Its very hard to have a discussion with you about this as all you do is keep telling me about what you do and how your cats are.

You are not the type of person the CP whats to get too, and re-educate.
They need to get to the people who are getting the free or almost free cats and kittens and then letting them breed and thus keeping the whole sorry thing going. It needs to be tackled differently but making it harder and harder to get them from the CP isnt the way to go.

Maybe they need to lobby more and get the laws changed I dont know but they need to do something.

But it isn't getting harder and harder to adopt cats from Cats Protection. If anything, it's easier now than it was 16 years ago. I don't think it's the CP's remit to educate the general population about caring for cats, they are basically a rescue charity, run by volunteers, who try to re home cats to suitable homes. The RSPCA have a lot more power than Cats Protection, they can remove cats from unsuitable homes and ask for prosecutions for neglect/abuse etc. They have a lot more money than Cats Protection and I suppose they could be trying to do more to educate the public. I think some of the RSPCA TV shows over the years have contributed to educating and informing the public about pet welfare so that has been a positive development.

People will always be able to get hold of cats, through one means or another and there will always be people who do not care responsibly for their cats, failing to neuter and treat them appropriately. Why should Cats Protection give cats away to anyone who wants them without any restrictions? That would not be in those cats best interests. Paying for a cat implies a certain commitment and responsibility towards it and home checking ensures a suitable secure home environment. Giving cats away to people who are not prepared to pay out money for the cat's welfare and are possibly happy to have them roaming near busy roads would not make any sense at all. The Rescue Organisation's priority is the cat's best interests and not the best interests of the potential new owner.

PS I am exactly the type of person that Cats Protection wants to target, someone who is prepared to look after cats in a responsible manner and provide a safe, loving home environment, with access to a lovely garden via a catflap in a quiet suburban neighbourhood. And someone who is prepared to donate money to CP via direct debit (plus a will bequeath) to support the good work they do.

Firstly, I understand that the money helps go towards the neutering etc but what happened to the days where you can just go and pick out a cat that you want to give a loving home and maybe donated anything from £5 upwards? That's what my mum did when she adopted her old cats.

You don't believe that I can afford to re-home a cat?? what a load of nonsense considering I already have a cat who I paid £30 for as a kitten and swore I would never buy any more pets and would adopt instead, seeing as there are hundreds who need homes, hence the reluctance to pay £60+ to re-home a cat.

Kittens shouldn't cost any more to be honest just because they (might) come with a voucher. The vouchers are free, I got one from the cats protection league to get my cat castrated.

So what you are saying is, because I see it as an act of kindness, that means that I must not really want another cat at all? hmm..of course I would want the cat, if I didn't I wouldn't bother looking into it...and surely giving a cat/kitten another chance and a loving home IS an act of kindness?...I could also easily say to you that you just got those cats to replace your other one that passed away and that YOU don't actually want them...seeing as it wasn't "an act of kindness on your part" and all...

Lastly, I have only ever seen high selling prices for kittens if they have been a special breed i.e Ragdoll's (around £200+) in pet shops and papers...I have never seen high prices (especially over £60) for just a normal everyday moggy in pet shops and papers. Like I said I paid £30 for my cat when he was a kitten, and would never pay for another pet again when I can re-home one.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That is all.

wow ..lol they got ripped off then didn't they ...no one in their right mind would pay that price for a moggy from a pet shop!

I agree about the kittens still being sold. I see them now and then in pet shops.

I don't so much agree with the "cats are not cheap to look after" bit though. My cat isn't that expensive to look after, you just have to know where to shop for their food etc and know what deals are around. You don't have to spend a fortune on them. For example, we get a small bag of toys (maybe 6 different toys) from the £1 shop, plus a collar (which he doesn't wear anyway lol) you can also get Felix cat food (a well known brand) from the £1 shop. Plus Asda's does a pretty good deal sometimes as well of about 12 cans or something for £5 or £6. Farmfoods do 2 tins of cat food for a £1 or so and Whiskas cat biscuits....So, like I said you just need to know where to look.

As for vet bills, we got a voucher from cats protection for my cats castration all we paid for was the microchip (around £15). You can also get insurance which covers vet bills as well. So, that was a poor statement that you just made, YOUR cats may seem expensive, but that's probably because you do actually spend a fortune on them, unnecessarily.

My mum used to have one of them "Blue" Persians his name was Tulsa, lovely cat, used to follow my mum all round the house and garden .

I bought my black moggy from a seller on GumTree when he was a kitten last November. I never even thought about letting him breed with a female I got him castrated as soon as he was old enough.....Like I said in previous posts though I won't be buying again, I would re-home instead.

Actually its getting harder. My mum adopted 4 cats from cats protection around about 10 years ago or so and only paid what she thought was acceptable or what she could afford, I think it was around £50. Now its a fixed price of £60 per cat and £70 per kitten at my local CP ...so I don't know how you have come to that conclusion?

Yes its got harder as they used to let you have them if you lived near a busy road or in a flat. as you say they were cheaper too.

The thing is when they turn someone down do they think the person will just say "oh ok I wont get a cat" or do they think that person will now get one free or for a small fee and keep the cycle going?
people who let their cats have litters know people will take them and the bonus of a maybe £100 per litter to them for doing nothing seems a good thing.
If rescue places were more relaxed then more people would go to them and not get them from just anyone ,So maybe the cycle can be stopped that way.
Maybe if they cant get rid of the litters people just might get them done if it were free .

I am truly speechless. Vouchers may be free to you but who do you think is paying for the voucher ? - because vets don't operate for free - Cats Protection are paying for the voucher with money donated to them. How do CP get money? They are reliant on public donations. I am just so gob smacked that people think that the act of re-homing a cat is an act of kindness in itself when the charity has had to pay out all the cat care costs........

I don't believe I was acting out of kindness in adopting my cats because I adopted them for my own selfish reasons. I am a kind, caring, committed cat lover, my cats are lavished with love but I wouldn't have adopted my cats if I myself didn't want them so it wasn't an altruistic act of kindness that just benefitted them.

Cats are not cheap to care for. I pay over £40 per month in insurance and, even with insurance, had a bill of £950 to pay for my late cat's final illness. Advocate treatment costs me £90 for just 3 months supply. I don't buy my cats the cheap brand cat foods because my vet advised me that they were poor nutritionally. My holidays include cattery costs of upwards of £200.

However, I will leave the discussion now because I see I am fighting a losing battle here.

I am just pleased I don't work for any cat rescue charity because I would find the general public too frustrating to deal with

Why would the cycle be stopped? What's to stop people treating free rescue kittens the same as free kittens from other sources? The Rescue only keep in contact with you afterwards for a week or two. How would the Rescue keep going if they gave away all their cats for free?

I am just so frustrated with this discussion and the attitudes of some of the posters. It's pointless.... I think I need to take a break from the pet forum.

I don't know about whether they would eventually breed from their cat. But I would definitely say that they would go elsewhere to get a cat (whether free or a small fee) because once you have the idea of getting a pet in your mind, you aren't easily put off. I agree with the "more relaxed" statement as well, I would adopt a couple of them if they were more relaxed with whole thing.

I never said the CP should give them away for free, I said they should relax the re-homing rules a bit

They can be cheap to care for, like I said it all depends whether you shop around and look for deals or not.

I was looking at pet insurance a few months back and found deals that cover up to £1000 odd (maybe even a bit more) of vet bills, so again shop around. I am also pretty sure you can get help from the CP as well.

You are saying that its expensive to look after a cat, well it would be if you are spending unnecessarily on a thing like the Advocate flea treatment, when you could just buy Front-Line or Spot On (which coincidently is 3 for 2 (£8) in Pets AT Home at the minute, containing 6 4 week treatments, giving 24 weeks flea protection) so you would only be paying £16 for all that protection. So there is no need for you to be spending that amount of money on something like that, you make it hard on yourself, then you complain that its "expensive"

As for the food, like I said Asda does deals on Whiskas ( a well known brand) and the pound shop does Felix (another well known brand) and the other shops I mentioned previously.

The cattery's I can't comment from personal experience, but maybe look into cheaper ones or find someone who will pop in and feed them etc once a day for you while you're away or even have them at their house. You can also get "pet sitters" that I have noticed being advertised on FaceBook business pages, you just take them to their house and they look after them for a fee.

I don't get your argument that they are "expensive" at all when there are plenty of cheap (but good) options.

So how much does your mum think it costs to get a kitten wormed, chipped, treated for fleas and (in the fullness of time) neutered? A lot more than £40. Maybe £70 if you are lucky enough to live near a cheap vet.

I quite agree with you. The big charities rules are getting out of hand.

Woooo, i've been away for a few days and lots have been said. Back to topic.....i will be bringing home Evangeline tomorrow, was meant to be yesterday but cause she wasn't vaccinated yet, they wont let her go til she is, which is very good.

In regards to what most have been talking about...........Most animal charties these days will ask for a fix, minimum adoption fee and this fee will include neutiring, worming, flea'd, vaccine and micro chipping. All that will cost well over £100, heading towards £200 and charities like CP don't ask for it all, they simply ask for a donation towards it. The branch i'm adopting Evangeline from is only asking £30, but i'll be giving £100. And even still thats not covering the cost they have paid out making sure Evangeline has all the nesicities done. I'm giving that amount cause i can and i want too. Major charities never ask for the full amount and i think these shelters are helping us in the fact that we don't have to donate the full amount. Creating a fuss over £50,60,70 and so forth for a cat should really think what these shelter are actually doing. RSPCA and CP are not government funded and rely totally on donations from the public. Nowadays everything has risen....prices have shot up but we have to live with it cause we can't do bugger all. Hell am sure everyone would be happy not to pay for anything but it doesn't work like that.

I am happy to donate what they ask, their doing a great job at the end of the day and we should respect them for it. When i adopted Shelly from CP roughly 6yrs ago..there was no minimum adopting fee, so we gave £30 and boxes of dry food plus tones of pouches. My other cat Heidi came from CatsandKittens Rescue in Watford, considering i live in Bedford, that's about an hour away. Why travel so far...cause i wanted to give Heidi a good home and the shelter wanted £75 for her, but i always give extra and gave £90. My beloved Suschi came from across there road from us, friends of ours had a cat who gave birth to 6 kittens and we took Suschi cause she had these amazing markings. They didn't want a single penny, but we gave them something.

At end of the day having cats will cost money and if you cannot afford to keep them, them sorry you shouldn't begin to think of homing a cat, they rely totally on us. And if you can't feed them cause you have no money then your putting that cat in danger.

Hope you have Evangeline with you now.

I agree with you regarding the money side of things and animal charities. Some of us were not happy about the re-homing rules though, as we feel we may not pass a homing check.