Cat adoption - what if you don't have a spare room?

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Since we lost Harry in April I've looked at rescues and spoken to some but it seems to be getting harder and harder to adopt. One I spoke to said we had to have a separate room for the cat so I explained we have a one bedroom flat with one living room where we sit and I work, one bathroom and the kitchen. They suggested the bedroom but a) I'm not having a litter tray in there and b) where are we supposed to sleep if the cat needs it's own room for a month?!

I wasn't asked about a spare room when we adopted Harry, he arrived, got out of his carrier, found his food and litter and settled down! I understand not all cats are like that and I have no objection to them hiding but short of building an extension for the cat I can't provide it's own room!

I think some rescues will continue to assist with medic bills after you adopt.

Unfortunately Battersea told me that they will only help with vet fees for anything he acquired after he went there and that would only be for 3 months. Everything else will be down to us.

It's one thing finding the money if an existing cat becomes ill, I'd have found the money somehow if Harry's insurance hadn't paid out, but it's another thing taking on a cat with a huge list of issues and no insurance or support.

Hmm, the RSPCA do check.

I wonder if they still do? To be honest I feel a bit like 'you won't let me into your rehoming centre to meet the cats so I don't really want you in my home other than to do the initial homecheck (which can be done by video call anyway)!'

When we got our first (recent) rescue cat I tried putting her in a separate room. That lasted about 10 minutes - she was desperate to be with us, so delighted at having a home again.

It really sounds like luck on local rescue attitudes. Our local CP has always been very sensible. And another local rescue (Harley's Hounds) sets things based on the needs of the individual cat or dog, with no unnecessary criteria - so there are good ones out there.

Battersea may not help with vet fees but they are not the only rescue to adopt from ! I know that some of the other rescues will help with known conditions and the cost of those

I know that! They are local to me and I don't really want to travel miles to get a cat.

To be honest, even if they'd covered all vet fees I'm not sure I'm prepared to take on a cat with serious medical issues. It's one thing if I already had the cat and something happens, I'd get on with it like before. It takes a very special person to take on a cat with serious issues

Big cardboard box in the bathroom

Sadly not enough room, and we only have one bathroom. We've decided to set up the heated clothes drier in the living room (not turned on obviously!) and drape a sheet over it to offer a hide hole if necessary. It wouldn't meet the requirement for some rescues but it's the best we can offer!

Do you have anything similar to the ikea hol storage table or even better the actual one itself and access to a jigsaw or any other cutting tool? If you care at all about looks or multipurpose things I highly recommend doing the easy cat litter tray diy where you cut a door and place tray inside so it’s neatly hidden away but instead used as a hidey hole. Otherwise I’d just repurpose some cardboard boxes or a table with sheet over or similar as I wouldn’t want to make new cat think dryer is his safe hidey space altho maybe that’s just due to my household being too absent minded to be trusted to check it before every use for said cat deciding to take a nap

We have nothing like that and I've just realised I meant airer rather than dryer! It's basically a heated clothes horse that can be used to dry clothes that we rarely plug in rather than an actual dryer. We have a compact dining table where the chairs are flush to the edge of the table so not much room there to hide out.

Sorry if I sound as though I'm making excuses, I'm grateful for the suggestions, it's just that our lack of space limits us!