It’s not at all easy to buy a kitten, as it may seem. It’s not enough to choose a breeder or a cattery, to select a kitten by photo and to prepare a needed sum of money. It’s pretty important to take into account some other issues as well.

First of all, get in touch with the cat breeder. Use the contact information about the breeder or the cattery, which is indicated on the website, in an advert or in social media.

What should you ask if you want to buy a pedigree kitten?
In fact, you may ask whatever you wish, but there are a number of essential must-ask questions:
- are there any kittens (or a specific kitten) available for sale at the moment? have they already been reserved?
- do they sell the kitten for the price indicated in the advert or is the price different?
- is the kitten you are interested in being sold for breeding or as a pet (sterilized)?
- which documents will be provided at the time of purchase? will the contract be concluded and are there any specific terms and conditions in the contract?
- in which club / association / system is the breeder (cattery) listed as a member?
- at what age can you take the kitten and is it possible to reserve it in advance? what is the price and conditions for reservation?
- which vaccinations have already been done to the kitten and which vaccinations are still to be done in future? (as a rule, the first vaccination is done when a kitten is about two months old and three weeks later the revaccination is carried out)
- if the kitten comes from another city / country, what are the terms and the price for its delivery?
- is the kitten accustomed to the cat scratcher and the cat toilet?

If you are satisfied with everything, fix the time for a meeting. But you’d better first think for a while and call back later. You may also contact the indicated cat club and get to know if the cat breeder in question is actually listed as its member.

When you buy a kitten, it’s worth remembering that:
- pedigree kittens are sold / given to a new owner only after they are 3-4 months old;
- pedigree kittens must be vaccinated (the cat breeder must do at least primary complex vaccination);
- pedigree kittens are accustomed to the cat toilet and cat scratcher (at least to the cat toilet);
- pedigree kittens must have documents (kitten’s card / certificate of registration or its equivalent and international veterinary certificate).

Acquaintance with the kitten
If you buy a kitten from another city / country and you have no opportunity to visit the cat breeder, you should watch the selected kitten via Skype, for example (modern technologies make it possible to see a cat practically from any part of the world). Do not buy a kitten by photo! Photos in adverts on the internet may be taken from any source and later on you will never be able to prove that you received a totally different kitten from the one you selected. By the same reason you shouldn’t agree for the kitten to be delivered by any third person (by a courier or an air hostess, for example). The best way is to come and take the kitten yourself or ask the breeder to hand it to you personally, or at least beg your reliable friends / acquaintances for help.
What should the kitten look like when you come to take it?
- the same as on the photo in the advert (conscientious breeders will not place the photos of somebody else’s kittens on their sites or in their adverts on the internet)
- healthy in appearance (active, clean, with soft shiny hair, without any bald patches or other deficiencies)

Remember that nobody forces you to buy the kitten you have seen in the advert. Take the one that you like most, if it’s not already reserved, of course. You may purchase a kitten at once or reserve it. As you cannot take the kitten until it is 3-4 months old, you should reserve it, that is to pay approximately half of its price (or less as agreed with the breeder). As a rule, if in future you refuse to buy the kitten, this money will not be returned. So, think at least twice before you make such a reservation.
Together with the kitten you must receive all necessary documents: an international veterinary certificate with the data on all the vaccinations done to the kitten and on anthelminthic treatment, and one copy of the contract signed by you and the breeder. The kitten must also have a kitten card / certificate of registration or its equivalent confirming its origin.

And now, finally, you are a rightful owner of a purring cub of happiness.