdoor cat. Ever.
So how much does fixing a cat generally cost? (I'm in the Toronto area).
you don't always need deworming.
also while i would argue the merits of saving an animal. 50 bucks for a cat from an owner is probably good. though find out why they are getting rid of it. it could be peeing everywhere but its box. that is a hard thing to overcome and one of th emajor reasons a lot of cats get put down.
Domestic cats tend to be extremely healthy, regardless of background, due to the fact that they retained a very "natural" shape (unlike some dog breeds, like daschunds which tend to have back problems because of their weiner shape.) The cats most likely to have problems are squash-nosed breeds like Persians and the XTREME Siamese bred for shows that are freakishly elongated. (Siamese with a body structure more like "regular" cats are usually healthy, though.)
I would definitely go to a shelter. It's spring, which is typically "kitten season." Save a little life (or two! Two kittens are easier to deal with than one. They keep each other entertained while you're away.) Plus the money you spend will help the shelter care for more animals. $200 seems steep, though. There may be cheaper shelters in your area.
In case you haven't seen it before, http://www.petfinder.com/ . Revel in the cuteness!
its a personality thing. our first cat loves meeting new cats. we could bring any cat in here and he would love on it/ try to play.
our second cat does the whole hissing thing but otherwise is ok. its really luck of the draw but typically keep an eye on things and they will work it out
That really only comes from when there are a small amount of breeders and you don't get enough genetic diversity. If you come from a decent sized city and the breeder isn't a retard that inbreeds and destorys their stock they in my experience live longer.
Satans..... hints.....
I saw a documentary the other day on purebred pets.
Oh god.
When they say "purebred" they actually mean "inbred".
That's why you actually take the time to do research before choosing a breeder, and pick one that has a documented history of knowing what the hell they're doing.
Any decent breeder is going to be pretty diverse in the cats they use - the lady we got ours from has retired 5 or 6 cats since then, and introduced just as many new ones, all from different outside catteries. No health problems in ours whatsoever, aside from a couple mild cases of fleas.
It's pretty hard to know anything for sure until they actually meet. Even if they don't become best buddies, they very well may get to a point where they at least tolerate each other without fighting.
PICS!:
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
She looks like the type that might lead you through a mirror
Also, "introducing" cats depends entirely on the given cat's personality. We've had cats before that didn't mind at all, be we had this other cat that got so pissed off it ran off for a couple of days and wouldn't let us touch it for weeks.
Also lots of people are usually donating kittens for zilch, you just have to get everything done, but it should still be cheaper than $200.
Hum, no. While some families are spared, a LOT of purebred cats are subjects to well known genetic problems, which are not a result of inbreeding, but rather carried along as part of their heritage.
Also: goddamnit i want a kitten now
Edit: It's awesome that you're keeping it an indoor cat. Lots of cats get killed by foxes/cars/people outside.
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
"deworming, health exam, microchip, vaccinations appropriate to age," and you get $50 back when you come back with proof that you've had it fixed. (spayed, neutered.)
And adult cat is only $145 and includes all of the above, plus the fixing. I definately want a kitten though, so our current cat can play "mother," which I think it will. She seems to be OK around other cats... very curious and not aggresive at all. When strays come to the window she perks all up but never rears back or hisses or anything, even if the stray comes right up to the screen of the window.
Based on the advice here, it looks like just getting one from one of these private breeders is a better idea, since it comes with deworming anyway, and I'll just pay for it to be fixed. I'm going based on Kajiji ads around here from people selling kittens for like $50. The ones that are listed as free seem to be just people whose cat had a litter and they need to get rid of them.. rather than people who have experience with cats and are actively breeding them for sale.
Of course, I'd go check out the kittens and their environment...
I'm going to post a video here introducing the two cats when it happens, but keep the advice coming if you guys think I'm missing something.
http://www.burlingtonhumane.ca/
That is the shelter, and it's definately a non-profit, volunteer run organization.
Edit: N/M... you know, I'd forgotten that we picked up a stray kitten a couple of years ago. We had a female cat and she eventually got really attached to him.
As far as your older cat's reaction goes, you never really can tell. I've known some of the nicest people-cats that absolutely hate other cats, and vice versa. In any case, they'll get used to each other after a while, and learn to live in the same abode.
After Winnifred had all her shots/wormed/fixed/etc. and was ready to be introduced to the other cats her and Simon buddied right up and were cuddled up on the couch the first night.
The big thing is, cats are creatures of habit. Anything that disrupts their routine will freak them out initially - but once they realize that the new cat is there to stay they will get used to the idea.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
The advantage of getting a cat from a breeder is partly that you're getting a cat of a particular breed. I have an Abyssinian and a Balinese, and of course you can't find those at an SPCA. But the other part is the household -- the cats are raised with mom and their littermates, and they learn how to play with cats, how to use a litter box, and that people are nice and playful. They also learn how to use a scratching post because they see Mom use it. In other words, a good breeder not only works to improve a particular breed of cats, but also helps make cats very personable, friendly, and happy. They charge accordingly, of course -- a cheap purebred cat might start at $400 for a "common" breed. Often they're close to a thousand. Our guys were cheap because the Aby is not show-cat quality -- he's got some stripes on him -- and the balinese is in the "traditional" style, not the super-tubey style.
The point is, for $50, what you get are, most likely, a mom cat who was never fixed, got out of the house, and got pregnant. Then had kittens, and are being kept in a box with shitty food (because good kitten food is expensive), no toys, and little interaction. And they're trying to dump them and make a little money. A cat should stay with its mom for at least 10 weeks, 12 is preferred, and most BYB try to ditch kittens as young as possible -- they're barely weaned!
BYB are the result of irresponsible pet owners. If you think it's cruel to not spay/neuter a pet, why would you buy your pet from someone who didn't? For that reason, it's far better to get a pet from an SPCA/shelter where the people there actually care about their animals.
As to your other questions, I go to a very cheap vet. Spay is $100, neuter is $40. Shots are $50 for first round, $50 for round 2, $50 for round 3 (approx). If they've been dewormed that's round 1.
In other words, the BYB is ripping you off. Kittens are expensive, unless you're irresponsible and never take them to the vet. It'll cost you at least $150 to have your cat up to date on shots as a kitten and fixed (at the 6 month mark).
one they are part of a foster agency where the 50 is just o cover expenses. or two, mommma wa a little slut and got knocked up so hey we need to get rid of them.
number two doesn't mean they are backyard breeders. it could be they had an unexpected litter on their hands. asking 50 bucks to cover costs of vaccines isn't uncommon and it weans out people looking for a free cat, that they will mistreat.
I would think one of the signs of a quality breeder is that they're not going to have unplanned litters in the first place, aside from once-in-a-blue-moon occurrences.
And maybe i'm underestimating people's sense of generosity, but like EggyToast said, purebred cats generally are not cheap - unlikely they'd only be asking $50 considering everything else they have to do to prepare the kitten to be adopted.
I think he's talking about your average housecat.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
A lot of these quote "8 weeks old--ready to go!"
Is 12 weeks really the ideal time?
Ah, my bad, for some reason I assumed you were thinking of purebred cats also.
Anyway, I guess it depends on what you consider a "backyard breeder" exactly....I would agree with EggyToast that people who allow their cats to have accidental litters on a small scale would still fall into that category.
From everything i've ever heard, yes.
really there are two good reasons to wait until 8 weeks. one any young kitten issues hopefully go away by then. most super young kittens have horrible diarhea and can easily go from super healthy to deaths door and back in teh span of a couple of days. also the older they are the more lilkey they are used to solid food
second reason is that the longer they are with momma, the more cat manners they get.
if they were raised with momma they will liekly be ready to go earlier (8 weeks) if they are ophan kitties, they probably won't be ready until later due to slow growth/health.
while semantics i feel a backyard breeder is someone who breeds to make a profit rather than someone who has an accidental litter and tries to find a home
So, on the site you linked to, the first one says "Foster Kittens" -- they would be cool. Foster parents take the kitten as a very young cat, acclimate it to other cats, people, dogs, and just being a social pet. They give it a lot of attention, a good diet, and usually do it for free.
That being said, make sure that the foster family is an actual foster family -- some BYB will use the term so they can actually sell animals, rather than simply bring them up. If the fee is simply for adoption for the original agency -- and many SPCAs will put kittens into foster homes so they don't sit in a cage -- then you're good. Just do a little homework when you're meeting with the people.
There are some BYB on that page, too. They're the ones saying shit like "Siamese cat!" Now, I have a balinese, which is a longhaired siamese. He's registered in TICA; his mom is registered in TICA. I have his geneology report. He was NOT $150. What these scum on kijiji are doing is this: They get their generic cat. He's cute, and so & so says "oh your cat is so adorable! he HAS to be [breed]!" And then, instead of being a responsible pet owner, they leave their cat un-neutered and try to make "duplicates" of their cat.
A siamese is a breed of cat -- there's "traditional" and "modern/oriental." However, a cat that "looks like" a siamese is simply pointed. Pointing is relatively common in some regions, and can even occur randomly in a moggie population. Just being pointed doesn't make a cat a breed, though -- just like a dog with light brown fur isn't suddenly a golden retriever. However, BYBs will try to make duplicates of their pretty cat, rather than simply love the cat for being cute on its own, and then try to sell the babies -- usually for profit, and usually without any of the actual advantages of buying from a registered breeder.
OP, I'm not suggesting you're looking to do this, or that you even want a particular breed of a cat; I'm just helping you be aware of what you're seeing on these pages. I'm a big fan of purebred cats -- if you have the budget for it -- but I love all cats, no matter where they came from. That's why I get angry when I see people trying to breed their pet without having any idea of what they're doing -- it's cruel to the animal, and it's often cruel to the offspring. Going into heat once, for a female, can create tons of behavioral problems down the road, and often the family eventually gives up and just gets rid of the cat, either euthanizing it or dumping it on a farm. A male cat that starts to spray will often spray even if eventually fixed, resulting in similar frustration for the family and tragedy for the cat. Not to mention that if a kitten pops out that doesn't "look like mama" and no one wants ends up with a similar fate, usually tossed away because it's not "as cute" as they wanted.
SPCAs and shelters deal with accidental litters, so it's not like there's no resource for individuals who get an accidentally pregnant cat (not that it's that accidental -- you generally know if you neutered your pet or not). Kijiji and Craigslist are the new "kittens out of a trunk in a parking lot," in a lot of ways, and when a BYB gets rid of an entire litter, they feel no reason to change their animal abuse and keep doing it.
So stick with registered foster families and SPCA/shelters.