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Kitten Buying Advice

A Few Pointers To Help Guide You Through Buying A Kitten

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Welcome to Pedigreecatworld’s buying a kitten advice page. The fact you are here is a great start but there are many things to consider before giving a home to any animal. Are you ready for a cat and the emotional and financial commitment for potentially the next 20 years? Do you know what type of breed would best suit your lifestyle? Check out our breed info pages for help on choosing a breed. Finally, and most importantly, you need to choose a breeder. This is where we can help!!

Below, we will explain what to look out for when choosing a kitten from a reputable breeder, and how to avoid ‘Back Yard Breeders’ – people who think you can throw 2 cats together and sell the offspring as ‘pedigree kittens’ and make a few hundred pounds in the process. These people have very little care for animal welfare, nor to what happens in the future to a pet that you will undoubtedly love, and especially not to your pockets! Kittens will be sold without papers for spurious reasons; they will be labelled as ‘pedigree’ even though there will be no family history, they can be sold un-vaccinated and parted from their Mum’s far too early. Whilst you may feel you have a bargain, sadly, and all too often a new owner ends up with at best large vet bills and at worst…well, we really don’t need to explain.

The same can also be said more often than not for kittens often termed as ‘rare colours’. Prices can range from startlingly high to a more ‘normal’ price but what these kittens are, in fact, are colours which are not recognised by the main registration bodies, or just poor examples of what the colour should be.

It is not always easy to spot a ‘BYB’ but the following points should help. If you feel that any of the breeders advertising on Pedigreecatworld are not up to the standards we expect, please get in touch at info@pedigreecatworld.co.uk

A breeder should always allow you to see a kitten with its mother, and the rest of the litter. Watch out for excuses such as ‘Mum’s just at the vet’ or ‘Mum’s out in the cattery’
You should be allowed to handle the kittens, and not just the one you may be being offered
The kittens should look nice and healthy. Clean bums and faces and no runny eyes. They should be a good weight and roughly comparative to their litter mates
Your kitten should be fully vaccinated at the time you collect it and you should be given the vaccination card. You should also ask if your kitten has had a vet health check
In addition to vaccination, a good breeder will give you written advice on any flea or worming treatment your kitten has had and when the next time treatment is required. Cats, like humans are susceptible to certain diseases. Most reputable breeders will blood test the parents for diseases which are common in that particular breed and will be able to give advice on the status of the kittens.
Your kitten should be at least 13 weeks old at the time you collect it. At this point your kitten should be fully weaned and the breeder should advise you on the type of food the kitten eats and the brands which it is used to
A good breeder will advise you on the type of socialisation a kitten has had – is it used to children or other animals? Has it been around normal domestic noises such as a hoover or TV/music? Is the kitten used to being handled? All these things are very important when considering taking a kitten into your home and a responsible breeder will advise you on this
Responsible breeders will register the kittens with the appropriate official body such as Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) or The International Cat Association (TICA). A registration certificate must be issued (unless agreed in writing by BOTH parties). If this agreement is in place (e.g. both parties agree that neutering will take place before certificate issued) at the very least a certificate should be viewed. Watch out for excuses such as ‘it’s not for breeding so no papers’ or ‘I lost mums paperwork so I couldn’t get kittens registered’. There is no reason whatsoever why a pedigree cat should not have a registration. No papers = very expensive moggy!!
All ethical, reputable breeders will issue you with a pedigree certificate. This looks like a family tree and will show at least 3 previous generations of the kittens family. This, in conjunction with the registration certificate, form your kitten’s pedigree. Remember, No papers = very expensive moggy!!

One of the best assets you have when choosing a kitten is your instinct. Having read the above points, if you get the feeling something is not quite right, then our advice is, no matter how hard, no matter how much you have ‘fallen in love’ to walk away. At Pedigree cat world we strive to ensure that breeders who use our advertising service follow the above ‘rules’ and are ‘ethical and responsible’ breeders and sell only the best quality pedigree kittens. We hope that you find the new addition to your family amongst our advertisers – please send us your pics to info@pedigreecatworld.co.uk and let us know how you got on!

Disclaimer

At Pedigree Cat World we endeavour to only allow the most ethical, reputable breeders who produce happy, healthy kittens. We do not however, accept any kind of responsibility for any kitten purchased from one of our advertisers and strongly advise you thoroughly check all details before you purchase

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If you have any more questions or need to chat to us about something you've seen on the site then please get in touch. We encourage everyone on visiting Pedigree Cat World to notify us of any problems, issues, abuse or violations of our Rules & Regulations. We want Pedigree Cat World to be a safe haven for cat lovers around the UK and even further afield, so please help us where you can. Our furry friends will appreciate it too!