A catty post

Hello. Change in the weather today, raining. Thank goodness we were lucky yesterday. As a follow on from the cat theme, I thought I would do a piece about re homing cats, prompted by an enquiry I have had in. We get lots of phone calls from people needing to re home their cats for whatever reason. After ringing round all the rescues in their area and finding them full, they then ring places further afield. They will probably get the same story, sorry we are full but we can put you on a waiting list. Quite often the person will want to find a new home for their cats quickly, well that is unlikely to happen unless they drop lucky where a rescue has just had a pen vacated. It is a bit of a lottery.

As I said cats need re homing for different reasons, the emergency cases usually take priority over those who are not in immediate danger, each situation has to be assessed individually. Cats wandering and homeless, injured or neglected, abandoned with kittens, will need picking up first. The larger rescues often have foster carers so there is a degree of flexibility there, but the small ones like us can only take in the amount we have space for, so it's more a case of  'one out one in'. So what advice do I give to people who have a cat they want to re home, when we have no room for it?

First of all, if your circumstances are going to change in the future, relocation, relationship breakdown, working hours changing, young children cats and dogs not mixing well, then forward planning is the key. Don't leave it until it's a crisis situation. Rescue spaces are in very short supply so the longer you give yourself to find a new home for your pet the better. Start with asking immediate family, then other relatives. Someone might be willing to take them but not straight away if they have commitments. I am waiting for a lady to ring back after her holiday in August when she will be in a better position to adopt.

Drawn a blank there, next ask close friends. People that you know and trust. Then move on to friends of friends, but keep in mind that the further you spread your enquiries means that you must check their suitability as potential adoptees. If you ask workmates tell them that you will have to go and inspect where the cat will live. You would not hand your child over to a stranger without checking them out, so why would you hand over a treasured family pet.

All the time you are making your own enquiries, keep ringing the rescues. You never know, they might have had a cat leave the day before. Not sure where the rescues are? Look at this site for a list. 

Now for some 'do not's. Do not advertise your pet on Facebook, Preloved, Freegle, Gumtree, or any other social networking site. Do not stick a card in your newsagents window. Do not ask your mates down the pub. Do not give away an animal for free to someone you don't know. Why? Now for the nasty bit. There are evil people out there who want animals for breeding purposes, so make sure your pets are neutered or spayed, applies to cats and dogs. There are people who are even more sick and evil who will use cats for dog baiting and torture. Treat your animals like children, think of it as finding a safe and secure adoptive home for your son or daughter. I cannot emphasize that enough. We turn down a lot of people who want to adopt our cats, for various reasons. We make checks, they have to be right.

Most moggies will adapt to new circumstances, they will integrate into new homes given time. I'll put in a note here about pure breeds, they are a slightly different matter because some of the exotic ones need someone who understands their needs. Long haired cats need plenty of grooming and should be happy to be handled. Pure breeds have different personality needs as well, some of them can be very vocal and demanding. A lot of pure breeds are kept as indoor cats because it would be folly to let them roam with the risk of them being kidnapped for breeding. Cats will live happily indoors if that's all they have ever known, they just need more mental stimulation and play time. Saying that, I do occasionally see a couple of siamese cats in our churchyard, they live at the house next door.

To rehome a pure breed cat I would suggest goooogling the breed and add the word 'rescue'. For instance I have just found The Siamese Cat Welfare Trust. The web site looks legit with contact details, and I see it was updated a few days ago. This would be a good place to start if you had a siamese cat you needed to re home, or if you wanted to adopt that particular breed.

I hope this has been of some help to someone. I am not an expert, I've had cats for 18 years, been to numerous cat shows and learnt from other cat owners, and been involved with our local rescue for four years. If anyone is thinking about adopting a cat, please give thought to how much time you can give it, whether you can afford it, and can you look after it until the end of it's life. A tall order I know but these are the things you have to think about. As I said, there can be legitimate reasons for needing to re home a cat, life happens, but having a plan 'B' in place can alleviate some of the uncertainty as to what will happen to your cat if you can no longer look after it. Thankfully there are still some kind and caring people out there, it's just a matter of finding them, and being patient until the right one comes along.

Enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip