Asbo now called Andy the Stray Tom! Has a forever home

[Dawn F]

I've been turned down by a local rescue myself Mark and did actually say oh that if we were turned down by a second I would buy a cat from a pet shop (before my days on catchat and purrs I must add) - in the end the blue cross passed us but it is quite hard going being told you aren't a suitable pet owner or in my case i had "an unsuitable address" lol!

[Mark]

there is a strong perception that you have to jump through hoops to adopt a rescue cat a

I have heard that before but can never understand why. Unless people see a couple of phone calls and a homecheck as jumping through hoops. I would think any true animal lover would appreciate the reasons it is done. Maybe MSE types don't like the idea of parting with a donation 

[Fire Fox]

Unusually for me I can see both sides of the discussion! From what I read over on MSE Pets board there is a strong perception that you have to jump through hoops to adopt a rescue cat and a lot of people make very little effort to pursue that avenue  maybe this centre will make it feel more accessible. However distasteful the analogy might be the public are used to shopping, to 'handling the goods', to lots of choice.

I also think there are some benefits even to supervised school visits, don't underestimate the effect of 'pester power' - look how many adverts now are aimed at children! I hope this won't mean cats are adopted without consideration, but I can imagine a family thinking of getting a kitten off Gumtree and instead the kid wants to go to the rehoming centre he visited with school. Kids have been enthused by school to tell mum off for not recycling or preach about Jamie Oliver style nutrition, why not rescued cats? 

[Mark]

If they don't want it, we'll have it! 

There is such a shortage of rescue space in our part of Kent and it is even worse in Thanet. A few small rescues are struggling to cope. I'm sure as time goes on, it would have to adapt to needs which would be a place of safety for needy cats - It makes sense to me that fosterers take care of cats that are poorly or need TLC and the centre concentrates on getting cats into new homes? - there will always be for and against for anything. No disrespect to Joy and everyone else in the area but it is a fact that people don't like change. I agree it is a lot of money but I don't think it has been done on a whim - I'm sure a lot of thought and planning has gone into it. There may only be 24 pens but they can probably rehome 20 cats a week, maybe more.

[Tan]

yes the new center is purely for rehoming cats that are ready from the cp branches and fosters in the area. 

Thanks for all ya replies on here cause is has helped me see the other plus side to the center 

I have to admit into jumping to a negitive thought on the centre because i see Andy as  he is now which is scared still with hoomans and had a horrible thought of him like that in the rehoming center pen.   What i should of done is thought that Joy os fostering him to help with the hooman fear so there is no way he would be in the rehoming center unless he is totally ok and ready.   I think that but will confirm with Joy, That the rehoming center will be for cats who are totaaly ready and any scared ones will stay in foster till rehomed.

Ya also right that just by looking at the pics, you can't see the full area they have so can't judge it fairly unless actually seen in person.

I have spoken to Bmth cp leader Brenda and she has a neg view of the center as well as Joy who is fostering Andy.  Brenda fears that the new center will take some of the the vital donations going into her branch as it is her branch and fosters that will still do all the care and rescue, vets etc. This is why she has a message about it on Bmth cp web site.  Joy who has been a foster for 20 yrs feels the new centre is alot of money and feels a foster enviorment is better for the cats.  So these are the views and only views i have had for the new centre without seeing the other plus side of it until now.

It is a shame that there is a lack of Fosters for the amount of cats that need rescue as it is the best enviroment for them but i understand now that for cats that are totaly fit and have no behaviour issues the rehoming centre does allow the branches and foster to help more needy babes.

Sadly i didn't get a chance to see Andy today. I will ring Joy tomorrow ro see how he is still doing  





 

[madamcat (Edd)]

I don't know how the homecheck thing works but they do have them. As far as FIV cats go, I doubt they would PTS - last year (or the year before), we had an FIV cat and he was being rehomed by the chief exec's PA as she is also a volunteer for a branch.

Just out of interest Mark......do they have home checkers attached to the centres?

We have a centre at Bridgend but as far as I know is one of Cps rescue centres and I know they pts FIV etc cats. They have an open day soon, not sure whether to visit though.....I get upset easy 

I would imagine that the home checking is no different from now - If the National Cat Centre or a branch has a cat for homing out of their area they ask the local branch to do it. BUT that is an assumption on my part.

Re Bridgend that is an adoption centre. If they automatically PTS all FIV cats then this a case of another area of CP not following the CP cat care standards and need to be challenged on that

At the moment branches are struggling to cope (as are all rescues) and from the original statement it said:
"Cats Protection recognises the need to make the process of adopting a cat as quick and as easy as possible and this pilot homing centre will bring a modern approach to finding homes for unwanted cats.

Located in Ferndown, just outside Bournemouth, the homing centre will take in cats that are ready for adoption from volunteer-run branches in the surrounding area. This homing centre will provide an easy-to-reach, visible and modern environment for cats and kittens in need of homes.
"

So my take is that this first Rehoming Centre is being piloted to support the local branches in their rehoming efforts and if a cat goes to the rehoming centre it frees up a local branch pen for another cat to come in. IF successful, CP will be able to help more cats than they currently do.Is that not a good thing?

However as with all plans -it is about how these plans are created, who consulted and crucially how implemented.

[Mark]

I don't know how the homecheck thing works but they do have them. As far as FIV cats go, I doubt they would PTS - last year (or the year before), we had an FIV cat and he was being rehomed by the chief exec's PA as she is also a volunteer for a branch.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Just out of interest Mark......do they have home checkers attached to the centres?

We have a centre at Bridgend but as far as I know is one of Cps rescue centres and I know they pts FIV etc cats. They have an open day soon, not sure whether to visit though.....I get upset easy 

[Mark]

My questiion still is, what happens when a cat is not rehomed in what they consider a reasonable time?

No cat would be PTS for being hard to home. The beauty of these type of places is they are easy to access and the turn around for most cats is really quick. It is unlikely any cat is in for more than a week. Some are even reserved the day they go in. I know HQ make a point of putting the ones that are harder to home in reception if they are of the right temperament. They get lots of exposure there and get snapped up in no time. Another good thing about a rehoming centre is that they are easy to access - much easier to look around one of them than to visit BSBs 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think the reality of rescue is very very hard and I admire everyone who works at the coal face. I think from Purrs most of us who have been around for a while have a very good idea of the situation......how could we not?

The point I am trying to get across, is the absolute waste of money this is and its only for pretty cats that they can rehome quickly, so all you poor peeps at the coal face are then left with all the harder to home cats, all the black and black and whites, the ex-ferals, cats with health problems etc etc, because Cp want to have a nice advertising front amd use up all those nice members money which rewally should get to the branches that need it.

It only has 24 places and for £1.75million I would expect something with so many morer places. Some how I think that Paws Inn  has around that number of places and what would Teresa,Sarah,  Angie, Lesley and Ron do with all this money? I suspect that a lot more than 24 places would be made.

Dream on all you hard working peeps, I think you are getting the rough end of the stick

My questiion still is, what happens when a cat is not rehomed in what they consider a reasonable time?

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

I have not read this whole trhread.. But i must say most will be surprised or even more what the reality of rescue iand what we are dealing with. We dont live in an ideal world, there are not perfect answers, but the end result is to get a cat in a nice new home.
So if any one wants a glimpse of how things are and why i have spent the entire day juggling calls and cats inbetween my own work and want to answer our phone for the next month then pls do!!
I have already had in the last week, a cat being supposely "shot" a lady with terminal cancer that wants to rehome her cat. A  poorly x cp cat that was abandoned and the owners did not care less as to its condition which was severe. A lady demanding me help with her 2 elderly cats as she cannot cope, someone who wants to buy a kitten...!!!
I could go on!

So any takers!

[Mark]

That's what I thought - I hope so. Branches like ours that are having to turn people away all the time. I wouldn't like to imagine what might happen to some of the cats. We can only hope people will wait until there is a space somewhere. Any rescue can only take in so many cats and there is a breaking point. It could well be that cats that are easy to rehome and of the right temperament go straight to the centre, allowing cats with issues to go to fosterers.

[Dawn F]

might they come from branches Mark?

[Mark]

I don't get the part that says they don't do rescue, nor do they take cats in from local people that want to rehome their cats. The cats they rehome must come from somewhere? 

I do find some of the Zoo/Prison comments show a complete lack of understanding of what is really going on. Rehoming is being done on an industrial scale as the number of homeless cats is on an industrial scale and on the increase. In an ideal world, there would be enough fosterers to take care of cats - but there isn't and compromises have to be made. It's either this or leave cats on the street or possibly PTS (sad I know but it happens in other countries and even in this country by a certain national animal charity) - I know which I prefer.

[Gillian Harvey]

Looks similar to Bath cats and dogs home near me - they have indoor 'pods' as they call them, and outdoor runs. They are kept really clean and there are comfy beds, and toys etc for the cats. Think they have separate areas for timid/nervous cats where extra socialisation is needed before they are ready for rehoming. They also have a feral colony at Bath - they are permanent residents with their own 'house' and enclosure - mind you, Bath is rescue and rehome, rather than just rehome.  http://www.bathcatsanddogshome.org.uk/site_newcattery.asp

[Dawn F]

you are right T its not a rescue centre but a rehoming centre - I know its not ideal for ferals but I've certainly seen long term strays and kittens born feral (again I'm only talking blue cross) do very well and even after several months sucessfully go on to new homes

I have seen cats in tiny cages at a pedigree rescue that will remain nameless

[Teresa Pawcats]

Surely there was debate among CP members during the initial planning stages ? Sorry but if someone wanted to build me a Catpen I would want input, so why did no one speak out?

The only disappointing side is that this centre of excellence will not be used for rescue work as such; I suppose this will mean more kittens dumped in country lanes because the centre can only take the ready to home ones.

For those who think these Pens are inadequate let me assure you there are so called rescues who keep cats in cages not much bigger than a cat carrier.

[Dawn F]

you are right Liz but I think that these are cats ready to be rehomed and being marketed as such - not sure where ferals come into the picture - how are they usually homed??

[Liz]

Very sad to say but it doesn't look like ferals will have much of a chance in a situation like this = they don't do lots of visitors, or stress even with feliway not sure they will be given the chance but it doesn't say anything about them leans to more nice sorts of cats

[Daisymac]

it looks very like the blue cross that I volunteer at tbh - it works very well, is easy to keep clean and all the cats are in one place for adopters to see

Dawn what Blue Cross do you voluteer at ?,  I want to come !

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

The Ferndown Homing Centre will only be re homing cats and will not be rescuing or taking unwanted cats and kittens into care from this area


This comes from the link about the cats!

Tan will have to answer about the untrained staff cos I dont know where she got this from but sure she has a good source.

I think its a giant waste of money and the money would be much better used by the branches.

So you have cats at fosters and they were scared and starving when you got them at your branch, the fosterer has done a fantastic job and  they are now used to a house and ready for rehoming. So you then send them to this prison/zoo and they revert to being scared and wont eat and nobody will rehome them cos they attack anyone who comes close.........what happens to the poor cat then?

[Mark]

So what is best, to use the facility with the cat has a better chance of getting homed quicker or the branch retain the cat for perhaps longer in a pen in your garden whilst the number of cats on your waiting list grows or you shut the waiting list because the branch cannot cope?

The situation our branch is in at the moment. The waiting list can only get so long before it has to be closed. I took a call from a woman last week whos partner has walked out leaving her with 5 young kids including a baby and the partners 2 cats he originally moved in with. She doesn't want them. She claims they are messing all over the house and she doesn't want her baby to get sick + she can't afford to keep them. There is nothing we can do at the moment. If there was space in a homing centre for them...............

[madamcat (Edd)]

Forgot to say - with the glass areas - the cats of course can get away from that to other parts of the indoor pen and also to the outside run.

I have been to the NCC many times and of all the different types of cats from different backgrounds there I have not seen any distressed by the glass window. If they have a very timid cat - then there are blinds that can be drawn down. The cat cuddlers and staff spend a lot of time with each of the cats.

At Ferndown any cats placed there are considered ready for rehoming by branches so hopefully will adapt from either pens or cages locally to what may look clinical but excellent pen facilities.

CP's strategy here is to speed up the homing process for cats in their care so that the next cat can be helped quicker. Hope branches use the facilities bearing in mind the cost.

[Kay and Penny]

bit puzzled myself as to the criticism, as I can see a cat flap in the photo, which presumably the cat can use to get away from the small enclosure

I am not experienced in these matters, but it does look like the sort of place people would be drawn to when looking for a cat

but of course any cat which would suffer being put on show like that should not be exposed to it, and commonsense would suggest that it wouldn't, as it would be a pointless exercise as unlikely to attract 'shoppers', though would probably attract complaints

[madamcat (Edd)]

Hi

The pictures look like the National Cat Centre and do not give a good view of the pens from a cat's view. Each pen has indoor and outdoor runs and as Mark says the staff and the volunteers at the National Cat Centre dote on the cats in their care and there are a lot - cats that is .

With the rehoming centre, I think this is different to the adoption centres where cats are taken in direct to the centre.

This I think is a facility for branches to use so that the cats can be homed quicker. Many branch fosterers have pens in their gardens or indoor facilities and therefore the cats available are not always readily available to see by the general public. Many branches do homing days where the cats are taken to a central location and viewed and many adoptions can come from that - so I think this is trying to build on that.

I do not know how much consultation the HQ had with the surrounding branches to this new centre as to whether it would be used and the pro/cons but around here I know many fosterers are reluctant to let cats go out of their care unless it is to their forever home.

So what is best, to use the facility with the cat has a better chance of getting homed quicker or the branch retain the cat for perhaps longer in a pen in your garden whilst the number of cats on your waiting list grows or you shut the waiting list because the branch cannot cope?

So it depends whether the branches will use the facility?

[Rosella moggy]

There is a bit half way down this page about research that has been done by Bristol university regarding stress on cats during the rehoming process. The work was funded by CP and suggests (as most of us could have told them) that hidey-holes etc reduce stress

Absolutely Mark.  I suspect that's why a number of people were surprised to see the pic of pud in an apparently glass fronted small enclosure with kids staring directly at her which I'm quite sure is not the set up at all.  Just a poseur of a cat I suspect 

ETA actually looks like 2 poseurs 

[Dawn F]

again I can only speak for blue cross and our pens are the other way around (corridor runs along the back) but the inside it is around 4ft by 3ft and the outside bit about 8ft by 3ft - we have (at the one I go to) three that are about 3 times the size for bonded pairs or mums with new kittens (although they are kept with no outdoor access until the kittens are about 6 weeks) - please be assured everyone that Andy will be fine - he will get lots of fuss and bit of time to recover from the trails of being a stray plus he will get a lot more people looking at him this way

[Mark]

There is a bit half way down this page about research that has been done by Bristol university regarding stress on cats during the rehoming process. The work was funded by CP and suggests (as most of us could have told them) that hidey-holes etc reduce stress http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vetschool.bris.ac.uk/research/abw/behavclinic/images/Research%25203_cat%2520box.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vetschool.bris.ac.uk/research/abw/behavclinic/behavclinicresearch.html&usg=__Y9aTx1SQI1AsARLSMy_mFD4nJiQ=&h=287&w=293&sz=66&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=EgAe_GMlEqp8cM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcats%2Bprotection%2Brehoming%2Bcentre%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

The pens may look a bit clinical but they have to be to avoid cross-infection.

[Rosella moggy]

Whilst it is very sad for a cat used to wandering to be homed in a pen for a time, I very much suspect the photos on this thread do not do justice to the pens.  I've tried googling for better photos but can't find any.

Not meant as a criticism as lord knows it's good of people to do such wonderful voluntary work, but perhaps CP could have posted a few pics of a "show pen" prior to opening to give peeps a better idea of accommodation but perhaps that's exactly what they intend to do when one is ready.

Fingers crossed that Andy can be rehomed as soon as poss 

[Mark]

It's probably also the same for the Blue Cross in that foster homes are few and far between. If all cats are kept in foster care until they are ready to rehome, it would mean turning away lots of cats. Each time a fosterer has a space, another cat can come in from the waiting list.  As T pointed out, what is worse, this or the street?

[Dawn F]

again same as the blue cross Mark - we make notes on the sheet outside the pen for things like odd toileting or if they've been a bit shy or have come out of their shell a bit they have a range of beds or even boxes if they want to get out of the way, feliway plug ins and as each pen is cleaned they have the run of the corridor all of the outside parts of the run have cat trees and there are toys and shelves for climbing - I'm pretty sure this is state of the art stuff - battersea is the same as well

[Mark]

It is just like the set up at HQ. The cats that are sick or need more socialising are kept in a separate area. Also the cats can go through a hole to a different area if they want to get away from people. There is no ideal way. The only way cats will be rehomed is by people seeing them. There are staff around and anyone making a noise or upsetting the cats would be told to get out.

Also, I don't know where the assumption that the staff are untrained comes from. The staff at HQ dote on the cats. There is a board on each pen that has notes about each cat. Even down to any food & litter likes/dislikes. They aren't cages as such - they are quite large areas with easy to clean/disinfect walls. bedding & litter is changed regularly. Also they have all types of beds, including igloo-type beds for cats that want to hide.

If people have ideas of a better way of doing it, I'm sure CP would be glad to hear from them.

[Dawn F]

it looks very like the blue cross that I volunteer at tbh - it works very well, is easy to keep clean and all the cats are in one place for adopters to see

[Teresa Pawcats]

Looks to me as if each of those Pens has an outside run and I would give my right arm to have a set up like that, might be tough on cats that have known the luxury of a home/foster life but  for all the poor starving, sick abandoned cats who need help that is pure heaven.

[bunglycat]

I personally think this looks awful and yes, like a zoo for kids to come and point and bang on the glass 
The poor cats are going to be terrified -hope Asbo/Andy does not go there -it will be very bad for him .

[Tan]

Surely in cases like Andy's where  they've been a stray for a long time, they wouldn't be put in a cage?????    It would be like going backwards after them getting used to living in a home environment and undo all the foster's hard work!!  

I agree.  And the same for any cat coming from a foster home. 

I will ask Joy tomorrow and if he could be going there when he is ready, i have got to try and get him rehomed before he does. 

I wonder what do other CP branches think of this new rehoming center plan?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

i am, starting to lose what little faith i had with cp 

[Shirley]

Surely in cases like Andy's where  they've been a stray for a long time, they wouldn't be put in a cage?????    It would be like going backwards after them getting used to living in a home environment and undo all the foster's hard work!!  

[Tan]

opportunities for school visits and other educational activities.

      No thought to the cat and how scared they will be!

pilot scheme may form a template for future Cats Protection homing centres across the UK!!!

This is only the 1st one!!!

Just like RSPCA centers.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

that is awful, what an apalling ampunt of money they are wasting and very bad for the cats in my opinion....what are they going to do with the ones that dont get homed month after month....its like putting them in a zoo 

no trained staff who will not know the cats pursonaloty and i wonder how many will end up in the wrong homes anf just get cgucked put again