Kitten Rehoming

Please think ahead

• Will the cost of  a kitten be too much of a financial commitment?
• Will you be in your current home for some time to come, or might you move to rented accommodation , where no pets are allowed?
• Is there anyone in your household who might be allergic to the kitten?
• Babies, toddlers and kittens are often not an ideal combination, is this the right time to offer a kitten a home?

You will have seen on the front page , under general information, that the donation for a kitten is £45. We ask all new owners to sign an agreement to say that the kitten they have chosen will be neutered at the recommended date on the form, which is when  the kitten is 6 months old.

 
CATS CAN BECOME PREGNANT AS EARLY AS 6 MONTHS OLD

Very disappointingly, over the years, at least 50% of new owners never inform us by returning the neutering part of the form, or by phoning us with vet’s details of the cat being neutered, that they have had their cat neutered.  This results in us chasing people up, phoning time and again, leaving messages on answer machines, emailing, writing, eventually physically going to their homes to find out if the cat has indeed been neutered.
We do not have the manpower to divert to this information gathering, which should really not be necessary at all, if the new owners complied with the rules of the agreement signed by themselves. This takes us away from the rescuing  and caring for cats, which is the essential focus of our work.

We take neutering of cats very seriously and  will try to ensure that new owners also take it seriously and have their cats neutered at the appropriate time which is 6 months, or in the case of male kittens,  5 months.

Un - neutered male cats can father kittens at 6 months old, it is essential that male and female kittens are neutered! Un - neutered male cats start to mature at around 6 months, they can then become involved in fights with other un-neutered male cats. If one of these cats has feline aids or leukaemia, it can infect another cat through an exchange of blood or saliva. There is no cure for either of these illnesses.

As a rough guide, depending on the veterinary practice, kitten neutering cost between £55 and £65 per kitten. Vacinations done at 9 weeks and 12 weeks cost approx £50 - £55 per kitten, therafter boosters every year are around £38.

We have not sufficient funds to vacinate cats before they go to a new owner, the cost of vacinating your new cat will be left to you and for you to decide whether you want to have this done.

If your cat is to be boarded at any time in a cattery, its vacination will have to be up to date.

We do recommend that kittens/cats are microchipped in case they get lost. Your vet can give you an accurate cost for this.

As you will see, adopting a kitten is an expensive business, but once the kitten has been neutered and vacinated, "running" costs are much less.

Please note, we are not if favour of rehoming a single young kitten to a household where it will be left on its own all day, because of owners working. Kittens become very lonely if left for long periods of time, and they do need several small meal throughout the day.