2020 was the worst year for millions of people and it seems it was the worst for many pets as well. Lockdowns kicked off new habits around the world, pushing many people to get pets because of the boredom. This resulted in increased demand for kittens of which many were sold prematurely online.
Don’t get us wrong – it’s pretty great that people are more interested in pets because of the pandemic. However, what’s not cool is that premature kittens are sold online as fully mature.
Earlier in November, a photographer named Theo Zeal went up to pick up a kitten advertised as 8 months old. He was ushered in a room downstairs so he never saw the kitten or his mom. When it arrived, it was clear that something’s off. He thought that it’s just the runt of the litter and took it home.
Everything was great for a few days until the kitten got diarrhea. It spent most of the time asleep, so Theo took it to a vet. The vet immediately said that the kitten is not 8 weeks old. According to him, this isn’t the first case of its kind. Many people brought in premature kittens since the first lockdown in March in the UK.
Demand for kittens has gone up, and people are breeding cats like crazy. All kinds of kittens were brought to the vet, some underweight or too small to survive, others not treated for fleas or worms. Plus, when a kitten is separated from its mother very early, it may have traumas his whole life.
Theo tried to get in touch with the owner, but he screened the calls and then replied that the kitten is 8 weeks old. The problem is that there are no regulations for such adoption sites – you just take the owner’s word about it. On the positive side, the kitten is doing fine, but it still misses its mum.
