Usual forum help on cats.

[Reynard]

With all those kittens for sale, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them. Steer clear.

If you want a maine coon, contact the kennel club that deals with cats and ask them for reputable breeders in or around your area.

That'll be the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy), which is the main registration body in the UK. The other two are TICA (The International Cat Association) Europe West region and Felis Britannica (part of FiFE - Federation Internationale Feline).

 

[Milzy]

That'll be the GCCF (Governing Council of the Cat Fancy), which is the main registration body in the UK. The other two are TICA (The International Cat Association) Europe West region and Felis Britannica (part of FiFE - Federation Internationale Feline).

Yes a kind lady has put up the link above and there’s quite a lot near me. I suppose I knew they were dodgy all along but Some people on this forum are great at spotting the dynamics of fake dodgy websites so thought I’d ask for verification.

 

[Reynard]

Yes a kind lady has put up the link above and there’s quite a lot near me. I suppose I knew they were dodgy all along but Some people on this forum are great at spotting the dynamics of fake dodgy websites so thought I’d ask for verification.

That would be me with the cat fancy links...

Dunno whereabouts you are exactly, but upcoming all-breed shows in the home-ish counties area are the Cambridgeshire Cat Club show in Ware weekend after next, and the Bedfordshire / Bucks & Oxon joint shows in Luton on the 30th April.

I'm judging at the latter and will likely be stewarding at the former.

 

[icowden]

Can someone check out these guys for me please?

Red flags include:

• No real web presence other than the site
• Use of publicly available pictures to portray the busines
• Not registered at Companies House
• No information as to who owns the company
• No address, phone number or names on the website (besides the cats)
• No prices shown on the website.
• Website only started existing in January 2023
• Use of the word "Royal" in company name is not allowed in the UK without permission.
• Domain registrar is American

Aside from that, this looks like a great company... !

 

[Chris S]

Red flags include

• Use of the word "Royal" in company name is not allowed in the UK without permission.

That's not true according to a recent Radio 4 programme. Anybody can name anything 'Royal'.

 

[icowden]

That's not true according to a recent Radio 4 programme. Anybody can name anything 'Royal'.

Unless the Companies Act has been changed, you can't call your company "Royal". I think where it gets a bit eggy is that you can be fredblogs ltd but trade as RoyalBlogger.co.uk if you want.

Company Names Sections 55 and 1047 of the Companies Act 2006 and Regulation 8 of the Limited Liability Partnerships (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2009 prohibits companies (including overseas companies) and limited liability partnerships from being registered under a name which includes any of the sensitive words specified in the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business Names (Sensitive Words and Expressions) Regulations 2014, unless the approval of the Secretary of State has been obtained. The sensitive words specified in the 2014 Regulations include Royal, Queen, King, Prince or Princess.

 

[Chris S]

Unless the Companies Act has been changed, you can't call your company "Royal". I think where it gets a bit eggy is that you can be fredblogs ltd but trade as RoyalBlogger.co.uk if you want.

Shoddy BBC journalism yet again.

 

[DRM]

Sometimes the little b*ggers adopt you, they meow at the back door till you let them in, it's the start of the take over, before you know it theres a cat sleeping in your favourite chair!

 

[Milzy]

Sometimes the little b*ggers adopt you, they meow at the back door till you let them in, it's the start of the take over, before you know it theres a cat sleeping in your favourite chair!

Many of these reputable breeders won’t sell you a kitten if they think you may let it escape the house. Mental I know, my huge brown spotted Bengal roamed for 20 years with no problems.

 

[Reynard]

Many of these reputable breeders won’t sell you a kitten if they think you may let it escape the house. Mental I know, my huge brown spotted Bengal roamed for 20 years with no problems.

That's because...

a) Some pedigree breeds are a bit dim (Persians / Exotics)
b) Some pedigree breeds have no sense of personal safety (Ragdolls)
c) Some pedigree breeds are too smart for their own good and will get into trouble (Siamese / Oriental / Singapura / Burmese)
d) Theft of rare breeds is an issue

Also, there is a big difference between completely indoor and having access to a catproof garden or catio, the latter two being perfectly acceptable to pretty well much all the breeders that I know in the cat fancy.

Having said that, I have non-pedigrees, and despite having a 7 acre garden, the girls are largely indoor by choice. They have access to the outdoors during the day, but prefer to stay in the house. Admittedly Poppy will be 14 this year, and Lexi will be 11...

 

[DRM]

Many of these reputable breeders won’t sell you a kitten if they think you may let it escape the house. Mental I know, my huge brown spotted Bengal roamed for 20 years with no problems.

The little blighter that visits us, actually belongs to next door, they had another cat who sadly had to be put to sleep as he was very ill/old they applied to a cat rescue for another cat, yet were turned down as they are too close to a busy road, yet the RSPCA are quite happy to let them adopt, I sometimes think these rescues don't want their animals to be adopted

 

[Milzy]

The little blighter that visits us, actually belongs to next door, they had another cat who sadly had to be put to sleep as he was very ill/old they applied to a cat rescue for another cat, yet were turned down as they are too close to a busy road, yet the RSPCA are quite happy to let them adopt, I sometimes think these rescues don't want their animals to be adopted

I know someone who bought a British short hair for £400 and it was on a main road and killed before too long. A breeder will usually judge someone on their facebook profile picture then decide if they think it’s going to a safe home or not.

 

[Reynard]

The little blighter that visits us, actually belongs to next door, they had another cat who sadly had to be put to sleep as he was very ill/old they applied to a cat rescue for another cat, yet were turned down as they are too close to a busy road, yet the RSPCA are quite happy to let them adopt, I sometimes think these rescues don't want their animals to be adopted

It varies from rescue to rescue and branch to branch, as I can attest from also being a Cats Protection volunteer. Sadly a lot of homing policy is down to head office v branch politics as opposed to being applied through common sense on a case-to-case basis.

 

[DRM]

It varies from rescue to rescue and branch to branch, as I can attest from also being a Cats Protection volunteer. Sadly a lot of homing policy is down to head office v branch politics as opposed to being applied through common sense on a case-to-case basis.

I'd have been less surprised if they'd said your remaining cat is such a mischievous little so & so it'll lead a kitten astray !

 

[Reynard]

I know someone who bought a British short hair for £400 and it was on a main road and killed before too long. A breeder will usually judge someone on their facebook profile picture then decide if they think it’s going to a safe home or not.

No, that's absolute poppycock.

A *reputable* breeder will invite prospective buyers into their home to see the kittens with mum, and, if they own the stud, to meet dad as well. Usually this will involve more than one meeting, and it's a two way process, with both buyer and breeder getting to know each other. The breeder will assess how the buyer interacts with the cats in the house (and how the cats react to them) and then a decision will be made as to whether to proceed or not. Sometimes gut feeling comes into it as well.

A similar process happens with particularly the smaller rescues, and certainly with our branch (Ely & District) of Cats protection.

However, neither the breeder nor the fosterer has any say in what an owner then decides to do once the moneys have been paid and the paperwork has been filled in.