Dear Diary,

Ok, I might have been a bit naive.

If you want to adopt a kitten, you have two options. Either get one from a shelter or look for a breeder.

I wasn’t necessarily looking for a pedigree cat, so I thought a shelter is the way forward.

Shelter

I spend a bit of time looking for shelters but soon realised that being a first-time cat owner, living on my own in a flat without a garden is a big no-no. They often even pay you a visit to make sure your home is actually suitable for a cat.

I had no idea that they have such strict criteria but clearly I wasn’t able to tick all their boxes.

So, let’s have a look for a breeder then. Easier said than done.

Finding A Breeder

I mean how difficult can it be to get a kitten from a breeder. I was sure that once you’ve found one you kinda just buy a kitten or wait for their next litter. Nope. That’s not how it works.

Back to my excel sheet.

I’ve started noting down some potential breeders which I mainly found through the GCCF breeder scheme and Facebook.

Some have really lovely looking and well-maintained websites with lots of information on the parent cats and how they grow up, etc. Coming from a content marketing background, those breeders already got some goody points on my list.

Not only on my list though…

The Dreaded Waiting List

I quickly discovered that there is such a thing as a kitten waiting list you could sign up for.

The whole waiting list process felt a bit like having your soon-to-be-born-baby (or even only planned one) registered for a crib month (or years) in advance in order to secure a place.

Keep in mind that the size of a litter can be anything between 2 and 7. Chances that you actually get one felt very, very limited.

Plus, if you have a dream kitten in your mind - female, blue (yeah I’ve changed my mind..). No chance whatsoever. 

The Game Is On

Then there are the breeders who don’t have a waiting list on purpose. What I found usually happens with them is that they announce that a litter is to be due in a couple of months.

Once they are born, a tiny little time window opens up. This is your chance to say, yes I want one.

Sometimes this felt like a 15 minutes thing. 5 kittens, gone before you even realised that they were now ready for adoption. Plus, this all usually happened in the middle of the day.

I’m still not sure how people manage to get one. I’m convinced that it has to be connections, as with so many things in life. You probably start building some sort of relationship with a breeder you’re interested in and when they eventually get a litter it’s your chance. So again, no luck for me.

So, how did I end up with Jamie then?

There is this saying that cats choose their owners.

In this case, he didn’t really have a choice… But I’m still somehow convinced that it was just meant to happen at some point. Probably when I least expected it.

And so it did.