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Original poster

Rescues don’t actually want to rehome cats

113 replies

WannabeKittens · 30/04/2023 18:03

I posted last year about how I’ve been trying to rescue a cat, actually at the time it was kittens.

Nine months on I’ve had no luck. I’ve registered with every rescue around, and have never even got as far as a home check, apart from Celia Hammond who told me that because of my disability they were unlikely to let me rehome from them.

I am cynical because the woman who came to do the home check then went on to tell me she has seven teen cats of her own, which just makes me think that one of the reasons why people can never rehome a cat is because the fosterers and home checkers all have the cats themselves In fact if I remember rightly that’s why the CEO of Cats Protection resigned.

So near me I have contacted celia Hammond (no from them), cats protection, (never heard from them), Battersea, Crockenhill Animal rescue (I am in Bromley area and they are always supposedly crying out, never heard back from them.) And I’ve heard the same from numerous other people who ultimately end up going to gumtree.

I have no intention of buying a cat from gumtree, I am prepared to adopt an older cat instead of a kitten and have made that clear,but nothing.

I find it impossible to take the claims of these rescues seriously when they talk about how overrun they are with cats, perhaps if they actually rehomed some of them they wouldn’t have such a population issue.

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 30/04/2023 19:09

@PinkSparklyPussycat were have big this exact discussion this morning! The rescue I got mine from looked me up on goodie maps. Decided they were happy with my location and that was that. I think also the fact I was willing to drive over 100 miles to get them helped.

hettiethehare · 30/04/2023 19:10

We're having the same issue - apparently we live on a road that is too busy for them to let us adopt.

Road is no busier (in my mind) that many other roads in SE London - in fact I saw at least 3 cats happily sat in front gardens as I walked home today. Their loss - we will have to buy a cat/ kitten now but would happily have rehomed.

HappyBinosaur · 30/04/2023 19:11

I ended up getting a cat off gumtree despite saying I’d never do that. She was 4 when we got her and the family wanted to get rid of her ‘quickly’ 😞 She’d had 3 litters of kittens that they had sold and it did feel like we were rescuing her.

Prior to this, I tried to adopt a cat from a rescue centre for 18 months and the issue was always where I lived as there was a busy road fairly near, although my road is not a main road.

We have had her 3 years now and the road has never been an issue.

Gettingbysomehow · 30/04/2023 19:14

Don't even talk to me about it. Of all the charities I contacted who even bothered to reply I was rejected for working 9 to 5 5 days a week. Apparently I should be well off enough to be around for the cat all the time.
I live well off the beaten track in the country. Zero traffic. My own home. I've had 10 feral, rescue and disabled cats all from shelters over the last 40 years and most of them lived to their 20s. I have a track record of giving great care and have had a cat with diabetes and various other problems.
In the end I rescued a cat from a hoarding situation by giving the woman a tenner and had one of my neighbours kittens. We are all very happy together.
One of the rescues rang me 6 months after I'd applied to ask if I'd take 2 older cats with disabilities which I would have loved to but they kept me waiting for such a long time I had given up and got these to. She had the nerve to tell me off for not waiting!!! I'd sent her my credentials and experience with problem cats many months ago and then they have the nerve to tell me off.

AngryBirdsNoMore · 30/04/2023 19:24

I got my cats from pets4homes. Experienced cat owner but the requirements for the rescues were impossibly stringent. I feel like they’re looking for ‘absolutely perfect’ homes rather than ‘very good’ homes, for cats that meanwhile have to live in small cages or small enclosures.

I know pets4homes is very controversial on here. But one was a deeply beloved 9 year old Bengal who was being rehomed through no fault of her own (family circumstances of the owners had changed - they cried when they dropped her off, they were devastated), and the other was a Bengal cross kitten who had been an accident when the pedigree Bengal queen escaped out of a window. I loved them both so much.

Fran2023 · 30/04/2023 19:30

We picked up our cat from the RSPCA in October following a phone interview and a video of our home and garden.

Choccyoclocky · 30/04/2023 19:42

I recently adopted a cat from Blue Cross. I applied, had a couple of phonecalls and they asked for a few pictures of the house. I collected him within one week of the phonecall! I have 3 DC and live near a busy-ish road. They were absolutely lovely when I went in as well. I've had a couple of emails and a phonecall to see how we're getting on.

ghislaine · 30/04/2023 19:56

I can also recommend Ra-na (rescue animals of North Africa). Please do get in touch with them.

lljkk · 30/04/2023 20:03

Pretty good paranoid claim, that the shelters are hoarding all the cats.

I'll agree rescues can be much too strict. But the hoarding thing, come off it.

tailinthejam · 30/04/2023 20:07

I've had cats all my life, including three at different times from a local rescue shelter plus another five that I've taken in when distant relatives have passed away or gone into a nursing home.

Cats Protection turned me down flat.

Wisterical · 30/04/2023 20:20

What reasons are people being given for being refused as adopters? The shelters I've fostered for seem to only have three, all of which I think are reasonable -
No young children if it's a nervous/shy cat,
Not leaving a kitten in an empty home all day,
Not living on a busy road unless you have a catio/keep cat indoors.
Oh and some cats are known not to get on with other cats or with dogs!

Original poster
WannabeKittens · 30/04/2023 20:20

lljkk · 30/04/2023 20:03

Pretty good paranoid claim, that the shelters are hoarding all the cats.

I'll agree rescues can be much too strict. But the hoarding thing, come off it.

So you don’t think seventeen cats is hoarding?

OP posts:
SourDoughToast · 30/04/2023 20:21

I think it must vary depending on which rescue you approach.

I went to our local RSPCA branch with 2 kids 5&8 in tow - I asked them to tell us which cats would be suitable to live with kids, we picked one, then answered some questions like had I had cats before, how near we were to a main road and did we have a garden. Then they said we could take the cat home there and then! No home check or anything.

I think it helped that the kids were calm and the staff could see they acted appropriately with the cats.

They had around 100 cats there plus some in foster so were probably pleased to move this cat on tbh

YolayCaprese · 30/04/2023 20:24

None of our local rescues will allow cats/kittens to go to a home with a child under 8. So no kitten for us. Never mind that we adopted our two before we had kids and they managed through the arrivals and toddler hoods of my two kids. It's such a shame as we have a lovely house and garden and the cats can totally avoid the kids if they want to!

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 30/04/2023 20:47

Just a shout out to this lovely small rescue (who are in Wales so Jo use for OP, but maybe for someone else) which I follow on social media and regularly donate to. Lots of beautiful cats and kittens looking for homes.

https://instagram.com/karenscatcommunity?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Instagram

https://instagram.com/karenscatcommunity?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

SummerSazz · 30/04/2023 20:55

We went and visited a local small rescue. We had been looking but none available. I was actually just looking for something to do with my 4 and 2 year old that day!

Walked in, saw a couple of cats, one jumped off its shelf and wrapped itself round our legs and we went back the next day and collected her. She's now 15 and still catching mice....:

We had had a check by cats protection and they were happy to use that as a home check! We live fairly near a busy road and not an enclosed garden.

Def go and visit rather than phone/email would be my recommendation.

God luck!

MightyEagle · 30/04/2023 20:57

One of our local shelters told me they couldn't consider us because we both work out of the house all day. We've got a cat flap!! So I bought a couple of scruffy farm kittens who have turned out to be the loveliest cats I've ever had in my life (and they are fantastic mousers, which is a bonus where we live.) And they are perfectly happy being left on their own to come and go as they please during the day. Obviously.

Dotcheck · 30/04/2023 20:59

I rescued 2 from a Greek charity. They were fantastic. The cats were vet checked, spayed and chipped

HeyDemonsItsYaGirl · 30/04/2023 21:02

When I lived in London I adopted cats from several different rescues over the years. Then last year I moved and I had the same experience as you - I spent five months contacting every rescue within 50 miles. Most of them ignored me completely and the others seemed completely uninterested in rehoming their cats.

A year ago I would have read your post and thought you were obviously deluded and were completely unsuitable for adopting a cat. Now I know better. No advice but have my sympathy!

Dogsitterwoes · 30/04/2023 21:04

You could try Last Chance rescue in Kent.

GuppytheCat · 30/04/2023 21:05

lljkk · 30/04/2023 20:03

Pretty good paranoid claim, that the shelters are hoarding all the cats.

I'll agree rescues can be much too strict. But the hoarding thing, come off it.

Nearer the mark with ‘the volunteers are keeping the cats’ though!

We foster kittens. DS enquired mildly whether we were keeping one of every litter, ‘as a souvenir’.

I do find it quite hard to give them all back once they get to about nine weeks.

Squirrelsnut · 30/04/2023 21:07

BARKS in Banbury is fab, they rehome many cats. Maybe worth a look?

ArianahX · 30/04/2023 21:10

I got my first cat from RSPCA despite working full time - I suspect because she was difficult to place and had been returned already, she was very aggressive (which I was not told) and I was told she was not socialised but I didn't understand what that meant, well I soon learnt!!
But she ended up turning into an affectionate yet fierce much loved pet.

When she died, My second cat I got from cats protection - how I did it was I chose a cat online that had no other people interested. Then went to the shelter to specifically ask to see her.

It was obvious they we're looking desperately for a home as they had a notice on her cage asking people not to overlook her. So I got given her 3 days later!!
She's been a very very anxious cat and has chosen not to go outside (I suppose after being abandoned she had enough of the scary outside!).

Some rescue cats really need a lot of your time and attention as I've found out!
I thought a cat would be an easy pet but neither cat has been easy., but they have been very challenging & rewarding.

So you need to keep trying to contact the rescues as they are very busy, look online at the shy cats and those who are difficult to place eg black or black & white cats or the ones that say 'no children or other pets', the rescues may be glad to give you them.

Gettingbysomehow · 30/04/2023 21:14

Exactly!!!! Who the hell is at home all day unless you are retired.

SummerSazz · 30/04/2023 21:14

Not sure why black & white cats are hard to re-home!!

Rescues don’t actually want to rehome cats
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