Which rescue charity?

[QueenieMum]

We lost our beautiful boy last month after 18 years and, despite vowing not to have another, I've found myself scouring the websites of local rescue charities. My last cat was a rescue so I'd like to go down that route again. Can any fellow rescuers tell me which organisation you chose and why? Visited one of my local rescue places today & their cattery has been closed for the last 10 days due to cat flu which has put me off getting one from there if I'm honest. I've sent emails to various places but keen to get the views of fellow cat lovers on here too.

[MrsHathaway]

Whereabouts are you (vaguely)? We support a small and local independent shelter, rather than any of the big national charities.

[MothratheMighty]

Got ours from Cats Protection, she came neutered, checked out and the staff knew her personality and traits so she was a good fit with our family. Also had insurance cover for the first month, and if anything went horribly wrong, they agree to take back any of their cats, no fuss.
She's been with us 12 years so far.

[QueenieMum]

Thanks Mothra, CPL seem to have a great reputation and it's good to hear it's worked for you. MrsHathaway I'm in the Midlands.

[Grumpyoldpersonwithcats]

Our last two came from Battersea cats' home in Old Windsor simply because it us local to us. Our experience was excellent and our kittens had clearly been very well socialised while there.

[Vinorosso74]

I volunteer for Cats Protection so am biased. We got our cat from the adoption centre I'm now at.
I think see where is local whether large or small charity. Have the cats been vet checked (they should be happy to tell you their vets), flead, worked, vaccinated, chipped and neutered (if old/big enough which mostly they will be). If these things are done, great if not I would be cautious.
All rescues whether big or small have a place. Some rescues work with other charities too which I think is important.

[Vinorosso74]

*wormed not worked. Imagine a cat going to work!

[Allergictoironing]

I used a small local(ish) independent rescue, as did my DSis though she used a different one. In both cases, it was because they seemed to have what we were looking for at the time. Also, I wanted to give a home to cats that would be harder to home e.g. bonded pair, elderly, "wrong" colour, and this particular rescue seemed to have a few that fit the bill. Well I got 2 out of 3 - black & bonded, just not old .

[Hulder]

Wood Green because it's local and they had what we were looking for on the day we went.

When I lived elsewhere it was Cats Protection - again because they had a local branch.

Both times the kittens had already had cat flu before collection - think it's a big reason they are handed in to rescue - but had been well looked after and the rescues had isolation facilities and so on. We weren't bothered about having cats that have had flu in the past.

Wood Green will only rehome neutered kittens which was a big plus for us we would have done it anyway although they looked so tiny with their scars at only 10 wks.

[QueenieMum]

LOL Vino, never thought of asking for the cat's CV!! Great advice too, thanks. I like the way that lots of rescue charities have fosterers, I would really trust the opinion of someone who's lived with the cat and we could be matched better that way I think. I'm totally prepared to having to wait for a suitable cat, I want to give a good home to a cat that's right for us and vice versa. A cat that earns it's own income always welcome too

[MrsHathaway]

Ah, not near me then.

If you're on fb, follow some of the local shelters - independent and national. You get a good feel for them. On ours people share updates of how their rescues are getting on taking over the house and wrapping the family round their, er, paws.

[PicInAttic]

Depending where in the Midlands, Woodlandnook Cat Rescue in Derbyshire might be close enough. They're a small independent charity run by a self-confessed mad cat woman. They have a website and are on Twitter and FB. Otherwise, I'd second all of those saying Cats Protection.
Good luck!

[chemenger]

I foster for CP. I would recommend getting in touch with your local branch to talk about what sort of cat would suit you. sometimes cats and especially kittens don't make it on to the webpage because we have people waiting who suit the cat. We are limited by the number of fosterers we have, sadly there is always a waiting list of cats who need to come in for rehoming.

[DumbledoresApprentice]

Mine came from the Blue Cross. I looked at quite a few shelter websites for cats but not the RSPCA. I was after quite a specific type of cat. Ideally light coloured and long haired due to my allergies. I was keen on getting a disabled cat but ended up falling in love with a non-disabled grey and white Maine Coon.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

I have to say, I got 2 of mine from Cats Protection and I would hesitate to use them again. i picked my 2 up from a foster's house, and, while she was clearly cat mad, I realise now that she did not give my cats the best start. They were seriously under socialised and this has affected them all their lives (now 12). Of course, that may have been that particular foster or it may have been CPL policy (I would be interested to know what the policy is for fostering cats for the CPL), I don't know which, but it would make me cagey about adopting from them again.

[Polter]

LastCat came from the RSPCA nearly 20 years ago, it was all a bit clinical. PolterCat came from the Blue Cross 6 years ago and it was an excellent experience, they'd worked out his character and seemed to really know their cats. The Blue Cross cats seemed much more relaxed than the RSPCA cats. Both the RSPCA and CPL said no as soon as they knew where we live, we front a rural 30mph road but are backed by miles of fields and hunting grounds.

[Dumbledoresgirl]

That's interesting Polter. We are also on a 30mph road (main B road leading from a small town) but border open ground. I was worried the CPL would raise an issue about the road, but they were fine about it.

[MothratheMighty]

CP were happier that we'd chosen a cat with white patches, they show up better in the dark. We are close to a fairly busy road.

[Polter]

I guess local CPL staff vary in what they see as ok or not.

PolterCat had never lived in a house so was quite streetwise.

[QueenieMum]

Thank you all for your replies. I was definitely after the sensible advice because I know I'll get carried away if I don't think about it objectively! I have had a look at all my local rescue places and I was surprised at how few cats there seemed to be, but that may be due to waiting lists Chemenger.

Dumbledores I developed a very mild allergy to my previous cat over the years so I've been looking for short haired cats.

[MrsHathaway]

We are 100m from a massive trunk road ... but that's 100m maze of culs-de-sac, and 20m the other way is the farmer's fields. Why would a cat chase HGVs when he can chase rabbits?

We adopted b&w short-haired. They were only released to us once neutered (though I think that's fairly standard nowadays and we'd have done so ourselves otherwise before letting them out). The vet practice appears to give them favourable rates in return for recommendations, which works out nicely all round.

[DumbledoresApprentice]

Short haired cats set off my allergies worse than long haired cats for some reason.

[swimbikerun123]

We had two from Blue Cross in the past.
More recently, we got one of our lovely boys from Cats Protection; he was 12 when we got him...that was 7 years ago!
We also got one from Pets4Homes as a retired pedigree Stud, he was 9 and being offered by a breeder for the price of being neutered. Turns out we were his 5th home. He's here for good.

[MrsHathaway]

yy Dumbledore DH is just the same. He chooses to take antihistamines and keep the cats.

And tonight he's agreed that in future we will cat-foster (not practical now as have three young DC and two established rescues).

[AllToadsLeadToHome]

I found ours on CatChat, it was a small set-up, a lady taking in a few and rehoming them before taking any more. It might be worth looking on there, a whole selection of rescues to choose from.

[viques]

does it have to be a rescue? Our local lovely vet used to have a very effective vet nurse who used to introduce unsuspecting clients to cats needing homes with remarkable success. They were vet checked, obviously, neutered and chipped . She did follow her own advice though, and at one time had about 25 old dodderers who not even she could find homes for who she kept at home in cat luxury.