Problem with our 'reserved' kitten coming home :(

We got our Ragdoll at over 4 1/2 months old, and I must say I was surprised at how kittenish he really was. (And still is, at 9 months.) Especially breeds slow to mature like Ragdoll and Maine Coon, I would think that is bound to be true for most kittens. Also, he assimilated into a household with 3 female cats, 4 people, and 2 dogs, one of which was a herding breed puppy. He fit right in, and he's never scratched the furniture, or gone outside the litter box. I think the litterbox part is SO worth it because you know how frustrating it is to get a cat that doesn't seem to care where it goes!

I would continue working with the breeder to try and bring your baby home - I'm sure he will still be kittenish for quite a while!

The people who adopted my Rudy, got him at hmmm 7 months...and, now at 12 months he's still very much a kitten! Abys mature at 18 months and he's not showing any signs at all of giving up his kittenhood! I still get the bi-weekly reports that start with "Do you KNOW what your Rudy did today?" It probably helped that he was neutered at 4 months!

Don't give up yet, please! Good things in life are worth waiting for!

So you think neutering at 3-4 months old keeps them more of the mentality of a kitten, rather then thinking they are a grown up boy/girl?

I'll have to do a comparison of neutering my rexes at 8 months compared to Charlie being done at 3 months. Course I'll have to remember to note anything sometime in the summer when he's 8-9 months old

Well, I believe that since he never went through the major hormonal changes at 6-8 months, it helped! I neutered Rudy at 4 months and his brother at 7 months (I was thinking of showing him in Championship) and yes, there are behavioural differences between the two! Abys are naturally active and agile anyway, but Rudy, even with his calcification issues is definately the more "kittenish" of the two!

Originally Posted by kluchetta

We got our Ragdoll at over 4 1/2 months old, and I must say I was surprised at how kittenish he really was. (And still is, at 9 months.) Especially breeds slow to mature like Ragdoll and Maine Coon, I would think that is bound to be true for most kittens. Also, he assimilated into a household with 3 female cats, 4 people, and 2 dogs, one of which was a herding breed puppy. He fit right in, and he's never scratched the furniture, or gone outside the litter box. I think the litterbox part is SO worth it because you know how frustrating it is to get a cat that doesn't seem to care where it goes!

I would continue working with the breeder to try and bring your baby home - I'm sure he will still be kittenish for quite a while!

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Thanks, that makes me feel better than you kitten had no trouble fitting in. That's one of the big things I am worried about. I was really hoping that we would have a kitten who actually GOT ALONG with my dogs because my current cat really dislikes the dogs and pushes them around (hisses and swats them regularly) and my Golden Retriever just loves cats so I was worried that the older the kitten is the less likely it will be able to accept my other pets!

The kitten is I think about 18 weeks old now... I found out my cousin is willing to pick the kitten up for me but he is only free next Saturday, he lives a lot closer to them than I do so he said he'd be willing to pick the kitten up on the way up here and then he could stay in Chicago overnight with his sister and go home on Sunday... I emailed the breeder to see if she is available then and I'm crossing my fingers...this is my last hope otherwise we won't be able to get him until February

Oh i really hope it all works out for you. You cousin making the journey to pick up the kitten sounds promising though. It must be awful to feel like everything's up in the air at the moment! The MC's really are slow to mature though, as you can see in my sig we have one, he is 9 months now. We got him at 15 weeks old and he wasn't much different at 18 weeks, just a little larger! What colour is the kitten you have chosen?

Will keep our fingers/paws crossed for you

Darn...I emailed the breeder about having my cousin come and pick the kitten up on the weekend, asked if she was free on Saturday... She said we can't pick him up because she's going to a cat show that day She is only free Thursdays but my cousin is only free that one weekend so I guess we can't get him until February after all...

That sucks, but at least the breeder will hold the kitten for you all till February. Have you put down a deposit for being "serious" about buying?

How far is the cat show? Is it possible the show is even closer? If it is, and the breeder is willing, maybe your cousin could pick the kitten up from the show.

Yes, we put down a deposit ($200) for the kitten in the beginning of October...
I don't think she is willing to bring the kitten to the cat show for my cousin to pick him up because if she was she probably would have mentioned it rather than saying that Sat. is out of the question?

If you can possibly find out what the cat show is, that may help. There is a show in Crown Point, Indiana that I will be attending on Saturday. If she will be at that show, I could pick up the kitten from there and bring her to you (I live on the border of illinois/indiana). Find out where her show is being held.

Originally Posted by tiffanyjbt

If you can possibly find out what the cat show is, that may help. There is a show in Crown Point, Indiana that I will be attending on Saturday. If she will be at that show, I could pick up the kitten from there and bring her to you (I live on the border of illinois/indiana). Find out where her show is being held.

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WOW! How awesome of you to offer to do this for them! That is so sweet of you, I hope this is some thing that you guys can work out! (But you know all about waiting for a kitten to come home, don't ya ) I hope this will work out for you. This may be the way!

There may not be a way for the breeder to do this. When you enter a show, you prepay for the amount of space you'll have for your cats, and you have a restriction on how many cats can be in that space. No cats allowed kept in carriers under the benching area, and I think for cats not registered in the show, you have to pay for a sales cage. It may simply not be possible for her to do at this late date.

I hope I am wrong and that it can be worked out, what a generous offer above to pick up the kitten for you!

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

There may not be a way for the breeder to do this. When you enter a show, you prepay for the amount of space you'll have for your cats, and you have a restriction on how many cats can be in that space. No cats allowed kept in carriers under the benching area, and I think for cats not registered in the show, you have to pay for a sales cage. It may simply not be possible for her to do at this late date.

I hope I am wrong and that it can be worked out, what a generous offer above to pick up the kitten for you!

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It is indeed a very generous offer! In the UK this wouldn't be possible, because you cannot re-home a cat within 7 days of it being taken to a show, and a cat is not supposed to change hands AT a show (a sort of quarantine period, for safety's sake!) so I wouldn't be surprised if this couldn't happen for some reason.

Originally Posted by Epona

It is indeed a very generous offer! In the UK this wouldn't be possible, because you cannot re-home a cat within 7 days of it being taken to a show, and a cat is not supposed to change hands AT a show (a sort of quarantine period, for safety's sake!) so I wouldn't be surprised if this couldn't happen for some reason.

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I know it can be possible ( although like was said, the exra cage may be needed, and it may be too late), but I know at the show I went to several breeders had signs up with kittens for sale, and my mentor herself had a couple egyptian maus for sale, and sold 3 or 4 of them (1 to some one on this site even, LOL I didn't know it was her at the time), but I know for a fact that my mentor had kittens that wasn't shown and were there to sell, and some of the people who were there to watch the show bought a kitten and took them home that day. So it can happen, but whether the breeder can this late is a different story. So I hope it can happen!

Usually, breeders I have run across bend over backwards to place their babies in happy homes. Especially with the distance involved and she must know you dont drive, etc. If she is going to a show can't she have someone meet your cousin at her home to get your baby? She must have a neighbor or someone that could do this for her..???

Or meet your cousin at the show. If it isn't the other way or some thing.

When I was looking in to adopting a kitten the breeder who I spoke with offered to bring the kitten to an upcoming show in Ohio, while they showed their cat(s). I don't know the particulars on how they were going to do it, but they offered. That's why I thought of it as a possible solution.

I thought it wasn't a good idea to pick up a kitten from a show?