Yet, another moan about rehoming from rescue charity

[Manyindigowings]

Responded to an ‘urgent’ and long list of cats requiring a new home - all ages, pairs and singles. Surely one would suit my home but no. I work 4 days a week - out of the house 8:30 to 5:00. This precludes me from being a suitable home - even for a pair of 14 year olds.

I’m really reluctant to go private but also have a calm setting for an older cat. It’s such a shame.

Moan over.

It is crazy. My experience has been with dog rescues rather than cats but it's similar - we're in a ground floor flat with communal gardens and right next to a big park (as in literally 10 seconds walk away). DH works part-time and I work from home, so can schedule my timetable so as to be able to walk/play with a dog whenever. Our previous doggy spent the last five years of her life very happy here. We are looking at elderly, harder to rehome dogs, wanting to give them a nice life and loads of love for their last years. But because we have no private enclosed garden it's an instant no, from both national and local rescues.

I keep getting notifications from various rescues on SM about older dogs saying they're 'desperate' and this is their 'last chance' (I assume before they're PTS?) - yet they won't consider us?? It's infuriating!

I'm currently having the same issue.

I want to adopt, but I live in a flat, and a lot of UK cat shelters are evangelical about outdoor access being essential and non-negotiable - even for kittens who don't know any better or adult cats who have been indoor-only their entire lives. The size of the dwelling, efforts to stimulate and exercise .... all irrelevant!

Sadly, I think I'll be heading over to Pets4Homes or Gumtree to buy a kitten or kittens from an irresponsible pet owner whose un-neutered DSH has been knocked up by some random.

@SpeedReader made me laugh.

If you run a rescue with stringent rules, please consider how you might be driving sales on P4H.

I completely agree with this.

I've been thinking about this a lot, including whether the overall effect of the shelter adoption process - with the lengthy, highly personal application forms, and rejection of people for frankly spurious reasons – is to improve responsible pet ownership. After all, the shelters are not acting as gatekeepers for having a pet, only gatekeepers for adopting one.

For instance, I've seen a number of shelters issuing pleas for help, recently, due to being inundated with pregnant cats & kittens. Would it be better to take some resources away from highly involved adoption processes, and use the freed up money to help pay for neutering cats?!

I've posted in the past about the reasons I've been rejected:

My garden is cat proofed and and cats should have the right to roam
I don't have a spare room - one rescue told me I must have a room I don't use 🙄
I have a cat flap and therefore won't be supervising the cat in the catproofed garden

This is despite having Harry for 15 years until he was 18, which I think proves I'm able to take care of a cat.

I've recently lost my job so I'm waiting to be told I can't have a cat as I can't afford it despite it being budgeted for and DH being totally on board and happy to pay for the cat!

I totally understand why people would go to Pets 4 Homes, Gumtree etc. and if I can't adopt may well go down that route myself.

I was approved to adopt a whole human child while living in a small flat, on the promise that I would fairly soon move and provide said child with her own room.

Hilarious that higher standards required for adopting a cat!

We had a very different experience with CP, just as balance. I saw our boy on the website on a Friday night, filled in an application form on the Saturday, and on the Sunday morning had a call from the branch manager.

We both work hybrid so there isn’t always someone at home, don’t have a cat flap, and I was honest about that on the form - we had recently lost (pts due to cancer) our previous cat and I wrote that she had always come in and out the back door, but was kept in while we were out and overnight anyway. I had to do a “video tour” of the house and garden which I sent via WA, met the cat the following Wednesday, and he was delivered here in a van on the Friday.

Six months on and he is a happy little orange menace. A far cry from living in a shed as an abandoned kitten. 🐈

That’s good to hear @Judystilldreamsofhorses. I applied for a cat through CP and was told that I had 48 hours to collect the cat if we were approved and no, they couldn’t hold the cat until the weekend. In the end it turned out he had some serious issues that they hadn’t mentioned on the website (cardiomyopathy, behavioural issues) so we didn’t go any further but it’s a big ask for a lot of people to get there in 48 hours. Battersea have the same policy, or did last year.

If you say where you are based someone on here will likely be able to recommend some local rescues.

Have you considered a breed specific rescue? Most Persian rescues only rehome to indoor homes, it's the same for a lot of other pedigrees.

My sister was looking to adopt and the criteria was must have a spare room.

she lives alone in London, surely a kitchen, lounge and bedroom is enough for a human and a cat!

I homecheck for a charity and we don’t mind if people work! Our deciding question on the homechecking form is “would you leave your own pet with these people?”

I’ve only ever answered ‘no’ to that question twice, and I’ve done hundreds of homechecks for both cats and dogs! Both times were for a dog, I’ve never marked a cat homecheck as unsuitable.

@Ihatemondays1962 , thank you for the suggestion. I might look into that.

It's bonkers! I don't even see my cat most days during working hours and I'm at home most of the time. Maybe he's left me home alone and got a 9-5 job! 😂 He's out doing his catty thing. Or sleeping in damp grass rather than a comfortable bed inside, which is his current thing.

I also refuse to have a cat flap as I don't want him bringing mice in the house. He has to stand outside and shout at us with his presents instead.

I got him from CPL and they didn't care about any of that, my kids were young, one of them mentioned their dad didn't like cats, so they queried that. I got rid of the husband.

Good heavens. We'd give you cats OP! Are you anywhere near London?

I am on the fence as so many people get cats who shouldn’t get cats and you can go to any rescue or read threads in MN to see that. However, had similar experience when our old boy died this summer. Some rescues like RSPCA never even responded to us and Battersea turned us down due to lack of cat flap, though one of us work from home most days. We live in a big house with large garden and quiet area/ roads so and 30 years experience of cat ownership. It was really difficult for us to adopt. We ended up with 2 gorgeous kittens from Celia Hammond in Lewisham and they are so loved and treasured.

It must really vary at local level. I hadn’t expected it to move so quickly, and my DP was on a flight to Peru for work when the CP lady phoned me. He wasn’t keen on getting another cat because I had been literally mad with grief when our girl was diagnosed and he didn’t want me to go through that again. I explained to the woman he was away, and I didn’t want to meet the cat without him - she said because he was in foster care rather than a shelter they were happy to hang fire until DP was home in a fortnight.

We agreed I would meet the cat on my own, then go from there, and the rest was history. DP travels with work a lot and now always says he hopes he won’t come home to find a new cat installed (never say never).

The policy here is that cats are brought to their new homes by a volunteer, possibly because the video tour could really be anywhere and not the actual home. Weirdly the volunteer was a retired colleague of mine. I gave her a full house and garden tour, unasked for, and we were all good!

If you're in Kent (or even Surrey/Sussex borders) have a look at Rolvenden.

I first got 2 ex-ferals from there, been feral until they were 1 so used to outdoors, and they were happy to rehome to me as an indoor only home. I work from the office so wouldn't be at home all day, still fine. Both cats happy as indoor only, even though I restrict certain rooms when I'm out & overnight when I'm asleep.

Then when beloved Boycat had to be PTS I needed a companion for Girlcat & went back to Rolvenden. Shown a choice of cats, mix of strays and rescued from hoarders, all as being suitable for indoor only with me out all day but companionship of Girlcat. Selected the one I thought best for Girlcat, one who had been a stray since about 6 months old they thought, so had been on the streets over 2 years. He has also settled well as an indoor only cat - doesn't try to escape, not tried to break through the Flatcats on the windows when they are open etc.

Then when DSis decided she was ready after losing her last cat, she went there too & has got 2 ex-strays who had had litters recently. They seem to settled and happy as indoor she's thinking about keeping them that way.

Rolvenden are pragmatic, have common sense, and know that those "perfect" homes are very few & far between so allow rehoming to places that will be better than stuck in a cage all day. It's helped by Ruth who runs it having an ability to judge who will be a good cat owner, and what cat will suit what person.

This thread is lovely with so many stories of ‘feel good’ adoptions.

Please contact a charity called Protected Paws if you're in London. They appreciate that cats have different personalities so look for people with children for those who need the attention and fun.

I'd never rescue a pet again after my nephew got a job at a very large famous rescue and found out a lot about how they rehome animals.

One of the worst things is that they know a group of "older, lonely women" who will take animal after animal and use too much of their money on vet fees etc. They'll give them a "six year old dog" who is actually closer to 10 and with known health problems that they'll have for a year or two until it dies ploughing money into it for vet and sometimes trainer fees. The dog dies "at 8" when it was actually 12, and then they give them another dog to do the same with.

They lie about the breed of a dog, too.

Came here to say exactly that. Protected Paws is a fantastic charity. They are looking for loving homes for their cats. Even if you’re not in London you could still adopt from them. They have an insta page so please check them out.

all their cats are so well cared for up to adoption time and they are vaccinated and neutered etc.

I hope you find a wonderful pet!

I said I would get a cat flap if I had a cat but my greenhouse would be accessible and there would be a bed in there. I still don't have a cat flap but he has access to the greenhouse.

I also said that a cat would be left alone for no more than 3 hours a day and I have great neighbours (which I do) who would pop in if necessary (they never have) although my cat prefers their garden to mine.

I also truthfully said as with all my cats he would be indoors no later than 9pm and kept in overnight. My cat comes in around 6pm for food and doesn't go out again until 12+ hours have elapsed.

That’s atrocious. But please don’t assume all rescues work the same way. The small West London one I’m involved with absolutely doesn’t.