There used to be a kitten, parents, and a breeder
Back in the ’80s, my mother sold pets two ways. First, she ran an ad in The New York Times. Second, she met people at shows.
Believe it or not, I sat in on every deal. I also did a lot of the birthing, grooming, showing, stewarding, and clerking.
You couldn’t be scammed because there was the kitten, there were the parents, and there was the breeder. No internet. No Facebook. I also had to walk barefoot to school in a blizzard, uphill both ways.
These days, respectable breeders don’t really place ads. Most breeders have also closed their homes to visitors. Overwhelmingly breeders are older women and just don’t feel comfortable inviting strangers into their homes.
I’m a guy with a background in criminal defense, a lawfully held assortment of weaponry, and two trips to the national collegiate judo championships under my belt—didn’t win, but I can take a beating—and I don’t let anyone into my house either.
So if you can’t see the cats in the breeder’s house, how do you avoid being scammed?
Start with the breeder, not the kitten picture
No legitimate breeders are offering availability through 100-member Facebook groups created last month. Prove me wrong.
Legitimate breeders do not go down the list of comments on someone else’s page and link their own page. They do not run scripts that reply to every single comment with an invitation to join a “kittens for adoption” group. They do not need to message 500 people at a time to place kittens.
I never reach out to people offering kittens. If you’re interested, you reached out to me—or, even better, you were referred.
When in doubt, ask me. I’m not saying I know every Oriental Shorthair breeder on the planet, but I know enough to know someone who should have heard of your proposed seller.
Ask for evidence with a life outside the sales pitch
Can the breeder provide pedigrees, CFA or TICA registration, references, show records, and title certificates if they claim titled parents?
Even if you are thousands of miles away, a real exhibitor should be able to show entries, show wins, current photographs, and videos. You can also see the breeder and cats at a show. Some breeders will FaceTime or Zoom. Their cattery and cats ought to be presentable enough for that.
Be polite, folks. I have seen purchases cancelled because people wanted to FaceTime the new family member every day. Eh. Bit much. We have lives, such as they are.
Pedigrees are not automatically impressive unless you know what you are reading. I have heard of scammers showing pedigrees as “proof” of legitimacy. A document is one piece of evidence. Ask who the cats are, where they were shown, what the names mean, and who else in the breed knows the breeder.
Never pay a deposit on a kitten you cannot confirm exists.
Price is evidence too
Someone once asked me for a $500 kitten. Since my veterinary costs for each one are significantly more than that before I even feed them, let’s say “no.”
Prices change. Food changes. Veterinary costs change. A suspiciously cheap show-line kitten still needs an explanation.
Supply and demand will continue to attract scammers who take a deposit and ghost you. Do not let “rare kitten available now” switch off the part of your brain that asks whether the breeder, parents, litter, and records exist.
Do not put a deposit on an unweaned kitten
An unweaned kitten is not merely a future product available for advance purchase. Confirm the kitten’s age, developmental status, vaccination stage, and the event that will trigger a real placement commitment.
I would avoid Western Union or other non-recoverable methods unless you are already intimately familiar with the recipient.
UltraVires’ deposit policy is evidence of UltraVires’ practice, not the only legitimate model. The durable warning is narrower: verify the breeder and the living kitten before money moves, understand exactly what triggers the deposit, and know whether the payment method gives you any recourse.
Read the actual agreement before money moves. It should identify the cat, say what the breeder is promising, say what the family is expected to do, and say what happens if the placement or the cat’s health goes wrong. The existence of a contract is not proof of legitimacy. Scammers can copy paper too.
References are useful, not magical
I’m happy to give you references. I’m also happy if you check them.
Be aware that people generally only give out references they know will be positive. I’d be wary of treating online reviews as dispositive too. Most buyers don’t bother if they’re happy, and one disgruntled person can haunt a breeder for years.
Talk to families. Talk to other breeders. Look for years of consistent activity, cats appearing across time, show participation, litters developing in public, and adults aging in known homes.
A legitimate breeder should tolerate intelligent questions. Curiosity is a positive sign.
Fake UltraVires pages
As of March 2026, there was no UltraVires group I participated in other than the verified page. Any such group was a fraud.
Scammers steal photographs, including mine, build thousands of followers, and recycle the same pictures across fake pages. I file DMCA takedown notices, report the pages, and ban every account I can find.
Scama-lama-ding-dong. It’s a scam. If you send them money, do not complain to me. You were warned.
Verification systems and account names change. The current website and its current links should control. Do not rely forever on a blue badge described in a dated Facebook announcement.
The short version
- Find a breeder with a real history.
- Confirm the breeder, parents, litter, and kitten exist.
- Ask for registration, show records, titles, current photographs, videos, and references.
- Treat urgency, implausible prices, unsolicited offers, scripted comments, and non-recoverable payment demands as red flags.
- Do not reserve an unweaned kitten.
- Ask other established breeders. A legitimate breeder with no availability may know someone who has it.
- Read before you react.
If you see anything suspicious, it is better to ask than to become the next person telling me they lost ten thousand dollars without getting a kitten.
I’m very anti-scammer. Crazy, I know.