Just a tiny rescue rant - I know its bad of me!!

[SamMewl]

I think it is a fair rant as there are plenty of kittens/cats 'free to good home' adverts/websites out there. if a rescue refuses someone a cat then they can just get one from somwhere else, that is probably not neutered and has none of the back up advice that a rescue centre has. we don't try and make the home a criteria at all, if the person is aceptable to us as a responsible and loving potential owner then we try and match the cat to their home and life situation. we have some cats that will suit an indoor home and some that wont. some that will be happy left alone a lot and some that wont, some that think children are fun and some that think they are fowl.

if we have no cats or kittens that we think will work with their home/life we ask them to come back to us when we do.

....but as an aside, i have just managed to hand back a feral kitten i have been fostering to tame up (the first foster attempt is still living at mine ). she is adorable and i will worry about her in her new home as much as i worry about my own, so i can understand that any fosterers associated with a rescue and those relinquishing cats are trusting the rescue to rehome to a safe place.

[caledonia]

Can I just add most cats will adapt to being indoor only, my ferals trapped here had the choice to go back outside where they get the same food etc as the others and not one left even with a window open for 5 days

Cata re the most adaptable creatures, I have a diabetic 15yo on permanant foster and she was used to being on her own in 3 weeks she has blossomed and just wacks the younger cats as do my other older ladies Floddy, Clio and Ragamuffin, 2 of those are ferals and the third lived with Sweetie

I couldn't agree more!!! My friend has a glorious garden and her door is open all the time - her cats never go out! They choose to stay indoors! Both cats are ex  ferals and had little human contact and were outdoors the first weeks of their lives. Now they have the option they stay inside. It's an interesting one!

My old boys lived on a farm before they came to me and the UKRCC were looking for an outdoor home for them. As not one query had been made until I came along they considered me and figured at 11 a home was better than fostering, Well they settled right in, I have huge patio windows and they basked in the sun all day and were very happy!

Anyway it's a very difficult job, ofcourse it is. I just wish the sale of cats (& dogs) were regulated so rescues weren't competing with free sites and sale sites :-(

[Liz]

Can I just add most cats will adapt to being indoor only, my ferals trapped here had the choice to go back outside where they get the same food etc as the others and not one left even with a window open for 5 days

Cata re the most adaptable creatures, I have a diabetic 15yo on permanant foster and she was used to being on her own in 3 weeks she has blossomed and just wacks the younger cats as do my other older ladies Floddy, Clio and Ragamuffin, 2 of those are ferals and the third lived with Sweetie

[Tiggy's Mum]

I can see both sides of the coin, on the one hand rescue have to have some sort of criteria but on the other this is likely to mean that, on occasion, a home that would actually be a good home is knocked back. In your friends case being 1/2 a mile from a train line does seem to be a bit of an odd reason to get rejected 

One thing I don't like is the blanket bans, fair enough if a home with a garden is preferable to most cats but there are going to be some cats (like the 17yr old you mentioned) that would be happy adapting to indoors only and would have a loving home rather than waiting for months/years  I found it near impossible to adopt when I was looking to adopt a pair of indoor kittens after losing my childhood cat. I was happy to adopt disabled/deaf/blind etc and sent an email explaining my circumstances and adaptations I'd made eg window screens, big tower to play on, worked close by so could pop home at lunch to feed/check on but still most rescues just said No outright! I've even read of rescues turning people down due to working full time 

[caledonia]

And im really not meaning to sound negative about this rescue at all- I volunteered with them and spent many a Saturday shaking a tin in the local shopping centres and did a couple of home checks.

I think I'm just perturbed that I managed to convince my pal not to get a kitten off g*mtree then she gets a message telling her they won't Rehome to her because of a train line half a mile away!

The cats should always come first and I guess sadly some kitties miss out on good homes and on the other hand kitties are saved from poor homes because of home checks.

[caledonia]

I know rescue are only human, ofcourse! That's why I explain that I realise this isn't the norm. My pal is ranting anywhere - she just went elsewhere. As would anyone else.

 In my job I give advice for adopting children... I mean that's human beings going to a new family for the rest of their lives. We don't have blanket rules cos they are counter productive.

I think the same could be said for rescues. I volunteered for this rescue and shadow home checked a couple who lived two mins from the busiest road in Edinburgh. We approved them. I didn't realise railways were such an issue and I just think blanket rules such as living near a railway line or road are unnecessary.

[Liz]

I don't live near a road but one of mine was hit on the track, still with us but had 6 months of Heparin and then the wait till the heparin left the system not easy on a normal cat but on a feral a lot worse

I sometimes think rescues make a rod for their own backs, and yes they may live near a road but may have a run or catproof garden or want them as house cats

When I home checked I used common sense over guidelines sometimes and sadly some cats miss out on great homes but as Angie says theya re human and unpaid volunteers so it can be a hard road to please everyone but at the end of the day the cats come first

[Angiew]

Oh Dear - its very hard for us to get it right all the time. Like everyone else google is our first tool for rehoming but if they got it wrong, then she should have told them. It is easy to make a mistake and a quick call to try to resolve it (as opposed to multiple calls and rants) can make the difference.
I know we are finding it hard to home at the moment but then we still need to try to ensure that the cats we home go to safe homes where they will be kept. We do have a few that come back (new baby, sigh) and have been notified of a couple killed on the roads.
Its not nice to find out that that has happened to a cat that you fostered even though you know it does happen, but there is a feeling of having let the poor thing down.

Just remember we are only human!

[Dawn F]

I was turned down for living near a road, I mean who doesn't!! 

[caledonia]

OK forgive me - first of all I know rescues do a wonderful wonderful job! Like a wonderful job but sometimes some rescues just seem to create a rod for their own back!!

My cat loving friend has been looking to get a new kitty to go with her 2 year old cat Scout! Now scout is pretty boisterous and an outdoor cat so she had thought a kitten might be good idea. She was trawling through you know where and I emailed her and made the rescue case. I explained all about how fulls rescues are at the moment and hwo nice it would be to offer a home to a slightly older kitten in a rescue!

So the local branch of a national rescue actually have on their site that they are so full that they can't take any more cats or enquiries so are focusing on rehoming. They have at least 10 kittens that are now 4-5 months old and therefore less appealing to some people. Wll I emailed my pal the links for them all  - she emailed them and awaited a response from them. I used to volunteer with them and explained it would take a wee bit of time - so she waited !

Then she gets a voicemail explaining that they would not consider rehoming to her as she lives near a railway line - end of voicemail! Now if she does live near a railway line - I have never noticed. According to google maps I can see a railway line a street away from her but there appears to be a fair bit of land between. She is a single woman of 42 with no kids and a lovely big house with a drive and back garden!

I mean really  !!

I know they want the best homes for their cats but really my friend could have went to the for sale site and got a kitten that day - I encouraged her to go to a rescue and then she waits and this is the response she gets!

Thankfull the Edinburgh Dog & Cat home saw sense and she has got a cat from them. But it just amazes me! Im just glad she got a rescue kitty after all!


When I was on my own hunt last month a local rescue to me has a blanket statement on thier page stating they do not rehome to indoor only homes. Fair enough - but really! There must be some very elderly cats or cats with ilneses that would benefit from an indoor home. They had a 17 year old lady that I would have happily taken in for her retirement years - but no, they never rehome indoors! Ok then - I went elsewhere !

Anyway rant over - and please I do realise 99.9% of the time rescues do a great job but when they are so full surely they might want to at least home check if they are unsure of speak to the person to see what they are like?