Your decision is now made, you have chosen to adopt a cat. You now need to know the places where you can get a cat, especially depending on the type of cat you have chosen: adorable alley cat or superb purebred cat intended for competitions.
Where to buy a cat?
There are different places to buy or adopt a cat or kitten:
– In a shelter (animal protection associations): adopting a cat in a shelter gives it a chance to have a happy life. You will find kittens like adult cats, alley cats like purebred cats. Visit the second chance site to find cats for adoption in your area.
– With individuals: usually on a classified ad in newspapers or on the internet.
– Amateur breeder: they generally have a cat or two.
– With a professional breeder: they can raise several breeds at the same time and offer many litters each year. Don’t worry, thanks to Internet, you can find a lot of options even if you ask yourself “how can I find Ragdoll cats for sale near me?”
– Breeding conditions are often less family-friendly.
– In a pet store: the kittens generally come from professional breeders who supply the stores.
– On the markets or in exhibitions: it is generally the breeders who come to sell their litters directly.
However, always be vigilant when you buy a cat on a market, in an exhibition, or a pet store because there are unfortunately in our country, animals smuggled in from countries where the criteria of race and health are much lower than ours and where the conditions of breeding are sometimes intolerable.
The choice of breeder, shelter, or individual
When your choice is made, it’s time to prospect to find your companion. The choice of provenance is very important for several reasons:
Health and Hygiene: kittens from poorly maintained breeding often have problems with parasites or even more serious illnesses.
The behavior of the kitten: the education of a kitten begins at three weeks and its behavior as an adult cat will be partly forged from its way of life before three months. Kittens are weaned at 6 or 7 weeks and are often sold at 8 or 10 weeks (it is forbidden to sell a kitten before the age of 8 weeks). However, it is strongly recommended to wait 12 weeks (3 months) to separate the kitten from its mother. Indeed, it is in maternal contact that the kitten socializes and learns its first notions of “life in society” with other animals and humans. A kitten separated from its mother too soon risks having behavioral problems.
Ethics: no one wants to buy an animal from a place where the animals are unhappy or even mistreated, which is unfortunately still sometimes the case with some breeders or unscrupulous individuals.
Do they present their cats to competitions and cat shows?
Other positive signs: breeders who practice a certain selection of potential buyers (even if it means refusing a buyer who would not be able to take on such and such a cat), and who ask you about your way of life, your expectations, your conception of your relationship with your cat and its future habitat. In short, who are interested in the fate of the kittens sold. All these signs show a profession made by passion and love of animals and a breeder concerned about the well-being of his animals.
