I got both my kitties from shelters. One passed away years ago and this one is currently in palliative care (cancer). She's 16. People adopted her 4 times and then gave back to shelter before I met her, because as cute as she was, she also was really afraid of humans, peed everywhere and had bad habits. I worked at her trust for our first two years, now she gets mad if I'm sitting and she can't get on my lap instantly.
Free cats are great. Not everyone can handle already adult cat with a bad past, but there are many, many other kitties, so it's best to just ask a shelter's staff. Cats are great <3


