# What we are up against



## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Conversation with a lady this morning

"I'm calling about the older kittens - have you still got any?"
"Yes I have them all"
"My last cat disappeared three weeks ago, he must have gone away to die"
"O I'm sorry to hear that"
"He was only 18 months and he wasn't ill"
"Perhaps someone has taken him in, there are well-meaning people who take in pretty cats thinking they are lost"
"He had a collar and a microchip"
"O well it's probably not that then, could he have been run over?"
"We don't live near a road. He was neutered so he wouldn't be expected to go far. I don't think he'll come back now. Are the kittens good with children?"

[OK, let's run with this one, after all things are getting desperate here]

"I don't have any children. But as it says on the ad, the kittens are rather shy and will need patience"
"How old are they"
"The youngest are 4 months, as it says on the ad"

[why not just read the ad and call me back if you are interested?!]

"So they're not very friendly?"
"Well they just need patience. I do have one very outgoing kitten but he's a pedigree, he's £200"

[gasp of shock from the other party]

"I'm not paying that! Have they been neutered?"
"Not yet, I will have to get that done if they are here much longer but right now I'm trying to minimise my losses. I've already paid out for all the vaccinations and microchips"
"Are you a rescue then?"
"No, I breed pedigree cats. But I did rescue the mother of these kittens. I had a spare pen for them at the time. These are moggies of course"
"And they're £20?"
"Yes that's right"
"Do you have any younger kittens?"
"Yes but they won't be ready for at least a month. They have to be 12 weeks old and fully vaccinated before I will sell them"
"Don't you sell them without the vaccinations?"
"No, pedigree kittens have to be sold with vaccinations, that's the cat club rules. And I don't see why non-pedigree ones should be treated any differently. As far as I am concerned, if someone regards vaccinations as optional, they don't get one of my kittens. The vaccinations and microchip cost about £60"
"O I know they do! I had a triple booster for my cat and a worming tablet and that cost £45"

[why are you griping about the price then?]

"He was so pretty, he was longhaired. Are any of yours longhaired?"

[Did they look like it in the ad?]

"I have some younger ones that are longhaired, two black smokes and one blue, I haven't advertised those yet, but you need to understand that when I first advertise kittens, I do try to recover my costs. For moggies, I ask £60 at that stage, which is what the vaccinations and microchips cost me. If they don't sell then eventually I reduce the price, but I do have to try to cover my vet bills somehow"

[my husband would laugh at the very idea of covering the vet bills!]

"I can bring you the card to show that my cat was vaccinated"
"I still can't let any go until they are at least 12 weeks. My vet told me that if she sees someone with a 6 week old kitten, she can virtually guarantee that they will be back in a week because the kitten is ill"

[thinks, can't you just go away, I am expecting another call!]

"I'll call you back in an hour"

[yes, I bet you will!]

Aaaaagh! Immediately after this I had a conversation with a violin customer who told me that he passes through Leeds market on the way to and from work every day, right past a petshop. At the start of every day, he says, there are kittens in the window priced at £95. By the time he goes home they have almost always been sold. :mad2:

Liz


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## dorrit (Sep 13, 2011)

I feel for you just reading that P*** me off...
I really dont know how you cope with people like that..


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## missye87 (Apr 4, 2011)

It's a shame but maybe the mroe people hear it the more they will come to understand. Good on you for taking in the poor mum! :thumbup:


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## ace85 (Aug 16, 2011)

The problem is that too many people treat purchasing a cat (or a pet in general) as an impulse buy - this lady included, from the sounds of things. Her whole attitude seems to point towards her belief that the kitten is entirely dispensable. 

After all, if it doesn't quite fit her lifestyle, she can easily give it back to a homing shelter, right? And if it wanders off because she let it out too soon, why not just get another one straight away (cheaply, of course)?

...I despair, I really do


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

ace85 said:


> The problem is that too many people treat purchasing a cat (or a pet in general) as an impulse buy


Yes, hence pet shops being able to sell noggies for £80 plus :mad2:

Liz


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

Stupid woman!:mad2::mad2::mad2:

Reminds me of the woman who rang me once regarding a Birman kitten - she lived in rented (that's fine by me) but when I asked her about what would happen if she moved and the landlord said no to cats she said she would give it to rescue. Needless to say she didn't get a kitten. There were plenty of other issues with her too.


Did she call back?


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

No she didn't. I wasn't exactly surprised! I did manage to sell one kitten yesterday, that's two sold in three weeks 

Liz


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## skip (Sep 25, 2011)

I'm disgusted to read this,how can someone be so casual about the fact they have lost a kitten,obviously not a caring person at all and worse cant even see a problem with it.We have only had our cat 2wks tomorrow and i would be devastated if anything happened to our baby,he's a 15month old ragdoll and bless him i would be totally lost without him already,some people just dont deserve pets 
I hope you find good loving homes for your babies soon


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## Lumboo (Mar 31, 2011)

Her cat of 18 months, who wasn't ill, went away to die?
Huh? 

Poor you for dealing (so calmly I might add) with this muppet.

Hopefully your kittens will find perfect forever homes soon


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

Well this couple with a child came round just now, chose a black and white one (hooray! I thought), I went to pick the kitten up and he decided to go completely beserk (he had been sitting calmly looking at the people through the cage door until then), scratched me badly (on two fingers and a leg!), disappeared into an inaccessible corner of the run and refused to come out. Unsurprisingly, the people changed their minds as they were concerned that their child would make a grab for the kitten and be scratched. I guess I will now have to specify that they are not likely to be suitable for homing with young children which will make it even more difficult 

The older kitten they would have considered, friendly as anything with me, saw them, wriggled free and scarpered, so that was another one they might have considered but then wouldn't have.

How on earth do you get ordinary moggy kittens socialised to accept visitors at all, let alone visitors with young children? 

Liz


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

I know some people are just awful, we had a call from the vets at the weekend as they had a 3- 4 week old kitten brought into them a couple of weeks ago with an upset tummy, the owner didn't want the kitten treated just wanted her put to sleep   so the vets got the owner to sign the kitten over to them. She was treated and it seems it was just worms that was the problem. She is now with me and she stay with me until a space becomes available in rescue for her.

She is going to need alot of socialisation before she goes. Whenever I get kittens in I always put them in a very large crate in my living room so they get used to household noises, people walking in and out the dog walking around, the kids playing and always leave the TV or radio on so they can hear something all the time. I and the rest of my family handle them lots too so they soon learn that humans are a good thing.
Once they stop trying to hide, I let them out to wonder around the living room and tend to ignore them until they come to me wanting attention which they always end up wanting to do, once you get a purr out of them and them jumping up on your lap for attention you know your really on the right track.
I think the best thing you can do is explain that these kittens are going to need someone who has the time and patience to help them to be less afraid. It might help to invite lots of different people and children in to handle them lots so they get used to people more and keep a radio on near them to get them used to people talking.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

That's the thing, I have advertised them quite clearly from the start as kittens in need of patience, but still half the callers seem to think that they will be able to come over, pick them up, cuddle them, and so will all their kids :mad2: These were born here, I honestly don't think I treated them any differently in their formative stages from my own kittens, and Mum is an absolute sweetheart. I guess they get their temperament from Dad and of course I know nothing at all about him except that he was ginger!

It's going to have to be a mass neutering session before much longer, I have unsold kittens of my own too despite having reduced the price down and down, and then I suppose if there are still no new homes forthcoming by, say, February, I might have to try to find them rescue placements before next year's kitten season. But it is more than ten years since I have had to do anything like that and I still feel guilty about doing it ten years ago 

Liz


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

It is a very hard year for homing kittens and cats as there are just soooooo many needing help, I thought kitten season would be dying down now but the amount of kittens still needing help is shocking, we had some coming from very big groups of 12 or more as well. I still have 6 more kittens from a house of 12 to get into rescue here in Oxfordshire alone and they aren't feral either.
I can't see things getting better either. With more people not being able to afford to pay to have their cats neutered it means more kittens being born and with more people not being able to afford to own a cat/kitten it means less homes, its just so depressing isn't it?


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

I suspect it's not just "can't afford" to have the cat neutered, after all that isn't all that expensive in absolute terms and there is often help available. I think also it's the thought that a litter of kittens might bring in a bit of very welcome extra cash. 

I suspect the reasoning goes something like this: very early in the year you can see people putting out adverts begging for kittens and willing to pay, the few kittens you see advertised early are often put for sale at anything up to £100 (invariably they are in the South where it is warmer so kitten season comes earlier), so hey let's not have my young cat spayed yet, let's see if we can;t get £500 or so for a litter. But then of course when that litter is ready to go it's the height of the kitten season and just the time of the year when people are not buying because they are about to go on holiday. The only chance of selling kittens at that stage is to sell them really young and then of course Mum comes back into call again and we really feel a bit guilty for having let the last ones go so young because she spent a couple of days looking for them, so we'll let her have another litter ....

Add to that the standard private tenancy agreement that says no pets ....

Liz


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## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

yeah I think your right it is to do with that now too. I must say though that here in Oxfordshire the vets prices are very high and even with a voucher you are still looking to pay quite a high price so I can see why people here don't neuter their pets as much as say someone in north Wales where vets costs are so much cheaper.


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

It would be interesting to know what the percentages who neuter are by region and see how that correlates to average costs - also to average kitten prices.

Someone called earlier who has experience fostering semi-ferals for the RSPCA and she is insistent that she wants my very pretty miserable little git (sorry but that's what he is, not sure how anything so pretty can be quite such a miserable little so and so). He is now 6 months old and believe me I would happily deliver him free to any good home where I thought he wouldn't come back, almost anywhere in the UK! This lady is only ten miles away so I offered to deliver. She sounds so sure she wants him that she even called back saying she had to go out for an hour and that if she is not in when I call to say I am ready to bring him, I must please understand that she really does want him and she's just out. I told her I had to catch him first and that I really really do want to take him to her! (pity she's only looking for one kitten ...)

Liz


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## piglit (Oct 28, 2011)

We rescued a pregnant moggie and to get the kittens socialised we picked them up when they were asleep and held them like a baby - they wake up briefly but if they're tired they go back to sleep in your arms and thus get used to being held! When they wake up properly give them some attention and then put them down - they soon associated the relaxed feeling of being asleep with the smell and touch of a human. Worked a treat! They are all 5 years now and in their forever homes and are very sociable. (it is a teensy bit time consuming though!!)


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## marleyboo (Oct 24, 2011)

this is so sad how the heck does an 18month old kitten go to die???

did she evern leave flyers? ring the cat rescue centres????

when our(13-14 old moggie passed away i was heart broken) was a massive decision to get another cat.

when we bought marley, we told the sellers we had two young children. she was very nice. the kitten was very well looked after. we got her home and she ran around like a crazy thing!(partner always jokes something wrong with that cat) she is a little crazy but i love her too bits. 

the kids would stroke her and she would scratch them like kids do... shes 5months now and sits on their knees and eats bits of food they give her 

i think kittens evern grumpy or hyporactive ones settle down once theirs a routine. our marly sleeps with us every night just like a baby xx


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