Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hi everyone! I've just joined, so my apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place.

I'm here for what I suspect is an odd reason. I've been a cat-lover all my life and am very experienced with cats, but my husband hasn't had a pet. He has always open to having one, but we weren't very settled (renting, changing jobs) and having not really had a pet before the whole concept was a bit foreign to him so he was keen, but also a little apprehensive.

But now he and his best friend (our neighbour) have both decided that they really want to get a pet (or pets). We live in flats, so cats seem to be a good choice (much to my excitement!). The time seems right now because we're generally feeling quite established and settled in our own property, plus we have good relationships with several neighbours and have become their pet-sitters when they are away. Having said that, the time we would be looking to get these kittens would be in a few months time, not immediately (for logistical reasons).

Our other neighbours' dog had puppies recently, and after holding them just twice my husband completely melted and saw for himself that pets aren't hyper and weird 100% of the time and they have their own personalities, and that bonding and sharing one's life with a pet is beautiful. He's been watching videos of kittens and cats and getting a bit sooky (bless!). All good progression as far as I'm concerned.

Now here's the odd bit: my husband has never personally met a kitten so I want him to get the experience of interacting with kittens, like he did with the puppies. Just a few visits so that the idea of getting a kitten isn't something just theoretical, he can actually experience playing and bonding with a kitten. His best friend is already totally sold (he's addicted to cat videos now, haha). But they want to at least have watched and handled kittens a few times before actually getting one.

I'm not sure how to go about this though. Would a breeder mind us playing with their kittens if we not intending to buy just yet? Do any animal rescues allow you to meet kittens? I would really love some ideas.

My local rescues are always looking for people to play with their cats and kittens - I would approach those near you and start to build a relationship ahead of the main kitten season, which will get under way in a month or two.

Oh that’s a great idea! The nearest places are the big name rescues aren’t taking anyone, but I’ve seen there’s a place not too far away and they seems to need volunteers, so I’ve sent them a message. Thanks for the suggestion!

I was also going to suggest contacting your local rescues and explain the situation and to see if they would be agreeable to you spending time with some of their cats and kittens. It will also give you a chance to meet some of the residents, and you never know you might fall in love with one hat is already there, or get to know one of the mothers to be, so you would know the kitten almost from the day it was born. Rescues are also great places for advice and somewhere you can turn to after you have adopted a kitten should you have any queries.

Thanks for the reply! TBH I think I'd forgotten that smaller shelters exist. Only the big names are nearby and volunteering there is impossible, visiting is also hard if you aren't ready to adopt right now. Plus, I know some of them won't allow you to adopt a cat if you don't have a garden.

I found a shelter that's about 50 minutes drive away and is looking for volunteers for socialising with cats, so hopefully we can go visit them a few times. I've sent them an email and crossed my fingers. Actually, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to go with one of the smaller shelters. We can spend more time getting to know the staff as well as the cats while we wait to be ready to actually adopt, and then maybe we (us and bestie) might end up adopting from the same litter.

I would certainly recommend adopting through a rescue that health tests and starts vaccinations - I once had a kitten from a farm that died very young from a tumour due to FIV. Very sad, and a hard lesson learned.

Hi,

Welcome to the forum! It's great to hear that you're considering bringing a cat into your home. It sounds like you've already done some research into cat rescue and adoption centres in your area. However, you might wish to check out Cat Chat's comprehensive list of cat rescue and rehoming organisations, if you haven't already seen it, as there may be some rescues that you've overlooked: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/cat-r ... uk-ireland

In addition to cat rescue centre listings, the main Cat Chat website contains a wealth of useful information on all things feline, so it's worth having a good look around the site while doing your research. Given that you're considering adopting, the Pets - Why Rescue? page might be a good place for you to start: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/advic ... rabbit-pet

Best of luck with the rest of your research, and feel free to return to the forum at any time to ask questions and/or update us on your progress.