Struggling with local rescue centres

Queries and discussions about cat rescue & rehoming
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Martin-W
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Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Martin-W »

We're looking for a pair of young cats / kittens to adopt into our family home, and have decided to go down the rescue route rather than go to a breeder, as it feels like the right and responsible thing to do...however...

- We can't get through to our closest branch of a very-well-known national chain, as they've only got a mobile # published which never gets answered (7 or 8x over 4 weeks, 2 voicemails left, neither returned). A 'complaint' has been made to head-office who've said they can't take it any further as the person with that mobile is the only one who can investigate complaints at that branch! :lol:

- We're being told by the next closest one of those chains that we can only view cats in a separate introduction room, which was unfamiliar to the cats, so the pair we saw yesterday were timid and distant (apparently not like them, but how do we know when we're not allowed to see them in their 'home' environment), and when I tried to follow-up to see what we could do instead got a very blunt, unsigned e-mail back. They also hardly ever answer the phone. In fairness, the people at the sharp-end there are lovely, helpful and generous with their time...

- ...and then with a local charity we saw a lovely pair of kittens (at a fosterers about 40 minutes drive from our home, visited at short-notice to fit in with them), asked for a day to think about it (there were a couple of question marks over the kittens' health I wanted to check up on, which we weren't told about until we were there and our young son was falling in love with them!!!), then barely 36 hours later we call them back, only to find out they've already been reserved for someone else without bothering to chase us up. And they don't see anything wrong with that, and the fosterer was telling me that our vet was wrong... :roll:



Has anyone else had similar experiences? I get that most people involved are volunteers, and that (I guess) the cats come first, but surely you want to be encouraging wannabe-adopters and working with them, not treating them as if they don't matter...
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Mollycat
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Mollycat »

Sorry to see you're having such a difficult time of it, when there are so many cats in need of homes and you have a loving one to offer.

Must admit I don't think much of the large organisations, from very limited experience but a lot of people I know. Their conditions seem more geared to exclude than include at times and sometimes the "donation" asked for is on the outrageous side - I used to walk greyhounds and adopters paid the same whether the dog was 2 or 12 years old. For one you must have a cat flap, for another you must have them in at night, you must have a garden, and so on.

Thankfully I've never had to get a cat from these, and my local independent rescue was wonderful the one and only time I have had to use one. There was no choice of cats in my case, it was a matter of waiting for one that was right for me, my situation and the only home i have to offer, and they just played cupid putting me and the previous owner in touch.

Straying a little off topic, the ridiculously strict and blinkered rules of many UK rescue organisations are the number one reason for every one of a dozen or so people in my area who have adopted rescues going to the organisations who bring them in from Eastern Europe. A tick-list of conditions with no room for special cases or really good plans catering for everything.

All I can say is hang in there, and the right cats will find you.
Martin-W
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Martin-W »

I wish I could be confident of that Molly, but I'm starting to give up.

Over the last few weeks, my wife and I have spotted several pairs or litters (kittens and young cats) advertised on social media or rescue centre websites...most of them we've spotted and responded to within a day of them being posted up...

...and yet everywhere seems to adopt a "fastest finger first" approach - first people to call/e-mail-in get first dibs on the cats if they're suitable both-ways. So because we both work during the day and can't just sit on Facebook waiting for cats to be posted up, we've lost out every single time. In a couple of cases we called within the hour but were still too late! :cry: :x
Nowhere except Cats Protection seems to run a 'waiting list' (CP only do for kittens), which feels grossly unfair.

We're also now being told (why is none of this volunteered when you talk to people?) that rescue centres like to get rid of kittens from litters at 8-9 weeks old, which to me feels (a) very early, and surely interrupts their social development???; and (b) feels like a risk when we've a young child in the house because of it...in particular the younger kittens are unlikely to have learned from their mum and litter-mates not to bite/scratch as much.

Getting close to forgetting about 'the right thing to do', and just doing what's right for us...that's what every other b'gger in this world seems to do... :(


PS - where are these organisations bringing in European cats?
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Mollycat
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Mollycat »

It's a personal opinion but I'm not convinced about the age thing. We used to home kittens at 6-8 weeks and I don't remember there being a whole lot of behaviour problems. At 6-8 weeks a kitten is much more impressionable, more hard wired to learn, and switch focus from momma to human. By 3 months they are asserting a lot of independence and much more likely to give you the "You're not even my real mom" attitude. It makes no sense at all to me that kittens are left till 13 weeks supposedly for their socialisation, when cats don't need to learn a social hierarchy, and puppies are still taken from their mother at 8 weeks, when they really do need to learn about dog society. How does that make sense? 8-9 weeks is just fine. I had my last kitten in 1987 but I'm pretty sure kittens haven't changed that much.

I'm afraid regardless of learning to keep claws away enough to deal with kitten fur is one thing and human skin another, so there will still be learning to do regardless. Perhaps an older kitten, maybe a year or so, might be more appropriate if you're concerned about claw control? Though so much depends on the cat's personality as to whether they are right to home with young children, and that's where I would trust a small local rescue that houses cats in foster homes not cages and gets to assess them properly.

Have you looked at the Cat Chat rescue centres for what they have available?
Last edited by Mollycat on Sat Oct 30, 2021 7:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Laujo
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Laujo »

I adopted a rescue this year, but it took me 4 months to be successful. So, if you do want to adopt rather than buy you may need to wait a little longer.
Martin-W
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Martin-W »

Thanks both.

Molly...my wife and I have been having similar conversations regarding a young cat or older kitten. That to us makes most sense, but more difficult to find a bonded pair once they've left their litter. With all the conflicting criteria I'm beginning to feel like Yossarian! ;)

Laujo...hmm, was afraid of that. How 'picky' were you being / how precise criteria?
(We started calling people in July, but as soon as they knew we had a holiday in August they told us to call once back from holiday...and now we're nearly 2 months further on and still getting messed around...)
Laujo
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Re: Struggling with local rescue centres

Post by Laujo »

Not picky at all. I do live on a busy road, so one rescue said no to me when I gave interest in one particular cat, but apart from that it was just a waiting game and an element of luck.
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