People involved with rehoming cats, be honest with me please

[Pascha]

We had a slightly offputting experience yesterday on the phone with one local cat rescue lady who implied she would virtually never be inclined to rehome a cat to a family with children under 8yo. Ifeel a little demoralised now.

My children are 9 and 7. Is this the general way, do we stand much of a chance?

We rehomed two cats from the RSPCA with 7 and 6 year old children.

Celia Hammond Animal Trust were happy to place adolescent cats with us when our children were babies/toddlers.

We are off to Celia Hammond Hastings at the weekend, that gives me hope.

Ignore her.

Go to a different shelter and take your DCs with you. Shy cats will stay out of the way but there will be some who want to play with your DCs. Those are the ones for you.

It's done on based on the individual cat at the CP adoption centre I'm at. Some cats are too shy or feisty to be happy living with young children. Some will live with anyone. Some love the extra attention and playtime kids can provide.
Unfortunately there are times where none of the cats ready for homing are suitable to live with children. They certainly don't have a blanket rule.

I'm with Celia Hammonds (not Hastings though) and we home cats to families with children all the time. The only problem is with toddlers and small kittens, as toddlers can harm kittens. Toddlers with the right older cats is fine (ie the right temperament) and even kittens can be homed with older children such as yours, and adult cats would be no problem at all.

Having said that it can depend. A while ago, on a rehoming day, we watched aghast as a child started to hit a cat with a stick (well, the wand of a cat toy but effectively a stick) and the parent just smiled indulgently and didn't even try to stop him. They appeared offended when we said we wouldn't be homing anything to them.

We’ve just adopted our cat from Cats Protection, we have a 4 and 7 year old. They had quite a few “family suitable” cats. Is there a branch near you?

Wtf? Good job he showed his true colours early.

Many years ago the RSPCA wouldnt let me, an adult, rehome a cat. Their decisions seem so random to me. Following that, I went to a lively lady rescuer and she had no problem letting me rehome one of her lovely cats. That was the start of it

CPL let us have 2 cats when youngest DC was just 4yo.

Celia Hammond is an amazing organisation. I’ve dealt with lots of animal charities through work and my personal life.
CHAT is resoundingly one of the best. They’re well informed and reasonable, I’m sure you’ll have a better experience with them. Good luck!

We got ours as kittens from Blue Cross when kids were 7 and 9. They were already used to cats, but I don't remember the BC even asking.

www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat/find-a-cat?pc=hastings&wc=0&wd=0&wch=1&wf=0&io=0 how about Noddy, Zina or Peter & John? Eastbourne Cats Protection.

The way CP work is you call up, “reserve” the cat for a couple of days and go visit the cat within those 2 days. It’s worth calling and reserving as the friendly ones seem to go fast - I got told it’s their busiest time of year for adoptions.

What area are you in? I'm in the north west and I got 2 kittens from Millstream when my 2 youngest DCs were 4 and 9. The cats absolutely adore the DCs and follow them round like dogs as the DCs have been nothing but gentle and loving with them and play with them every day, even 4 years later 😻😻

Ah sorry, just saw you are near Hastings

We rehomed a 4 month old kitten only a few weeks ago. We have a 4 year old child. The child was never an issue.

Interesting. I'm in exactly the same situation as you in that I have a 9 and 7 year old and am looking to rehome a cat. I've just spoken to a woman from a local cat charity and she was fine about the ages of my children. Although more than half the cats they have listed will NOT be homed with children there are others that will. She does want to meet the children and I've told them to be on their best behaviour! Over the years I've trained my kids to be very gentle with animals and they always are. I live in a big city and there are many cat rescue charities so if one rejected us I'd go to another.

My children were 3 and 5 when we got our 3 year old cat from the rescue centre. She was only cat there that they considered rehoming with children. But she is perfect (now nearly 11).

I was a cat fosterer and had the final word on whether any applicant was suitable for a cat in my care - I was explicitly told it was down to me, even if it was just "a feeling".

Some of my cats were perfect for families, some had to be adults only. I would assess that when they came to visit any prospective pet I was looking after.

Thanks for all your messages. We've been in contact with another rescue and have a home visit booked for tomorrow morning, same organisation (CP) different branch, totally different experience. I'm looking at a mother and son aged 4 and 3 so fingers crossed all goes well.

If not then CH Hastings is the next port of call.

If they are the right cats for us they will definitely need renaming so watch this space...

Good luck, it's so exciting!

Exciting! When you have your new feline friends don't forget the photos.

Home visit done, waiting for a call this afternoon to arrange to meet the cats in their Foster home. We could have them home this weekend.

Definitely need to start thinking of names now. Two black cats, dainty girl and a big bruiser boy. Both apparently very affectionate and talky.