Advice urgently needed - Long-term in cattery

[Rosiecat]

I was involved with a cat last last year - and Dawn will probably remember him - whose owner had a fall a couple of days before Christmas.  The cat was left in the house with the lady's carer popping in daily to supposedly feed him and check he was okay.     What actually happened was that the carer did not always see him (he had access to a cat flap) and by the time I was asked to help it was the middle of January, the cat was extremely poorly (he turned out to be FIV+ and was evidently in the latter stages) and he had been left alone over one of the coldest periods I remember.  He had been left with biscuits which he could not eat due to advanced dental disease. 

I will NEVER forget walking into her bungalow (with her Solicitor) and seeing the state of him - nor will I forget how glad he was to see us     

Pickles, my current foster, has been with me for six months since his owner died.   I am fairly certain that a cattery would not have been an option for him - as no provision was made for him in his owner's Wll it was left to the Executors to decide where he went.  He was at risk of PTS as all rescues were full and there was simply nowhere for him to go.

Sad as it is, in a cattery they are safe - it is the ones who are left home alone, turned out to fend for themselves or worse that I worry about.

[littleKitten_(alex)]

First of all - I obviously wouldn't dream of getting personal details of the owners! But - asking that a message be forwarded to an owner doesn't mean I have to get any information!

I completely agree that there could be situations where the owners may be looking forward to the day when they can be reunited with their cat. (Although from what I gathered, reunions are very unlikely for the cats I met.) But if it is determined that day will never come, should the cats really suffer for it? And my concern is that if an owner dies, and the cat is finally released, it might not be as suitable for rehoming after spending many years in a pen. 

Of course a reunion is always the best possible outcome - but is it reasonable that a cat spends 4-5 years in a pen?

AND - even if there's a chance of owner and cat eventually being reunited - wouldn't it be better for the cat to be fostered? I mean, if there's a possibility of that? I could probably squeeze in one or two here...

I think you have to try imagining yourself in the owners position and then thinking of yourself now and how you would feel if your cat went missing or was killed/

I'm sorry Gill, I've read this several times, but don't understand it at all...  Maybe I'm a bit slow! 

(I agree that deciding what should happen to your own babies if the worst happened is a good plan. I decided pretty soon after getting mine that one of my sisters would be the best place for them. Of course, my OH loves them, but it is unlikely he would be able to spend enough time with them because of his job etc. But now I think it might be best for them to stay with OH, who would probably find them a comfort, and would probably make sure they got enough quality time. Hm, maybe I've been thinking TOO much about this...  Anyway, there's also another one of my sisters they could go to, or else my parents - my mum considers herself their grandmother. )

I'm still so sad about these cats. 

[Desley (booktigger)]

This is a really tricky situation, while it isn't fair that they are kept in a cattery, they are safe, warm and being fed - and some rescues keep cats in cattery type situations, and some can be there for great lengths of time, simply because we dont have enough homes for them all. It would be a worthwhile thing for all cat owners to either get family's to agree to help out, or to contact someone like the Cinnamon Trust (Although they have a lack of volunteers in certain areas), so that this wouldn't happen to our cats.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think thos is a big problem but we need to look at the options when someone gets ill:

Is it known they wont get better and possibly the fact they know that their cat is there to come back to gives them hope.

Some elderly are being forced into homes where all though able are not allowed to take their animals, how many animals are being PTS because of this and how many urgent homes needed pleas have we seen on Purrs.

These cats are at least alive and being looked after but I agree there is a point where they need to live in a proper home.

I think you have to try imagining yourself in the owners position and then thinking of yourself now and how you would feel if your cat went missing or was killed/

I do not think there are any easy answers and Helen is right about the data protection actcos this does not allow peoples names and addresses to be passsed to a third party without their permission.

[Tiggy's Mum]

It's very sad I agree, the difficulty is at what point do social services draw the line and say that the cats must be rehomed?  I very much doubt if Social Services would be able to release any info about the owners to you for data protection reasons but maybe the cattery owners know who/where the owners are and could approach them on your behalf with the fostering offer.  Really hope that something can be done for these poor babies either way 

This has reminded me that I need to discuss who would have the boys should anything happen to me, it was agreed that Tiggy would be cared for by my sister if anything happened to me but I need to make sure that this agreement carries over to Lucas and Riley too.

[blackcat]

If SS is arranging for their care while their owner is ill. what happens if the owner dies???

I think that if the cattery owner was able to obtain the owners permission, in writing it should be possible to have the animal released into a responsible body's care. Ask the cattery owner if she has a contact in SS that you could get in touch with and find out if the interminable bureaucracy of this country would make provisions of that nature.

I only place my cats in a cattery where the owner rotates cats into their home on a regular basis so that they get out of the cage occasionally. Nowadays I get in-home care since it is possible - less stress on the animal and generally less cost when you have several as I usually do. It also keeps your house safe as they collect mail etc.

[littleKitten_(alex)]

Tomorrow I'm dropping Monkey and Poppy off at cattery for the first time.  But although I am a little nervous about leaving them (even if it's only for the weekend!), I'm mainly thinking about some other cats.

When I went to the cattery to visit, I was shocked to discover that there were several cats that were living there long-term, some had been there for years! The reason: their owners were ill, in care or in soem other way unable to care for their furry friends. So the cats were put in cattery by Social Services, who pay the bill. These cats may never be reunited with their owners (after several years' illness, it looks rather unlikely, I would think), but they aren't allowed to go to new homes. They're in limbo.

This really bugs me. Firstly, and most importantly, I am thinking about the poor cats. Although they are cared for by a lovely woman, who cares deeply for them, they are still in a cattery, not a home. That's no way for a cats to live, especially not when they are reasonably young, healthy and friendly.

I definitely don't think people should automatically lose their cats when they get ill - it's great if there's a support network that makes sure the cats are cared for. BUT - there has to be a reasonable timeframe. Several years is too much. It is not a human right to have a cat - you should only be allowed to have one if you can care for it properly. Sadly, due to illness or other reasons, people are no longer able to fulfill this duty. To me, that means that they should not retain ownership of the cat.

Also, on a less important note, I can't help wondering whether Social Services paying cattery bills is really the most efficient way of spending tax money... 

Since visiting, I have thought so much about these cats, who seem to have fallen through the cracks. Tomorrow when I go there with Monkey & Poppy, I am hoping to have a chat with the woman who runs the cattery, and try to work out if there's anything that can be done. She certainly doesn't think it's right either.

Guys, I really need some advice here. What way should I go about this? Surely there must be a way to rescue these cats - it is just not right that they could potentially be spending the rest of their lives in pens!!! Can the law really allow this?

Personally, I am probably not in a good situation for taking on more cats right now (we'll be relocating abroad in the next year or so, and I think that it might be too much for an already traumatised cat), but I could certainly do some fostering, to get a cat used to being in a home situation again - and... I would actually consider taking on another cat... or two... I feel so bad for these guys.

Maybe there's a legal way around it, or else I wouldn't mind seeing if I could perhaps buy the cats from the present owners. (When I told OH, he said that yesterday was payday, and that it would be a great way of spending money.  ) Perhaps an owner/carer/family member would rather have some cash than a cat they never see. (And in that case, how much should I offer to pay?)

I really can't stop thinking about these poor cats, I'm hoping you guys can help me come up with a plan.

(I just want to clarify that I absolutely do not hold a grudge against the original owners, who clearly have not abandoned their cats deliberately! Sometimes bad things just happen.