Conversation with a lady this morning

"I'm calling about the older kittens - have you still got any?"
"Yes I have them all"
"My last cat disappeared three weeks ago, he must have gone away to die"
"O I'm sorry to hear that"
"He was only 18 months and he wasn't ill"
"Perhaps someone has taken him in, there are well-meaning people who take in pretty cats thinking they are lost"
"He had a collar and a microchip"
"O well it's probably not that then, could he have been run over?"
"We don't live near a road. He was neutered so he wouldn't be expected to go far. I don't think he'll come back now. Are the kittens good with children?"

[OK, let's run with this one, after all things are getting desperate here]

"I don't have any children. But as it says on the ad, the kittens are rather shy and will need patience"
"How old are they"
"The youngest are 4 months, as it says on the ad"

[why not just read the ad and call me back if you are interested?!]

"So they're not very friendly?"
"Well they just need patience. I do have one very outgoing kitten but he's a pedigree, he's £200"

[gasp of shock from the other party]

"I'm not paying that! Have they been neutered?"
"Not yet, I will have to get that done if they are here much longer but right now I'm trying to minimise my losses. I've already paid out for all the vaccinations and microchips"
"Are you a rescue then?"
"No, I breed pedigree cats. But I did rescue the mother of these kittens. I had a spare pen for them at the time. These are moggies of course"
"And they're £20?"
"Yes that's right"
"Do you have any younger kittens?"
"Yes but they won't be ready for at least a month. They have to be 12 weeks old and fully vaccinated before I will sell them"
"Don't you sell them without the vaccinations?"
"No, pedigree kittens have to be sold with vaccinations, that's the cat club rules. And I don't see why non-pedigree ones should be treated any differently. As far as I am concerned, if someone regards vaccinations as optional, they don't get one of my kittens. The vaccinations and microchip cost about £60"
"O I know they do! I had a triple booster for my cat and a worming tablet and that cost £45"

[why are you griping about the price then?]

"He was so pretty, he was longhaired. Are any of yours longhaired?"

[Did they look like it in the ad?]

"I have some younger ones that are longhaired, two black smokes and one blue, I haven't advertised those yet, but you need to understand that when I first advertise kittens, I do try to recover my costs. For moggies, I ask £60 at that stage, which is what the vaccinations and microchips cost me. If they don't sell then eventually I reduce the price, but I do have to try to cover my vet bills somehow"

[my husband would laugh at the very idea of covering the vet bills!]

"I can bring you the card to show that my cat was vaccinated"
"I still can't let any go until they are at least 12 weeks. My vet told me that if she sees someone with a 6 week old kitten, she can virtually guarantee that they will be back in a week because the kitten is ill"

[thinks, can't you just go away, I am expecting another call!]

"I'll call you back in an hour"

[yes, I bet you will!]

Aaaaagh! Immediately after this I had a conversation with a violin customer who told me that he passes through Leeds market on the way to and from work every day, right past a petshop. At the start of every day, he says, there are kittens in the window priced at £95. By the time he goes home they have almost always been sold.

Liz

I feel for you just reading that P*** me off...
I really dont know how you cope with people like that..

It's a shame but maybe the mroe people hear it the more they will come to understand. Good on you for taking in the poor mum!

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Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

The problem is that too many people treat purchasing a cat (or a pet in general) as an impulse buy - this lady included, from the sounds of things. Her whole attitude seems to point towards her belief that the kitten is entirely dispensable.

After all, if it doesn't quite fit her lifestyle, she can easily give it back to a homing shelter, right? And if it wanders off because she let it out too soon, why not just get another one straight away (cheaply, of course)?

...I despair, I really do

Yes, hence pet shops being able to sell noggies for £80 plus

Liz

Stupid woman!

Reminds me of the woman who rang me once regarding a Birman kitten - she lived in rented (that's fine by me) but when I asked her about what would happen if she moved and the landlord said no to cats she said she would give it to rescue. Needless to say she didn't get a kitten. There were plenty of other issues with her too.


Did she call back?

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

No she didn't. I wasn't exactly surprised! I did manage to sell one kitten yesterday, that's two sold in three weeks

Liz

I'm disgusted to read this,how can someone be so casual about the fact they have lost a kitten,obviously not a caring person at all and worse cant even see a problem with it.We have only had our cat 2wks tomorrow and i would be devastated if anything happened to our baby,he's a 15month old ragdoll and bless him i would be totally lost without him already,some people just dont deserve pets
I hope you find good loving homes for your babies soon

Her cat of 18 months, who wasn't ill, went away to die?
Huh?

Poor you for dealing (so calmly I might add) with this muppet.

Hopefully your kittens will find perfect forever homes soon

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Well this couple with a child came round just now, chose a black and white one (hooray! I thought), I went to pick the kitten up and he decided to go completely beserk (he had been sitting calmly looking at the people through the cage door until then), scratched me badly (on two fingers and a leg!), disappeared into an inaccessible corner of the run and refused to come out. Unsurprisingly, the people changed their minds as they were concerned that their child would make a grab for the kitten and be scratched. I guess I will now have to specify that they are not likely to be suitable for homing with young children which will make it even more difficult

The older kitten they would have considered, friendly as anything with me, saw them, wriggled free and scarpered, so that was another one they might have considered but then wouldn't have.

How on earth do you get ordinary moggy kittens socialised to accept visitors at all, let alone visitors with young children?

Liz