Buyer beware : Signs of scams and protections to follow
1- Immidiate availability- Most breeders carry a waiting list. There are exceptions to this. Everyone on our waitlist is offered our kittens first when they are 7wks old. If they don't see the little one they want, these kittens are then offered on the website always request a live view of the kittens thru facebook live,skype ect .
2.Discounted price. No-one is discounting kittens these days there are way to many exspenses that come with running a cattery.This is a dead give away that it is a scammer.
3. Won't take calls, they only deal through emails and texts. Please do not deal with anyone who won't answer a phone call.
4. Grammer and/or spelling errors on their website All of us have the occasional typo. It usually shows up in tenses or grammar errors.
5.Only professional Photos. This isn't always a sure thing, I think my photos look pretty good. But be wary of too good of photos. I know for myself, I have kitten fatigue by the time I am done wrestling two poses with one kitten. Breeders just don't have the time to take perfect pictures.
6. A Web address that can't be googled. Try to google the web address, if it doesn't show up it is a fake address even if it shows up in the URL when you are on their page.
7. Will ship today or tomorrow. it takes a couple days minimum to set up shipping or flights for delivery. Breeders who do ship will give you all of the shipping info so that you can verify with the airlines before you pay anything. Most breeders can have you call the shipping airlines directly to pay for the shipping yourself. There are animal transport companies, you should always check reviews and research anyone who will be in contact with your kitten.
8. Will only accept payment in a non-reversible method like PayPal friends and family vs. PayPal business. There are fees associated with these protected methods of payment but I would rather pay an extra fee then lose even more.
10. Watch out for kitten brokers. these people pose as breeders but they just ship kittens in from other sources and sell them.
11. Kitten Brokers. These individuals offer kittens of many ages, colors, and markings.
How to Spot a Broker: Often the backgrounds in their pictures are all different. The adults that they have usually could not produce that many litters all the same age range, or the colors/markings they are claiming these adults have are not genetically possible from the parents they have.
Some things to ask yourself *how many litters is this "breeder" representing, *How many adults are producing these litters, * How many different styles and backgrounds are there for the kitten pictures
Ways to Be Sure you are dealing with a real Breeder with real Kittens!!!
1. Talk with them on the phone. A breeder will be more than willing to answer your questions.
2. Check their Google buisness page- verify it is a actual buisness on google
3. Get References. Call their Veterinarian, Mentors and ask for refrences an ethical breeder should have nothing to hide.
4. Google: "cattery name" bad reviews. this search will allow you to see if they have any negitive reviews.
5. check their registration on TICA. if you are going to check TICA, remember there are two ways of doing this, TICA has a Pay to be on, breeder listing state by state, this is a paid advertising list. I don't need to pay to advertise so you won't find me on this listing. TICA also has a cattery registry. This is where you will find all breeders, if they are registered with TICA and have TICA papered purebred kittens.
We are listed as Tigtot on TICA and Tigger Tot Cattery on CFA.
6. !!!!Ask for more pictures of the kitten!!!!. This is an excellent way to ascertain if they actually have kittens. Ask for unusual pictures like a picture of the head in profile and the hocks (back of back legs) and the top of the head and ears and the kittens back from above. If they don't have a kitten these pictures will be impossible to get of the same kitten, off the internet.
7. Ask for a picture of kitten with mom and with dad. kitten mills never want you to see the condition of their adults and scammers don't have the adults.
8.Never pay for the whole kitten before seeing the kitten in person the day of pickup. Either buy local or travel to the breeders house to pick up the kitten and pay when you have the kitten in hand. Even if I am delivering a kitten I don't expect payment in full until they have the kitten in their arms.
9. Visit the breeders home or set up skype Visist - Many catteries will not allow visitors before a customer has put down a deposit. The reason I don't allow visitors before a deposit is because, in the past I didn't have that rule and people would come out just to play with ragdolls. Or they would be shopping catteries. Which means they were going from cattery to cattery. This goes against all my health protocols for the safety of my animals. But once you have put a deposit down I am happy to have you come and meet my adults and see my home. I have even had customers pay their deposit at the door and then come in and meet my adults. They just wanted to lay eyes on me before they handed over any money. This never bothers me.
2.Discounted price. No-one is discounting kittens these days there are way to many exspenses that come with running a cattery.This is a dead give away that it is a scammer.
3. Won't take calls, they only deal through emails and texts. Please do not deal with anyone who won't answer a phone call.
4. Grammer and/or spelling errors on their website All of us have the occasional typo. It usually shows up in tenses or grammar errors.
5.Only professional Photos. This isn't always a sure thing, I think my photos look pretty good. But be wary of too good of photos. I know for myself, I have kitten fatigue by the time I am done wrestling two poses with one kitten. Breeders just don't have the time to take perfect pictures.
6. A Web address that can't be googled. Try to google the web address, if it doesn't show up it is a fake address even if it shows up in the URL when you are on their page.
7. Will ship today or tomorrow. it takes a couple days minimum to set up shipping or flights for delivery. Breeders who do ship will give you all of the shipping info so that you can verify with the airlines before you pay anything. Most breeders can have you call the shipping airlines directly to pay for the shipping yourself. There are animal transport companies, you should always check reviews and research anyone who will be in contact with your kitten.
8. Will only accept payment in a non-reversible method like PayPal friends and family vs. PayPal business. There are fees associated with these protected methods of payment but I would rather pay an extra fee then lose even more.
10. Watch out for kitten brokers. these people pose as breeders but they just ship kittens in from other sources and sell them.
11. Kitten Brokers. These individuals offer kittens of many ages, colors, and markings.
How to Spot a Broker: Often the backgrounds in their pictures are all different. The adults that they have usually could not produce that many litters all the same age range, or the colors/markings they are claiming these adults have are not genetically possible from the parents they have.
Some things to ask yourself *how many litters is this "breeder" representing, *How many adults are producing these litters, * How many different styles and backgrounds are there for the kitten pictures
Ways to Be Sure you are dealing with a real Breeder with real Kittens!!!
1. Talk with them on the phone. A breeder will be more than willing to answer your questions.
2. Check their Google buisness page- verify it is a actual buisness on google
3. Get References. Call their Veterinarian, Mentors and ask for refrences an ethical breeder should have nothing to hide.
4. Google: "cattery name" bad reviews. this search will allow you to see if they have any negitive reviews.
5. check their registration on TICA. if you are going to check TICA, remember there are two ways of doing this, TICA has a Pay to be on, breeder listing state by state, this is a paid advertising list. I don't need to pay to advertise so you won't find me on this listing. TICA also has a cattery registry. This is where you will find all breeders, if they are registered with TICA and have TICA papered purebred kittens.
We are listed as Tigtot on TICA and Tigger Tot Cattery on CFA.
6. !!!!Ask for more pictures of the kitten!!!!. This is an excellent way to ascertain if they actually have kittens. Ask for unusual pictures like a picture of the head in profile and the hocks (back of back legs) and the top of the head and ears and the kittens back from above. If they don't have a kitten these pictures will be impossible to get of the same kitten, off the internet.
7. Ask for a picture of kitten with mom and with dad. kitten mills never want you to see the condition of their adults and scammers don't have the adults.
8.Never pay for the whole kitten before seeing the kitten in person the day of pickup. Either buy local or travel to the breeders house to pick up the kitten and pay when you have the kitten in hand. Even if I am delivering a kitten I don't expect payment in full until they have the kitten in their arms.
9. Visit the breeders home or set up skype Visist - Many catteries will not allow visitors before a customer has put down a deposit. The reason I don't allow visitors before a deposit is because, in the past I didn't have that rule and people would come out just to play with ragdolls. Or they would be shopping catteries. Which means they were going from cattery to cattery. This goes against all my health protocols for the safety of my animals. But once you have put a deposit down I am happy to have you come and meet my adults and see my home. I have even had customers pay their deposit at the door and then come in and meet my adults. They just wanted to lay eyes on me before they handed over any money. This never bothers me.