To think rescue centres don't actually want you to adopt their pets?

[lurchersforever]

One of my cats had to be out to sleep suddenly in the summer and I would now like to adopt a young cat to keep us all company - me, ds and our remaining cat. I've only ever had rescue pets so looking at local centres. All have banners like please adopt/1000s of unwanted pets etc, but it is impossible to go and see any.

I have no issues with vetting and saying only certain types of households are suitable, but my issue is none of the centres are actually open. I've looked at about 6 near me and they are a mixture of not open to the public, don't answer the phone, say they're shut while Google says they're open, want you to fill in an application form and drop it off in person but you won't be able to even see a pet until your application has been assessed, don't reply to emails... The most success I've had is a centre that 'might' be able to arrange a video appointment to 'meet the cat' at some point and then I might be able to adopt 'when they open,' - no idea when that might be. This is for a specific cat they currently have - no sense of urgency to get her in a home. What on earth is the point of a video appointment with a cat?! What will it reveal that a picture doesn't? Just more time wasting.

I appreciate they are run by volunteers but this is ridiculous. Last time I adopted (10 years ago) you could go into local centres without an appointment and make the arrangements there and then. Obviously they weren't just handing them out to anyone but you could get the process moving.

At this rate I'll be on Gumtree, which I really don't want to be. What's going on?

We’ve been turned down by most cat rescue centres (south east London). I think, in the end, we got our current cat from a place recommended here.

We had a garden that was 100ft and fenced but got turned down because of our road. I don’t know many houses in London that don’t involve a road.

What a beautiful cat!

Thank you 🐾
We live on a busy road with three bus routes but the houses are terraced and we’re in the middle. I thought it would be a problem but the person who did the home visit was a bit inconsistent, e.g. told us we’d have to cut down our rose tree, block up fireplaces despite having a sturdy guard and said we could remove the whole pane of glass in a patio door to put in a cat flap!! They do a second visit at some point… will they take her away if we haven’t smashed out the glass in a whole door?

I just think it’s all absolutely mental.

I’ve had cats all my life, my parents had them before I was born, I’ve never been without one in my 46 years.

I have never, ever lived in a house with a cat flap installed.

I have lived in rural villages down country lanes. I’ve lived on 30mph main route into town.

I’ve had courtyard gardens and large gardens.

I’ve never given a thought to what plans are in my garden, cos you know, cats go elsewhere too, I can’t police everyone’s plants.

I have never known a cat to try to climb up open fireplaces I have had.

They are animals, for the love of god. They have done pretty well at living alongside us. But yeah, leave them in a cage because someone wants to open a door rather than have a car flap.

We live in a city, so realistically lots of houses will be on busy roads. It’s just silly.

Since my moan earlier, the local RSPCA has approved us based on a video of our house and garden. So fingers crossed.

We had one cat who tried to climb a chimney. He got into a neighbour's house while they were on holiday, and tried to get out via the chimney.
BTW, you can get cat flaps fitted into glass-I presume they just cut a hole for it. https://closerpets.co.uk/collections/patio-door-cat-flaps?srsltid=AfmBOook4gFaLUcqllbE6OlZ_PBr3GnbChEJ3w2dBjVyiFYnzV5nR3o1

Yep, I have one of these. Cost a lot to have fitted (was a couple of hundred£ a few years ago).

Sadly the cat I was interested in and that had been reserved for me has turned out to have been exposed to Parvovirus and so can't be rehomed to a house with a cat, even though mine is fully vaccinated. I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. So the search continues!

@lurchersforever good luck!
We have a cat around who would love to move in with us.. I've asked online to see who he belongs to, but no-one seems to recognise him. He's got a poorly eye.. and I noticed he'd got worms, so we've wormed him..

Good luck @lurchersforever . We’re going to see a 3-6 month old on Saturday who was born feral, so she’s a bit nervous. Fingers crossed she likes us.

Good luck to everyone searching - and to all those cats out there in kennels. I do think foster homes are nicer even if it does make viewings harder.

I've just had a look on the website as we have been pointed in the direction of other potentially suitable cats and I'm shocked at how many of them are said to be indoor cats. Some have a particular reason stated, which is completely understandable, but others don't and/or are still kittens. I'm hoping some might be admin errors or temporary due to their age as I have no experience of an indoor cat and it's not what I want. I imagine they would need a lot of stimulation.

I applied a few years ago to a local shelter to adopt another cat & was turned down because (a) although I work at home full time there might be occasions when I might need to go into the office (think a team building event once every couple of months and (b) the mid height fence at the back of my garden adjoins a field used for sheep.

Over a year ago a stray -careless of my work habits- turned up at my back door and stayed there. Unchipped. Tried local vets & Facebook groups without finding the owner. Tried local shelters (including the SAME one that rejected me) and they had no room for him. Told me they might be able to fit him in in a few months. He is still with me, and appears unconcerned by my occasional in office days & the sheep.

However I do understand the age restrictions on cat adoption. My relative was allowed to adopt a cat from a rescue at 80. As both she & it moved into old age this proved very difficult to manage. The cat did bring her happiness- but I felt the shelter had been somewhat irresponsible.

I know of a litter of kittens that were found abandoned with their Mum just last weekend & are all looking for homes. The girl that has found them has taken them in & had them vet checked & will be keeping them until suitable homes are found, they are currently 3/4 weeks old.
Let me know if you want more information.

Also I recently got a rescue dog from a wonderful rescue in Derbyshire who are inundated with cats, that you can definitely meet but they are all in foster. They're called Wonky Pets Rescue & they are on FB & have a website.

Well, the RSPCA are more pragmatic. On the basis of a video of our home and me saying “are you sure she has to have an adult only home, our 11yo is very calm”, meet Tabasco who will be joining us next week. She’s 5 months old.

Well, I'm very excited now as we have reserved a brother and sister pair of 5 month olds and will be able to collect any time from Wednesday. Can't wait!

Excellent news @lurchersforever . Do you have ideas for names yet?

I was turned down when I was trying to adopt a cat on the most absurd pretexts.

First time by a charity when the penny dropped that I lived in London “oh no I absolutely couldn’t rehome a cat to someone in London!” (so why didn’t you point out that this was a red line earlier?)

Second time because I had a 13 year old child and worked in an office two days a week.

Third time I was put through hoops which would have been considered stringent as the entrance criteria for an MBA at Harvard. I had to film every street within a 0.5k radius at three different times of day, send a floor plan and photographs and give them details of mine and DP’s weekly work schedules. Eventually, after weeks of back and forth, I was turned down.

Basically for a lot of these charities you are unsuitable unless you’re a single millionaire without children living in 40 acres.

I ended up getting a cat from gumtree and I attribute this directly to the fussiness and intransigence of the rescues.

Good grief. What was the degree asking for the videos?

@bumbaloo

It was to establish the danger from road traffic. I live a long way (half a kilometre) down a quiet side road off a fairly busy road but its very suburban and quiet with fields at the end of the road. Obviously there is some risk with any pet living in a city of road traffic accidents. But the risk was as mitigated as it could have been.

I told them the cats would never have access to the front of our house as there are very high fences on either side and my plan was for them only to have access to the back garden during daylight hours.

After all that it still wasn’t enough. It was honestly one of the most bonkers experiences I have ever had.

I don’t understand why a cat flap saves a cat over a door or a fireplace?

Bloody hell that’s ridiculous @Thepeopleversuswork .

We got told by the small cat homing charity in our city that we would only be considered for an adult cat who had the opportunity to acquire road sense. The irony being that our previous cat’s first 2 years were spent in our home at the bottom end of a cul-de-sac before we moved to our “too busy” road.

The RSPCA just wanted a quick video of our house and garden and proof of address.

I do honestly think in a lot of these cases the motivation is for the rescues to keep the animals or at least keep them with People Like Us: they go through the motions of allowing people to adopt but in practice unless the would be adopters are exactly like the people running the rescues they are not considered worthy.

They veto anyone who has children (unless adults), veto people who have to work outside the home at all, disapprove of anyone who lives in a conurbation bigger than about 1,000 people. So if you're a late middle aged, middle class lady in a lovely rural house spending your day pottering about and painting and occasionally sallying forth to Waitrose or Book Club its all tickety-boo but no one else is up to scratch.

I do understand the need for vetting and safeguarding and that a lot of the people who work in these places become very attached to the animals and understandably want them to go to the best homes possible. But in practice the set of criteria which allow you into this hallowed ground is unachievable. It counts out almost all young families, it excludes most people who have jobs and most people who live in cities. Dogs and cats have lived for centuries in households in these circumstances. Why is it suddenly felt that they can only be homed in the most rarefied of environments?

I wouldn't care that much if it weren't that people who love animals and can give them a good home are being pushed to buy them from breeders and via gumtree as a result of this.

I think you’re right @Thepeopleversuswork . When DS and I found an abandoned kitten in April, before we were in a position to adopt a new cat, these same people told me they were unable to take on more cats.

We’re in a big city, so unless they must adopt only to the satellite villages.

Bloody hell thats utterly ridiculous.

They do know it was a cat, right? You weren’t applying to house the messiah after the second coming?

Submitting a work schedule for a cat that won’t give two shits if you are in the house anyway, who do these people think they are?

Attitudes like yours are why animals spend years in kennels.