Thursday, Oct twenty seventh, 2022 | By Dr. Marty Becker
My coach daughter, Mikkel Becker, and I teamed as much as reply a reader who wasn’t positive the place to get a kitten. Right here’s our recommendation.
Q: My neighbor’s Siamese cat simply had kittens, and he or she’s giving them away. Appears lots simpler and cheaper than getting one from the shelter. What do you suppose?
A: We don’t deny that it may be laborious to go to the shelter and select from amongst many kittens. Getting one out of your neighbor might work out, however there are a number of elements to think about earlier than you make your choice. We name them the “ifs.”
For those who just like the persona of your neighbor’s cat. In case your neighbor’s Siamese is in good well being and your neighbor can present data of standard veterinary care. In case your neighbor is elevating the kittens within the dwelling and giving them a number of socialization. For those who don’t care that the kittens received’t have registration papers. If these “ifs” are all OK with you, then this may very well be a handy means so that you can have a brand new BFF (greatest furry pal).
However wait! You must also contemplate all the advantages of adopting a kitten from the shelter, particularly in case your native shelter has an important foster program. The adoption price could also be $150 or extra, however the kitten you’re taking dwelling will already be spayed or neutered and microchipped. That’s a giant chunk of change proper there. And if the kitten has been in a foster dwelling, she or he is used to being dealt with and already accustomed to life in a home, with all that entails: the sounds of blenders and vacuum cleaners, and possibly the presence of a canine, one other cat or youngsters.
What we don’t suggest is getting a kitten who’s being given away or offered at a grocery retailer or flea market. You don’t have any means of realizing how the kittens have been raised, whether or not they’ve been socialized, what veterinary care resembling vaccinations or deworming they’ve acquired or what their dad and mom’ temperaments are like.
There’s extra in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet function I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, coach Mikkel Becker.