How to Avoid Scams When Buying a Kitten Online
Buying a kitten online always carries some risk. You're looking at photos, chatting with a stranger, and have to decide whether to send money. Unfortunately, "selling" kittens that don't exist is one of the most common scams on the internet, and it works by playing on your emotions — you've already fallen for the photo, you're afraid someone else will grab "your" kitten, and you rush to pay.
Signs of a scammer
- The price is way below market. A healthy, purebred kitten is expensive to raise — a suspiciously low price is almost always bait, not a lucky find.
- They ask for a non-refundable transfer — payment to someone else's account "for a friend," anonymous transfers, no protection of any kind.
- New charges appear after you've paid a deposit — "insurance," a "special carrier," "quarantine": the total keeps growing after you've already paid.
- They refuse a live video call. Photos prove nothing — only a video of the actual kitten, shown live, proves it's real.
- They pressure you to rush — "someone else is about to take the kitten, decide fast."
- There's nothing about the seller you can verify — no name, no cattery address, no reviews you can find independently.
How to check that you're dealing with a real breeder
- Ask for a live video of that specific kitten — not an old clip, a call happening right now.
- Use a payment method with buyer protection (a card or a service that allows chargebacks), not a non-refundable transfer.
- Verify that the cattery and the person are real — social media with a history, reviews you can find independent of the seller's own site.
- Ask about registration — legitimate catteries belong to recognized associations, and that's something you can double-check.
- Insist on transparent terms: the final price, what's included, and delivery should all be clear upfront, with no surprises later.
How we do it
We built our process to remove this fear completely:
- You see your kitten on a live video call before any payment.
- You pay a clear deposit, and the balance only once the kitten is already with you.
- We're a breeder registered with TICA and WCF, not a reseller — you talk directly to the person who raised the kitten.
The full honest-seller checklist is on our "How to Spot a Scam" page.
