Cats in Dubai - request for help if you can!

[Puppylucky]

Hi all
I'm posting this in the hope that someone in the lovely litter box community knows someone who can help. I was contacted today by the rescuers in Dubai, that we adopted Marvin from, 6 months ago. With the situation in Dubai so precarious, they are anxious that they may have to leave suddenly, which would mean leaving the three rescue cats they have available for adoption behind. They are only a small rescue and don't have lots of international contacts, so I promised I would spread the word. They are lovely people who are very distressed about the situation and the cats are well looked after and socialised. I can vouch for their care by how well Marvin has settled in. I know not everybody agrees with adoption from overseas, but if anyone knows someone who might be interested please PM me for details. Attached are pics of two of the cats. Thank you!

Where did I say that? If you knew anything about adopting from abroad you’d know that the reputable rehomers have rigorous video home checks in place. They just don’t have some of the OTT rules that some UK rescues do.

Maybe a lot of the UK rescues have rules in place for a reason?

There are lots of rescues I follow in America (a country notably lax when it comes to rescuing) and they are constantly posting stories about animals who are returned after a few days for various reasons. Re-homing is supposed to be for life, and the strict "rules" are there to try and ensure that.

*FWIW I'm not disputing that some rescues do have ridiculous rules in place, but on the whole I don't think it's as rigorous as some people make them out to be.

So this 'rescue' was previously 'saving' cats 'dumped' by heartless people leaving Dubai who couldn't/ didn't care enough to rehome them.... but now they want to leave Dubai which would mean abandoning their 'rescued' cats if they can't find them homes?

Imo they're just as bad as the people who dumped them in the first place if they would dump them rather than take responsibility for the animals, even if that means euthanasia.

They're struggling to get people onto flights safely atm. I'm not sure anyone is going to be dicking about with cats. Seriously. I have cats of my own but this is just madness.

Bumping so the cats have a better chance of finding a home. Ignore all the heartless whingeing OP.

No that's not what's happening. Cats are abandoned and mistreated in Dubai on a continuous basis. The country has a very bad record for animal welfare despite what you may read and cats are particularly vulnerable to be being mistreated. The cats they are trying to rehome were rescued a while ago. Two from a colony that was surviving in an underground carpark at risk of poisoning and one who looks like he was once a pet. I'm not sure why you are being so aggressive and trying to undermine what is simply a request for help.

We were turned down because our garden is cat proofed and we wouldn’t let a cat roam. We were also turned down because we don’t have a spare room for the cat - one woman actually told me I must have a room that isn’t used. Another reason was because our garden doesn’t have trees and is therefore not interesting enough for a cat. Those are from different rescues and apparently the fact that we had our last cat for 15 years until he was 18 in the same supposedly unsuitable house and garden counts for nothing.

I genuinely don't think there's an issue with any of that other than the garden needing trees.

Lots of cats would be unhappy in a cat-proofed garden (they are roamers by nature, after all) and needing a secure, unused room is pretty standard in the first few weeks of settling a rescue cat.

You said yourself that they can't be bothered to take them with them!

I'm so sorry for what ever is going on with your life that this is making you happy, but just to clarify I was talking about two different situations:

1. Owners who can't be bothered to take to their pets with them
2. A rescue with limited resources trying to do their best to get animals adopted and out of danger I hope that helps.

So it’s better for the cats to roam and be run over, hit by a little bastard with a catapult? And what are people with no spare room supposed to do, never have a cat? Anyway, it’s not important any more as I got my boy from a reputable breeder. Not what I wanted to do but after being knocked back so many times we gave up.

We did try to adopt from Dubai but two of the cats we were interested in were adopted by their fosters and the third sadly tested positive for FELV.

Sorry for derailing your thread @Puppylucky

IMO it’s better for them to live a short but natural life outdoors than to be cooped up inside our homes and gardens just because it makes us feel less anxious.

There are many reasons. To name a couple:

1. These cats are literally relying on the good will of a few kind hearted rescuers. Stray cats are not treated well in some parts of the world and there is no Cats Protection etc to take them to. Let’s not forget the Middle East gets very very hot in the summer which can be hard for cats on the street. Without the few rescuers there are these cats would have very little chance.
2. Rescues in the UK often have very strict rules and reject many people from adopting cats. If you live on a well used road you are unlikely to be able to adopt unless it’s a cat with a disability and has to be indoors. If you go to work all day, have children or are planning to, have a cat or dog already etc etc, you will be rejected or only able to adopt a small selection of cats. Many do home visits and are very strict. Some rejections are for good reason of course, but others are overly strict, especially about the road you live on. They usually think all cats should roam outside (and not be indoors) even though cats will roam to busy roads even if you technically live on a quiet road. The rescuers needing homes for cats from the Middle East are usually not as fussy at homing to houses on main roads to be an indoor cat, as many of these cats have always been indoor cats.

I don’t understand this viewpoint. People wouldn’t dream of letting their precious dog roam the streets to be stolen, injured, run over etc.

If you have lots of enrichment in the house and an adequate garden, there’s nothing wrong with being indoor/home cats. My cat goes in the garden but is terrified of the ‘outside world’ beyond that.

It is ridiculously difficult to adopt here, they want your money not for you to actually adopt a cat. How many adverts do you see asking for money and how many actually asking you to adopt? And if you do try it's really difficult.

Cats aren’t dogs and it makes no sense to try and compare the two.

And frankly, I don’t agree that a cat can have a happy life contained inside four walls. It’s cruel.

The point is some cat owners value their cats just as much as dog owners value their dog.

To add, I say that as someone who used to be a huge supporter of indoor cats! I was often on here under other usernames extolling the virtues of indoor cats - until one of ours got stress cystitis and the vet told us that it was only a matter of time before a blockage killed him. We let him outside the next day and he has never in the last three years had another episode of cystitis.

It’s not natural or kind to shut roaming animals up inside homes and never let them fulfil their natural instincts. Almost every thread on here about cats with behavioural problems turn out to be threads about indoor cats who have never set foot on the grass. It’s so depressing.

If you valued your cat you would want it to roam, hunt and explore, not lock it up inside four walls never to see the outside world.

This. My cat is as important to me as a dog would be to someone else. If I can stop him getting stolen, run over, hit with a catapult etc. then I will. I will also apologise to him for giving him such a miserable life even though he doesn’t actually want to go outside!

Sorry to derail my own thread @PinkSparklyPussyCat but your post after the cat rescuer visit / demand that the cat had it's own bedroom was hilarious. If I recall you plaintively asked if you were supposed to build an additional bedroom for the cat 🤣

You remembered! I still don’t have any spare rooms but Charlie seems quite happy!

Wrong. My cat is terrified of the outside world anyway, but I’ve seen enough cats dead by the side of the road to know the risks. If you love your cat you wouldn’t want that to happen.

I would rather lose my cat to the roads than have him live a half-life inside. And yes, I’ve picked many cats off the road over the years. It’s heartbreaking but imo nowhere near as heartbreaking as cats who never even get the chance to climb a tree or roll in the grass or lay on a patio and feel the sun and wind on their fur.

If a cat has the choice and prefers to stay inside then that’s of course totally different.

And kill wildlife and sh*t in other people’s gardens. I know I’m on a hiding to nothing saying this.