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

The number shown under the short answer updates itself: it counts each kitten aged 12 months or under, by its listed age, at the rescues we list within about 25 miles of Nottingham, and every kitten on our Nottingham kittens page links to the rescue caring for it. No cat rescue we list has a cattery in the city. Two keep their kittens with volunteer fosterers in Nottinghamshire, and the third is a drive away in Derbyshire:

Kittens are often happier with company. Meow and Furever Cat Rescue ideally homes kittens in bonded pairs, and will consider a single kitten where there is already a young cat in the home, judging each case on its own. Ashbourne Animal Welfare prices two kittens together at £190, against £110 for one.

Expect questions about your home. Meow and Furever asks that everyone in the household agrees to the adoption, and wants to know how many hours you are out, the ages of any children and what pets you have. Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham sets rules cat by cat, so a listing may say a cat must live indoors or be your only pet.

Each of the three rescues runs its own steps, but they follow a similar order. Expect a "home check" as part of it: someone from the rescue looks at your home in person or, at one of the three, by video.

1. Enquire. Ashbourne Animal Welfare starts with its cat adoption enquiry form, Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham with its application form, and Meow and Furever Cat Rescue with an adoption form sent through WhatsApp from its site.
2. Show your home. Meow and Furever asks for a video of your home and garden, and says a visit in person can be arranged instead; Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham says a home check applies.
3. Meet the kitten. Ashbourne books an appointment at its cattery if it has a kitten that suits you, and every visit is by prior appointment. Meow and Furever lets you visit your chosen kitten once it has checked your application, then phones you to finish the paperwork.
4. Bring your kitten home. Meow and Furever sends a volunteer to drop your kitten off, unless you agree another way.

Kitten fees near Nottingham are £110 at Ashbourne Animal Welfare and £125 at Meow and Furever Cat Rescue. Ashbourne's cats and kittens are neutered before they go if they are old enough, and are health checked, microchipped, fully vaccinated and flea and worm treated, and come with 4 weeks of Petplan insurance if eligible; it calls its fee a minimum payment towards their care. For its £125, Meow and Furever adds Agria cover for the first 5 weeks, a food voucher, and treatment against fleas and worms, and it says the fee is generally much lower than what it spends on each cat.

A bought kitten comes without that vet work, often at a much higher price: a registered pedigree runs from £200 to well over £1,000, according to Cats Protection. After that, PDSA reckons any cat costs at least £79 a month to keep.

Kittens often leave a rescue before they are old enough for every procedure, so ask what has been done and what you are agreeing to arrange. Here is how each of the three handles it, from their own adoption pages:

• A neutering voucher at Ashbourne. If a kitten is not yet old enough for the operation, Ashbourne Animal Welfare sends it home with a voucher that most vets take: £50 towards a female, £40 towards a male. The voucher won't cover the whole bill, and Ashbourne's advice is to book the operation for when the kitten is four to five months old.
• A neutering contract at Meow and Furever. Meow and Furever Cat Rescue says cats over 16 weeks are assessed, neutered and microchipped before they go, while younger kittens come with a contract to be neutered and microchipped at its vets, at a location you agree together.
• Vet work after adoption at FAW. Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham neuters its cats, or has a kitten that is too young neutered at one of its vets after adoption. Its cats are vaccinated, flea and worm treated, given a full health check and blood tested, including for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus).
• The law on microchips. In England a cat must be microchipped before it is 20 weeks old, so check whose job that is for your kitten (see the law section below).

Nobody sells the kittens on our Nottingham kittens page: each one is with a rescue, which checks that your home suits it and then asks an adoption fee. If you searched for "free kittens", the same applies, because rescues charge towards the vet work they have paid for; a "free to good home" post is a private owner's, and no rescue checks it. The rules on selling kittens in England follow in the law section.

Buying instead? Cats Protection's advice is to look for a breeder registered with a body such as the GCCF, and not to take a kitten from its mother before eight to nine weeks at the earliest. Suspected scam adverts can be reported to Report Fraud, the service that took over from Action Fraud.