Why is it so hard to adopt a cat?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

Trying to adopt cats at the moment…why is it such an ordeal?!

I’ve filled in application form after application form.
Had to supply multiple forms of ID
Been given the third degree over my motivations
Questions upon questions upon questions
And after jumping through all the hoops the applications go into a black hole and we hear nothing in response.

I thought rescues were overflowing with cats - but when you want to adopt it feels like you’re fighting over access to a rare commodity. Why is it so hard?

I’m surprised and sorry to hear how hard you’re finding it, OP - makes me feel lucky to have had such a good experience with a London branch of CPL a few months ago. Saw gorgeous 1 yr old jet-black boy cat on their website on a Thursday, applied immediately online, was interviewed by phone on Friday, did forms/paid contribution on Saturday and picked him up on Sunday. I was a bit surprised that none of their 3 promised follow-up calls materialised, but he settled so sweetly that we didn’t need any support anyway and I am sure I could have phoned them if I needed to. He spent less than a week in total at the shelter, so I think I was just lucky to be online when he became available for adoption.

Our little prince has been living his best life ever since. 🐈‍⬛ Hope you find your perfect cat soon.

This little sweetie is child-friendly, in case north London is convenient for any of you:

www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat/find-a-cat?id=353195

We had exactly the same experience - no luck with rescues at all, as they all seemed to want someone to b

Whoops - someone to be home all day! Then we heard of a friend of a friend whose cat had had a litter and got two kittens from her. We had fifteen happy years with them

I was after an adult black cat and they're traditionally hard to home

Our little lady is a black cat. So adorable.

I've never understood why they're apparently so hard to home. Who wouldn't want their own mini panther?!

With mine, I knew we were meant to be together as soon as I saw him 💟

It's bonkers isn't it?

Apparently it's the superstition of them being bad luck, but also because they don't photograph well 🙄

We have three voids and they're fantastic!

I found the same - pretty much every cat rescue turned us done because I had a primary age children. Seems mad ti me. We bought a kitten in the end and he was fine

My four are all Battersea cats. I found that doing multiple visits to the centre in person until they got got bored and gave in was the most effective approach. I also found that if a particular member of staff was a touch 'unhelpful', I just made sure I spoke to someone different next time.

I mean we need a cat that will be happy to live with children, which I assume are in greatest demand. Not that we are fussy about breed or anything.

That was supposed to be a reply to @Pheefifofuckthisshit who was asking what I meant by wanting the “most popular type of cat”

We adopted a kitten through Cats Protection really quickly. Within 2-3 weeks of having a virtual home visit. It was at the beginning August though when there are reported higher numbers.

There's a local shelter which according to their face book page is overrun with cats that need homes.

I am seeing an increase in adverts asking for 2 to be adopted at the same time and dependent on your personal views around this may or may not hinder the process.

I foster for a local rescue, small rescue. They do not have a centre- home checks are via zoom now (and I think they probably check out where you live via google maps etc).

The biggest barrier for them seems to be being on a main road or near a railway track. I would not be accepted to adopt an outdoor cat on the road I live on (despite my own cat having turned up in my garden and survived for 8 years heading outside). A friend was turned down to adopt one of the kittens we had because of a railway line about 500 meters away. If she had said she would have kept indoors she probably would not have bought a kitten through gumtree and adopted instead.

Children, dogs, other cats or being at work seems not to be a big issue depending on the cat/kitten and suitability for the individual cat for this rescue. To be honest they have grown up in foster homes with all of the above!

OP, I started a thread on a different forum with word-for-word the same title! A lot of North American people use that forum and I'd read so many stories of people wandering into shelters and choosing their cat. I assumed it would be the same here, but I was SO wrong.

We found it really difficult to adopt. Most shelters had none or very few cats available, often they didn't reply to enquiries. We had a particularly poor experience with the Cats Protection League, who seemed really incompetent and disorganised and one of their staff said they're STILL not adopting out any cats due to covid. (Sorry if anyone here works for CPL: maybe other branches are more functional.)

We weren't fussy about age/breed/colour/sex/disability. Our only criterion was that we wanted an affectionate, people-centred cat who could be a genuine companion for our (secondary-age) children.

Boy was it hard...

Eventually I applied to the RSPCA to adopt a sweet old girl. Got turned down, BUT the nice RSPCA lady said she had a litter of kittens, two of which already loved being with humans and napping in laps. We passed the home inspection thank goodness, and are due to collect the kittens in three weeks' time!

So yes, it is really hard to adopt a cat, at least around here.

Also I got flamed on the other forum where I posted about this. That was odd. I think some particularly full-on cat-lovers took exception to me saying I wanted affectionate cats. But I'm after a pet or two, not planning to set up a sanctuary for traumatised felines.

CPL in Derbyshire we're great!
Not sure what you mean by most popular type of cat? Kitten? I got a 3 and a 3.5 (ish) month old kittens and it was a few applications, looked online for potentials and found the first one I wanted, visited and collected him the next day.
They then knew me and I said I'd like a second one which came about 6 weeks later. Just did home checks via Google maps and made sure we lived there - good luck

@custardbear - by ‘popular type’ I just meant that we want (need!) a friendly cat as we have children. Other than that we are not overly fussy about the age or breed or colour.

We’ve had cats who were shy and a bit moody before we had kids (who we loved very dearly!) but we need a friendly cat now - if only because a grumpy shy cat isn’t going to have much fun living in a busy home with children.

Health conditions potentially fine but mostly it restricts you to an indoor cat and we need cats that can go outdoors as we have big patio doors open most of the summer so no way to keep a cat inside.

I had exactly the same problem. All the big places gave me an automatic response of not a chance (I presume because I’m in a flat?), and every small place I contacted said no because they had dozens of applications for each pet, and priority went to people with houses and fully cat proofed gardens (my flat is bigger than a lot of houses, just doesn’t have stairs). Wouldn’t consider without, and some sort of automatic search they use said my road was too busy.

This drove me slightly insane - there’s loads of cats pottering on my road, and the owner of this flat before me adopted one just fine two years ago! In the end I recently bought my little girl from Preloved and it’s the best thing I ever did. She’s currently an indoor cat and tbh she’s perfectly happy bounding around in here.

Don’t feel bad about getting a non-rescue if it’s right for you. You’ve tried, and you know yourself whether you would give a kitty a loving home. Is also not certain, but you are more likely to have a happy well socialised cat that will be better for your specific family, and you can meet properly in advance if you acquire privately rather than taking whatever rescue they will let you take. At this point in life that may be better for you - and it is absolutely fine and no one should make you feel bad about it.

OK I take it all back…after all that frustration, form-filling, unanswered emails I suddenly have THREE different rescues contacting me and offering me a cat today! So now I am spoilt for choice! Clearly it’s like buses, they all come at once!

@Bubbinsmakesthree really pleased for you, great news. 🐈

But yes I agree with all the comments on here, I am really disappointed today, been rejected by a local rescue “due to busy road” all our neighbours have cats, without any problems, our sons are adults, we are all at home all day as we all wfh, have a garden that backs onto woods. We wanted to do the right thing and rehome an adult cat, but it looks like the only way we will get a cat is by buying a kitten on gumtree, and that makes me really sad.

@Allergictoironing I had the same, the rescue I went to acted like I was a cat torturer for wanting an indoor cat, I just wanted one that had always been indoors, not to make an outdoor cat into an indoor one, as we are on a busy road with buses. In the end I got a beautiful cat from a breeder who decided not to show them, she was insistent he didn't go outside except in an enclosed area; we also take them for walks/trips round the garden. Perfect for us, I would never ever have a roaming cat on our busy road. I'd rather not have a cat. The rescues made us feel awful though, even though there are clearly indoors cats that need indoor houses occasionally.

Absolutely agree. Part of the reason the shelters are often overrun is because of their well intentioned but highly inflexible rules.
I lived on a quiet but 60mph road once and was turned down - I did lose a cat on that road so understandable. But they wouldn't also consider rehoming an indoor only cat to me.
There are rules around children, other pets and how long you have to be at home in the day. And who visits your house. A neighbour of mine has had several rescue dogs and is a dog trainer. She was not allowed a rescue recently as her granddaughter visits once a month for a couple of hours. (Maybe she shouldn't have been that honest.)
The trouble with these policies is that they inadvertently push people into buying pets - often from bad breeders or via gumtree or pet websites. There are a lot of dishonest people out there who will sell you a kitten/pup who is very unwell.
I was lucky with my recent kitty - I work from home, have teenagers and am experienced. My cat came with an injury and I discussed this with the vet - what could go wrong as this injury won't be insured.

There are many overseas rescues where you can adopt cats or dogs in the UK. I have heard people have a lot of success adopting cats from these. I have considered one myself but currently not ready to adopt again.
If you are having difficulty finding a pet to adopt - I would always go via word of mouth -ask friends and family - if you have a local facebook page ask about. People who work in rescues you may not have heard of may pick up on your post or you may find a local family who have inadvertently ended up with kittens.

@Roselilly36 There’s lots of cats that need rehoming on Preloved etc - they aren’t technically rescues but lots that aren’t kittens where people are moving away / circumstances changing etc but have a bit longer to sort it out.

Mine came from there as a much older kitten (seven months) who’s owner fell through and no one wanted her as everyone wants tiny kittens. Not technically a rescue but she needed a loving home and was struggling to find one! She is the best thing ever. I also visited several others who were temporarily living with family while waiting for other homes etc - worth giving it a go.

Aww thank you @ClaireH123 that’s a good suggestion, thank you for taking the time to let me know.

I do find rescues are really restrictive. The one we got ours from practically always say "No other animals, adult only household" then complain their cats are waiting a long time for homes.

Funny how the cats we got before we had DD were also advertised like this and they're fine with her.

One I rescue I work with will only rehome a cat if it will be indoors only.

Would they accept a cat proofed garden?

I've also seen a rescue that insists you need a spare room as a ' bonding room' for the new cat. I worry I won't be able to adopt another cat in future.