Our Mission Statement:
"To facilitate the rehoming of unowned cats
and kittens nationally through cat rescue groups,
and to promote
kindness to all animals."
Cat Chat - who we are
Cat Chat is a UK Registered Charity (reg. no. 1100649)
We are a web-based Charity, currently find loving, permanent homes for over 5,000 unwanted and abandoned cats every year from rescues across the UK through our ‘Virtual Cat Shelters’. Our homing services are given free of charge to all kinds of rescues, large and small, from the many hundreds of independent rescue centres and rehoming groups to branches of the larger organisations.
For many rescues, Cat Chat is
their main source of good homes:
rescues often refer to us as their ‘Rehoming Lifeline’.
Cat Chat was first
launched in 2000 by the 'founding felines', ex-rescue cats
Gemini and George, with the aim of helping other cats in care to
find
a new
home,
and since
then
we've
helped
thousands of cats do just that. The current 'cats in charge'
Gemini, Colonel Beau and Pickford are assisted by a small group
of human trustees, and a growing number of willing volunteers. We are delighted to have two very special patrons: MP and lifelong
animal lover, Roger Gale, and the wise and wonderful Chairman Bagpuss.
Click Here to meet our Patrons.
As the internet has become an increasingly valuable
rehoming resource, we quickly realised that we were making a big
difference to shelters
and rescue groups across the UK, finding more homes for cats
and kittens in their care, so we registered as a Charity in 2003.
Cat Chat was the first solely internet-based Charity to be Registered in the UK.
We are now helping to find homes for around 430 cats each month - that's over 5,000 a year - a fact that we are extremely proud of! Check out our Rehoming Roll of Honour for a selection of recent homings »» Rehoming
Roll of Honour.
Our Objectives We aim to help rescue centres in any way we can, through this site,
to find more homes for cats in their care. Rescue centres are still
continually full with stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and kittens,
and despite the constant message of 'neuter, neuter, neuter!' it
still seems there are too many homeless cats and too few homes. There
are literally thousands of cats in care in the UK right now, and
it is still a sad fact that many cats are put to sleep each year
because there are simply not enough homes to go round. We aim to
do all we can to redress that balance.
The Objects in the Cat Chat Constitution are:
- "To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities
whose purposes are to promote animal welfare, by the provision
of an internet
website, IT support and facilities"
- "To advance the
education of the public in matters of animal welfare by
the provision of a website and information
service"
Our Activities
Here are some of the ways in which Cat Chat is currently helping
rescues, and helping cats:
- Helping
Rescue Centres ~ We offer free web rehoming pages
to any UK rescue who wants one, enabling them to feature their
cats
seeking
homes
on the web. We set the page up, link it from Cat Chat and host
it at no cost to the rescue. We believe every cat in care should
have
an
equal
chance
at a new,
loving home, and these pages enable every kind of rescue and
rehoming group, large or small to give them that chance. For
full details
click here »» Free
Web Rehoming Page. Success Stories ~ some
of the cats homed via these Cat Chat pages appear on our »» Rehoming
Roll of Honour.
Helping
'Harder to Home' Cats ~ Most rescues find they have
a few cats that always seem to be overlooked, and often stay
in care for
months or even years. They may be elderly, have a medical
condition, be very shy, or are simply passed by in favour
of prettier
or younger cats. Rescues can feature any 'harder to home'
cats
on our Top Cats page.
This page has been very successful in finding new homes for
many cats, some of whom had almost given up
hope. Some of the cats rehomed via Top Cats
appear on our »» Rehoming
Roll of Honour.
- Shelter
Listings ~ We always encourage people to go
to a rescue centre when seeking a new animal companion,
rather
than going
to
a pet shop or breeder. To make this easier, we provide
an extensive county by county database of rescue and
rehoming centres across
the UK. We currently have around 1,000
UK rescue centres listed, and
are continually adding and updating the listings. Want
to rescue a cat ? Start here »» Shelter
Listings
- Feline
Fund ~ Our 'Feline Fund' comprises of 5% of
all page sponsorship and advertising
revenue, plus £1.00 from each sale of our Cat Rescue
T-shirts, 50p from the sale of each Cat Chat mug, and proportional amounts also each time we sell a book, CD, keyring, pen, canvas bag, Wiggly Waggler cat toy and other items on our shop, plus £1.00
from each cat tribute placed on our remembrance page.
The fund is donated to a rescue group
or shelter
chosen
at random
from our
shelter listings each time the fund reaches £100. »»» Feline
Fund info. »»» Merchandise
info. »»» Remembrance Page
We have come a long way in eight years, but we have
much further to go, and lots of plans are in the pipeline. We believe
we can make
a huge difference to the future of the 'unowned cat', and maybe,
just maybe, one day every cat will be a wanted cat. If you would like to help, find out how here »»» How to Help Cat Chat
££ - Please help us with a donation if you can - however small - Thank You: >> DONATE HERE
Meet
our Patrons:
Roger Gale MP
Pictured right is our Patron, Roger Gale MP, with one of his rescue cats. Both
Roger and his wife Suzy are ardent animal lovers, and campaign tirelessly
on their behalf. In fact if animal welfare is on the parliamentary agenda,
you can be fairly sure that Roger will have had a hand in getting it there! www.rogergale.co.uk
Bagpuss (in
his own words)
I really am a most fortunate old cat!
This is because, being imaginary, I am never cold or hungry, and always have
lots of friends to keep me company and look after me. So it worries me very
much to realise that so many real, live, beautiful cats are left lonely, homeless
and unloved, when I know that there are really plenty of people in the world
who would be glad of their company and be happy to be their friends. That is
why I would like to commend to you, my friends, this most feline website: www.catchat.org,
where they will help you to
find a cat-friend, if you are a person, or a person-friend, if you are a cat.
More about Chairman Bagpuss can be found on a website devised by his close
person-friend, Oliver Postgate: www.oliverpostgate.co.uk/intro.html
Helping Cats • Helping Shelters • Finding Homes!
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