Adopting a rescue kitten in Glasgow: rescues, rules and costs

The count under the short answer is live: it shows every kitten (12 months or under by its listed age) with the rescues we list in Glasgow and within about 41 miles, and each profile links to the rescue. Inside the city we list one cat rescue, Purrple Cat Rescue; the other is near Kinross, and Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home is further afield at Seafield. If the count shows none, that is the honest picture today, and the routes below are still open:

The order varies, but the steps are similar. A "home check" is a short visit, or a video call, to see that your home suits the kitten.

1. Apply. Cats Protection Glasgow contacts you if it feels you could be a good match, to talk through the cat's history and medical status. Purrple Cat Rescue asks for an adoption form and may take a while to reply, as its team is small.
2. Have the home check. Cats Protection Glasgow does a virtual or in-person home visit, and Purrple Cat Rescue an initial phone call followed by a video home check.
3. Wait for a match. Purrple Cat Rescue adds approved adopters to a pool and says the wait depends on the cats in its care and new arrivals.
4. Collect and pay. Fife Cat Shelter takes its donation when you collect, in person, and Cats Protection Glasgow sends the adoption paperwork once the home visit is done.

Published kitten fees run from £100 at Fife Cat Shelter, for a kitten not yet neutered, to £200 at Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, about 42 miles away, and Purrple Cat Rescue's are generally from £250 a cat. Purrple says its fees go towards vet care, microchipping, vaccinations, neutering and health checks, and Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home sends every animal home with a month's pet insurance.

Buying puts those costs on you, on top of the £200 to well over £1,000 Cats Protection gives for a registered pedigree. Running costs are the same either way: PDSA puts the minimum at £79 a month.

Young kittens often go home before all their vet work is done, so ask the rescue what has been done and what you agree to do.

• Vaccinations. PDSA says a kitten that has never been vaccinated needs two injections 3 to 4 weeks apart, usually at 9 and 12 weeks old, and is fully protected 3 to 4 weeks after the last one.
• Neutering you agree to. PDSA says neutering can be done from four months old, and Fife Cat Shelter requires kittens too young to be neutered when they leave to be neutered by 6 months.
• Microchips. In Scotland, microchipping a cat is a choice rather than a legal requirement (the law section below has the detail), but a chipped cat is easier to reunite if it gets lost, so ask whether the kitten is chipped.

The live count changes as kittens are adopted and new ones arrive, so an empty day doesn't mean an empty month. Apply to Cats Protection Glasgow, which matches cats from its fosterers, and look again at our listings in a week or two.

Think about a young adult cat too: a rescue already knows an adult's character. In Scotland, the Scottish Government's code of practice for the welfare of cats, issued under the 2006 Scottish animal welfare act, sets out what any cat needs, from a suitable environment and diet to company and protection from suffering, injury and disease.

Rescue kittens are adopted, not sold: you apply, the rescue matches you, and you pay its fee or donation. The same goes for "free kittens": a rescue asks a fee towards vet work, and a "free to good home" advert has no rescue behind it. The Scottish law on selling kittens is in the next section.

If you decide to buy a pedigree, Cats Protection suggests a breeder registered with a breed association such as the GCCF, and seeing the kitten with its mother at home rather than buying from a video or social media advert. Police Scotland advises against paying for anything you haven't seen, and takes reports of online marketplace fraud.