10 Reasons Not To Buy Cats/Kittens From A Pet Shop
1.
Health - That adorable cat/kitten in the pet store is hard to resist, but you may be paying a lot of money for a kitten that you know very little about. Pet stores generally rely on impulse buys to sell their product. There is a good chance that the pet store kitten will develop a health problem sometime in its life that may cost you a lot of money. It is very unlikely that the parents were screened for genetic diseases that can be passed to their offspring.
2.
The myth about Cat Club Papers - Most pet shops would like you to believe that if a cat/kitten is registered, this guarantees they will be healthy and a good example of the breed.
3.
The pet shop guarantee - Many pet store provide a form of guarantee for people buying cats/kittens from them, but their guarantees may be as bad as none at all. A not-so-uncommon scenario goes something like this: after your family has become attached to your adorable new kitten you find out it is sick. It will cost you several hundred dollars to treat, so you take the kitten back to the store to receive your guarantee. What they will most likely offer to do is trade kitten -- take away your beloved pet and replace it with a new kitten, not necessarily a healthier one, either. They will most likely euthanize the kitten you brought back, because this is cheaper for the store. The other tactic that some stores use is to tell you your kitten will grow out of the problem -- until their guarantee has expired. Do you want to take this risk?
4.
What will the kitten look like when it is full-grown? - You may have seen specimens of the breed that you are buying, but this does not guarantee that this cats/kitten fit the breed standard. You do not know if the parents fit the standard either and cannot see the faults that each parent has.
5.
What do you know about the breed? - Employees of pet stores generally know very little about the cats/kittens that are in the store. They can probably tell you a little bit about the breed and then point you to a rack of generic cat books. What do you do after you bring the kitten home, only to find that this breed is not the right one for you and your family? Good breeders are full of information about the breed that you are considering. They should be able to tell you the general temperament aspects of the breed and help you predict whether this breed will fit into your lifestyle.
6.
Housebreaking and training problems - This kitten that you are buying from a pet store has most likely spent much of its life in a cage. Due to the conditions that kittens were kept in at pet stores, they have been forced to eliminate in the same area that they sleep and eat. A Reputable breeder would have trained the kitten. So by the time the kitten are ready to go to their new homes they will be well on their way to being house trained.
7.
How about socialization? - Your pet store kitten may well have never been in a house before. If this is the case then everything will be new and scary for them. The doorbell, vacuum cleaner, and children playing are all new sensations that can be terrifying to an unsocialized kitten. Good breeders will expose their kittens to many situations so that they are used to them by the time that they go to their new homes.
8.
Pedigree worth? - The pet shop owner can only tell you that this cat/kitten is pedigree but wont be able to prove it. Worse is they are telling that this kitten is purebred but its actually just a DLH.
9.
Do you want to support kitten mills/BYB? - Almost all kittens that are in pet stores come from kittens mills/BYB. These operations are exactly what the name implies. Most mass produce kittens with money as the prime motive. Their breeding cats are often kept in very poor conditions and are sometimes malnourished. The cats are almost never tested for genetic diseases and may not receive vaccinations. Females are generally bred every heat cycle until they are worn out and then they are often sentenced to death. The horror of kitten mills is encouraged every time a kittens is bought from a pet store. How do you know that they comes from one of these places? The main reason is that almost no responsible breeders will sell to pet stores. Good breeders what to make sure that their kittens go to good homes and are well cared for. They want to be actively involved in screening the home that they go to.
10.
After the kittens goes home - Once you take the kitten home from the pet store they do not generally care what happens to it. Responsible breeders are more than people who sell kittens, they will also be good friends to you and your kittens. They care what happens to their kittens once they are sold. Almost all good breeders sell on spay/neuter contracts or limited registration. This practice enables breeders to keep cats that are not breeding quality out of the breeding population. Most reputable breeders care about each of their kittens' futures and will be concerned about their welfare. They care not only about their own cats, but also the impact their cats will make on the breed as a whole.
