| Paw Colors | Points |
|---|---|
| Grey | 0-49 |
| Red | 50-149 |
| Orange | 150-299 |
| Green | 300-599 |
| Magenta | 600-1499 |
| Purple | 1500-4999 |
| Blue | 5000-9999 |
| Brown | 10000-24999 |
| Black | 25000+ |
Is it better to buy a cat at a pet store or just take one that someone’s giving away?
I might get another cat. I know it’s cheaper to just a cat that someone’s giving away, but are store cats more likely to be more trained and have papers? I’ve never had a store cat before. The cat I have now is pretty good (except for not always using the litter box), but would a cat I got at the store be a good choice. Someone just gave me my current cat.
Keywords: store cat random pet
Answers to this question
4 Answers
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I would NEVER buy a cat at a pet store. Or a dog for that matter. Kittens and puppies in pet stores usually come from unscrupulous “mills” that raise animals in overcrowded and inhumane conditions or from irresponsible “back-yard breeders” with no knowledge of animal husbandry/genetics who basically just grab two random pedigreed animals of the same breed and mate them together indiscriminately without regard to genetic illnesses, inbreeding and health screening.
With purebred dogs especially, you can get a lot of very sickly animals as a result, depending on the inherent weaknesses in a breed. Some breeds, for example, are prone to heart defects, hip displasia and certain cancers. Responsible breeders screen their breeding animals for these conditions and do not mate together those that will result in affected offspring. Some breeds of cats have a few known hereditary issues as well (such as polycystic kidney disease in Persians/Himalayans/Exotics) and really should not just be blindly bred.
Animals raised in this manner and sold at pet stores are likely to be very poorly socialized, completely UNtrained, often too young (puppies and kittens should stay with their mothers until 8-12 weeks old, at minimum) and often unvaccinated or ill.
Now this is not referring to animals brought into pet stores from SHELTERS and RESCUES to be put up for ADOPTION rather than sale. Some places like PetSmart will partner with local animal shelters to adopt out cats and this is perfectly acceptable and a good way to place homeless pets.
Just getting a cat from someone is neither good nor bad, really. It depends on how the kitten was socialized and raised in that particular household and they run the gamut from very friendly to semi-feral depending on how they were handled from birth to weaning. On the other hand, taking kittens off people who allow their cats to breed and not getting them neutered/spayed kind of encourages them to continue with this behavior since they figure if they found homes for the last litter, there will be no problem with the next litter (and the next and the next and the next) when they really should just have their cat spayed. There are issues with this as well.
Personally I have owned four cats in my lifetime. Two were found starving outdoors as strays and brought in (my dad literally scooped Cuddles out of the middle of a busy 4-lane road in downtown Atlanta and I found Squeaky starving to death near my grandmother’s house), Dinah was given to me by a friend who had an unspayed cat that dropped litters of doomed kittens twice a year (I think Dinah was the only known surviving offspring of that poor cat - the kittens always got eaten up by fleas and nearly always died as a result, it was very sad), and my latest cat Rose came from the animal shelter.
There are lots of ways of acquiring cats but I’d say that buying a kitten from a pet store is bar-none the worst way to get a cat.
Comments to Answer
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Omg, thank you so much! I might just stick to getting cats from other people or strays (obviously taking them to have their shots and stuff.) But I have a cat named Squeaky. Her name is Squeaky because when she meows it's a high-pitched squeaky meow.
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Well, that's why my Squeaky was Squeaky too, she was a little black and white tailless cat, who squeaked. She sounded more like a mouse than a cat!
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I just copied and pasted this from another post I answered. It's some of what Telegramsam said(or most of what he said). Please, if you are thinking of adopting an animal do NOT go to pet stores! Sadly, pet stores are not good places to go; animals from mills are normally sold, and health-wise they're not good pets. Sometimes you can adopt healthy pet store animals, but most of the time, they're just being sold to make money...which means the pet store could have bought an unhealthy animal from a mill for a lot less money then buying a healthy animal from a breeder. If you are interested in adopting a pet, try your local shelter, vet, and the newspaper.Make sure that if you adopt an animal from a person(as in you saw an ad in the paper) make sure that you talk to the vet before you adopt to make sure the animal is healthy(You never can be to sure when you adopt frolm complete strangers). Also, check out www.petfinder.com ; you can look in any state, towns, and some countries to find a perfect, homeless pet looking for a great family who will love and enjoy him! BUT, when you look online, I personally think that before you adopt an animal, you will want to meet it first. Just because the Internet says the "cat's great with dogs and other cats" doesn't always mean it is! Or because it says it's healthy doesn't mean it is, either.You want to check out the temperament, health, and size before you adopt. Also, if you are not financially well to bring on the task of taking care of a living, breathing being, then you should wait. Here are some things you must think of before adopting another/a pet: If you have a pet already, and are bringing another pet home, you must know that it will be double money you will be paying because you will: # 1. Be feeding more then one mouth # 2. have to pay for double the vet bill # 3. May have to train the animal how to use the litter box/ 'go' outside(and so on) # 4. Spend more time with your cats so they each have equal attention First time pet owners, about the same thing: # 1. You'll have to buy food which is quite pricey, sometimes. # 2. You will have to pay for shots, (hopefully) spay/neuter, and any additional cost if your pet gets injured or sick. # 3. Training(as said above) # 4. Take time to play and give your new pet attention I always say these things because I know of lots of people who do not plan out there new pets adoption, and do not have enough time or money to take care of the animal. Half the time, that's why lots of animals are in shelters; owner surrenders. If you are not financially well enough to take care of a pet full-time, consider sponsoring an animal in a shelter, or even becoming a 'foster parent'. Also, older cats/animals are great pets, too(and sometimes are easier if you do not have lots and lots of time on your hands) . Some people completely skip the older animal section because they "aren't cute enough" or "aren't trainable"(which all animals are capable of being trained). But truth is, the older pets are what need you more! They don't have the good chance of being adopted as younger animals do. But they make just as good companions, and half of them are already housetrained!
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I was just coming on to check how things are going, and i had to answer this question from a personal experience. NEVER EVER buy a pet from a pet store. We bought my adorable little beagle pup from there and we’ve probably spent well over 5,000 on vet bills in the first 2 years of her life(none of that including the usual cost of toys, food, etc.). This has been what’s wrong with her:
We got her January 8, 2007 (she was about 8 weeks old; born on November 1st)
That spring, she started loosing hair on her back and foot. Her foot started to turn blackish and it was really really bad. We took her to a few different vets in our area, and none could find out what was wrong. It got so that she stopped using her food completely. We thought we may have to put her down because she was in a lot of pain. When we drove to Kentucky that summer, we visited yet ANOTHER vet down there who said they had no idea what this could be. Finally when we were home, we found a vet in a different town who really cared about finding out was was wrong with Daisy. He though 80% she had demodex, and that it would be hard getting over it. We soaked her foot in these salts and finally it disappeared!
Then, she started itching her eyes and her ears turned badly badly red and itchy. she also started licking her paws a lot more. We found out she had bad allergies, so we put her on the allergy meds. She started peeing everywhere uncontrollably and we had to take her off of them. THAT was annoying because we didn’t want to have to watch her every move but we didn’t want to have her suffer, either.
In between all of this, she had VERY bad little illnesses like the flu, really bad ‘doggy colds’ etc.
Last but not least…..the week before Christmas. Worst Christmas I’ve ever had. We came home from a friends house to find out that Daisy had thrown up all over the place, and could barely walk. She couldn’t jump on the bed, couldn’t run, could barely get down the stairs. The vet said she wasn’t sure what was up, but since Daisy yelped when she touched a certain part on her back, she thought she had a ‘Slipped Disk’. That was not right. after that, daisy would walk really funny like one side of her was unable to function right. Her hips and shoulders look really…lumpy and weird. To this day she still has that “back problem”. She’s been doing better, and tries to run, but she normally ends up falling on her side(she walks kinda lop-sided anyways). She’s been going on small hikes with us(walking as fast as she can) and does pretty well. But it breaks my entire family’s heart to see her this way… :’( never buy a pet from a pet store! we love daisy more then anything…but we would give anything to have adopted her from a shelter/breeder and have her be healthy………
Comments to Answer
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A lot of shelter animals ARE purebred dogs, and a lot of them are the product of puppy mills and backyard breeders. In fact, many of them were abandoned in the first place because of the health problems you describe! It's very tragic what happens with dogs from these irresponsible breeders. Mixed breed dogs however are usually fairly healthy by comparison. I'm sorry your poor dog is suffering so much but she's lucky to have someone who is willing to take care of her like you have.
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Yeah. That was almost three years ago that we adopted Dais. We really didn't know much about dogs then...as far as we shouldn't have bought from a pet store, shouldn't have bought the runt, etc.... it was one of those "in the moment" things where my parents said if we paid for her, we could have her. I love her to death, and that's why my parents haven't put her down. They said it would be a lot easier if I wasn't so attatched. she's doing better, which is good, but that doesn't mean we won't have troubles in the future(which I've told my parents that if we do, then we can let her go). Shelters who have a history of their dogs and cats will do much better then petstores. Although some shelter dogs were un-taken-care-of strays, they can be a lot healthier then pet store animals. This isn't ALWAYS the case, but I wouldn't risk buying another dog from a petstore(which we almost did about a year ago..little snoopy...a bluetick hound-beagle mix...good thing we didn't--dais would have trouble now that she's hurt). But Dais's gunna make it! I have hope now that she's been doing better. Warmer weather brings better and better days.
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they come from kitty mills and puppy mills the ones at the petshop sadl but at a localshelter or if someonesgivin it away is beter than buying one from a pet shop.
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In my opinion you should get kittens people are giving away because its doing someone a favor and its saving the cat from going to a bad animal sheltar.In some animal sheltars they will kill the cat if it has not been sold in 3 days!!!!
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