Hello Liv,

If you are not looking for brand new ( :-) ) kitten, try this http://www.sos-chats.ch/ they give away cats for free, it's a shelter.

Otherwise, you can have a look at anibis.ch or http://www.petitesannonces.ch/ (it's french speaking sites, but there are english posts). Price for noble kittens like ragdoll or persian starts from 900 CHF at least =/ I know one bloke who paid 2000 once

Good luck! :-)

PS drop a line to cindymiumiu, she is running that shelter, also speaks english ;-)

http://www.sgpa.ch/

We recently adopted a dog from there, lovely place with great staff, they have kitties too!!

Hello Liv,

If you can please don't buy pets. Go for adoption. Buying pets would only encourage the animal breeding industry to grow in which many animals are mistreated and exploited. You can come to the SOS Chats Cat shelter (www.sos-chats.ch)  on either Tuesday or Saturday between 2.30 and 5.30 pm. The adoption fee is around CHF 105  ( more or less) as they've got the vaccinations and microchips. If you need further inof don't hesitate to contact me as I volunteer at this shelter. You can also try the sgpa.

Cheers!

Couldn't agree more!!!! I'll always adopt.

I agree with you Cindy, however, we are looking to adopt a siamese cat especially because of allergy problems (not allergic to Siamese). I wrote to SOS-chats asking them about it and got a NO back that was so short and non-encouraging that it was almost rude. So guess what... we'll turn to a breeder.

Hi Mimi,

Sorry that you got a short no-reply re Siamese cat. I do understand that most of us would like to get friendly replies when inquiring about animal adoption. However, may I take this opportunity to explain how the shelter is run, then you might get a better understanding of why that reply was so short/ non-encouraging.

The shelter is run by a group of volunteers with the president as the head of the team - who is also a volunteer. Most volunteers have full-time jobs and the president also works 50%, plus she has to look after her toddler of 1.5 yrs old and is currently pregnant.

The shelter houses around 150 abandoned cats, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs This means a lot of cleaning & feeding  has to be done everyday. On top of that, they also provide a  24-hour emergency service - i.e. if someone finds an injured cat on the highway the president will go and pick it up and take it to the vet's and follow up on it; if someone finds some stray cats in their garden she'll go and place a trap there, teach the person how to use it, hopefully catch the cats, take them to the vet's to sterilise, harbour them at the shelter during recovery, then release them back to the garden if the owner agrees; sometimes she's called up by the firefighters when a cat is found trapped in a drain/ pipe/ well in the middle of the night, then she'll have to pick up the cat, clean it, take it to the vet; or a box of kittens is found next to a garbage bin in a carpark, again, she's called to the rescue, then of course followed by the bottle-feeding every couple of hours...  All this takes up a lot of time plus updating the website and answering questions via email.

I, therefore, regret that you received a short/ blunt/ non-encouraging answer from the president. I can't speak for her but as a volunteer, who has a full-time job and trying to use limited free time at hand to help out with the daily tasks at the shelter, I would say probably being direct when replying inquiries is the only way ( might not be the best, but... well..) when there is just too much on the plate. And I am sorry that you had to turn to a breeder, by whom I'm sure you were well receievd and provided with ample information.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested in adopting a cat, the best way is to come to the shelter to see the cats yourself, then you can select one that fits your criteria.

At last, thank you for having considered adopting from SOS Chats and not giving up on cats even you have allergy problems. =)))

Best,

Cindy

Thanks for all of your help everyone!

Hah, I've never had a pure breed animal, nor have I ever had a pet that wasn't a stray or from a shelter. There are so many animals out there that need safe homes, it seems crazy to buy one that will likely end up in one anyway. 

I hope to check out some places this Saturday and if not, perhaps next weekend.

Thanks again, you have all been so helpful :)

Hi Liv!

I have at home two little kitten that are looking for a family. They are 2 month old and are so cut (see the picture).

Hi Noa,

I may be quite interested! It depends... my boyfriend said he would prefer a full grown cat as opposed to a kitten.. with a baby cat around the house, we may have to kiss our security deposit goodbye. But it is so hard not to love kittens! Where could I see a photo?

Kittens should stay with their mom until they are 3 months old, just saying.

Oh I misunderstood and thought Mimi has already gone to the breeder. I think there is a short hair siamese at the shelter but not sure if it's for adoption. Why don't you drop by a Tuesday or Saturday as suggested by Reka to see the kitties?

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for all the info, indeed those people at the shelter are so dedicated, it is admirable. I believe the short-haired Siamese needs a home with a garden, which we don't have. But as you suggest, I will make a visit there soon with my daughter and we will go cat crazy.

For breeders' cats, there is the International Cat Show once a year in Geneva, I think around February. Beautiful breeds there, especially our favorite, the Main Coon. I used to have a Main Coon many years ago.... lovely personality.

Noa B, I also think kittens should stay with their ma until at least aged 3 months.

A friend of mine just adopted this ginger kitten. Isn't he just too cute for words?