How Ready Am I to Adopt a Kitten?
As with any new undertaking, you first need to ask yourself whether or not you are ready to shoulder the responsibility that comes with a wilful little kitten. Kittens are full-fledged responsibilities. They need to be attended to every single part of their feeding schedule, need to be mentally and physically stimulated, be active, watched over, and be sociable with others. Moreover, the need to care for pets wisely and with a strategy comes with feeding, especially with cats. Indoor Cats, for example, live for a whopping 15 to 20 years, which is a considerable time. To ensure their well-being, they need vet visits, grooming, playtime, and their emotional needs to be looked after.
If the answer to the question is positive, then the quest for the new and much-awaited best friend can be embarked on.
Why not Check Out a Local Shelter First?
Nearby Animal Shelters are the best first place to look for a kitten. Every so often, stray cats or surrendered cats are picked up from the streets monthly, especially during the floods of ‘kitten season’ , which comes during the summer. These organizations usually provide basic medical care, including vaccinations, microchipping, and spaying or neutering before adoption.
Shelters often and widely provide adoption at a lower, affordable rate. This helps fund the ongoing effort of rescuing more animals. While you might envision a certain look-it is, the kitten that best suits your expectations of a pet might be there, ready to astonish you.
What About Cat Rescues?
Another good option is to reach out to local cat rescues. These groups are usually volunteer-based, and they take care of cats and kittens in foster homes. This system helps the kittens to begin learning how to relate to humans and adjust to living in a home.
When adopting a cat through a rescue, you may need to complete an application, provide references, or consent to a home visit. These measures help to vet and guarantee that the cats are placed in a good home. Some rescues even offer the option of fostering the kitten first, allowing you to decide if it is a good fit before formally adopting.
Can I Find a Specific Breed Through Rescue?
For those of you who might be drawn to a specific breed, you can also find cat rescues that are dedicated to specific Cat Breeds. These groups focus on placing purebred cats that have been surrendered, rescued, or removed from overcrowded shelters.
They have more adult cats than kittens, but every so often, they do have breed-specific kittens. These rescues are experts in the specific breeds and their behavior, so they can be very beneficial to someone looking for specific characteristics in a cat.
Is It Ever Acceptable to Get A Kitten from A Breeder?
Pawrpose always encourages adoption as a first option due to the many benefits it provides for both the customer and the pet. With that said, we do recognize that some people do want a kitten for a particular reason, such as its traits, medical history, or its breed. If you do take that route, it is always best to work only and exclusively with registered breeders and never with pet shops or online sellers that have no credentials.
A responsible breeder will bring you to the place where the kittens are kept, will show you the mother cat, and provide you with all the necessary documents related to its health. Also, they will ask a lot about you, what you do, where you live, your familiarity with cats, and your pet-care plans. If the breeder seems rushed or avoids questions and focuses on payment, that’s a no-go.
Where Should I Avoid Getting A Kitten?
Avoid responsible and ethical kitten sources and pet shops that don’t disclose the breeding origins or online advertisements without verification. Vendors from flea markets and ‘free kitten’ advertisements are also to be excluded. Kittens from these sources may be from mills or backyard breeders and may have health or Behavioral Issues.
Always ask questions and always follow your instincts. If you don’t feel that something is right, simply just walk away.
How Do I Start My Search the Right Way?
When you’re set to start, begin close to home first. Search for local shelters and humane societies and check out the cats that they have. Sites like Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet have filters for location, breed and age.
Following social media accounts of known rescue groups can keep you informed about new arrivals and adoption days. Kindly ask your friends, coworkers, and even your veterinarian and inform them that you are searching. Sometimes the best matches are found through this unplanned search.
Why Does Responsible Adoption Matter?
It is important to adopt mindfully and with purpose. In the case of shelters and rescues, having the option of selecting from an array of available kittens is helpful; however, it can encourage mindless adoption. This approach affects countless lives and is damaging; it fails to consider the responsibility that comes with appropriate and intentional adoption.
These decisions ripple outward helping improve animal welfare and shifting demand away from harmful breeding practices.
What Comes After This?
Now, if you want to locate a kitten, where do you go? You go to those spaces that genuinely care for the kitten, places that put love above profit, places that aim for the kitten’s long-term wellbeing instead of short-term transactions. The kitten could come from a shelter, a rescue foster home, or even a responsible breeder
Here at Pawrpose, we aim to assist you in comprehending each step of the journey. This begins from the actual step of searching for the correct match and culminates at the stage of nurturing a lasting friendship.
Start today with the Pawrpose App on Google Play or the App Store your partner in responsible pet adoption and lifelong care.
