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Purchase
a kitten
Things
to lookout for when choosing your kitten
You
would like to purchase a thoroughbred kitten, but you are not sure if
you have chosen the right cattery? You don’t know what to lookout for
to make sure you get a carefully bred and well adjusted kitten in your
home?
We
advise you to visit multiple catteries. However, you should not visit
several catteries in one day, as this won’t be appreciated by any
breeder. The kittens are very susceptible and fragile, since their
immune system still needs to gain strength. It would be terrible if you
brought in harmful bacteria from another cattery. The consequences can
be dire, as the kittens may get very sick from these, and in some cases
it can even result in their deaths, so be very cautious about this.
Because of this, most breeders don’t allow
any potential customers near the kittens for the first 4 or 5 weeks. A
good suggestion is to go see the breeder when there aren’t any kittens
yet. A good breeder will happily provide you with his time and
information, even when there aren’t any kittens for sale at that
moment.
There
are a lot of catteries breeding thoroughbreds, of which most are members
of a cat association. Never buy a kitten with an unknown pedigree. You
could never know whether you are dealing with a thoroughbred or an
inbred cat, if you can’t trace back its lineage. Depending on the cat
association the breeder is a member of, a registry of a cats pedigree
costs around 12 euros. In most cases you can safely assume that a kitten
from a breeder without this registry is an inbred one, as the registry
is relatively cheap. Don’t try to catch a bargain on your kitten, as
it’s the price of the health tests for its parents that makes
thoroughbreds so expensive. Without this you’re likely to be
purchasing a very expensive generic house cat.
Breeders
import their males, and often also their females, at high expense from
foreign countries to prevent inbreeding. On top of that, the breeding
animals get regularly tested and scanned, all to ensure their health as
best possible.
There
are of course breeders who are looking to catch some quick money. They
cut every expense possible and pay no attention to the genetics, causing
inbreeding, to sell them with or without a registry of their lineage.
Therefore you should also check the registry for names appearing more
than once in it. Also the breeder is not allowed to let you purchase any
kittens under the age of 13 weeks. Taking it from the litter before this
age would be highly detrimental to the kitten’s well being.
Is
the breeder always home or does he/she work? Properly taking care of
your cats and kittens takes up a lot of time. When the female needs to
have her litter, the breeder usually stays home a week before the
delivery and hardly has the time to do groceries.
For
an immoral breeder, the cat’s health is of no great importance. You
should therefore always check whether or not they actually have their
cats tested for HCM, PKD, FIV and FeLV. Make sure you can see the
parents of the litter, and their test results. Also ask about their diet,
which for breeding cats and kittens should be varied and of very high
quality. A good breeder is proud of his/her cats and their health and
will always be open and honest about this. You should also be welcome to
visit your kitten regularly, and the breeder should want to know how the
first few weeks with the kitten are going at your home.
A
proper breeder will always be available for questions or when you’re
experiencing problems. While you’re there, check the lineage registry
to see how old the mother was when she had her litter. If she was
younger than a year old, you’re likely dealing with an immoral breeder.
We strongly recommend you do not buy these kittens, cute as they may be,
as it will lead to support these breeders.
Check
whether the breeders house is clean or not. Also see if the cats are all
healthy. Do note though, that after a 9 week pregnancy and twelve weeks
of caring for those little rascals can take its toll on a mother. It is
to be expected that she has lost some weight.
Look
at the cats walking around the breeders home. Do they mind their own
business, or even curiously come seek you out? If you notice that the
mother or the kittens themselves show some adverse reactions to human
contact, you may want to think twice, as they are not very socialized.
Kittens don’t belong in a separate room, or stuffed in a cage.
You
can tell a lot from a kitten’s looks. If the kitten you got your eye
on is nice and active, curious, has clean eyes and ears and has a fresh
bum to boot, you’re already well in the right direction. A weight of
1000 gram (roughly 2.2 lb) is the ideal weight for a 12 year old kitten.
Though, it should be noted that this ideal weight is somewhat dependent
of the breed you wish to purchase.
Keep
in mind that most breeders sell their kittens with a contract. In such a
contract it could say, for example, that if your kitten dies within a
specified period of time of a congenital disease, you will get a new
kitten. It could also state things like an obligation to have your cat
sterilized at a certain age. We recommend that you take some time to
read this contract before signing it, as this will avoid unpleasant
surprises in the future. You should see this contract in part, as the
breeders way of insuring his cats are well cared for.
When
you take your new kitten(s) home with you, your breeder will give you a
copy of their lineage registry, its vaccination booklet including a
clean bill of health signed by a veterinarian. This should say your
kittens have had two shots, and have been dewormed three times. You
should also get a kitten starter pack with food for the first few days.
You
finally have your kitten at home after 13 weeks? Congratulations!
And
now? Hopefully nothing, but to be on the safe side you should keep an
eye out for a few things. When you arrive at home, put your kitten
straight into its litter box, and leave it there. The kitten probably
doesn’t need to relieve itself, so it will leave the litter box
straight away, since it is dying to go explore its new home. Let it
settle in quietly for the first few days, so don’t start a big
kitten-party straight away.
Keep
to the diet recommendations the breeder has provided you with and
don’t change anything about it for the first few weeks. If you do, it
could result in diarrhea. If after some time, you do wish to change your
kittens diet, do so gradually. Their original diet is usually of top
notch brands, and only special pet shops will be selling them.
Show
your kitten where it can find its food and water from now on. You can
leave dry food in sufficient amounts out day and night, so the kitten
can eat whenever it wants to. Don’t put the food near the litter box.
Canned food, fresh food or cooked fish can spoil, and shouldn’t stay
out for more than a couple of hours.
What’s
most important, above all else, is to have a good feeling with your
breeder. Also it’s good to keep in mind that the same goes for the
breeder about his customers. When he or she has doubts, you may not get
your kitten.
We
wish you lots of enjoyment with the purchase of your new thoroughbred!
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