Cat Homes And Healthy Kittens

If you want to give a home to an unwanted cat or kitten, go to a welfare agency or humane society. There are several big, well known national organizations as well as many smaller charities that cater for homeless or unwanted cats.

Cats are not usually released to a new owner until they have been given a veterinary check, but the organization may not have had the time or resources for full investigations. This is particularly the case with feline immunodeficiency disease or feline AIDS, the test for which is quite expensive.

However, coats are routinely checked for parasites and fungal conditions, and the usual vaccinations are often given. The main welfare organizations usually do investigate thoroughly, including blood tests to ensure feline aids and leukemia are not present.

In additions, once an animal has been chosen, they visit the home of the prospective new owner to ensure that it is suitable. Such attentions to detail means that they may charge for the kitten, which may make the potential owner, think twice before buying.

But whatever the cost, it is certainly less than the cost of bringing a stray in dubious condition to peak fitness. Some pet shops offer kittens for sale only after the necessary veterinary checks and inoculation have been done.

However, for the kitten, the stress of leaving its mother, being in the shop, and then being sold on to yet another new environment within a very short time can set them back developmentally.

By law in the United Kingdom, kittens must not be sold less than six weeks of age. If they appear tiny, it is wise not to purchase. The last kitten left in a pet shop pen may look appealing, but think carefully before you buy.

Will it have picked up parasites from other animals in the shop? Did it have the right medical checks and inoculations before it was put up for sale? A tiny stray kitten may not be very strong or healthy as it was probably abandoned by its mother too soon, and the mother herself is unlikely to have been in top condition.