Why did you not adopt your pet?

[ChallengingFigureANDUnrulyFlaps]

Hello all,

Our family has always had rescue cats as pets.

I can understand why families with young children would rather get a puppy than adopt a dog from a rescue which may have an unknown history/behaviour issues.

But when it comes to cats, why would anyone get a kitten from a private person rather than adopt a rescue cat?

I'm wondering if the reasons are:

• rescue deemed you not suitable for adoption, perhaps for an odd reason
• your friend's cats had kittens
• you wanted a kitten rather than an older cat (why?)
• something else?

Also interested in hearing though from people who ruled out rescue dogs and got a puppy instead.

Thanks

With the current cats we weren't really getting any more but a friends cat had a litter and she asked if I wanted one (got 2).
As for the dog we had cats and DC but I did try. We were actually approved (subject to home visit) for the perfect dog from a Rescue mentioned on here a few times but were told that if we wanted the puppy we had to do a 4 hour drive on one specific Saturday to get him (8 hour round trip). We had arranged to go away with family that weekend but offered to come home early on the Suday and go for the puppy on Monday but were told that we were "showing a lack of committment". The lady on the phone agreed that it was a great fit for both us and the dog but unless we went on that specifc day we couldn't have him.
I occasionally Home check for another Rescue so I know they need to get it right and when I see the majority of people complaining about being turned down by a Rescue on here I think that there are usually good reasons though.

We were turned down by Battersea for most of their cats because we didn’t have a cat flap. We have let cats in and out for 30 years and also tend to leave a bedroom window open with secure access to the garden so they can come and go. The lady I spoke with said cats could become aggressive and depressed without a cat flap. She spoke to me as if I knew nothing about cats though I am 50 and have cats my whole life (never had a cat flap). We work from home most of the time, but they were very concerned about the occasional day we might both be in the office. Agree with the poster who said you need to live in a stately home or something to adopt from them.

Interesting that so many people claim to have been rejected by shelters. I homecheck people who work, people with kids, other pets and none of those things are an issue as there will usually be a suitable animal in the shelter for each prospective adopter. It might not be the animal they originally applied for, but someone who genuinely wants a pet generally understands that the animal they wanted might not cope in their home, and are usually delighted to be told that there is still someone for them!

I have only declined two out of about 200 homechecks.

The first was a man who told me he’d lost two dogs to being hit by cars, when I checked his garden there were gaping holes in the fences and he lived on a main road. The garden was also full of old rubbish, nails and broken glass. He also gave me the creeps to the extent that I had my sister on the phone in my pocket in case I needed help (he insisted on conducting the interview in his windowless basement!) That was a hard no.

The second was a family where the husband and kids wanted a dog but the wife clearly didn’t, the answers they gave when I interviewed them made it obvious that the dog would be returned within days. So that was a no.

The deciding question on our homechecking form is ‘would you leave your pet here’ and 99% of the time, my answer is yes. It’s so important when placing dogs and cats who have been traumatised (all of the animals in the shelter have experienced some degree of trauma) that the people who are going to be taking them home are prepared for that and the challenges they might face. If they’re not ready, it’s pretty obvious, and I would rather decline and keep the animal in the shelter a little longer than send them to an unsuitable home and re-traumatise them when they are inevitably sent back. We took a dog back after two years a few weeks ago because the owner wanted to emigrate and wouldn’t keep him until we’d found somewhere for him (I homechecked them and they passed with flying colours at the time, so I was livid!) and he is an absolute wreck, just sits facing the wall and shakes when anyone comes near him because he knows he’s been abandoned. He’s going to be incredibly difficult to rehome again as he’s lost everything he knows, is so unhappy and trusts nobody. ☹️

I promise we don’t intentionally ‘make it difficult’, we just have to make sure everybody is happy.

@hereismydog we didn't even apply for certain animals, we just put in a form to show interest in adopting a dog and a cat (on separate occasions with separate rescues) and were just flat out rejected before we even got to the stage of meeting any of the animals or deciding which one we might want.

We have the same arrangement for our cats ingress and egress.
Battersea told me a cat flap was essential six years ago, despite not demanding one 7 years previous to that.
I bought one and took in the receipt to prove it.
Never fitted it though 🤣🤣🤣

I’ve actually never adopted a cat as the cats has always turned up on our doorstep and hung around for weeks, worked their way into our hearts and then adopted us. This has been the case for 5 out of the 6 cats I’ve had during my lifetime from the age of 3 to 56. We had just one cat which was given to us by the local grocer when his cat had a litter of kittens

I've got my previous 2 from a friend of a friend locally, and the ones I got now I did get from gumtree. Previous have all been rescued from an individual. I know it's not ideal.
My reasoning is that I don't think a rescue would accept me as I smoke, in the house. If they visited they would smell it even if I tried to say I didn't. I always get kittens and think also that most rescues, the kittens go really quickly or you need to take the mum also.
It has been Ok, my little fella had ringworm and fleas when we got him though, the poor little sausage. They are both very happy, healthy kitties now. I fully agree with getting a rescue though. I just feel they would probably turn me away.

I took on farm kittens (3 over12 years) that otherwise would have gone on to be feral and largely uncared for. I didn’t pay for them.

I wanted to rescue a dog but the criteria at the time didn’t allow us to as we had small children. There was a local shelter that we could have gone to but their policy of ripping shreds out of failed adopters on social media (including one whose husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer within a month of adopting a puppy, which they understandably returned) left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Of the last 3 cats I had -

1 was from a farm litter,, so unwanted , they were giving them away - that one disappeared one day around 9 months later

2 was bought from a rescue, CPL, it disappeared after 3 months.

3 was from a friend's litter, we bought it from her and it was litter trained, deflead/wormed and micro chipped. No 3 is still here 8 years later.

One of my sons is allergic to dogs but can tolerate low allergy dogs like poodles. We knew this because we had two poodle cross dogs which he grew up with, and with which he had no issues. I spent a year trying to rescue a poodle cross but it was impossible. We ended up getting a poodle/cavalier King Charles spaniel cross and she is just the best dog and perfect for our family. Since having her, my son only reacts slightly to dog when having follow up allergy testing.

Growing up we had a couple rescue dogs. Then one from a breeder. We had a cat that did the typical 'just wandered in and stayed'.
On my own I had two kittens being sold at a local pet shop (independent- I think they were like £20 each). I moved to another country so gave them to friends. Then a few adult cats from rescue centres. One dog from a rescue.
Then in this country I had two cats from Battersea, then one kitten from a friend. Then after kids I had my two cats still (one Battersea and the kitten from the friend) we wanted a particular breed of dog so bought it. Then I got another two years later. Rescues do not often have dogs that will get on with young kids and cats!
Last time (still have the two dogs), we wanted kittens and I called up about four rescue places. No kittens or long waiting list. So I bought two from a hobby breeder.
My dogs are 13 and 15 and I'm wondering whether I'll get another when they die. If I do I'm likely to get a frenchie from that breeds rescue. They usually only have adult dogs which is fine. My cats are very dog friendly.

My first dog came to me age 8 because friends couldn't keep her after a move. A terrier cross-breed, she lived to the ripe old age of 16,5 years.
My current dog is a pure breed terrier from a long line of Crufts champions. She's a rare breed and would not be available for adoption. Furthermore, as terriers are "difficult" dogs it's preferable to have them from puppyhood onwards to ensure proper training and socialisation.

Why don't things like this happen to me😫
The one time a cat has followed me home, I was walking home from school - it luckily had a collar with ID on. We contacted the owners and turns out it had been missing for a couple of days. Had roamed quite far, across a busy road. We already had a cat so wouldn't have homed it anyway, but I was so happy I got to help it! But I'm still waiting for a cat to come to my home and choose me😀

Depends on where you live! We were the only house in a forest where there was a large population of feral cats. We found an average of 2 abandoned kittens a year!

All but one of my cats have been rescue cats. My very first cat wasn't - she was a kitten from a litter of a work colleague of my mum's cat (I have tried changing the syntax of that sentence several times to avoid it sounding like the litter came from my mum or her work colleague, or the cat's work colleague, but hopefully you know what I mean).

It was simply that I wanted a cat and this particular kitten needed a home. I went to see the litter and the kitten patted me on the nose, so home she came as soon as she was old enough, and she lived to the age of 15.

Although she's long gone, my DH still bears the scar on his hand from the huge scratch she gave him the first time he ever visited my house - she was one of those cats who would love a fuss up to a certain point but then get cross and swipe. I warned him, but he wouldn't be told ... we now quite like the scar as a memory of her.

I wouldn’t say we “rescued” our cats, more that we bought them second hand! We wanted a specific breed, and I wanted one that was very affectionate and wouldn’t object to being constantly fussed over.

I saw an advert placed by a breeder who retires her breeding queens after a certain number of litters, then sells them as pets. She was selling two. I particularly liked one of them, and when I asked if they had to go together, she said she would sell them separately.

Went halfway across the country to meet the cat, who was perfect. Then the breeder mentioned the other cat for sale, and said they were mother and daughter. Both retired from breeding.

Went home, discussed with DP and decided we couldn’t split them up. I called the breeder and said we wanted both of them and a few days later we went to pick them up. Paid £700 for the pair and they were worth every penny - our lives totally revolve around them.

Because he just moved in and adopted me.

None of the neignours knew who owned him and his chip was blank so I couldn’t find his previous owners.

Our two cats were purchased through online ad for £10 and £40. We thought the seller was a fosterer but it became clear she was a collector if cats and dogs and had been ordered by the council to reduce the number of animals she had. They now have the life of Riley in comparison to the chaotic household they came from. We did consider the animal charities but we were looking specifically for a ginger cat of any age amd had missed out on a couple. Then we saw our current cat on the small ads and also took his black and white mate. They are adored.

We’ve had both rescue dogs and cats (ie unknown quantities before bringing into our home) and purchased dogs from breeders because we wanted a particular breed with particular characteristics (working/sports dog type). All with young children.

It’s much much easier to have animals from their babyhood, with good breeding, that you can train. The rescue dogs in particular need 10 x more of our time (and financial expense - eg retraining, managing poor behaviour (no recall!), house proofing, specialist care when we go on holiday). Some people don’t have the time or the money. And of course shelters are stupidly fussy about rehoming eg to households with children, who work, who live near a road, who don’t have a cat flap etc etc etc.

I've always had rescue cats and dogs but the last one passed a few years ago so now I foster cats and our rescue has a cat for everyone, old cats, young kittens, moggies, pedigrees and every colour imaginable, indoor only, ones that want to go outdoors, we even rescue ferals and if they cannot be brought round to being home friendly and need to be outdoors, we find them a home on a farm or small holding and are perfect for someone who needs a cat to keep the rat and mouse population down in exchange for being kept an eye on, food and a safe, dry barn or outhouse to shelter in!

And yes, we do ask for a donation but every cat that leaves our care is de-flead, wormed, neutered, fully vaccinated and microchipped and that's not cheap!

We both have quite bad allergies, and would struggle to live with a moggy, so went to a breeder to get our Siberian as the breed is less likely to trigger allergies. My first cat was a rescue, though. He ran right into my house from the street as a little kitten, and was in a right state. I loved him so much, but unfortunately over the years with him I developed a sensitivity I’d never had before.

Whenever we’ve adopted a cat we have been living in a large city with a significant transient human population. I suspect the cats are just left behind to fend for themselves when their owners move house. I’ve noticed more abandoned cats in the past 10 years as more Landlords specify no pets in rentals.

If you are in the south east and want to adopt a cat try the Celia Hammond animal charity as they rescue cats in inner London. I remember a few years ago there was a poster on MN called ‘Thecatneuterer’ who was rehoming cats and kittens on here and would deliver a cat to you within the south east😀

Both of my kittens came to me from people who were looking to find homes for them - they weren't bred for sale. I wanted kittens so they could grow up with my dc and we would have them for longer.
My sister had a rescue cat who had the most gorgeous temperament and when my cats eventually go, if I ever get another it will be an old cat who needs a loving home for their last few years.

I’ve had a mix of bought kittens and rescue cats/older kittens.

Current cats are a bonded pair we adopted when they were just under a year.

They are fab, but definitely not as well trained as my last several that I bought as new kittens- it’s more work getting them sorted. On the other hand they aren’t as mental as tiny kittens… so swings and roundabouts.

Rescues won’t touch us as we live on a bus route. It’s a single bus route and the road has a 20 mph speed limit on it, plus the other side of the house has a massive expanse of connected gardens with a park at the end, but rules are apparently rules.