Singapura Kittens: Adopt or Buy in Australia?

Should you adopt or buy a Singapura?

It depends on whether the papers matter. A Singapura is defined by its pedigree; to anyone else it looks like a small, ticked brown cat. If you want a registered Singapura with known parents and DNA results, a council-registered breeder is the only route, and with this breed you should expect to make enquiries and wait. If what you want is a small, busy, affectionate cat, check the live kitten and cat listings (numbers change daily); the rescue fee covers desexing, microchipping and vaccination.

The RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase encourages prospective owners to adopt from the RSPCA or another reputable animal welfare, rehoming or rescue organisation. If you buy from a breeder, it suggests at a minimum checking they are registered by the relevant authority in your state or territory, visiting the place where the animal was born, and meeting the parents, especially the mother.

Rescue fees read 12 November 2026 on the pages linked below. Reference only, not a quote: rescues set and change their own fees, so check with them.

Is the Singapura recognised in Australia?

Yes. The CCCA and the ACF each publish a Singapura standard, and ANCATS includes the breed in its breed profiles. They agree on the coat but word the eye colour differently. Read on 12 November 2026:

Overseas, the Cat Fanciers' Association classifies the Singapura as a natural breed believed to have come from Singapore street cats, says five Singapuras were brought to the United States in 1975 and a sixth in 1980, and that it accepted them for registration in 1981 and championship status in 1988. It also says the number of breeders is rather small, so buyers may have a wait for a kitten.

What the Australian standard asks for

• Size: small to medium, moderately stocky and muscular, “neither cobby nor rangy”; males proportionally larger.
• Coat: very short, close-lying and fine, with at least two bands of dark colour; the CCCA calls the ticking “a most important feature of this breed” and makes allowance for underdeveloped ticking and longer coats in kittens.
• Face and ears: noticeably large eyes and large ears with a deep cup; the CCCA calls small ears a serious fault.

What does a Singapura kitten cost in Australia?

We could not find a published price. No Australian cat council or club publishes a Singapura price, and Cats Victoria (GCCFV) says kitten pricing is up to individual breeders and will vary depending on the breed. In November 2026 we looked for Singapura catteries on council breeder lists and through search. The Cats Victoria Singapura list said there were no breeder listings, the NSW CFA directory returned no Singapura listings, the GCCFSA Singapura page listed no breeder, and the Tasmanian Feline Association breeder list had none. The only Australian Singapura cattery we found advertises through a directory listing and social media rather than its own website, with no price. We could not find working breeder directories for the Queensland and Western Australian councils. That is what we could check, not proof that no other breeder exists. We do not quote prices from listing sites, social media or general cat websites.

Reference figures only, not quotes. Rescues set and change their own fees, so check with them; RSPCA NSW says its animals are desexed, microchipped, vaccinated and health-checked before adoption. Fees in other states are in our guide to kittens for sale in Australia.

When you ask about a kitten, Cats Victoria suggests asking whether it is desexed, how many vaccinations it has had, whether it is microchipped and whether there is a health guarantee.

Which health tests should a Singapura breeder show you?

The Australian Cat Federation's minimum testing list (October 2025) names four DNA tests for the Singapura:

Sources read 12 November 2026. A test being on the list means breeders should screen for it, not that every line carries it. This is a buying checklist, not veterinary advice; ask your vet about anything that worries you. The ACF also says AB blood group types should be monitored in all breeds.

What is a Singapura like to live with?

The Cat Fanciers' Association describes Singapuras as extroverted, curious and very playful, keen to help with cooking, typing and making the bed, and says their energy and love of play rarely flag with age. It calls them relatively quiet cats who do best in a quiet environment, and says a Singapura may become wary if something substantial changes, so give it time to adapt. Grooming is light: the CFA recommends a weekly comb.

• Good fit: a calm home where someone is around a lot and wants an involved, playful cat.
• Think twice: a busy, noisy household, given the CFA's note that they do best in a quiet environment.
• Not a reason to choose one: allergies. ASCIA says all cat breeds can cause allergies; our hypoallergenic cats guide covers how to test a cat first.

Not sure what kind of cat suits you? Try the what cat breed am I quiz, and see our cost of owning a cat guide for the ongoing costs.

How do you check a Singapura breeder?

Rescue is not right for everyone. A registered breeder makes sense if you want a kitten with known parents and DNA results, or plan to show. If you go that way:

1. Registration. Ask which council the breeder belongs to: ANCATS, a member body of the Australian Cat Federation, or a member council of the CCCA. Check with that council directly.
2. The pedigree. Neither Australian standard allows an outcross, so the pedigree should show Singapuras only.
3. DNA results for both parents: PRA (rdAc), hypokalaemia, pyruvate kinase deficiency and PKD, with names or microchip numbers that match.
4. The mother, in person or on a live video call, before any deposit.
5. Age and paperwork. At least 10 weeks old (ANCATS recommends 12), vaccinated, microchipped and desexed or with desexing agreed in writing. Our kittens for sale guide has each state's rules for kitten ads.

What do Singapura kitten scams look like?

Scamwatch says scammers set up fake websites, and fake social media and marketplace profiles, to get you to pay for popular breeds and pets that do not exist. Its advice: view the pet in person by visiting the breeder or seller, ask to see the pet on a video call with the breeder, verify the breeder is legitimate and accredited, and compare prices, because a very cheap pet is likely a scam. It also warns about being asked to pay by money order, pre-loaded card, or to several different PayIDs or accounts.

• A small brown ticked kitten sold as a Singapura without papers. The ticked pattern occurs in other breeds and in moggies; the breed is in the pedigree.
• “Registered” with no council named, or a membership you cannot confirm with that council.
• “Teacup” or “miniature” claims. The Singapura is naturally small, and the CCCA's breed standards include no teacup or miniature breed.
• Copied photos. Run a reverse image search on the kitten photos and search a sentence of the ad.

If you have already paid, contact your bank straight away and report it to Scamwatch.

Where to find a Singapura type cat to adopt

We do not have a Singapura breed page, so watch the kitten and tabby listings and set an alert. Without papers, treat a small ticked brown cat in rescue as a Domestic Shorthair or a mix, and that is no reason to pass it over: the personality you want is in the individual cat, and a foster carer can tell you about it.

Kittens in the big cities

• Kittens for adoption in Sydney
• Kittens for adoption in Melbourne
• Kittens for adoption in Brisbane
• Kittens for adoption in Perth
• Kittens for adoption in Adelaide

Tabby listings

Tabbies in Sydney, Tabbies in Melbourne, Tabbies in Brisbane, Tabbies in Perth, Tabbies in Adelaide. The tabby page and the Abyssinian page show them Australia-wide, and our small cat breeds guide compares the Singapura with other small breeds.

Before you apply, the adoption readiness check takes a few minutes, and our guide to adopting a cat in Australia walks through the process.