Finding it difficult to get a cat from a rescue centre, should we buy instead?

[Snozzlemaid]

I've been looking to adopt a cat from a rescue for a while now but not having any luck.
Our closest rescue won't even entertain the idea as we don't have a cat flap. There are a couple of others around but any they advertise are reserved almost immediately.
I've registered with one and they keep our details for a while to see if we match with any they get in. But not heard anything yet.
I never thought it would be this difficult. We're an all adult household with no other pets.
So I'm considering buying a kitten instead but I'm very wary of encouraging breeding.
Is there anything in particular we should look out for? I don't think we'd be able to visit the home now with COVID so it may be hard to know the set up.

Could you get a cat flap? It'll probably cost less than the price differential between a rescue and a gumtree kitten.
Otherwise just call the other rescues every day to see if they have any new cats in. They'll soon get so bored of you that they'll give in - this approach worked for me with my last two kittens .

We have old sliding patio doors that we can't get a cat flap fitted to. It would mean new doors so probably a couple of thousand to replace with a cat flap fitted.
Our centres just say to look at their Facebook pages. Any I enquire about are always reserved already.

You’ll need a cat flap eventually, you’ll get fed up of opening the door before they get tired of asking.

If there’s a house fire they need an escape route.

We've had cats here before just fine without a cat flap.

I'm in a similar position though for different reasons. I want to adopt from a rescue but they all say they wont allow people who live on busy roads to adopt. We live on a B road, the main road into our town. Also, all the cats I have seen have said they need to go to a home with no other pets. We have 2 cats.

I agree with you that I don't want to encourage breeders by buying from one, but I cannot find a rescue or charity who will consider us.

Nothing useful to add beyond the above moan, but good luck finding your cat. The basic advice I guess would be to see any potential kittens with their mother, though, as you point out, that won't be easy if it involves going into someone else's home.

Yes.

And I say this as someone who has been fairly heavily involved in cat rescue.

As long as you're committing to take care of the cat for life and you're not near a busy road and can afford and will take out pet insurance (and will get it neutered as soon as it can be).

Cat rescues can often vary massively on how flexible they are depending on how strict the specific volunteers are that you speak to.

My parents have had perfectly happy (in fact incredibly spoiled) cats without a cat flap through my whole life.

I would consider getting two kittens from the same litter though - it's not much more trouble than one but they really do enjoy each other's company when they're small and are more likely to run around like two little psychopaths together rather than one very bored psychopath who then climbs all of your curtains.

Can you fit one in a back window, or through a wall?

We have a car flap into the shed so they can go inside for shelter . That was enough to satisfy the rescue centre, though possibly not the cats.

Don't you have another door apart from the sliding patio door that a cat flap could be installed in? I'd definitely advise against buying a kitten and fuelling the cruel breeding trade.

You can have them done through walls - that's what my neighbour with sliding patio doors did. Like a little tunnel with a cat flap on both ends.

It really isn't essential though. People kept cats for thousands of years before cat flaps existed.

Dd has a cat in a flat.
They can be perfectly happy as indoor cats.
I have three cats who can go out, but no catflap.
Eldest is 11, youngest is 9.
None of mine came from rescues, neither did Dd's.
Very loved, very happy cats.

I think a cat flap is pretty much essential unless it's a cat which can't go outside for some reason. It's ok when someone is home most of the time, but if you're getting a cat sitter to come in a couple of times a day to feed them when you re on holiday, it's really not fair on the cats to be locked in or out all day / night. Unless you put them in a cattery of course.

We adopted from RSPCA without a cat flap, nowhere to fit one. We have an outside cat shelter with blankets in with a flap so she can shelter if out.

Only other door is our front door so I wouldn't want one there for security reasons.
Only have front and back walls; semi detached and garage on other side. Again not having a cat flap in front wall. Back wall is covered with kitchen units up to patio doors. So no wall space free for a cat flap.
Thanks for the thoughts on buying kittens. We would absolutely have insurance and get them microchipped and neutered.

You'd think they'd be happy to rehome the cats to people who really want them. I can't believe a cat flap is a deal breaker? Does every household with a cat have one?!

I mean, op can just buy a cat without having a cat flap. How does that help the rescues?

I think a cat flap is essential otherwise you are forcing the cat in or out and cats like to come and go, especially at night. You can have a cat flap fitted to a patio door or any door or to a wall. We have 5 cats. 4 from kittens and 1 rescue cat. Guess which one is aggressive, not with us but with other cats?

We adopted 2 from the rspca and don’t have a cat flap - it was never asked. Our cats are very clear at telling us when they want to come in/ go out 😄

They tend to be in at night although may choose the odd night out.

So poor cat can get stuck outside all day in the cold and rain??

@WaterBottle123

So poor cat can get stuck outside all day in the cold and rain??

No. You open the door and let it in

The rescues need to take a more holistic approach.

Their mission should not just be to rehome the cats they have, it should be to reduce breeding too. Relaxing rehoming rules would help here.

The cynic in me thinks that if they actually did this successfully the charity would cease to have purpose. Does anyone who runs any kind of organisation want to plan for its ultimate demise?

There are two of us now working from home permanently so they won't be shut out in the rain all day.

I'm always puzzled by the insistence on cat flaps- most cats I know insist upon having the human door opened for them at least 50% of the time. Might as well save yourself the trouble of fitting the cat specific one!

We had the same issue OP, plus busyish road, plus (cat obsessed) child under 5 (an issue for local rescue). We've just bought two kittens. I feel a bit guilty, but we really missed having cats.

We adopted kittens from a local Rescue charity. They were appropriately strict with their criteria (fencing garden to prevent them straying onto the road, someone at home for much of the day, no young children, etc.) a cat flap wasn’t mentioned. We’ve given our girls a lovely, secure, lifetime home, find it hard to believe that a rescue would give that up for the sake of a flap.
What’s wrong with keeping them in at night and providing trays?

We’ve not had a cat flap for a long time (since the new Labrador got stuck in it and pulled it off the door!) Our cats seem to be perfectly happy demanding we open doors. Sometimes they do end up outside all day, or even night. They always find somewhere to shelter, they’re never wet. When we had a cat flap we ended up with live mice and birds brought in.