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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Battersea or Celia Hammond?

15 replies

Polyethyl · 09/04/2016 18:19

Are both charities just as good at matching you to the right cat? Or is one better?

Is Battersea so rich, that Celia Hammond charity would benefit from the support more?

I'm looking for a very relaxed, affectionate cat who will enjoy living with my toddler.

Both charities have lovely cats, so which should I adopt from?

OP posts:

thecatneuterer · 09/04/2016 18:36

Well I'm with Celia Hammonds so of course I'm going to say come to us. We do a home check. I don't think Battersea does. So I think that makes the 'matching' better. We are certainly more desperate than Battersea as we never turn any cat in serious need away - consequently we have more than we can comfortably cope with. I don't think you can say the same about Battersea.

I don't think Battersea are a bad charity at all (unlike another I won't mention). I just think that we are the one that does the most for cat welfare in London.

Of course if you're out of our catchment area then it would have to be Battersea. Where in London are you?

Original poster

Polyethyl · 09/04/2016 18:40

I'm 20mins from Lewisham.

I did the introductory visit to Celia Hammond today. And I'm wondering whether it is worth bothering with my planned trip to Battersea tomorrow.

OP posts:

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 09/04/2016 18:43

My Mum's cat came from Batteresa and, as TCN says, they don't do a home check. They asked very detailed questions about her circumstances and paired her with a cat who was perfect for her.

I would probably go to Celia Hammond for the reasons given by TCN. Unfortunately I am out of the catchment area so wouldn't be able to. My cat came from a local charity but they were a bit off with my Mum which is why we ended up at Battersea.

WannaBe · 12/04/2016 16:01

I've just adopted a cat from Battersea and found it an extremely positive experience.

While they don't actually do a physical home check, you do need to fill out a detailed form about your circumstances, and they only recommended the cats which would suit e.g. Would be able to be rehomed with a dog, etc.

The vet nurse told me they often rehome up to 25 cats a day on weekends, and we saw lots of cats going home the two days we were there (one day to look, the next after we'd made a definitive decision) I'm not sure that in most situations a physical home check would reveal anything that my revelations to them on paper and meeting me in person wouldn't. Iyswim, plus if you're looking to rehome 50 plus cats over the course of a weekend those are cats that won't be going to new homes should they have to wait for home checks, a process which presumably takes several days or even weeks in peak kitten season.

I don't think that either is right or wrong necessarily, I went to Battersea because I can access it via public transport (I don't drive) and found a cat there who chose us. (We were going to go for kittens but ended up with a three year old cat). Had the right cat not been there I would have waited and opted for a home check from CH as well possibly but who knows...

Original poster

Polyethyl · 14/04/2016 21:15

Trying to get Celia Hammond to set a date for the home visit is like getting blood from a stone.
Here I am, wanting to give them money. Wanting to take a cat off their hands... but apparantly they are short staffed and so have given no indication of timescale.

OP posts:

newname12 · 14/04/2016 21:21

Sorry TCN but a neighbour of mine wasn't very happy with CH.

We live in high density cat area, she has a very small house. She went to CH intending to get a cat after hers died, and was told they only home in pairs, so it was two or none.

tethersend · 14/04/2016 21:28

I contacted Celia Hammond and arranged for someone to come and see the house. I had to cancel the appointment (with a few days' notice), and they were very sharp and dismissive. When I said I'd have a look at alternative dates and get back to them, the response was 'Yeah, whatever' . I won't be going back to them.

SeparatedByMotorways · 15/04/2016 16:33

I had a really positive experience with Celia Hammond. Lewisham didn't have any suitable cats but at the time they had just taken in a big group in Canning Town and we adopted from that centre, despite not being in the CT catchment (but having a referall from Lewisham). I think you need to trust your instincts though - its such a shame to hear that other people have found the CHAT staff a bit short with them. Hope it goes well, whoever you go with!

WannaBe · 15/04/2016 16:50

I think the problem is that while some rescues insist on an actual home check it makes it more difficult for them to rehome cats, because the home checkers are volunteers, the people looking for a cat are looking for one now and if there is a shortage of staff people will rightly go to a rescue which can meet their needs.

A home check wouldn't have flagged anything which an on-sight chat with a rehomer wouldn't. The result is that the rescues who insist on seeing the actual house end up with more cats than they can rehome quickly enough. That's not a criticism of the actual charity - I have no doubt that the welfare of their cats is paramount, but I do think that you can't really have it both ways.

My Battersea cat has settled incredibly well, even to the point that although she took a couple of swipes at the dog in the early days she has thus far pretty much not been bothered by him. I can't fault my Battersea experience, even to the point that when we flagged a black cat we were interested in they wouldn't let us see her because she was deemed as not suitable to be rehomed with a dog.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/04/2016 21:57

We adopted Harry from a local charity and they did an actual home check. The lady who did it looked at the garden and was pleased it was fenced so the cat couldn't get out. I didn't like to point out that cats can climb! We bent the truth when we were asked about our working hours and said DH works part time (some days he's full time, some part time and some days he doesn't work at all - the joys of being self employed!). I don't feel guilty for twisting it as we knew we could give a cat a good home and wouldn't have got a cat who needed company all day as it wouldn't be fair.

My Mum approached the same charity when her cat died and they told her that I would have to commit to taking on the cat if something happened to Mum. I wasn't prepared to do that (who knows what my circumstances will be if that happens?) so she cancelled the home check and they were quite snotty with her. They have cats on their website who have been there 8 or 9 years and the sad thing was it was one of them Mum was interested in. Maybe they are a bit too rigid with their rehoming requirements.

Battersea were the total opposite and told me that I wasn't expected to take on the cat, there would always be a place for him with them if I couldn't take him.

thecatneuterer · 16/04/2016 11:38

She went to CH intending to get a cat after hers died, and was told they only home in pairs, so it was two or none

newname Something got lost in translation there. We only home small kittens in pairs. Small kittens get very distressed on their own, when removed from both mum and litter mates. So we only home them with either a litter mate or with their mum.

Cats from five months onwards we certainly home singly.

thecatneuterer · 16/04/2016 11:41

A home check wouldn't have flagged anything which an on-sight chat with a rehomer wouldn't.

I have to disagree with that statement. In many cases it is certainly true, but equally in many cases it isn't.

Original poster

Polyethyl · 16/04/2016 16:59

Cats Protection league has given us this 1 year old female.
She needs a new name. Any suggestions? ( I would like a Welsh name.)

OP posts:

Vinorosso74 · 16/04/2016 20:10

Cerys? Only as Cerys Matthews did a lot of caterwauling in Catatonia. I do like her as a radio presenter mind.
Lovely cat. We have a B&W girl who also came from CPL.

kirinm · 18/04/2016 12:01

Celia Hammond have pretty poor follow up care - if that's the right phase. We had major issues with our rescue and integrating him with our cat and despite calling, emailing and sending Twitter messages they never got back to us.

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