Mary Allen
Cats are offered en masse in classified ads. However, you should definitely not make one of the supposedly practical bargains there. We reveal why.
Cats are cuddly good mood bringers that make our lives more beautiful. Looking for a velvet paw through the practical classified ads is tempting. Private individuals offer countless kittens and cats every day. Heartwarming photos tempt you to buy. However, no matter how cute the cats are, buying a pet through classified ads is not a good idea!
Read here about why you should avoid the online pet market if you are looking for a new four-pawed roommate.
Cats from classifieds: Stay away from the private online pet trade
They are cute, available immediately, and usually very cheap or even given away: cats and kittens from private individuals. They convey their velvet paws to a new home via classified ads.
It is precisely these popular ads that cat lovers often look for, but should definitely avoid. Because buying a cat through classified ads carries some risks that most buyers don’t even know about.
We have collected the five most important reasons why you should get your new darling from a reputable breeder or (even better!) from an animal shelter here.
The seller is unknown
Yes, even an official animal breeder is a stranger. However, he can prove that he is a breeder and usually has the necessary expertise for raising kittens. He knows what cats and tomcats need and how to breed them appropriately. For example, a Persian cat needs different grooming than a British Shorthair (BKH).
With an unknown private seller, you have the problem that you have no insight into the rearing of the kittens. You do not know whether the cat comes from a loving background or from a messy apartment. Was she properly fed, cared for, and kept busy? When you buy a cat through classified ads, the old owner usually hands the cat over to you without you really knowing the cat’s background.
The problem: You don’t see the cat directly if it has deficiency symptoms or even dangerous diseases. When adopting as a layperson, you don’t necessarily know whether she’s just shy and cautious or has been negatively influenced by the behavior of the previous owner.
Therefore, buy your tomcat or kitten from the breeder. There you can have a look at the animal or the kittens and the environment in advance and you will usually get a healthy, happy, and species-appropriate kitten. If you have any questions, the breeder is also available. In the worst case, a private person can no longer be reached or found.
If you’re looking for a cat or tomcat or kitten at an animal shelter, you can’t be certain of the velvet paw’s past either, but the staff there have been able to get to know the animal. Therefore, they can also give you a good estimate of what to expect.
Profit instead of animal love
Unfortunately, there are enough black sheep on the market who are only out for a quick buck. You will look in vain for a love of animals here. They take advantage of the fact that cats and tomcats are such popular pets and breed the animals in large numbers. Some dubious sellers do not attach any importance to a cat-friendly environment and have so many kittens at home that they can no longer provide the care they need.
Unhygienic conditions and sick cats or kittens are the results. For quick money, the love of animals is forgotten. Such sellers only care about profit. Living beings are the only sources of money for them. There are even cases where sellers forge the documents to get even more money.
If you are a cat lover, buy the kitten from a professional breeder. Or you get a velvet paw from animal welfare and do not support these machinations.
It can get expensive
No, we don’t mean the price that the seller sets for the cat, tomcat, or kitten. We mean the follow-up costs after the purchase. Not every hobby breeder or cat owner on the internet is a bad person. Often, however, they are one thing: lay people.
Even if they try their best, you don’t always know when the cat is missing something.
When things go badly, you choose and adopt a kitten, only to realize weeks later that the animal has health issues and disabilities that need to be addressed. If you didn’t expect it, it can be a financial blow that quickly wipes out the cheap purchase price of the cat.
A breeder or animal shelter regularly and thoroughly checks the health of the cats and kittens. A private owner usually lacks the expertise for this. Therefore, “The cat is healthy and cuddly” turns into “The cat has to go to the vet” faster than you would like.
There must be no bad intentions on the part of the seller behind this. Maybe he himself simply had no idea how his cat was really doing. Some diseases are not recognizable at first glance and still belong to the cat diseases that are incurable. Some problems also develop precisely through ignorance. For example, if the kitten is separated from its mother too early, cats can develop pica syndrome. That means you’re buying the proverbial pig in a poke through classified ads.
No security for buyers
A private seller can exclude liability from the start. This distinguishes him from a commercial seller. More specifically, this means that you waive any rights you would have with a breeder. So he can avert demands for the purchase of the cat.
If the cat doesn’t live up to what you had in mind, or if it becomes seriously ill after purchase, the retailer may not need to respond. True to the motto: “Now that’s your problem!”
While you have the right to a healthy kitten from an official breeder and can reclaim veterinary costs under certain conditions, with a private sale you have to hope for goodwill. That sounds heartless when it comes to cats, but you should be aware of this point. In an emergency, this means that you bear the costs instead of asking the breeder to pay for it.
Tip: Always document the purchase of an animal with a protection contract for the cat. This gives you proof and gives you more legal chances if something is wrong.
The cat doesn’t even exist
Please what? Yes, that is also possible: You are looking for and discovering a beautiful pedigree cat – maybe a Norwegian Forest cat – at an unbeatable price. The photos are tempting and you are happy about the supposed bargain. You may quickly lose that joy. Namely when the dealer is a fraud and the cat doesn’t really exist.
Pedigree cats such as the Siamese, Carthusian, or Maine Coon are popular. Therefore, many of them are simply made up. The buyer should pay in advance and assume alleged transport costs and veterinary costs or make a down payment. Never agree to such demands! A reputable breeder will let you visit the cat multiple times before you buy it if you wish.
So be careful and avoid such providers, otherwise, you will end up without money and without a cat. In principle, listen to your gut feeling and insist on getting to know the velvet paw beforehand. After all, ideally, you will spend many years, if not decades, with your animal roommate.