Rescues which claim to be overrun.

[WannabeKittens]

Have been looking to adopt some kittens. I have registered with multiple charities, all of which claim to be overrun as it is now kitten season.

I have even put in a query about some kittens which are being shown on the Celia Hammond site.

And none of them ever return my enquiries. Chat actually did send me an email asking for my details in order to do a home check, and I never heard from them again.

I’ve known several other people who have been through the same, charities claim to be overrun, but when push comes to shove they either never return calls or claim that they no longer have any cats available.

Same with dog rescues.

So if these centres are all so overrun with rescue animals, why is it virtually impossible to rescue one?

If I can’t rescue then I just won’t bother as I have no intentions of buying kittens on the internet. But it’s easy to see why so many people do.

I volunteer in a dog rescue. We’re full. We’re rehoming most days but there’s always more dogs coming in. We get lots of people apply for each dog and don’t have the resources to contact everyone unfortunately. Cat rescues are similar.

Also, were just looking for the best outcome for our dogs. The last thing we want is a dog returned. Volunteer in a rescue and it will become clear why we’re strict on the persons circumstances we re home to.

For those who ask,I’m in Bromley and theCHAT branch I’m looking at is lewisham.

And sorry, while I think that in some instances the right home needs to be found, I think in so many cases this is just a power trip, evidenced by the thousands of people who are turned down by rescues only to go on and have happy healthy animals, many of which would probably have ended up in the same rescues had those people not bought them, for many years.

Millions and millions of cat owners have children. To flatly refuse to allow parents to adopt is ludicrous.

To the PP who asked whether I was just ranting about rescues or about the fact I can’t get a cat, it’s a bit of both. I would like a cat/s. And I would like to rescue one as I’m not up for buying them online because people should be encouraged to neuter their animals rather than allow them to breed. But the rescues, which claim to be busy,appear to just talk the talk given that when enquiries are made they are non responsive.

in short, rescues wouldn’t actually be overrun if they made the effort to genuinely try to find homes for the animals they claim to have. I understand that it’s potentially harder with dogs as most people don’t want to adopt staffies or lurches which is pretty much what goes into most of the bigger rescues. But cats are far less complicated, and unless they’re complicated breeds such as Bengals which aren’t easy to rehome, they need to actually do something about rehoming if they don’t want to be overrun by moggies.

Some years back when I adopted my (now deceased) cat, I enquired about Siamese, and was told that the Siamese cats they have in are never offered for rehoming as they automatically go to one of the staff who already has 11 cats and who felt she would be more suitable than your average member of the public. This was a large rescue.

I've engaged with several rescues for my cats and I've never had a problem.
I've contacted them all via social media with my home circumstances and offered my home to whatever cats they deem to be suitable.
I don't choose my rescue cats, they chose me. Maybe don't be so specific... 🤷‍♀️

This rescue specifically says to enquire if you are interested in particular cats.

these were black kittens which had been up there for weeks because people don’t want black cats.
you can no longer visit rescues, so everything has to be done virtually, so cats choosing you is simply no longer true. And if what pp says above is right, you’re pretty much at the mercy of volunteers who may or may not be having a busy day, and who might decide to rehome a cat to a lucky recipient that day.

Think about how your write your application too. Pad it out with details about your family and other animals, show you’ve really thought about that animal and meeting it’s needs.

If you’re answering with basic one line answers to the questions, how are you gonna stand out from everyone else applying? You want to make it so that just from reading your application they can already imagine this cat in your home far more than they can imagine it in anyone else’s.

I’ve taken this approach with all three cats I’ve applied to adopt and been asked to progress to home check and then adoption with all of them. The last one threw a virtual home check on me right at the end of our initial call after passing the application sift (for which I’d done loads of research on how to care for the nervous fancy breed, I had very nervous cat experience but not breed-specific experience) - she said “right, all that’s left to do is for you to go and make a video of your house and get it back to me in the next 5-10 minutes”. And I talked her through every room, I.E. there are plants in here but the cats aren’t allowed in here without supervision/this is where my resident cats litter tray is/this is the room I would be setting up for new cat for his first few days/this is where our current cat likes to hang out during the day, etc.

Just try and make yourself stand out from everyone else who has said “we’re a family of four with two dogs” or whatever. Demonstrate that you’re really understood the implications of having this cat and how you’ll help them to transition in the early weeks, ask what food they have in rescue, what litter they use, what’s their favourite type of play, etc.

When we were looking fur kittens I rang cats protection, Battersea dogs home and any other cat charity. All said they had long waiting lists for kittens.

Volunteers are in short supply.

Unfortunately the more overrun with kittens they are, the less time they have for administrative tasks. Priority always goes to animals in immediate need, not emails.

It's a vicious circle.

We got ours from Celia Hammond. They were great. I rang first, filled in all the forms, rang back etc to arrange the (virtual) home visit. Just keep trying. The staff are very busy!

I volunteer at a small rescue and we allow physical visits, have done for months. In fact, we're so amenable we now even allow visits during feeding and cleaning time.
We also have 3 litters of kittens waiting for homes.
I think it varies hugely from place to place.
It's near Oxford if anyone's interested.

I think in so many cases this is just a power trip

no it isn’t, what a silly thing to say. I’ve never had an issue trying to rescue and neither have neighbours and friends who all rescue, buying animals just adds to the problem. Plenty of families get animals. We have children and adopted rescues when they were at primary school age. There’s no flat rule that you can’t rescue with children. Usually kittens are easier because they are young and more adaptable. Rescues are overrun because too many people get pets when they’re not capable of actually looking after them or they change their mind about what they want, and because people keep breeding when we already have plenty of strays and homeless animals. They’re everywhere around where I live. Why don’t you go and volunteer at a rescue and find out what it’s really like instead of slagging them off?

Yes, I also have visited rescues, i visited in January when we adopted our latest. They no longer have no visiting rules. Not sure why you think that.

Because it says so on their website?

Both CPL and Celia Hammond no longer do face to face. Only once you’ve passed a virtual home check can you go and meet the cat by appointment.

My local rescue deal solely with older cats and anything younger than about 8 is given over to the bigger charities.

Battersea rehome very few of their cats to homes with dogs and state outright when you register with them that they rarely have kittens and you are better placed to go elsewhere.

You seem angry op. Saying it's a power trip when people are telling you (and the most likely explanation is) that really they are just busy and badly organised.
I re-homed 2 kittens in lockdown but was still allowed to visit to choose. They were hard to get on the phone though as don't have enough volunteers. They are always putting their kits on social media for enquiries.

I bet if you speak to them they allow visits now, websites aren't usually the most up to date.

The pole overwhelmingly doesn’t agree though does it?

Lol. It is a silly thing to say because it’s never happened to me. Therefore you are silly.

I’ve never been the victim of crime, fortunately. How silly to go to the police if your house is burgled.

All the people suggesting op consider an adult cat.... Please understand that lots of cats in rescues have been poorly socialised. People want a kitten because they know then that they can socialise it well and it will be a suitable pet for their family. I know loads of rescues who don't think it's an issue that lots of their adult cats won't be touched or picked up - sorry but that's a poorly socialised cat and it's not going to give a family the lovely experience of owning a pet that they want. It's not just about it being 'lively'.

We rescued a kitten for my then 8 year old during lockdown but it was really really difficult to find a rescue that had them. Like lots of people I suppose we decided it would be a great time because we were all at home. We did see kittens at Foal Farm ( Biggin Hill) which is a fun place to visit with a cafe etc but at the time if you wanted to have a kitten you had to take 2. A lot of other rescues did not respond to email enquiries / online forms which I found a bit frustrating. Some did but had no kittens. I know that Ginger Cat rescue were re-homing kittens and closed their waiting list because they had so many families waiting but did seem to have a system. In the end we adopted a kitten through a charity bringing animals in from Romania. I thought initially it was ridiculous to be importing strays but really it was only them and a charity in the UAE who were responsive to enquiries and had suitable animals. The home check was done over the phone and she was delivered to us. I can well imagine these places are now swamped again with people returning to work but I feel your pain OP. I lost count of the number of places I contacted.

I think a young adult cat, or cats, might actually be much better for your situation, OP.

I’ve got a calm, cat-tolerant dog - she just ignores them unless there’s fuss or food she’s not getting an equal share of. We have an old lady cat, and lost a youngish male last year. They all got on great.

We adopted 2 kittens (farm litter) a couple of months ago and the dog has found it much harder. They’re smaller & much more lively so play chase games she can’t join in with. They can’t jump as high (yet) so they don’t naturally keep themselves up high like an adult cat would to stay out of the dog’s way if needed. They’re fearless so they try to eat her food if we don’t supervise closely at feeding time (she whines at them sadly while they do it so it’s unfair on her) and are generally just bigger chaos bringers than a slightly adult version!

Just choose some nice young adult cats - you don’t need kittens with a dog already in the house. Any relatively savvy cat will adjust to a calm dog and end up ruling the roost.

Wannabekittens we got a 2 year old black moggie this summer from rescue

it was the RSPCA, filled in the form (where you can put your current situation) and what you are looking for. They were very proactive in contacting us

We have a dog, a cat and primary aged children so you would think we had no chance but it’s worked out fab

Honestly I would go slightly older than kitten , ours is 2 and he’s still very silly /funny but means we don’t have to have cat litter in the house and he’s not scratchy/bitty like a kitten might be

Herecomethesheep · Today 07:20
Lol. It is a silly thing to say because it’s never happened to me. Therefore you are silly.

yes it is silly to say they’re on a power trip. These are rescuers dedicated to helping animals. I said the comment was silly. The fact they don’t call the op back means they’re on a power trip? What a silly silly silly thing to say.

Most cats in rescue aren’t poorly socialised, though. All rescue animals are pre-loved (or not-so-loved) and have individual personalities and quirks, and some are more wary than others, but most aren’t feral or unsocialised for family life.

To be honest, if you’re getting an average cat, either adult or kitten, and wherever you get them from, it’s basically lucky dip if you get one who’s ‘a lovely family cat’ or one who’s aloof and doesn’t see you for dust unless food is involved. It’s the major design flaw in our feline friends - so furry and purry but only on their terms always. If you want to guarantee a cuddly cat you have to buy a responsibly bred pedigree kitten at great cost and of a breed that’s known for being cuddly.

We adopted an adult cat from a rescue and he’s fine, apart from being annoying which all cats are.

But the point is the OP would prefer kittens. I’ve had adults because I find kittens stress me out but we like what we like. I completely understand wanting that experience of having an animal from the start of its life.

I do agree a lot of the behaviour is about power though. Our cats have always come from CPL and they’ve always been very good, it’s not anti rescue. But some of the spurious reasons people have been rejected from dogs in particular is crazy and there are a lot of posts on here over the years confirming this.

The pole overwhelmingly doesn’t agree though does it?

So? A MN poll of entitled people demanding pets doesn’t say anything to me about the state of rescues around the country.

I donate, volunteer, physically rescue as I have the gear and I’ve adopted several animals. I know lots and lots of people who rescue animals and have spent time when I was on FB on lost and found and rescue pages. I’m fairly aware of the way it works. Thanks but your poll here isn’t that relevant to what is actually happening. In my experience, people at rescue centres definitely do want to rehome animals as soon as possible and are not on a power trip at all. They just really care about the animals and then finding a permanent home.

Many rescue centres don’t have the time and resources to change their website details to let you know you can now visit. It’s been mentioned several times but, give them a call and wait patiently for the right animal for you. If you don’t care about breeding then you can still go that route and buy your perfect pet whether it will be happy with you or not.

@WannabeKittens if you're in Bromley then try Here for Cats? They don't seem to have issues with children and have had kittens available for rehoming recently.