I want to adopt a cat from RSPCA but every cat I clicked on says no kids in household

[Elwyn]

I spent ages yesterday evening on our local RSPCA and cats Protection League websites clicking on individual cats' profiles and I haven't found a single one where they say the cat can go to a home with children. We had a cat from the RSPCA who died earlier this year aged 19 years old but we got her before we had kids. Her old paperwork from RSPCA specified no kids but she loved our boys when they came along. I always understood that ethically the best thing is to adopt from a cat rescue centre but I can see now why people might break this rule! Does anyone have any advice please for how we can adopt a cat from a rescue centre whilst having kids in the household without having to resort to looking for local breeders? I imagine I could ring up the RSPCA and they might say oh we have this one cat you could have but I was hoping to have more choice so we get the right fit for our family.

We have had 2 cats from the RSPCA - our youngest was 3 when we got the last cat. We have no cat flap, a tiny garden and lots of neighbouring cats. It might be worth talking to them rather than looking at the website to see what their rules are as there is clearly a bit of variability.

I just remembered- when we went to choose a cat from the RSPCA they said they could see my 4 year old was v sensible around the cats so maybe if 'the rules' say no kids, taking the kids to the centre might help - so the staff can see they are not cat terrorizers?

This looks like a very useful search engine, can I ask where you found it, please?
And thank you to everyone else as well, you have given very good reassuring advice. There is hope for us🐱

I know a few people who have resorted to buying kittens too. Just moggies - not pedigree cats - due to ridiculous rules by rescues. One of them is a veterinary nurse - bonkers.

Would you consider a listen or kittens from a rescue centre?

I know an older couple who bought kittens (if they didn't outlive the kittens then they would go to family) as the cat charity was only offering them older cats when there were kittens available. These were people who had previously taken in older cats and done their bit but wanted kittens this time.

Quite sobering I’d have thought to find that a rescue centre reckons you might not outlive a kitten!

I’ve adopted two cats that were both estimated at 7/8 at the time. One lived to 18 and the other 23, whereas our rescue kittens had a congenital heart problem and were both gone by the time they were 8. If a cat has made it to middle age on the street, it’s probably nails.

My local RSPCA centre only re-homes 'tricky' cats, and the former pets and easy to re-home cats are 'contracted out' to an independent local rescue. So definitely look at local independents.

My latest came from the RSPCA, and the process was easy for me and my circumstances, but the cats they generally have are not suitable to live with children, for good reason.

I’d look for a smaller independent rescue. RSPCA never seem to actually want to rehome animals.

Where are you @Elwyn ? I foster for a small rescue and we don't rule out families with children.

Rules seem to be much stricter these days when my childhood cat had to be rehomed due to DB having chronic cat hair allergy and chronic asthma, when he was 7-8 or 9 at a guess my DM gave him to a family with 4 boys, one was my age so 6 or 7 others were older or younger. They all adored him. We also occasionally visited him and he was very happy.

RSPCA refused me a pair of rabbits.

Reason was that 1 of my 4 cats is unvaccinated. It’s all over her vet records that she had a massive allergic reaction to the vaccination and almost died as a result. She’s an indoor only cat and all other cats are fully vaccinated so it was agreed with the vet that it was safer to not vaccinate her then risk an allergic reaction to a different brand of vaccine as we don’t know exactly what component she is allergic to.

Blanket no from the RSPCA. It wasn’t even a cat we were adopting but rabbits!

That is not true. RSPCA cats are more likely to be inspector cases, feral and semi-feral strays, and with trauma and behaviour problems from neglect. These cats need specific homes and expertise, and are often not safe to home with children or people with no cat experience or the right set up.

Did you miss my post where they refused to rehome me rabbits due to my cats allergy?

RSPCA turn away good homes all the time and then wonder why they are full.

We adopted a cat from the RSPCA with an 18 month old and a 4 year old. We went for a look around their adoption centre and spoke to a member of staff who said they take it on a case by case basis. Even though on the website our cat said "older children only" they said she'd be fine with sensible children who knew to give her space when she needs it. Our cat had also been in a foster house for periods of time and the foster carers who had young grandchildren and our cat was fine. A few weeks later she moved in with us. 5 years later and all is well.

It's worth asking around local vets, particularly if they already know you as a responsible cat owner - I adopted my cat directly from a vet practice where he had been taken as a stray.

Hi DesolationRow, we are in Hertfordshire 😊

@Elwyn a long way from me unfortunately! But do contact your local smaller cat rescues. I'm fostering a mum and her five kittens atm, they'll be rehomed in a couple of weeks and I have people coming to meet them regularly this week, including a family with a three year old and a family with an older cat. Rehoming decisions are always made on an individual basis Here are my foster beauties...

@DesolationRow What lovely looking cats! My heart aches looking at them. Shame we are not close but I think I have a better idea/plan of what I have to do now in terms of getting a cat. My boys are 8 and 11 and they treated our old cat so kindly and respected the fact that she did not ever want to be picked up even though they would have loved to give her a cuddle.

No I did not miss it, but this thread is about adopting cats not rabbits. I have no idea what best practice is for re-homing rabbits.

I don't understand it at all. All the rescues say they have loads of cats that need adopting and want you to pay so much a month to provide for them, but if you actually want to adopt it seems ridiculously difficult. You can't actually go and look at any cats, you need to be vetted, put on waiting lists and who knows what else. I gave up. We always had rescue or semi-feral, cats our last one died at age twenty a couple of years ago and at the time I was too upset to get another, but would love to adopt a couple now.

Try a local rescue, ask at the vets or cattery if they know of anything.

Both catteries I use are v active in the cat world and would gladly rehome to me as they know me.

But this is how I ended up with an overseas rescue in lockdown as everywhere was so fussy.

We got our cats from RSPCA. It was a few years ago now and my child was 9 at the time. I seem to remember that a lot of the cats were not suitable for houses with children but we were offered two lovely kittens of 3 months that were not nervous and were deemed to be suitable. I think maybe it depends on the age of your children though?

We used a very small, local rescue charity and thet picked a cat that was very sociable and they knew would be fine with children.

Sometimes vets have a noticeboard with adverts for homes wanted for kittens. Might be worth a look.